Roland AlphaJuno-01

Editing patches is easy, alpha dial is a little 'fast' when scrolling through settings.

Roland has finally come out of the dark ages and now posts all their heritage manuals.

2/8/8 style patch banks Preset-Programable/Bank/Patch

Preset banks are properly arranged, ie all piano sounds in one bank of 8, all strings in another. Not strewn all over the place like some other synths. Presets are a throwback to 80s, but a lot are pleasantly familiar and well written. Good starting points.

You can get the PG-300 for it but there are tons of free editors for pc patch editing. Most of the what you would do with the PG-300 live you can do with the Tone Modify buttons (mod rate/mod depth/brilliance/env time) and the Alpha wheel.

The Alpha 1 only has note ON/OFF internally, can recieve and react to remote MIDI aftertouch and velocity.

BUT

This is the only keyboard that i know of that can send velocity (roland called it dynamics at the time) or aftertouch data from an expression pedal. I checked this out with MidiOX. When you have the pedal half-way all notes played have that velocity, both externally and internally. With no pedal all notes are played at full.

This alone makes it a unique controller.

It also sends an All Notes Off message when the last key is let go along with the individual note off messages, good if you are using it with a flakey module.

A bit of a pain to do sysex dumps with it though, must use an undocumented procedure (press and hold all --> DATA TRANSFER/WRITE/DUMP or LOAD until the dump is finished)

Plays notes with remote input well beyond its 4-oct keyboard. (midi 12 to 108)

You can set the pedal switch to step through any bank of 8. So you can set up a bank of 8 with progressively bigger sounds and ramp it up every bar or two. Outputs patch changes via midi with this feature as well, handy for using the same technique with other modules.

All around, very good midi implementation, every change you make on this synth is output via MIDI.

Cord function - Nice thing about it is that you can write a chord even with memory protect on, stays in memory till restart. So i save a "chord" with all 5 C-notes as my default (a massive mono sound), and can drop in temporary ones. Or save a chord with only one note, and it plays like an old school mono synth.

Also outputs all chord notes to midi.

Portamento works in chord mode.

Modulation output on the joystick is rather drastic, sort of all or nothing. Hard to output middle ranges, and can't be parked like a wheel.

Bomb-proof internals, you will probably need to clean the volume slider as it is exposed, but most of the other switches are the membrane style so they stay pretty clean and glitch free. It is 2008 as i write this and still running the original internal battery, outrageous!

Mine was in really rough shape when i got it (no case screws at all, everything loose inside) but cleaned up perfectly.

Hardware inside is all top notch, good caps, good switches. Output, pedal, and midi connections are on separate case mounted boards so you don't have to worry about damaging the main board if you bash a connector sideways.

This thing wasn't just made in Japan, it was made in Tokyo.

No upgrades other than getting pedals for it.

Takes the Roland/Yamaha style normally closed type footswitches.

Needs a roland EV-5 pedal as an expression pedal, other makes can work but the range is out of whack (little change till at the end of range of motion).

Clean outputs, well built, metal base and internal frame.

Make your own REAL hoover sound.

It's a real analogue synth without all the analogue headaches. Stays in tune, MIDI, looks deceptively like a toy but can be tweaked into a beast.

Square and sawtooth pulsewidth modulation is unique as well, does things other synths just don't do.

A real sleeper.

I got this brand new when I was in 6th grade about 20 years or so ago. I still gig with it once a in awhile and surprisingly has never let me down.

Presets are very 80s but still very usable pads and electronic sounds to this date.

Very easy to use, use the jog wheel or the number pads and select and edit as need be.

Keyboard is synth weighted but has a good feel, not like newer ones these day with the flimsy cheap feel. It's rock solid!

It has mc64 cards which i received with the synth ages ago never really had to use it much.

Midi wise, this thing is solid, i've used it as controller, or as slave and no problems whatsoever.

If you can get your hands on a PG-300, it's well worth it!

Well, this thing was made mid 80's so very Roland mid 80s type feel. I use this for all types of music, live and in studio, from reggae to rock, to electronica and hiphop.

It's 61 notes with velocity and aftertouch.

Can I depend on it? That's a understatement.

I've had this brand spanking new since 1986, and it has NEVER failed me yet. Everything functions, keys, jog wheel, etc. Never crashed, midi is rock solid, i have no complaints.

It's rock solid little synth. I have and still gig with this thing with and without other boards without any problems.

Never had to deal with Roland and I doubt after 20 years they'll support this synth..lol

If this were lost or broken, ya, for sentimental values i'd replace or repair it.

I've been playing for about 20 sum years and have gone through much gear. This baby is my first every synth i owned so it'll always be a keeper.

I do wish it had knobs for real time editing, so i do suggest to get a PG-300.

It was my first synth, and I loved it. Things could be faster, but it's a fairly simple synth, so you'll be coming up with your own sounds in no time. Never needed a manual or patch editor.

Polyphony is six, which can cut out if you play with two hands. Keyboard action is synth, plastic, but it will respond to velocity information, this is a good synth for sequencing with. Portamento rules, Chord function is ripe for abuse, the filter doesn't self-oscillate like a Juno106, but sounds squelchy and very organic....it's a very nice filter. This synth is great for ebm, synthpop, heavily sequenced electronic styles, and it's very versatile....lush pads, skittering blips, synth bass from hell. Alot of the presets sound like Klinik made them.

Realism? Maybe if you live on the planet Nebulor in the third spiral of the Hyphaxion galaxy. I heard once that the Alphas were made with people like Herbie Hancock in mind. I don't know if that's true, but it can't be all that bad. There are no onboard effects as this is 20 something years old. Well, there is chorus, but it ain't the best. I thought the Juno106 chorus was better. But a good synth doesn't need all that crap. The Alphas can be a little noisy, but they can cover alot of ground, and the complex envelopes make up for the Juno106 type things it CAN'T do.

Once of the most reliable "vintage" synths out there. Got an Alpha 2 from a pawnshop once that REEKED of cigarette smoke and had nicotine resin all inside...it worked perfectly as is. Wish other old timers like the Juno106 were this reliable.

They're good for a few things, but Cmon. Roland don't support stuff that's TWO YEARS old, much less 20 years old.

If it were stolen, I'd be sad as it was my first synth. Not sure if I'd get another one, it can be dupliclated easily with other newer synths, VA and otherwise. At the 2nd hand prices though, it's a very cheap yet excellent sounding piece of gear to have around. If it was your only synth, you could still make some killer tracks with it.

Completly idiot proof!! I just turn it on and within seconds, I find the right sound! The presets are very good. Brass Strings Pianos are OK, Organs and Basses are great, Synth Pads and Leads are great, SFX are really cool. I don't have the patch editor or the manual but it works just as good without it.

Polyphony is 6 notes. Keyboard action is very plastic but that's my favourite type of key, believe it or not. The effects are good, you just need to know where to find them. Portamento is great, there's also pitch bends, vibrato, sustain, brilliance. No disc drive, doesn't need it, presets are good enough. There is MIDI, but I don't use it. No sequencer, there is a sound called Arpeggiator that works LIKE a sequencer, but you still have to play the part yourself.

The best sounds are the Organs (church and jazz), Basses (electric and disco), and Synths (pads and leads). Works great for prog rock leads (Genesis, Yes, Rush). There is no touch sensitivity, volume pedal can make up for that. No aftertouch, but some presets have a built in aftertouch.

I would trust it with my life! No backups necessary, it will never break.

Never dealt with Roland, probably never will.

I will be buried with this keyboard by my side. I love old-school keyboards, and this is my favourite out of any that I've ever seen or played. The new Roland Juno D may have great sounds and easy access presets, but the keys feel like crap. A bunch of us just played Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and this was my lead, did the job of Banks's ARP Pro-Soloist and then some. If you ever have the opportunity to purchase this keyboard, do not hesitate in the slightest. A+++++!!!

The presets on this arent that bad at all. quite a few of them are usable. of course you can make better sounds yourself once you get used to editing them. the alpha dial really does suck at first, but after a day or 2 youll notice the available memory banks dwindling. havent tried the PG-300 or patch editors like the EZalpha, though im sure they can make things easier. i dont have the manual but found the .pdf file here- http://www.synthesized-dreams.com/reframe_dl_.html. it isnt needed, though. this is my first synth and i only glanced at the manual maybe once or twice.

havent messed around with the chord memory, but from what i read, it seems like a pretty sick function. only effect it has is chorus, which is pretty useful. i do wish this thing had a sequencer, though. right now ive been using my mc-50 to sequence this thing so it isnt that big of a drawback. it isnt pressure senstive, but i, personally, dont care about that. you can store up to 64 of your own sounds, which sounds like alot, but as i said, youll be filling them in no time once you get used to the editing.

as every other reviewer has written, if you are looking for realistic sounds, go elsewhere. i guess it may be possible to make a sound that would vaugely resemble a real instrument, but itll take alot of work and youll never be satisfied with the results. just about any other sound seems possible. if you can dream it, you can probably create it. definatly alot of fun just messing around with it and going through the parameters, adjusting them and seeing what comes out at the end.

seems reliable enough for me. only problem i have is with the volume slider. when i adjust it while its playing, i get a staticy sound and sometimes the voulme will drop out. not too much of a problem. i just keep the volume slider all the way up and adjust the volume in the editing menu.

dealt with roland before. i think it was over my old mc-50 sequencer. they helped me alot, but i keep reading bad things about there support. maybe i just got lucky that time.

if it were lost, stolen or broken, i would definatly try to get another one. this is my fist real synth (i was using a mc-303 for synth sounds before this). i decided i needed some more synth sounds but i was on a tight budget. i found this synth for sale along with a m-dc1 for about 300. seemed like a good deal to me. i thought id mostly be using the m-dc1, but after learning what this synth can do, i pretty much only use this. sure, id love to have a PG-300, but concidering how much they go for, i can definatly deal with out it. the dial really aint that bad once ya get the hang of it. concidering the price these things go for, everyone should pick one up. especially if you got a sampler and some effects to add to it.

Couldn't be easier. I'm no synthesis expert, but within 5 minutes of turning it on for the first time I was getting the sounds I wanted. The presets give a nice representation of what the synth is capable of. Editing them couldn't be easier.

3 Oscillators (Saw, Pulse, Sub), a white noise generator, PWM + PWM Speed control. ADSR Envelope is rather annoying to use but it's clearly explained on the front panel of the synth. The only built in effect is Chorus. For how old this synth is, it's got a lot of features.

If you're looking for realism - forget it. However if you're making Techno or even Drum 'n' Bass you'll have a place for it in just about all your songs. It's a lot more versatile than it first appears. I've even managed to get a modern "German" Trance style sound out of it with little effort. It sounds great! Then, of course; Hoovers! On top of that it's capable of some nice 303 type squelches.

I haven't had a single problem with it yet. It appears to be built very solidly indeed.

Never had to deal with them. Thankfully.

I would certainly replace it. I feel I got a great machine at a great price. One thing I feel could have been added is delay/reverb, for when I play it standalone. I also own a Novation K-Station, and I love both of these babies equally!

I've used it in most of my tracks since buying it!

If you're considering buying one of these, DO IT! While they're still at a reasonable price. If you don't like it; sell it on. But I doubt you won't like it once you lay eyes on it.

The alpha dial is kind of lame until you get the hang of it, but then its not to bad. I've heard a PG 300 makes things a whole lot easier.
The presets are pretty good, a wide variety of traditional sounds and a few sound effects.

The keyboard action feels kind of cheap and plasticy but its not to bad. The effects are pretty good. As far as expansions go you can get the optional PG 300 controller for it. The midi implementation is kinda sketchy, it cant do aftertouch and velocity but it will still accept them from an outside midi source. There is no sequencer.

The sounds are great!

This thing is a work horse. I've had some issues with the pitch bender breaking but its an easy fix. This thing is built pretty tuff

No idea.

I love my Alpha Juno!!!!

very easy to use. sure, i'd love to have knobs to tweak, but really it is quite easy to program with the alpha dial. all the parameters are arranged in a logical fashion. true, you can only edit one parameter at a time, so this methos may not be the best for live use, but it works fine in the studio. there are also several software editors available for mac/pc for free as well, and they seem to work reasonably well, with minor glitches from time to time. but, this is only a minor annoyance and is to be expected as they are freeware.

you could get the PG-300 if you wanted, but it will cost nearly three times as much as the synth, so you will have to decide how bad you really want it. ;)

i have worked with one of these for years, and i can say that i have been able to come up with all sorts of very useable patches without and editor.

the manual is typical roland fare, sparse and poorly translated. however it can still be referenced to jog memory.

polyphony- six voices, can be stacked through a "hidden" feature of chord memory for monophonic action. i am unable to determine whether this stacks all the voices or just puts the board in a mode when only one key can be played at a time. the sound doesn't seem to be noticeably thicker or fatter in this mode, so who knows.

has the built in chorus, with an adjustable rate. good enough...

no expansion.

responds to velocity only over midi- use a controller with this guy.

no sequencer.

no realism. sounds like an analogue synth that just always stays in tune. probably best suited to electronic music, as the filter has a really resonant character to it. i don't know; i suppose one could find a use for it in any type of music- the synth is only going to be as good as it's programmer.

i don't think the chorus is as good as the one on my JX10, but it does have an adjustable rate, so it is a bit more versatile.

once again- use a controller with this guy.

as far as tonal characteristics go, i think this is a great sounding synth. i LOVE the filter, and it can make some deep tones if you like. bass is no problem whatsoever; many different possibilities in this aspect. strings are okay, pads can be good if you are going for that "juno" pad sound.

303ish sounds are quite possible with the squelchy filter as well.

me likes

yeah well it is 18 years old, so i imagine it will die someday, but it seems to be working well for now.

i don't play live, so...

huh huh....

"an alpha juno wuit?"

"so sorry, end-of-life"

incredible value. great sounds, versatility, and loads of patches available on the net, which make for great starting points. many are quite useable on their own. freeware editors, the works. a lot of synth for very little money. i am very pleased!

Very easy. Can't see what everyone is bitching about. Ok so you can't edit more than one parameter at once. So what? The presets are ok, but I don't use them at all. Tweek tweek for a few days and you have 64 patches of your own to work with.

6-note polyphony, keyboard has no velocity or aftertouch. I do miss velocity sometimes..no built in effects except the chorus. The juno2 i think has a memory card slot? But not this one. Full midi control, but no sequencer. Very nice and very affordable if compared to other junos or moogs and stuff.

This isn't something you recreate instruments on. It's an instrument on it's own. I think you could use this in pretty much any kind of music..except maybe classical cuz it doesn't reproduce pianos too good. That is, if you can live without velocity response. Best suited for electronic dance music. Just gotta love them basses you get out of this little thing.

Very reliable, hasn't malfunctioned on me at all. Well, except once i managed to blow a fuse, but nothing worse. Mine has had quite a beating, but still works perfectly. Plastic breaks, unfortunately :( I use it on gigs without backups.

Haven't had to deal with Roland..i did get a new fuse for it tho, from the tv repair shop next door :)

If it were stolen, i'd find the thief and beat him with a very large stick till he would give it back. When i bought it, i was discussing buying a sequential circuits six-track for much more..then one day i was surfing round vintagesynth.org and saw this, and placed and ad in harmonycentral classifieds. A few weeks later it was here, and i fell in love :) 10 outta 10. check www.angelfire.com/or/tokyo3/juno.html for pictures.

If you can walk and talk atthe same time you are already more than able to work this thing. The ONLY drawback is scrolling through the menus while looking at a tiny screen but no option is more than a buttonpush away. The Alpha dial makes changing values a doddle.

For live use the Alpha Dial kicks it - create a decent sound, run you riff and tweak the filter etc in real time - it really doesn't get more fun than this.

The majority of the presets are pretty poor but don't forget this baby is 16/17 years old. They do serve as a useful basis for programming your own sounds though. Want a pukka bass? Pick a preset and modify to your hearts content.

I have to mention the Hoover sound (Patch 8.1 - What The...).

The only reason I bought this synth was for that one heart-stopping sound - it still gets me everytime I hear it. I now realise the Juno is capable of sooo much more... buy one today.

Manual is alright and can be found as a PDF (hell, I'll send you my copy).

Chord Memory - worth it's weight in gold. Hell will freeze over before you get bored of this function. An external FX box is essential to really bring the sounds alive, and with the right settings (overdrive) you can also get 303 leads!!

GENUINE analog and full MIDI - how much would you pay for that in a modern synth? You can't go wrong.

Only 6 note polyphony but then that's not what this machine is about but it does mean you can line up all 6 notes over several octaves with the Chord Memory and creative a truly evil leads

Bass.

Pads,

FX.


303 squelch.


THIS MACHINE GAVE BIRTH TO THE HOOVER SOUND!!!!
I cannot over emphasise that enough - until you are able to play one yourself you will never know how gorgeous it is.... sigh.

Like I said, 17 years old and going on strong.

There was never any alternative. If I lost mine I'd find the person responsible and break their legs. Then I'd go and buy another. For the money people are asking you cannot say no.

I don't think the alpha juno is that hard to use as they all say it is, If you know previous versions of the juno

It's the simple synth (DCO - VCF - VCA with LFO and Env) with classic juno chorus and last night I just discovered the "Unision" thingy! wow it's rocks, also the portamento I like when it's fast. But the best feature for me is the chord mem! has no other synth done this!

It does lush low bass and hoover - me happy with that!

it works fine but it looks like it doesn't hence are large hole at the side of the machine

don't talk to me abot customer support, I thought the whole idea is the people know what a "reply" is and people know how long over a month is!

It beats my crap casio HZ600 synth!

the presets are good starting points... I think by todays standards..you wouldn't think of using any of the guitars or "harmonicas"!!! but Bass, strings, pads and anyhting that is supposed to be done with a synth is usable. Use a computer editor or the Pg-300 hardware editor (if you can find one) Sound Diver is great..but a few freeware editors like EZalpha are out there too and come with banks of presets usually. Its not HARd to program with the alpha dial but Ive always hated adjusting "Time and Length" enveloped thru a menu...
I dont have a hard copy of the manual but the .PDF is easy to find.

CHORD MEMORY... if you don't just love this button then you haven't figured it out yet. You can hold down a couple hittons and play a chord...the Juno remembers the chrod and then you can transpose that chord around with one finger... NOw forget about the obvious use...thats plenty cool... but you can use this button to layer up freaky complex intervals and then slide them around with one finger....combine with portamento.. this is what phat mean
No velocity or aftertouch on the keyboard..but it does respond to velocity and aftertouch ... so hook it to some thing for gawds sake it can be much more expressive if you can throw your weight into it


Im not going to give this thing a bad rating just cuz it doesn' t do 20 things.. it does one thing...sound good.. like any "organic" instrument.. its has one purpose..one use that it does well. it "Juno-fies" and there are only a few peices of gear (junos) that can do that.. so if you see one and you like it buy it.. cuz you'll never get close enough with an emulation on your bigass triton or whatever and they are cheap.. I bought mine for 60

The only built in effect is chorus and really you'll probably have it on all the time if you've read this far into the review. You want to HOOVER right.... how can you not.. but dude hook it up to the a real keyboard.. with aftertouch and really throw yourself at it ass. make it hurt... its analog...abit tainted..but analogue... it will freak out if you push it hard...(at least mine does). run it hot on the desk with some verbage. and you'll be in a dream.

For you freaks that are still reading..... start withe the "what the" preset and modify a more responsive patch..... put the Amplifer envelope to DGATE and so on and so on.... Record your stabs into a sequencer using the junos enresponsive keyboard.. arm a second track with the input being your more responseive aftertouch equiped keyboard and filter out the notes.. now record aftertouch passes for you r juno ... I beat the fucking shit out of some drum pads using this setup and end up modulating to places unkown..

its a tank...well a plastic tank... but it will not die.. mine was cracked up when i bought it and is duct taped together rightnow. it has never lost memory. It will on occassion get whack nastay....but this is momentary state and its a good thing ... unless I suppose its right in the middle of your "Heart must go on" solo...pussy!!@#$%

who cares this thing is old... if its broken take it to a repair shop
plenty of users out there willing to "support" this synth. WWW,Synthzone.com has sooo much stuff.

Im giving it a 10 becuz I can..

Id buy another one if I come across one.. that goes for an alpha juno 2 or a mk-50 rackmount-- its all the same ..mo' or less

another opportunity to be obsene...alrite then
Porno Pornro Porno

again a 10

I believe that this synth was made in 1986, which explains why it sounds like it was used on a huge number of 80's songs. It seems to be pretty easy to use without a manual. Editing patches is super easy with the data wheel and paging through the parameters with the parameter button.

This synth is 6-note poly with a decent MIDI implementation for an analog device. You can save and load via MIDI or a tape recorder. There is no on-board sequencer. There are 64 presets and 64 user sounds for a total of 128 presets.

The sounds are great!!! Admittedly, the pianos don't sound like real pianos but do you really want them to? I sure don't. I have an XP-60 for the "real" piano sounds. My favorite sound is the noise blips which can add a lot to a rhythm track. The sweeps are good and the bass that can be produced blows away my MS2000 and Vintage Synth expansion card. There are a lot of great strings, pads, sound effects, etc. It's all very techno sounding.

It's 15 years old, missing the modulation joystick and still working just fine. I don't like to use the pitch bend/modulation effects when I play anyway. It's built pretty solidly so I don't think there will be a problem with it.

It's probably not available from Roland for a 15-year old synth.

If lost or stolen I would look for another one on EBay. This is a great synth for the $$$. I've got some pretty cool digital gear but the analog Alpha Juno 1 will complement my setup very nicely!

The PResets are fine, but you could come up with some wikked sounds by tweking the paramters of the presets. Dont have a patch editor, but the alpha dial makes it a gem to program. No manula, you can figure it out very easy, easy to save sounds and make sounds.

I think its like 4 or 6 polyphony? Only effect Ive noticed is the classic roland analouge chorus. Its not really expandable and it has no sequencer, but it has FULL MIDI capabilites..full analouge and full midi what mroe do you want from life?!?! I let me freind borrow this keyboard and he just bought a jx-3p. He loved this keyboard and almost shed tears when I took it back. He said the Jx-30 had "prehistoric" midi and only cma up on one channel and he wished he had this as his analouge machine opposed to his jx-3p just for the midi functions. 13 midi channels in all. I use it as a controller for my akai s2000 and for my Cubase sequencer.

Really well for techno and electronic, dance music. Classic techno noises from the early days of rave and techno. Makes the infamous "Dominator." Perfect for those classic "Hoover/Reece/Trace" basslines found in Ray Kieth, Trace and old Ed Rush and Optical track(with some distrotion added, mind you)
The sound is a little noisy, meaning theres some airy sounds, but when you filter the sounds, it sounds kinda nice.
If your into techno, more htan likley youve heard this keyboard, used by Joey Beltram,Program 2, Prodigy, Trace etc etc.
It is touch sensitve and can create quite a different noise when hitting the keys harder.

Yes, veyr light, perfect controller, once again analouge AND full midi!! Only thing thats happned to it is the pitch bend wheel got off track..easily fixed, IMHO. Other than that, the perfect keyboard, fit son my computer desk and easy to take everywhere.

No need for an upgrade and dont need a manual...not sure hwo roland support is?

If it were stolen, id get back on ebay and try to find another. If I couldnt get another I dont knwo what I would do. Ive had it about 8 months and tweak a new noise almost once a day. Its perfect for me as aI cna get near 303 noises and silky analouge strings. Its perfect with my Berhinger dsp1000 and great for d&b. I use it as my controller for my akai s2000 and my cubase sequencer on my macintosh g4. One of the best keyabords I have come in contact with for ease of use, capabilites and sounds for the price. get one if you can, FULL MIDI FULL ANALOUGE!

Dont worry about the presets, although there are some classic patches from the dayz of rave. This synth is so easy to programme. I had tried one out before with the pg300 programmer and was worried about getting one without, but its fine without.....one of the easiest to programme, i cant believe it! I will admit that it is even better with the programmer, but if you dont have one it wont hold you back.

Polyphony is 6, which is fine,the only onboard effect is the chorus which is really nice.The keyboard on the alpha juno 1 hasnt got velocity or anything but the unit itself responds to velocity and aftertouch so asume that you will use this as more of a sound module than a performance keyboard (its 4 octave...check the alpha juno 2 for a better keyboard).
No onboard sequencer but it has a really nice chord memory which alows you to playback chords from just one key. You wouldnt believe how much fun this is.

I absolutely love the sounds. Im a big fan of the Juno 106, and these are definately in the same family but i feel the alpha has much more attitude whereas the 106 has more warmth.
Im never too sure of the technical details of whats under the hood of a synth, i listen with my ears and the alpha juno just simply sounds great.You can get sounds ranging from really biting basses to dreamy pads via abstract noise. Its a really flexible synth.

I cant imagine there being any problems with this synth.....just treat it nice and it will be nice back.

simply a great synth! I'll let everyone else spend their life savings on nice looking virtual analog synths (with absolutely no substance) and i'll go around buying up total bargins like this.
This is a Techno/old skool hardcore monster. It's 91/92 in a box,but its also so much more.......i love it.

Turn it on, give the alpha dial a spin, and you'll be producing tripped out sounds in no time. The manual is crap but you won't need it, i think i've spent all of 5 minutes looking at it. The presets are basically crap. Some people seem to like the synth leads, i think they're pretty gross, but i'm not really into stuff like that. Notable exception is for the ambient sounds ("twilite zone", "ufo", etc) which are excellent, that's where this baby shines. Pre-set bass and string sounds are alright too. I don't have a programmer and at the moment i feel no need for one, and I see no disadvantage to using the alpha dial for editing. Some people gripe that this makes real-time editing impossible, this is not true, although it is a bit more difficult. Turning the dial always adjusts the amount evenly/incrementally...call up an organ sound and turn the LFO up gradually with the dial and you'll produce a sound not unlike the start of the Chemical Brothers "hey boy hey girl".

polyphony is 6. not being a keyboard player by nature i have yet to grasp the concept of "action". i don't use any midi either. it doesn't accept a memory card but only a wanker would need more than 64 patches on this thing. no on-board sequencer but who cares, playing it is too much fun.

no realistic instrument sounds whatsoever. but the strings are fabulous, very reminiscent of New Order. Mess around with the envelopes on the strings and you can produce some really haunting and beautiful sounds. On the other hand throw in some LFO and you've got yourself a wonderful noisy mess. Organ sounds suck, unfortunately, i haven't tried manipulating them much yet, however check out the StringOrgan preset for a good idea of some possibilities. Brass is a laughable disgrace, but who cares, its basically only there to laugh at. And why would you use this for the piano sounds..ha! Basically this is a fabulous keyboard for tripped out noises, ambient sounds, effects, hard basses, an all-purpose synth for electronic music. I'm also using it for some Slowdive-type really delayed sounds and it's great, also great for Shadow/Portishead type weird sounds. Especially if you have a sampler, i sample the hell out of this thing then mess around with delay and reverb or reverse the sound, very cool. On-board chorus is not too bad and can produce some cool swirly effects. The PWM rocks as mentioned.

Seems pretty damn dependable. But i've only had it for a few weeks. Hell it's 15 years old and still sounds fresh, it's a workhorse.

never dealt with Roland. hopefully never will.

i absolutely love this synth. you simply can't find anything better for the money and i know if you're reading this review you may be strapped for cash. my advice: buy this, you won't be disappointed! it's all about your creativity in creating wild sounds. you have to be patient, and possibly stoned, but this thing will surprise you. not to mention it is all purpose, hell you could use this for some Kool Keith type beats and it would sound awesome, i would recommend this to anyone unless you're an extreme analog purist - this is a space synth, not a moog. Overall a great synth. Oh and since people often overlook this in favor of the AJ-2 you can find these for next to nothing!! Have fun!!!

I picked this little (4 octave) beast up in '92 and I can't seem to stop using it, no matter what other newer toys I acquire. For anybody that's used anything else, you can pretty much dive in and work it without a manual, which is good, because the manual is crap. This keyboard doesn't try to fool you into liking it with useless bells and whistles; the controls are as simple as possible, and all of the editing is done with sub-menus and the alpha dial. Just dive in and start noodling around with the Alpha, because its completely intuitive. The presets are, well junk if you are looking for anything to sound like something real, and can sound very dated if you just accept them as is. External effects are a must. Get the programmer, I found one for under $50, and it makes life much easier.

You can play 6 notes at once, but I have found I have to alter my playing style with this machine anyway. I usually run it through a phaser/distortion or some other noisy goop, and found that keeping it simple with just fifths, or diads, even octaves keeps the sound from getting too dirty. You throw a third in there and it just gets nasty. The only effect is a simulated chorus effect, but if you really want one, use something else. Route it through a good echo box and you have some killer sounds for technoindustrial tracks. The Alpha is bare bones, but that's a plus because it keeps things simple. If you want velocity, use a remote controller (which I would recommend anyway). The one thing I do like is the old Roland pseudojoystick pitch bend+mod control, which is not meant for precision, but for live play, well, I'm just surprised I never snapped the damn thing off.

If you want realism, stop reading this now and go somewhere else. This is a great machine for Techno, Electronic, Industrial, whatever other catchy names you care to add for music that involves low end sub sweeps, grinding saw leads, big fat pulses, what have you. Don't be afraid to get under the hood on this thing, because it's very simple and you have access to some amazing flexibility with just a few keypresses. I remember playing a gig where the industrial act that preceded my band was in shock when the saw that all I was using was this board and 2 stomp boxes.. one of the best compliments I can give. The keyboard sucks, the chord memory feature is actually useful (you can fatten a sound nicely just by doubling the octave, etc.) Get an expresion pedal and use it to change the dynamics, this will open up many more possibilities. I give this machine a very high rating because of what it can do and not for the many things it can't.

I have beaten mine to death. It's had beer on it, raw meat, makeup, blood, and God knows what else. It's been kicked over, dropped, trampled by dogs, moshed into, etc. It still works perfectly. There's no disk drive, no real moving parts, so there's not much to go bad. I've forgotten the power cord in the past and had to jam some shovel connectors on the end of a stripped lamp cord at the last minute, and used it successfully(no wall warts or lump in the line transformers).

Never had a problem.

I would do whatever I could to replace this unit should I ever lose it or have it fail. It's simple to use, I don't have to think about what I'm doing to make a sound, I just start turning the wheel. These are great boards for the sounds you can make. They are like an old analog but with MIDI and an led. If you've ever tried to program the Yamaha DX series, this is cake by comparison.

Couldn't be simpler to use. A few button pushes and a quick alpha dial.
I've heard a few people saying it's hard to program without the Pg programmer. All I have to say about this is
those people must have trouble buttoning their own clothes. The PG
does make the JU-1 more fun as you get a slider for many of the parameters
, but the 2nd hand prices of these is getting ridiculous. Get something
like a Peavey PC1600 Controller, it'll control the ALpha's as well as tons of
other synths.

I believe the polyphony is 6...it's monotimbral anyways, so 6 is plenty
for chords and such....Keyboard action? What keyboard action? The keyboard
is basic, no velocity or aftertouch, but the synth itself will respond to these
messages from an external keyboard or sequencer. The keyboard has an ok feel...very
"synthy" full sized keys. There are no expansion capabilities that I know of...you'll
have to get an AJ2 which accepts patch memory cards...if you can find them that is, haha.
The midi is pretty good, it responds to velocity, aftertouch, etc. There is no onboard
sequencer, thank god. It's a very versatile synth that is often unfairly compared to the
Juno106...the AlphaJuno sounds little like a Juno106, I should know because I owned both.
You may get some similarities in pizzicato tones and such, but the filters are quite different.
The Juno106 is more dominating and harder to mix...the Alphas sit well in a mix with little headache.
While the 106's are proficient in bass tones and fx, the Alphas specialize in melt-like-butter-make-you-
wanna-cry pads and ethereal pads. With a bit of tweaking, the bass tones on the Alphas can easily lay on
the skank as well! Quite versatile!

This is a straight up synth. Don't get this expecting to have a showdown
with the perfect piano sounds of Dewey, Screwthem, Buttholes, and Howe. It could
easily be used in any type of music, though. I've heard it was designed for
experimental jazz musicians like Herbie Hancock in mind. There's really no onboard
effects, other than lovely little chorus section (good, but not as good as a 106's chorus).
It reacts well to realtime manipulation via the alphadial...the filter probably isn't as "fat"
as a Jx or such, but it's pure analog and sounds wonderful with rising cutoff. What makes me laugh
is that many superficial folks dismiss these because they look like Dx7's or something with their
membrane buttons. I love the membrane buttons, actually...no dirt and dust.
The only weak spot is the noisy outputs...this synth and the 106 have that Roland characteristic ungrouded
loop you can usually hear when everythings quiet. I might actually try the headphone trick a previous reviewer
mentioned...the stereo outs are indeed a bit noisey, particularly with chorus on. Also, it may just be mine, but
if I have a sound with a short, fast attack, I get some annoying 'popping'. I've heard this is an annoyance on
several other synths...it certainly was on my 106 as well.

I would take it out on a gig...I'd be very careful with it though...definitely
take an SKB case. I had an AJ2 on it that had a couple of bad contacts, which
seems to be the bane with alot of Roland synths from the 80's. Cost around
$100 to get it fixed by a tech.

Never dealt with them...their website sucks though, no email support staff, and their contact and parts information is buried underneath a bunch of Groove B.S. and 'DR202 Users for Jesus' User Group Listings.
I've heard good things, and I've heard bad things. It just depends on the employee you happen to reach, I suppose.

I love it's silky sound and ethereal tones, and I love the very comprehensive and editable Envelope section which is great for evolving pads.
I've heard the envelopes are more extensive than the Jx's and others'. I don't like the noise and "poppiness" in the signal that I sometimes get.
I might buy another one if something happened to mine. It was my first synth, and the place
I bought it from had it patched into a P.A. After hitting one note of the Polysynth preset and playing with the filter, I was sold.
However, people are starting to think they can charge outrageous prices for these because
"JUNO" is in its title. These, like the 106, are not very hard to find. It's a good analog synth with digital control, but
I wouldn't pay more than $300, as you're getting into Jx8p territory. And don't
let anyone trick you into paying an outrageous price like $500 for one because they
happen to have a Pg200 with it...for a couple hundred bucks or so you can get a Peavey PC1600
which will give you tons of realtime control over this and several other modules.

Fairly easy to use considering all the functions are in a hidden menu. This was probabbly the first synth to use an "Alpha Dial". I wish that Roland wasn't trying to copy the DX7 at the time and stuck with their philosophy of using knobs for everything. This synth is a monster with the programmer, knobs for everything. There is a rackmout version of this synth called the mks-50.

Presets are not meant to be realistic, this is a synthesizer, not a ROMpler like an Emu Proteus 1 or a Roland XP-39. Anyone looking for a realistic piano is looking in the wrong place, although there are some nice synthetic piano sounds.

A patch editor such as Unisyn or Sounddiver is a huge plus on this synth. After much research I found out that I needed to turn the sysex option from the midi area off and back on each time the synth was turned on, then I could get an editor to work. When used with Unisyn or Sounddiver this keyboard is monstrous!!!

Super Jupiter look out!!

Manual? haha I bought this used! If someone has the manual I will pay cash for a xerox copy please email me at pawl@home.com

6 voice polyphonic, not multitimbral, built in chorus that's it, there is a programmer available for it. There is a midi dump capability but I can't remember if I've ever gotten that to work. It does respond to midi sysex in realtime which is a plus but it must be set up correctly every time it's turned on (see above.)

This little board is a full fledged little monster of a synth, it has a resonant lowpass ANALOG filter and it has digital oscilators, probabbly one of the first of it's kind. It also has Pulse width modulation which does some very trippy effects, think Rave here. It also has a HIGH pass filter, something I think most people overlook. A lot of people don't know what good a high pass filter is. If there is a boomy bass that is drowning the drums, turn on the high pass and the mix clears up instantly.

For what this synth does it does it very, very well.

The sound is very analog and distinctive, it sounds very much like the Super Jupiter. I've gotten many sounds out of it that sound very much like a Minimoog or a Moog Taurus. Even though it can do some sounds other synths can it has it's own unique flavor that just cannot be reproduced by any other synth.

I found that the regular outputs are fairly noisy so I just use the headphone out jack with a Y cable going from headphone jack to 1/4 inch. I would rate this keyboard a 9 if I couldn't bypass the noisiness somehow.

The built in keyboard plays all notes at a velocity of 64, but when played from a velocity sensitive keyboard the filter and amp respond to velocity very nicely.

There are 64 preset rom patches and 64 user patches.

This synth is good for any electronic music particularly techno, trance and ambient. Electronic music is all about the sounds, and this little bugger has them. :-)

This is a very dependable little synth, no new problems with it since I bought it. When I bought it the modulation and the chord memory weren't working. I use another controller keyboard and modulation works fine from it.

This keyboard is not meant for gigging, I wouldn't let this keyboard out of my studio under any circumstances.

I've never even tried to call Roland, their reputation preceeds them. They suck at tech support from what I hear. Maybe I should give them a try and ask if I can get a manual.... hmm maybe not.

I would rebuy this synth in a second, although I would consider the MKS-50 also because it is a rackmount version. I would also buy the programmer.

I've been playing for almost 10 years now. I've owned the Juno-1 for about 5 of those years and I still love the sound. I also had a Korg Poly-800 but I sold it because of it's lack of sysex and midi features. I would also buy the Poly-800 again because it has a unique Additive synthesis and Subtrative synthesis architecture not found anywhere else.

When I bought this little Alpha Juno-1 I thought it had some good synth sounds that's all, no nice pianos, no acoustic guitar samples, just a ton of great synth sounds. I had no idea I was buying one of the most sought after synths ever made, everyone has used this synth. The Orb, Prodigy (Firestarter empyreon mix), Lords of Acid, possibly everyone in Techno has heard of this synth. This little beasty is an unknown legend in its time.

well, the presets are decent. the 'Polysynth' presets make for GREAT leads.
Synth wise - none of the presets are really bad at all. Menu editing is kinda ruff at first. You can get the
hang of it with time, but the optional PG-300 programmer would make things ALOT easier and FASTER. but the Alpha dial REALLY rocks for editing.
The manual tells you nothing really that you can't figure out on your own. I looked at it yesterday and it told me nothing i didn't
already know after having it for now, a week. i'd give it a 6 for no knobs or sliders, but that Alpha Dial really is somethin' else.

6 voice polyphony, Portamento (i love this feature for leads), Chord Memory. The keyboard ain't all that. It isn't weighted, but i don't play keys as much as i sequence with midi so i could care less. The Chorus is very lush.
no expansions, midi's decent, no sequencer/arppregiator. This is an ANALOGUE SYNTH, so its good for ANALOGUE sounds (i.e. FAT, THICK!!)
its no miracle workstation. but it does what it does with alot of integrity.

Well as everyone knows... these things weren't made to replicate instruments.
But if you want some deeeeeeep thick chords - this is the board for you. As non-realistic as
the sounds are, i feel it to be very humanized. the warmth this thing puts out is just amazing.
best used for house and techno.

Well it was made 13 years ago. I got mine in excellent condition, but i'm still gonna have a tech/friend give it a run through quality check so that WHEN i DO take it on the road (And i plan on doing so), i won't be so worried.

see above - 13 years. i don't think so.

i love it i love it i love it. its in a class of its own. i bought this synth because its sound is soooo distinct - i could pick it out of songs. and as distinct as it is - it can still be personalized.
plus they aren't that expensive at all. $250-$300 is a good price, around $500 w/ a PG300, but you don't NEEED a PG300.
i'm gonna get one though.

The presets are good except for the instrument imitations. The only prominent exceptions being the koto,pipe organ 2, and the clarinet (can anyone say square wave?). Definantly good lead and soft string sounds with its way cool chorus and digital PWM (hmmm... how'd they do that?) I made a patch editor for it in my Cubase midi manager in twenty minutes. Even without this, the alpha dial makes for speedy editing. Very nice. The manual bites, but it's Roland, what do you expect?

It's a 6 voice instrument that is one digital oscilator per voice, but can be fattened up quite a bit by using saw,pulse, and a sub-osc simultaneously. The biggest drawback is that amp,filter and pitch all share the same envelope with adjustable depth. But you may find this to your advantage with certain types of sounds.They made it a four level, four time envelope to make up for it, so its best to use this as an advantage as well. The only on-board effect is its chorus with adjustable rate and depth. Its kind of noisy but the unit seems to suffer from digital quantization noise when a note is played anyway(probably 8-bit) so you get used to it. Just don't run it directly through a sonic maximizer & you should be ok.There is one lfo, a triangle, which is a pity, but seeing as this isn't as serious a synth as most of Roland's other synths of that time, this didn't bother me too much. Its rate can be increased to almost an audio rate which is good for sound efx. MIDI implementation is great. It recognizes velocity, aftertouch, and sysex for all 35 paramters. It can send or recieve on one of the 16 channels selected under the midi menu. You have to use a controller for the veloc. and aftert. because the keyboard cannot generate either(although the juno-2 does both, with a wider keyboard no less). No expansions, just 64 user patch memory.No sequencer, so get this one for playing straight or preferably with a computer. Also, the large round alpha dial in the corner can be used to control the single lfo's depth and rate, and filter cutoff and envelope time(all increase/decrease together) while you play.

As mentioned, the instrument imitations reek for the most part, but the synth sounds are quite warm, thanks to the analog filter. The sound efx are most excellent,especially that jet!! I ran one of the preset leads through a low feedback flange and it totally kicked. Not comparible to a minimoog or ARP lead, but come on, for digital oscilators, I was impressed. The filters are quite bass heavy and I have made a few good kicks and synth basses with it. The amps are rather punchy and can be extended well beyond what you might consider a drone. Keep in mind that when you start increasing resonance on this one, some of the bandwidth is too high and will be hard on your ears. You might need to use a compressor or EQ for slow high rez patches. Filter,Amp, and Pitch can all react to velocity and aftertouch, which makes for good experimentation. The members of the band I'm in, say it's their favorite for its sound efx and weird synthy patches.

I bought this about a month ago and can't really tell you how it takes the tests of time, but considering it's over 10 years old and everything works, I'd have to give it a good rating. It feels very rugged, yet it's light enough to carry anywhere easily.All the jacks,membrane switches, and keys are in great condition.

I haven't dealt with Roland on it since it's new to my collection, but considering it's in great condition and needs no upgrade (more patches would have been nice) I can't really say much.

This is no serious synth player or techno head synth. It's more of a goof-off or beginner players' synth. But it's so fun just to experiment with, which I do now and again, that I don't mind a bit. The price is right, and it serves its purpose. 'nuff said!

The presets sound reasonably good. Only a few of them matched my own personal liking, though. Just a bunch of wannabe real instruments, although the lead and bell sounds are good. Doesn't need a patch editor because editing is very straightforward (although it would be nice to have it all dials and buttons). The manual is almost enough.

6-voice polyphony, good keyboard action. Built-in effects are few but easy to use. No expansion capabalities that I know of. Monotimbral! Yuck. No on-board sequencer, of course. Reasonable for an early-to- mid-eighties machine.

I think the instruments are bad. But I also say that if you want instruments, get instruments. Don't try to fake it on a keyboard unless it sounds perfect. Best for zezzy, warm synth music. The sound quality leaves something to be desired; an external EQ is VERY necessary. No velocity or aftertouch. Quite reactive, though. Another thing: sometimes, the filters seem overloaded and oscillate, usually in an annoying way that sounds something like wet fingers rubbing against Tupperware. Depending on what you like, it's either a nifty experimental thing or hard on the ears.

You can tell it's old, but it's been through hell and still works perfectly. Beer was spilled on it once (not my fault) and it's been sitting in my dusty room for almost ten years. The internal battery that saves user-defined patches should have died years ago but didn't. The only worrisome thing is a tiny short somewhere that makes it quietly hum when on. Nothing terrible, though.

It was definitely worth what I paid and was perfect for a starting synth. I don't really know whether I'd buy it again because it's the only board I've ever owned -- no basis for comparison. The DX-27 seemed to rival it, though: wider sound producing ability, but the sounds don't seem as warm as the Juno-1. These days, I'd buy it again for $150 to $200.

Has some good useful sounds in the factory preset banks, and a few stinkers (as is the case with most synths). Presets don't fully demonstrate this synths's total sonic potential. Subtractive analog synthesis with digital filters. Very nice warm analog sound, some of the LONGEST envelopes I've ever heard on any analog synth. Patch editing is relatively easy, owners manual is a typical Roland manual with shoddy Japanese-to-English translation, but for the most part is understandable.

6-note polyphony, and relatively fast keyboard action. Built-in chorus effect is somewhat noisy but is superior to the chorus in earlier Roland analog models becuase the alphaJuno-1's chorus has rate and depth parameters instead of just two or three fixed settings. The alphaJuno-1 has no expansion capabilities, but the alphaJuno-2 has a RAM cartridge slot. Both the 1 and 2 can send and receive on all 16 MIDI channels (1 MIDI channel at a time) and have good MIDI implementation overall. The alphaJuno-1 has a 49-note keyboard and no velocity/aftertouch while the alphaJuno-2 has a 61-note keyboard and velocity/afertouch capabilities (the Juno-1 will respond to velocity and aftertouch via MIDI, however).

Both the alphaJuno-1 and 2 are expressive analog synths. Both units are very useful for analog string, brass, pads, bass, and lead type sounds. These synths would be useable for any genre of music. The Juno-1 reacts to velocity and aftertouch real well, and it's not sluggish at all. in my opinion.

Never had a problem with my alphaJuno-1. Totally reliable!!

Never have had to get this machine serviced.

The alphaJuno 1/2 synths are well worth what one pays for them. I would never sell mine. The ease of programmability and the versatility of its synth engine makes this synth a real good companion to any user, especially a beginner. I wish it was bi-timbral and had 12-note polyphony; that's really the only complaint I have about it. I've had this synth for 10 years and still use it regularly in my studio.