The Roland Jupiter 4 was the fist of Roland’s famous Jupiter line of analog synths and was among one of the first poly synthesizers. The Jupiter 4 is a four voice polyphonic synth with 1 VCO per voice. It also has a built in arpeggiator and and a pitch wheel that could be assigned to the VCA, VCF, VCO or all together. The 49 key synth has 10 preset sounds and 8 user programable memory locations. The strange placement of the preset buttons below the keyboard along with the fact that the preset sounds are unlike the piano, brass or strings they are labeled are among the few drawbacks of the Jupiter 4. Produced in 1978-79 the Jupiter 4 is still sought after for it’s unique Roland sound but not as much as it’s bigger fatter brother the Jupiter 8.
