I am an avid amateur and play mainly soprano sax, but also fiddle around with the alto and tenor (we currently have a Yanagisawa SC991 curved soprano, 2X Jupiter JAS969 altos, and a Jupiter JTS989 tenor and previously owned a Yamaha YSS-62 straight soprano and YAS-62 alto). Recently I decided to add a baritone to our collection of saxophones (for nostalgia reasons as I played baritone in high school about a hundred years ago). To make a long story short, I rediscovered why all my friends in high school felt sorry for me – the bari is a huge, cumbersome horn – and at my age simply not a horn I want to lug around and play.

So I took the bari back to the guys at Melbourne Brass & Woodwind and decided that I would have a look at some new sops. As a start, I took home the Jupiter JPS-847 silver Artist series straight soprano. I had also intended to try out the top end Selmers and Yamahas. Well, the next day I stopped looking and just bought it. Why would I do that given that I have a Yanagisawa SC991? And how does it compare to the Yani, which sells for substantially more?

Naturally, before I buy a horn I play it extensively, but I also run a number of objective intonation and spectrum analysis tests in addition to a set of “blind” listening tests (the listener doesn’t know which horn is playing). For the blind listening tests, we used one R&B song (The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper), one classical song (Theme from Symphony#1 by Brahms) and finally one very simple spiritual melody (Wayfaring Stranger). I recorded all three in stereo with a pair of professional microphones (RODE NT5s) and a Roland Corporation Edirol UA-25 audio capture AD/DA converter. Cakewalk Sonar software was utilized to capture the audio. The recordings were played back over Roland Edirol MA-15 digital studio monitors (connected via optical link to the computer). This setup is (except for the microphones) entirely digital and thus introduces almost no noise. In essence, the recording is pretty much exactly what you played. Cakewalk Sonar allows you to quickly switch back and forth between tracks for the listening tests. The same hardware setup was used for the intonation logs and informal spectrum analysis. In terms of software, Wtune was used to capture intonation logs and Gtune plus VSI32 for spectrum analysis.

On the blind listening tests, my eldest daughter (classical guitarist) preferred the Yanagisawa, which she described as more smooth/silky. My youngest daughter (alto & tenor sax player) preferred the Jupiter as she thought it was more brassy & jazzy. They were consistent in their choices across the melodies. Funny thing - I agree with them both. I like both horns because they do sound different. The Yana was very smooth sounding, though seemingly thin on very high note harmonics while the Jupiter definitely sounded more brassy and perhaps “sultry”. It also seems to have a more full sound on the highest notes. By the way, I used the bent crook on the Jupiter as it made the handling of the horn more comfortable and natural feeling for me. I didn’t run the tests with the straight neck.

What about the results of the quantitative tests? The Yanagisawa has outstanding intonation as logged over a two octave C major scale, with deviation from perfect pitch in most cases of +/- 4 cents and the worst couple of notes at only about +/- 6 cents. The only other sax I have tested that is this good is theJupiter JTS-989 tenor we bought a few months ago! Anyway, sopranos are notoriously out of tune, so my expectations for the JPS-847 were low. I was pleasantly surprised, as the deviations with the exception of one note were only about +/- 8 cents. D6 was +10-12 cents out of tune. Frankly, these are pretty good numbers for any sax and outstanding for a soprano. I find most saxes I have tested are about +15 cents or greater on D6 and E6, sometimes including F6 and G6 (this includes altos and tenors).

With regard to spectrum analysis, I don’t run sophisticated comparisons, I just eyeball the harmonics across the two octave C major scale comparing each note on the respective horns. There wasn’t much difference in the strength or number of the harmonics, except on the very high notes where I give the Jupiter a slight edge.

In conclusion, these are two very different horns in terms of qualitative sound. On quantitative measures they are both excellent. I find each is a joy to play and will use both regularly. So if you like curved horns, it is hard to find anything better than the Yani SC991. And if you like straight horns, the Jupiter seems to be a very well made and beautiful sounding instrument for a quite reasonable price. It is also beautiful to look at, hold and play. By the way, this is the first Jupiter sax I have ever purchased where I haven’t felt compelled to throw away the case. Unlike the ridiculously cheap and ugly “backpack” cases that come with the 900 series alto and tenors (and the other 800 Artist series horns), this case is very well built. It is professional looking with lots of storage space for accessories and still manages to be compact in size. When you are trying out those very expensive top end Selmers and Yamahas, you should give this horn a fair go. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]