At $69, Cherry Audio’s Mercury-8 is looking like a very impressive Jupiter-8 emulation

Cherry Audio releases software emulations, alongside tools of its own design, at a remarkable pace. The latest is apparently its most-requested synth — its vintage hardware counterpart is tough to find, with used models fetching over £25K. Mercury-8 is an emulation of Roland’s legendary Jupiter-8, a mainstay of countless chart hits and film scores since the 1980s, coveted for its warm, versatile sonic palette.

The instrument completes Cherry’s Mercury Trilogy, joining the existing Mercury-4 and Mercury-6, but why has the company waited so long to model this much-requested synth? As the brand tells us, the emulation was no easy task — but it also wanted to update the synth with a considered set of modern features that the original didn’t have.

Cherry Audio’s marketing director, Robert St John, says that “following the overwhelmingly positive response to Mercury-6, Mercury-8 was bound to follow. However, like previous major releases such as GX-80, Rhodes Chroma and PS-3300, we knew it would take time to get it just right. The Jupiter-8 is renowned for its broad tonal sweet spot, while its multitimbral splits and dual layers offer nearly limitless potential. We carefully studied and measured a perfectly calibrated original to preserve its essence and achieve matching sonic results, regardless of the settings.”

The developer used advanced circuit and behaviour modelling techniques — virtual analogue synthesis rather than samples — to allow both a compact footprint and complete control over all aspects of the sound. Impressively, this approach also enables SysEx data exchange with pre-MIDI Jupiters that have been updated with the Encore Electronics kit. Identifying this as the product’s most unique feature, Robert explains, “Mercury-8 can import patch data from — and even export data to — these Jupiter-8s, and the sound is absolutely identical. With several SysEx banks available online, what started as part of our deep analysis process has evolved into an exciting feature for users to enjoy.”

The Mercury-8 uses Cherry’s familiar GUI, a friendly and approachable system that provides easy access to MIDI, mapping and control functions as well as a large bank of presets. Though the interface has many controls like the original, the zoom and focus features make it a breeze to quickly enlarge any parameters. And sonically it doesn’t disappoint, capable as it is of character-drenched tones and textures across a range of styles from fat basses to frenetic sequences, blissed-out pads and spiky rhythms. Browse through the presets and you’re instantly transported to the worlds of John Carpenter, The Prodigy and many other classic electronic tracks.

Cherry has upgraded the Jupiter on a number of technical levels, all without overcrowding its interface. There’s a new four-slot mod matrix, an enhanced Jupiter arpeggiator with humanise controls and a 16-step, 4-pattern polyphonic sequencer. “We added a multi-voice mode, repurposed the original digital display to provide context-sensitive settings for trigger, note priority, condition simulation and analogue drift and more, all without the need for menu diving,” explains Robert. “All of these, including expanding the voice count from 8 in the original to 16, are on a per-layer basis.”

Perhaps the biggest upgrade is the new effects system, which the company developed for this synth (and presumably we will see in others going forward). Essentially, there’s now a modular three-part effects system — one for each layer and one global — with a modulator for each layer and a choice of 20 effects that can be arranged, edited and saved within the synth.

Pop out the Effects section, and each of the effects has a proper, full-sized controller section and chain system that makes them flexible. Best of all, they’re actually useful — Cherry seems to have really thought about what is going to make the Mercury-8 shine, including lo-fi, filter, echo, distortion and delays that add grit, movement and depth to your patches.

The company has also managed to maintain its affordable pricing — Mercury-8 comes at a nice price of $69, and that’s not just an introductory offer. A lifetime license for Roland’s own Cloud Jupiter-8 softsynth is £196 and doesn’t pack some of these updated features.

Still, it’s not the only game in town; Arturia’s Jup-8V is €149 and has a lot of extra tech, including a pop-out modulation/sequencer section. And TAL’s J-8 is around the same price as the Cherry Audio, with a similarly real-time synthesis (rather than sample-based) engine.

So there is competition at this price point, with the other models all coming with various flavours of free trial — you may want to give some of them a spin to see which suits you best.

We’ll have a full review of Mercury-8 online soon but upon our first look, we’re very impressed by the synth’s sound and features.

Cherry Audio’s Mercury-8 is available now for $69.

Playing in bands in the 90s led Hollin into the world of production, joining MusicTech on issue 2 in 2003. With several internationally published books on composition and software he is an expert in Apple and consumer tech, having written for most leading Mac publications for many years. He is also a commercial photographer with work appearing in the national press.