CL-Projects JD-850 synth library review

4

Hey what’s good fam!

Hope all is well with ya, just hitting you with another review.

This is a new library from CL-Projects, based on sounds created with the Roland JD-800…which happens to be a synth that’s been on my own personal “watch list” for a while.

So while I’m waiting to find the right deal on the hardware, I figured why not checkout this library?

Let’s get into it!

So what is JD-850?

jd850It’s a new library with a custom scripted interface for Kontakt made up of sounds that were created on the Roland JD-800.

It’s digital style synth so think of pads, bells, keys, strings, bass, brass and more.

The library itself has dual layer style patches, an arp, fx, and master eq for each patch.

It’s not a Kontakt Player library so it requires the full version in order to use it…unless you plan to use Kontakt in demo mode for 30 minutes at a time.

If you’ve ever been curious about the JD-800, or your just looking for some cool digital synth sounds, it may be worth taking a look at this.

Quick Specs

How does it sound though?

Reel to Reel Tape RecorderMan…it has a really nice and airy sound to it.

I wanted to check it out mainly for the pads, which are great, but there’s also some really good bell-ish tones, some nice keys, strings, a bunch of synth leads and other complex synth sounds.

All the sounds definitely have that nice digital sheen to it, which, if you’re looking for that sound, you will definitely love.

Digital synths have a certain quality to them when they are just doing their thing and it’s definitely a sound that many enjoy.

The recordings were well done, the use of fx in the programming made the presets come alive and the way you can manipulate them on your own directly in the interface also adds to the joy you get from the sounds in this library.

I like the dual layer setup, it would have been cool if we could actually go in and pick the layers ourselves, but even still, the sounds provided are great and very tweakable.

So what’s the bottom line?

I wanted to check this out for a specific reason and I was definitely pleased with what I heard

4andhalfsubsThe JD-850 is a really well recorded, programmed, and scripted library, I give it 4.5 out of 5 subs, anyone that is a fan of the actual synth will no doubt enjoy this library.

It would have been cool to have a bit more bass, but of course the strength of this library lies in it’s melodic synths, pads, keys,  and bell-ish tones.

Of course if you like the brass that these types of synthesizers produce then you’ll find some patches for sure, though I would have liked to see a few more in the brass and wind sections.

The blown bottle style patches are always cool 🙂

If you’re interested go on over and check it out, it’s on sale right now for 20% off which ends April 27, 2014

http://www.sampleism.com/cl-projects/jd-850

There’ s also a free demo if you want to check that out first: http://www.sampleism.com/cl-projects/jd-850-free-kontakt-demo?sk=kt

leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

 

4 Comments

  1. You trippin lol you know that was 5 subs, anyway my concern here is would this violate any copyrights if I used this in a production since I don’t own the original hardware?

    Reply
    • Lol! It was close, a few of the sound categories were a little light, but again just personal preference, obviously I love it 🙂

      The sounds ate his own presets made from the synth and not the factory presets so I would think we should be okay but I can’t say definitively because I don’t know how roland handles products like this. I wouldn’t worry about it though.

      Reply

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