Roland Juno-106

very easy to use. everything is laid out for you. i dont have a manual...bought it at a pawn shop. you can always find one on-line.

the keyboard is built like a tank. unlike the plastic roland and korgs of today. this baby was built in 1984, so no sequencer or sound cards. this synth sounds great and modulation is easy. i love the enveloping filters and DEEP bass. dont worry about eFX get a sub woofer to really here how powerful it is. also, the 1st juno to have midi and one of the 1st rolands to have midi. its a analog synth with digital sliders. something cutting edge back then.

this synth wasnt made for traditional musik. has a new wave, kraftwerk, or pink floyd sound. mainly used for retro and electronic sound. great for techno, trance, and jungle. jungle producers like dara and deisel boy uses it for its deep dirty basslines. underworld, moby, and fatboy slim also use it. you could also use it for goth or spacey rock sound. very versitile. in the 80's bands like the cure, depeche mode, and human league also used it. sooo basically, if youve ever heard all the artist i've mentioned...you know how it soundz like. i'm happy to own it and love how it sounds. deffinately a electro studio top 10 list.

you can count on it and play live with it. its a vintage synth so personally i would never drag it on stage. mainly for studio use.

never dealt with roland for my juno. other roland products there customer support is pretty bad.

i traded in a lousy yamaha synth for it at a pawn shop. got it for a steal for 225.00 after trade. its an overall perfect synth for electronic performers. sounds strong and very full. wonderful teXtures. it was made in 1984 and about 44,000 of them were made. so if you can find one buy one!!!

Silders or buttons/switches for every parameter and a pretty simple architecture: analog sound design couldn't get much easier I'd say. This would be an excellent first synth to learn something about analog synthesis.

See reviews below for the specs, not much point in restating them. But here's a little tip: if you're a bit technical, you could use a program called Bome's Midi Translator to translate the sysex generated by the sliders to normal midi-CC's so that you could use the 106 to tweak softsynths etc.

Just about everyone has a Juno and there's a reason for this: it just sounds very tasty. In spite of its simple architecture the range of sounds is still impressive, it can sound quite agressive and technoish but also very musical. Nice warm basses, floaty pads, bleepy fx, even some gabberish leads, it's all in there, and you can tweak any parameter in real time of course, even recording this as sys-ex.

I also have an MKS-50 (basically a Juno 1 in a rack) which has a more advanced architecture for a wider range of sounds, but it sounds quite different from the 106, more digital and bright, and the filters are *very* different for sure, I like the 106 filter very much but I can't say the same of the MKS-50. It's easier to fit an MKS-50/Juno 1/2 in a mix than a 106 but the latter is warmer and more analog sounding. Apparently the Juno 60 is even warmer than the 106, but unfortunately it doesn't have midi so you'd need something like a dcb-to-midi kit as well.

Great sound, easy to program and all parameter/slider changes send out sysex.

This was my first analog synth, and I wish I had bought it years ago, that would have saved me from the frustration of dealing with softsynths... I now have a little studio with mostly analog gear; if you want analog, get analog and leave all those virtual plastic toys for the kids.

Damn easy to use, IMHO. My dad bought it when I was at the age of about 6. Years after I started playing keyboards and therefore became interessted in the thing. And again some years after I first saw other synths and I was quite shocked.

On these other machines, there were no sliders for each parameter and all was quite complex. I love the ease of use the Juno 106 brings.

There are some great presets but one can create really nice sounds after some trying.

The manual could be better but it's ok.

In brief: Usage is the easiest I know

It has 6 voices polyphony and a unisono mode that creates really fat sounds, especially when combined with the portamento function.

The built-in chorus is noisy but it is what gives most pad-sound presets their character.

There's no sequencer and no arpeggiater. The latter is what I sometimes miss.

MIDI-features are really fine, every motion of every slider/knob can be transmitted via sysex to another Juno or to a sequencer.

There's only one DCO, you might think. But this is not that true, the DCO in fact is 4 DCOs, one for sawtooth, one for square, one for sub-square (one octave lower) and a noise generator.

The LFO can control DCO (both frequency and square pulse width) and VCF. The ENV-generator (unfortunately only one...) can control VCF and of course VCA (which can be also switched to "gate")

The filter can be easly brought to resonance. It then creates real killer-sounds.

The keyboard is simple, no touch response or aftertouch. Well, image living in 1985 and buying a relatively cheap synth... what would you expect?

In brief: All features are great. But compared to sate-of-the-art synths there's a lot of stuff missing.

The sounds are really cool! Of course, there are no realistic instrumenst but one can program fat bass sounds or aggressiv, noisy stuff.

The best pad sounds I know. Really soft but not thin.

Touch response and aftertouch is what I miss, therefore only 8 points.

It never showed any probs. Some sliders and a key had a defect (reason: spilled coke into it, my fault.) but with some special cleaning spray they where up and running again after 2 minutes.

The volume knob sometimes cracks. Turn it around some times and it will be ok.

Never needed support, so no rating.

If it where stolen I'd shure try to get another one. No other machine I know lets me make my ideas become a sound path this fast.

Compared to some virtual anlogue Yamaha stuff, it's absolutely perfect. My Korg Poly61 sounds quite thing compared to it.

I wish it had a midi-syncable arpeggiator.

I love it. I definetly do not hate anything on this machine.

To anyone who thinks about buying this thing: They are quite expensive on Ebay Germany. Better try to get one someqhere else. About 700 DM including a flight case should be ok.

Fairly easy to use. Presets are nice, but not great. However it's a lot more fun to mess around with the sliders and knobs yourself anyway. And it's easy to store your own sounds.

You can make some GREAT sounds with this machine, and even though it sounds good on it's own, don't be afraid to run it through some external effect devices. I've had great results, with old guitar pedals such as the Boss ME-10, Boss FT-2 and an Octaver. Also tryed to run it through some of the effects from the Yamaha A4000 sampler, Roland VS-1680 HDrec and a Yamaha Promix 0; again with great results. Tip: OD can really crank up some of the leadsounds!!!!

Even though it's old it's solid. I've had no problems so far.

I have no idea, since i've never needed any support on this synth.

If it was stolen I would definetly try to find another.

It's very nice and easy to program. I think many of the presets are not so good, lots of better make patches yourself. Manual is good and comprehensive.

6 voice polyphony is enough, expect for my Jarre-style pads.. It has very analog noisy chorus, which is great. There are MIDI In, Out and Thru, it had the most complement MIDI stuff when it was released. It doesn't have seq, or arpeggiator, like Juno-60.

It doesn't have many realistic instruments.. More like technobasses and ultracool lead sounds and brass + nice strings. It is excellent choice for techno, electro, ambient, dance and trance. It doesn't have velocity or aftertouch, but that is ok for me.

It works always. Of course I can use it on a gig without backup!!

Never had to.

I wouldn't let it get stolen. It is extremely worth what I paid. I've been playing piano/synths for 7 years and music is one of the most important things for me. I have a analog-modeling Yamaha CS2x and I'm going to buy Roland TR-606 drum-machine.
I love allmost all things in it. I don't HATE anything in it. I hate the people who declare it's digital or something. It is analog, just digitally CONTROLLED oscillator! My favourite trance patches just give me inspiration for melodies and this is a great synth and one of the most loved and used synths. Check all the professional users of Juno! Gotta go play my own..

I wish all synths still had a dedicated knob or slider for every
parameter. Even many of the new modeling synths use some menu
driven or multipurpose buttons. The 106 is easy to program, and a
great first synth if you want to learn how to program an analog voice.

The original factory presets do a good job of showing the different
sounds you can make with a 106, but you really ought to program your
own sounds. Back in the day, you didn't want to sound like anybody
else. Today a lot of people cop out and use presets because programming
is so complex.

The manual is a spotty translation (like many Japanese manuals even
today), but does a good job of telling you all the ins and outs of the
106.

6 voice,
Global LFO/mod rate and portamento
1 DCO (digitally controlled oscillator - stays in tune better than a
VCO, but sounds much nicer than a lot of the gritty modeling synths
made today) - Saw, Pulse, Sub osc, Noise.
1 VCF (24dB resonant LPF, limited HPF, with LFO, Envelope, and Keyboard
modulation)
1 ADSR Envelope

Built-in chorus with two speed settings. Very noisy, but has a unique
sound that you can't accurately duplicate on any modeling synth I've
tried.

Can store 128 patches internally, and you can back them up via MIDI or
the old fashioned way (to cassette).

The 106 was one of the first synths that had full MIDI implementation,
and it was really impressive for its day. It's kinda tame by today's
standards, since it's not multitimbral (all 6 voices use the same patch).

No on-board sequencer. Roland used to make an add on one that matched
the 106 cabinet and attached to the front panel with magnets. I
haven't seen one of those in over 15 years, though, and I'll bet
they're tough to find. Use your computer to sequence your 106.

The 106 voice isn't as complex as many of the more expensive vintage
analog synths (or most of the modeling synths for that matter). The
single oscillator and single envelope per voice make it's sounds
simpler and less fat than a Prophet 5, for example (Can't do a swept
sync with a 106. Can't detune two oscillators to fatten the sound).
However, that makes the 106 much easier to learn. The 106 may not be
the fattest, but it still sounds very good. It has better low-mid
range "balls" than some of the gritty and tinny analog modeling synths,
and the 106 is great for pads and analog organ sounds.

The keyboard feels great, but isn't weighted and does not do velocity
or aftertouch. I like the Roland joystick for modulation, but I know
others who greatly prefer Moog style wheels. You can always control
the thing with your MIDI sequencer anyhow...

I've had mine since it was new, and it's built much more solidly than
most synths made today. The case is mostly metal, and the bottom is
wood. The original battery is still going strong after over 15 years!

The sliders are a little noisy from the years of dust and buildup, but
they still work fine. I've had to replace one of the packs inside when
one of the voices lost its sub oscillator. Parts are still pretty
available since so many 106s were made.

Roland stands behind their stuff, and authorized service folks have
been great about parts.

I don't use my 106 as much as I used to, but I'll always be a fan.

Just grab a knob or a slider.

6 voice polyphony. Keyboard is a really light synth nonweighted keyboard and quiet. There is a Corus effect with two settings - one deeper than the other. No expansion or sequencer. The Keyboard review I read Ions ago said it was the first DCO synth with polyphonic portamento (like I use that on every song!). It has three poly modes. Mode 3 is entered by pressing both poly buttons which layers all 6 VCOs...in today's lingo that traslates into Phatt!

It's a synth. Digital OSCs through analog filters. It does synth stuff. It's from 1983/4. Adding external effects makes it very useable. Does synth stuff fairly well. It's not a Jupiter 8 or an OB8. Pretty organ sounds and strings. Nice sweeps, basses and other synthy stuff. Sends all its knobs and slider data in real-time over MIDI.

All units had a design defect that causes their voice or filter chips to fail. Don't let a tech replace just one chip when it goes bad - replace them all, or you will be back to the tech soon. I replaced chips in 1984, 1987, 1999. Roland apparently has a plentyful supply.
On the otherhad, I played live at a gig in '86 on the beach in Florida. It was 150 in the shade. It blinked out after an hour and we revived it with some ice in towels.

I take it to the guy locally and he fixes it. We're on a first name basis;-)

I bought it new circa 1983. Other than the darn chips going out, I like having it around. I use it musically often for three purposes (1) bass sounds (geez my monitors dude!), (2) Filler in a song, like a pad that you don't really hear, but it's there, and (3) Organ sounds that are very plain. It's got other uses like for techno, but that's not my rhelm. Good as a pad behind a quality sampled piano, and I can play for hours.

The easiest synth I've ever used. Presets are simply ridiculous but at those times a must for a commercial unit. The manual is useless so an editor (unless for storing patch sets).

Few things it does but it does them very well. Quite a noisy unit but it is part of its unique sound so it doesn't matter for me. The battery system forces you to look for battery replacements that are sometimes hard to found. 6 voices poyphony and a cool midi implementation : everything on the front panel can be sent and received by whatever sequencer that accepts sysex.

Cool and unique sounding. The poy 1+2 mode changes the unit into a 6 voices unisono monophonic synth capable of FAT and weird things. Excellent and fun for blirps and blurps it can become very evocative in basses, pads and leads with the help of a good reverberation buddy. The ketboard is pure cold cheap plastic, but it looks so cool to me :) ! Noisy but charming chorus onboard.

mine is 16 years old and works quite well though suffering oldness.
beware of battery system.

Hard to find help for a grandpa.

It's fundamental for me. There's always room in my mixes for a juno track. I own a Q, a Pulse, two Electribes and a couple of other synths and I make IDM like stuff and it fits perfectly with his sweet sound. Whis it had an arpeggiator, but you can always use an external one

Very easy to use, thanks to the sliders. It's a matter of minutes before you find yourself doing interesting sound. I hate new digital synths because I'm frustrated each time I want to change a parameter.

Good amount of features (midi/sysex/ease of use...). It's a shame it's not velocity sensitive but really it's not that important.

My first impression was that the sounds could be very limited but I was wrong. With a bit of tweaking and with the help of some external effects you can can thos monster sounds or those soft and warm sounds for your ambient tracks. In comparaison, I also own an AKAI AX73 (analogue synth with digital controls) and I can say that th 106 sounds a lot better and warmer. Don't let me say what I haven't said: the AX73 is capable of very good sounds too!

I got it second hand (one key is not working but it's easily fixable) at only $100 and until now I don't regret this buy. It seems like this synth is done to last years and years.

Overall, a very nice synth. I recommend it to everyone as this synth
can produce various (warm pads or lead) sounds that you can use in almost every electronic music style.

Simple control panel. I've not heard the actual factory pre-sets, so i can't comment on that. If you can't figure out how to edit this w/o a patch editor, sell it. Don't have the manual, but you probably only need it to see what the different MIDI setting switches in the back do.

Polyphony is 6 voices, typical synth keyboard action. Only effects are built in chorus. Off, I, II, that's it. Kinda noisy, but adds some dimmension to the sound. When it came out, it the most complex MIDI system to date. Velocity ignorant keyboard, no aftertouch.

Decent brass sounds & string sounds. Other than that, it's all zips, zaps, squeels, sweeps, & mdoulations. Suits techno & hip-hop the most. Noisy chorus. Most people react to their synths, not the other way=o)

They're built like a tank! I've never used mine to play live with yet, but i would if it came up.

never dealt with Roland

If it were stolen or damaged, i would buy another one for sure. I've been doing techno for 4 years now. I own the following gear, & love it all, but the juno cannot be replaced. SH-101(red), TB-303, TR-606, TR-626, TR-707, TR-727, TR-808, TR-909, Juno-106, FR-777, Yamaha TX-81Z. It's closest relative is the Jun-6/60. But they have a slightly different sound.