Another Jupiter-8 Plugin… or the Best Yet? Mercury-8 Deep Dive LIVE

Описание: We’re shooting out EVERY Jupiter-8 plugin—Roland, Arturia, TAL, Acustica—against Cherry Audio’s Mercury-8…and I’m even throwing in a vintage Roland Juno-6 (IR3109 filter) for a hardware reality check.

Do we really need another Jupiter-8 plugin? With heavy hitters already out there, I’m putting Cherry Audio Mercury-8 under the microscope and head-to-head with the rest of the JP-8 crowd: Roland’s Jupiter-8, Arturia Jup-8 V, TAL-J-8, and Acustica THING-8. For extra spice, we’ll compare them to a real Roland Juno-6—which shares the IR3109 filter topology and much of that early-’80s Roland DNA (Juno = DCOs, Jupiter-8 = VCOs).

We’ll start with a fast preset taste test (600+ sounds in Mercury-8, including JP-8 factory and “Factory Plus”), then dig into what makes Mercury-8 different: dual-layer architecture (up to 16 voices per layer for splits/stacks), true virtual-analog oscillators/filters (not sample-based), analog drift/condition controls for believable wear, and Multi-Voice spread for width, motion, and bite. I’ll build patches from scratch and push the modulation matrix (four slots, click-to-assign) into musical territory—filter-FM-ish growls, evolving pads, sync leads, and tight arps—then try to match those patches across every JP-8 plugin to see who really nails the tone and feel.

What I’m judging (no fluff):
• Tone & feel: oscillator weight, filter drive/resonance, envelope snap
• “Jupiter” behaviors: cross-mod/sync vibe, stereo image, stacked layers
• Playability: velocity/aftertouch response, macro logic, CPU hit, reliability
• Workflow: browser speed, click-to-assign mod routing, factory bank quality
• Value vs the field: does Mercury-8 beat, match, or lose to Roland/Arturia/TAL/Acustica?
• Reality check: how close any plugin gets to a Juno-6 running that IR3109 in the analog domain

Disclosure & test method: Raw tone rounds are level-matched; no external FX unless noted on-screen. I’ll call out any master bus glue. No sponsorship—opinions are mine.

►Get Mercury-8 here: https://cherryaudio.com/products/merc...

My Products:
►Vintage Synth Sample Pack: Vol II https://vultureculture.live/products/...
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►Moog Analog Sample Pack: https://vultureculture.live/products/...
►Vintage Industrial Drum Samples: https://vultureculture.live/products/...
►Roland D-50 Patch Library: https://vultureculture.live/products/...

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0:00 Intro (Mercury-8 vs Juno6)
0:26 Mercury-8 vs vintage Roland: why Juno-6 is a fair proxy for Jupiter-8
3:45 Volume-matched filter sweeps: Juno-6 vs Cherry Audio Mercury-8
8:31 What “resonance compensation” is (and why Roland sounds thick)
9:17 TAL-J-8 comparison (and the “extreme drift” tip for Mercury-8)
12:54 Arturia Jup-8V vs Juno-6: closer in character, different low end
19:04 Roland Jupiter-8 (Roland Cloud) vs Juno-6: upper-mid punch check
23:56 Acustica Thing-8 vs Juno-6: why it feels furthest from the hardware
29:19 Three-way plugin showdown: Mercury-8 vs Jup-8V vs Roland J-8
42:24 Spectrum analyzer deep-dive: harmonics, bass bumps, and “air” above 10k
1:17:07 Juno chorus A/B and patch building: basses, pads, brassy sweeps
1:42:15 Final verdict & pricing: who’s closest, what’s best value, takeaways