Roland Juno-106

Very easy to use, it's a breeze to edit the patches. Manual not really necessary, but nice to have for reference.

Six voice polyphony, 61 keys, no aftertouch, no velocity, 128 patch memory, good MIDI implementation for age, no appregiator, built in chorus(noisy but still good). Like has been said before, you get this for the sound, not the features.

Awesome pads, basses and leads. Total 80s goodness. The 106 sounds great, it's not a sampler, it's a real synth. The Juno can be smooth as butter, or as dirty as you please. The unison mode is cool, and I like the "noisy", but excellent chorus.

Here's the main issue with an otherwise legendary piece of gear, it is well known that several 106s shipped with lousy voice chips, however, many did not as well, and several that did were repaired. Mine works fine, and I've played many others that did as well. If you are savvy with electronics, replacing a dead chip won't be difficult for you, it can get expensive quickly, so you are better off finding one without this issue. Otherwise, it's pretty well made. I trust mine, but I don't think I'd take it anywhere for fear of accident, loss, or theft.
Get's a 5 for chance of bad 80017 ic chips.

You can download the manual in .pdf from Roland, otherwise I wouldn't bother contacting them. Plenty of 3rd party support though, including new voice chips, so I give it a 7.

I give it a solid 9. The 106 is not the best 'board ever, but it is a damn good one if you are into the sounds of it's era. Lot's of pros used Junos, and you can hear them on many albums. I wish it had the appregiator the other Junos had, and velocity sensitive keys, other than that, it's still a great synth, and I love it. I'd be devastated if anything happened to it, I'd have to replace it. Was expensive, but worth it to me.

if it gets any easier then this i havent played it yet. And thats pretty much across the board. even as a midi keyboard its still easier then alot of others because the channel select is in plain view.

I dont want to be overly redundant everyone says the same its pretty weak on paper. but for whatever reason it sounds beautiful. if you love music from the 80's at all its gonna hit a certain spot with you. i have a handful of synths that can or are supposed to emulate this. jv-1080 to A station, but theres something going on in the frequency of the highs and lows and mids that just get everything right in what this synth is best at. youll spnd forever trying to get it right on another synth and get it in less then a minute on this one. i think it has something to do with the hybrid build of it. for me its mainly the pads you can do.

well i explained this above. though in alot of ways the alpha juno series blows away the 106. i have a alpha and the bass is my favorite of all synth ive ever owned. though ive owned a moog something about the phat overworldly bass you get from it is incredible to me. its not normal by any standards it definetly doesnt sound like it even comes close to a acuostic bass instrument but it was bord to make electronic music. alot like the 808. the 106 chorus is good about as simple as it gets 1 or 2?

heres where not alot is said overall in these reviews and its kinda sad. a large portion of 106's possibly all of them have voice chips that if havent gone bad will. if you wikipedia the 106 it says something like one of the techs that designed it said that the first batch well, the first ones are all most likely dead by now. but that there should be a good amount or at least some out there that are fine and will die someday as all things do but not in the emediate future. i hope thats true because its quite expensive to replace all the chips like about 400+ alone. for this reason alone i will never purchace another 106.

none existant roland stopped producing parts for this synth when i was a kid and im almost 30!

well i picked mine up on ebay because i had never seen a juno for less then 500 let alone 300 bucks. i always wanted one as a teen and had the internet been more dvailable then i wouldve found out about the bad chip issue. im deciding if i want to keep it or not. its gonna most likely be a yes but if my chips ever do die it will get a proper funeral. point blank theres is a whole handful of synths that came out in the 80's with a goal of being anything near the juno and had they been sucessful you wouldnt be reading this. because there is only one juno 106, period. however if your not an experienced musician or know a thing or two about electronics stay away. because your odds of getting a bad juno are not in your favor. and for what its worth for you a korg poly 800 is close enough without putting you in danger of blowing possibly 600 bucks down the shit. even if it sounds incredible whats the use if it doesnt work. by the way thats what they go for nowadays usually 600. i noticed nobody ever puts that just the rediculious small amount they pay for it. by the way juno for 75? yeah stop lying guy.

Nothing to it by todays standards, very simple architecture, what you see is what you get
That said it takes a while to find its sweet spot
And a good understanding of subtractive synthesis and modulations goes a long way

Again, very simple, on paper doesnt look very impressive next to 16 Voice mega analogues with 4 LFOs 3 Envelopes, multiple modulations etc
No velocity or aftertouch etc no sequencer
The main "feature" is the sound, so for me that its best feature

Well I sold one a few years back and then missed it, so this is my second one
You get single oscillator, single envelope, 1 LFO, Saw and Pulse Oscillator Analogue sounds. You know basses, bleeps, pads, brass, leads, sweeps, crunches, crashes, thuds.
Sounds like any other simple synth on paper but the Juno 106 just hits the spot for certain sounds for me
I cant get these sounds anywhere else
I have a ton of fancy synths, Andromeda, Dopefer A-100, DSI Evolvers you name it
This synth hits some emotional nerve in my brain
Maybe its because some of my favourite music was made using this synth
I mean, how else do you judge how "good" something sounds?
It has a certain tone or something I really like
On the down side the range of sounds is limited because of the simple architecture - hence the 8 score

Well it very old and still works perfectly
Seem to be plenty of spare parts from dead 106s and backup around

Roland here still service this thing
They cannibalise old ones for parts

Well it wont blow you away with its feature set
I have plenty of synths with much more complexity and power
But none sound like this
For same reason I love the SH101 and SIDstation very simple, but unique sound
This has character and presence
It speaks a certain musical language
True, some of it is nostalgia for me, it reminds me of sounds of happy times.
But I still use it in new ways today
Mix it in with the new sounds
Its so cheap anyway its not like Im starving to afford one, its a gift
Only problem for me though is space, the dreaded software synths give you so much sound variety in such a small space.
The only reason I would sell this is I just cant move in my studio for all these keyboards
But for now Im keeping it.

Ok, this synth has gotten some un-deserving bad reviews as of late. While I personally like the Juno 60 better the 106 is no second rate synth. It may not have modern features, but it does have great analog sound. It may be a beginners synth, but it has the controls and ability to have many uses in the right hands.

Its really simple simple six voice synth. No velocity sensitivity or arpeggiator here. It's a bare bones kind of synth. However, it gives you enough to create interesting and unique sounds that can be edited with external effects. Its not a all in one machine, but gives you tools to build a foundation.

This synth is great. Yeah its limited, but I use a Korg ES-50 Lambda often to get sounds ( Thats limited! ). The sound is great, as said before its not a "punchy" as the 60, but it still is great. Obviously some who have reviewed this only did so by using headphones or midi. Try it through a fender tube amp and you will hear it come to life. Also do not think twice about using external effects on it. I use a Electro-harmoinix big muff and Memory-man delay on mine always. The key is that the Juno 106 gives a good interface and raw sound that is great to work with. Like a lot of older synths you need to get creative, but when you do the sounds are well worth it.

The juno 106 provides a great base. It has a simple yet extensive controls and can create many sounds. However, this synth is not plug and play by any means.

I have never had a problem with mine, but I have heard many horror stories. Most deal with poor voice chips. Supposedly there are still second market voice chips that sound good, but I have never used them so i can't say anything for certain.

This synth is great for beginners who want to get creative and learn TRUE synth techniques. THis thing will not hold your hand and will force you to be creative. It has plenty of sounds and uses so it will not be something you will ever out grow. One must remember though that to get the best sounds you may need to use other pieces of equipment.

This is an easy to use, very basic subtractive synth. Classic analog synth layout. Patches are OK, but a lot of them sound alike due to the limited tonal capabilities of the Juno 106. It is easy to edit and save patches, and the manual is ok.

Polyphony is six voices, but remember that this thing was made in the early 80's. The keyboard action is typical synth-weighted, plastic organ feel (read "poop"). Built in effects are limited to chorus, no reverb or other signal processing is avilable. Interestingly, the June 106 sports an analog port for connecting to a tape deck in order for users to save patches to analog recording tape! This is done through a built in modem that is used to encode the digital memeory of the 106 into *sound* that can be recorded onto tape (or sent over a voice-grade phone circuit). Now you youngsters out there don't even know what I'm talking about do you? This thing was made in the days when vinyl records dominated the music industry (ask your parents). It was thoughtful for Roland to include a way to save your patches (onto cassette tape for example), but MAN, talk about cheesiness! On a more serious note (har har), after the purchase I almost immediately hated the fact that it doesn't respond to keyboard velocity, so every note plays at the same volume irrespective of whether you played it soft or hard. This might just be the last keyboard manufactured on the planet Earth without velocity response. Connecting via MIDI to a velocity sensitive controller doesn't help either, because the Jumo 106 simply ignores velocity information. This has a real limiting effect on its use, e.g. OK for some organ-like sounds, but poor for sounds requiring wide dynamic ranges such as strings, percussion, etc.

I really love the Harmony Central reviews, and they have reliably guided my instrument purchases over the last several years. But I have to respond to the following, which is from a review I read a couple of reviews below:

"Not as good as the famous Casio PT-30 but the Juno 106 sounds much better than the Minimoog, because it uses only one oscillator"

WTF??? Hello!?! OK, I'll have whatever you're smoking pal. It sounds good "because it uses only one oscillator" ?!?!?!?!???!!! Seriously, even mentioning this thing on the same page as the venerable Minimoog is an ignorant thing to do. This is an entry level synth with a very thin and sonically limited palatte. It is not, repeat not, a serious contender in the world of analog synths, and certainly not even worth one note of a Minimoog's power. I have used the 106 a lot to fatten other sounds, especially basses. However overall its sound is very uninspired and limited. A good first synth - if it were 1985, but it's not.

Somebody below said something like "don't pay more than 700 Euro's" - hey, please call me immedaitely, you can have mine for EU 699! No? How about EU69? Alright, give me fifty bucks and a case of beer!

Seem reliable. Note however that it uses a non-standard power cord, which if lost means you can't play it! Could be a bad surprise at a gig!

Don't know. Never called.

No, I would not replace the Juno 106. I bought it new in the early 1980's. I was torn between this one and the Jupiter, but thought I'd like this one becuase the Jupiter was twice as much - WRONG! That's what I get for being cheap, one of the worst mistakes in my instrument purchasing career. This thing was hugely popular, because it was a low end, polyphonic synth that was well in the price range of amateurs. So Roland sold 100's of thousands of Juno 106's. But only because of the 106's low price point. In today's world, you wouldn't consider this thing for much becuase it's sounds are so one dimensional. To explain what I mean by this, in some ways, the timbale sound resembles the organ sound, which resembles the string sound, which... Of course this is a bit of an exaggeration, but not without a point. The 106 is so limited in its ability to generate sound that it is a very skinny one-trick pony.

This is a great synth for your first "analog". Even though the oscillators are digitally controlled, most of the basic parameters of the older VCO analogs are here. The Junos are probably some of the easiest to program. Once again, a great introduction to analog.

This synth is limited by the single DCO, but the sounds that it is capable of are great. The PWM and Sub-oscillator are very handy in thickening the sounds. Also, the chorus is GREAT, but a little too noisy, unless there is a lot going on in the mix of the song you are using the synth on. This would be a 10 if there were multi-oscillators.

Nice basses and a couple of decent organs. But the real star here is the strings and basses. Easy to get Memorymoog-like strings, or even some Jupiter-like strings and pads via the PWM. The chorus does wonders for the sound here, too. But you would probably do better with an outboard chorus that's not so noisy, unless you want that slow, pulsating hiss.

I just got this synth on ebay and it looked like it had been buried in someone's backyard when I got it (the keys were brown), so I was a bit skeptical about it even working at all. I cleaned it up (back to white) and turned it on and there were no problems. Although there were no major scratches or parts missing/broken, it was clear that the synth had not been taken care of. Nonetheless, it still sounds great. So, even though I just got it, I'm gonna say it's a good one, because all the voices work and I played it for about 4 hours straight with no problems the first night.

I've never had to deal with Roland. I've heard some good and bad, though.

I would definitely replace this synth if necessary. I'm sure it's the best $300 I've spent on an instrument. It's a nice piece of nostalgia for me. I would recommend it to someone who wanted to add some analog pads to score music. And, as always, the dance/techno stuff like William Orbit is great on this synth, too.

So simple a chimpanzee could do it standing on its head. You'd have to be brain damaged not to fix it boy.

Waves pulse square saw, only one OSCs + one Sub, two Filters lpf reso + static hpf 4 Pole, only one LFO triangle, only one ENV.

If you like string sounds you have heard a million times before, go for it. If you'd like to make e.g. a bass sound, you???re not going to get it from this one, or any other half-decent sound. This is without doubt the most undeservedly hyped up synth in the history of synthesisers. You will get very little for you money, use it on something better.

It Japanes/German it is solid.

no idea

I had mine for two years, can't comprehend why I kept it that long, since then I moved on to better things the sweet sounding and totally unreliable Ensoniq, phantomless complicated but rewarding and dead solid Yamaha's, bassy Korg???s, intuitive and harsh Quasimidi's and brilliant Anyware Instruments. I have had twelve synths up through the years the worst were all from Roland.

a bit hard for the beginner due to the many possibilities which this synth offers. On the other hand, after some experience you start to appreciate it. Maybe not so good for beginners, too many sliders.

The range of sounds is tremendous.

It is definitely a 10. A little complicated for the beginner due to the many sliders, but on the other hand, a universe of sounds is possible. Not as good as the famous Casio PT-30 but the Juno 106 sounds much better than the Minimoog, because it uses only one oscillator. Get one before they disappear from the market. They are the secret of success and used in many Top studios. Also much better than Juno 6 and Juno 60, they sound too vintage and have too much punch. The strings on the 106 are famous.

never had a problem, built like a tank, some plastic though.

super support from Roland, but is costly.

... a true classic. Don't pay more than 700 Euro for it.

Very simple and straight-forward.Child play.

6 Voice Polyphony.fantastic plastic action.basic fuzzy lo-fi chorus.First juno to implement midi.

Very thin sounding compared to its older bothers the juno 6 and 60. I really dont know why this synth is that popular.When it comes to sound and thickness, my Korg Polysix kicks its @$$ up and down the street.I guess its only popular because of its simple user interface and the ability to create sounds quickly.

Can you depend on it? Well, you can depend on its rare and expensive VCF chips to croak on you and leave you asking, "why did I buy this"?I use it as a on-stage midi controler because it looks cool.Other than that its just dead weight to me.If you want a Reliable Juno synth get a Juno 6 Or a 60.They are very dependable and dont have those cheap prone- to- die VCF chips that this one has.

Built in 1984. nuff said.

If it were lost or stolen they would probably bring it back when they see how worthless it is and hard to find parts for.I paid 260.00 plus shipping for mine. Man was I stupid.Like I said, Juno 6's and 60's are SAFE MONEY AND ARE VERY RELIABLE!!!!!!GO GET ONE NOW!!!!!!BEFORE THERE GONE!!

No idea which OS - but I assume those were pretty much all the same. Editing patches could not be easier. Probably the best beginner synth of all time. The sheer versatility of sounds and ease of use make it a perfect begginer instrument. AND IT IS PHAAAAAAAAATTTT!!!

Patch editor is not even an option, as MIDI implementation is very rudimentary. Note on/off pretty much is all you can do. Can't controll any of the patch parameters via MIDI, unlike modern synths. What it does - it does great.

Manual is not really needed - I only glanced in it to see how to save a patch and save sound banks. Everything else is pretty much self explanatory. From looking into manual - it wasn't bad... they just kinda didn't cover essentials until like the last quarter of the book. Oh well, typical of roland manuals for that time period. Not going to rag on them for it. If you feel that you need a manual for this synth - perhaps you should consider taking guitar lessons instead... :)

Poly is 6 notes and it's more than sufficient for what I do with it.

Keyboard action is acutally quite nice. I've had both - HS-60 and Juno 106 (both are the same synth, HS-60 has speakers and doesn't look as good as 106). HS60 felt terrific.... 106 felt somewhat different... not bad still but given a choice, I'd pick HS60 key feel over 106. But keep in mind - it's all subjective, as there's no touch sensitivity.

Now, built in effects are 2 chorus types - both ADD MASSIVENESS to the sound. One acts more like a vibrato the other more like a detune type of chorus. Can't combine both choruses (shame!!!) like you could in RS09, but can't have everything. Using FX is as easy as on/off. You cannot imagine how beautiful the chorus is in that synth. This is the same chorus chip that was used in classic roland chorus stomp pedals (can't remember the model - light blue color).

No expansion, it's not a rompler. it's a synth! NO on board sequencer or Arp... which kind of sucks... I wish it did have at least a basic arp - it would have made it soooo much better. but then I guess it wouldn't be juno 106, eh? I love what it has and what it does.

No realism here. Except real deal! I know you're not expecting some piano or string sounds, right? Organs, strings, pads, leads, basses - it's an electronic musician's dream.

You do hip hop??? This is the bass machine to rattle your subwoofers
you do trance? This is the farty basslines you've been waiting for
you do house? This is the lush bassy leadlines that you needed

It works miracles for trance/prog/house/electronica - anything that has a 4/4 beat and needs a fat and juicy bassline - this is the beast. N A S T Y!!!! My monitors are about to have a seizure. Anything that was within immediate vicinity of the monitors began to rattle and shake, things started falling to the floor and pretty soon - the monitors themselves started cutting out, as overload indicators went on.

THIS IS A HARD, HEAVY, SUPER FAT ANALOG BITCH! Not the kind of girl you bring home to ma'.

Again, no velocity - no aftertouch, just pure and mean bass machine.

Oh, and it does wonderful pads or noisy alien screams and all kinds of other weird sh!t that no other synth can do.

Something about this little monster that got me and I am never selling mine.

The only reason I give it a 9 is because it's just limited based on design and cost. It's everything that Jupiter 8 aint, and Jupiter 6 can't deliver. It's that perfect instrument that has its own personality and sits all by itself in the mix. Nothing else can touch it. It occupies a bandwidth and plows through the mix like a plow truck. You can hear Juno 106 in the mix... when you can't hear it - YOU CAN FEEL IT... It's that deep.

Now, here's a bad part. I would not depend on it if my gig was based purely on this synth alone. It is not as sturdy as Jupiter 6/8, it's also made with a wooden bottom and plastic top. Construction is solid but sliders, buttons, and other elements are fragile. Mine has held up for number of years but it feels fragile. The bender assembly sits loose, sliders feel flimsy and buttons feel like they'll either stop working or will pop out any time. Knobs are standard 909-quality... meaning, after some time, pots will become scratchy and flimsy.

Now, the biggest problem is not from external construction but from internal. This is the biggest issue. ALMOST EVER SINGLE JUNO 106/HS 60 EITHER HAS OR WILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH DCO.

You got 6 voices, with DCO for each. That's 6 DCOs. Each is selling for about $60 - $80 on ebay. That's $360 - $480 for VCOs alone!!! You may have 1 to replace or you may have all 6... and you can also get lucky.

But your best bet is to test it in person. Sometimes, you have to let it sit for 15 or so minutes in order to start hearing the problem. So, play it for some time before deciding to shell out the cash - as these problems are expensive.

I also found that some Junos have a problem with the buttons, as pointed out earlier. I had one that had a problem with one of the oscilators. As far as reliability goes - Juno is only as reliable as your luck and if you had it serviced and tested.

Maybe it was just me but I had 3 Junos - every single one had some kind of problem. Good news - parts are still available but they are not cheap...

Reliability gets only 3 based on my experience

Roland actually improved recently. They will even send you a manual if you ask them nicely, though, most manuals are now available online!!! Welcome to the 21st century, Roland.

My experience with Roland support has always been good but I don't call them with stupid questions or expect them to have 100% of parts available for 25 year old synth. Sometimes you can get lucky - they may say they have something. Most likely - you won't find anything, so support is not really an issue with this synth.

I give it an 8 because I've seen better - but overal, they are good.

This will probably be one of the last synths I sell. For about the price of a software package you get a real deal semi-analog synth with beautiful sound and gorgeous package. It's an eye catcher. I would most definitely buy it again.

I love it's bassy sound or lush and crazy pads - it's definitely a box full of surprises and running it through some FX just gives it an unbelievable tonal character.

It's a great synth - buy it but try to check it out or at least get some kind of return agreement - don't buy it blindly, without asking questions and getting some guarantees... repairs will be costly.

For the price you pay - thes are fantastic. If you can find one - grab it, this is the secret weapon in many artists' toolbox. don't be without one.

I've never had the need to look up anything in the manual.

Kind of hard to grade the features.. since the lack of some of the features makes up it's unique sound :D

I want more polyphony though, but it's enough most of the time.

I give it a 10, it's instant classic sounds and more. It has it's limitations, but most of the time it's what gives this synth it's unique charactistics.

It's hard to describe since I'm not currently with the synth, but due to the limitations in it's design in the way the ADSR and filter works in actually plays a bit different than other synths do. In such a way that many things that are possible with this synth that isn't possible with synths that have a "higher" spec. In effect, it's budget construction does give it such unique features that it's essential if you want that type of sounds :D

I know it sounds cryptic.. but when you used it for a while you know what I mean :D

It's old, it still works

Well, it always worked so no opionion on support

I will never part with it.. never!

The presets were great! Anything from a fat organ or brass sound, to beautiful strings and chimes! I even programmed my own sounds.. including a helicopter and "tweet tweet" bird sound, synth drum, etc. I'm no great shakes on the programming side!!!

I bought this synth new in 1984, and admittedly, it has no touch sensitivity. The polophony is only 6 note, and sometimes if you hit too many notes, it will "steal" The chorus effects are pretty good, very easy to use. Portamento, pitch bend, etc, again pretty good. To judge the 106 you really have to play it and hear it. I used to tape dump in the "old days" haha... It doesn't have a sequencer (thank God) that's toooo technical for me! I never did get round to using MIDI, as I always said I was a musician and not a technician. The reverse envelope is great, you can get some really good effects with that.

Ok...! Organ and brass sounds are really "phat", rich.... strings are beautiful.... I used to be in a couple of bands, and worked with a vocalist and the old 106 was really versatile. I probably said all the stuff in the above category.

I love this synth... it's 22 years old now, and the back-up memory has gone, as have the presets.. it has it's moments, and like anything old is temperamental..! I can still manually program a deep rich "Roland" sound... I've even played it in a church, and thru the P.A it sounded phenomenal..!! It has a broken frequency slider (I still have the knob to adjust it) and a couple of cracked keys... but this synth has been thru a lot, and I wouldn't swap it for anything. Yeh, I'd use it on a gig.

Haha! What haven't I said above? Thru my misty rose coloured glasses, well.. I haven't known or owned a keyboard/synth like this, and I've had a few! I've been playing keyboards, piano and organ for 38 years now. I bought the 106 on advice cos I knew the guy in the shop I bought it from, and he recommended it. I tried it in the shop, wrote a tune there and then and fell in love with it. It's a battered old 22 year old warhorse... it does the job when it wants to... I've tried a DX7 and the sounds are too "thin", tried a Mirage (that's nice!) and SH-101.... Yamaha and Galanti double manual organs.... I think poor old Roland Juno here needs a "makeover" as I'd really like to get it back to sounding like it should. It's in semi-retirement, but I wouldn't sell it, and if it were lost or stolen, it'd be like losing a child. I played it in church and people were coming up to look at it... I think because of it's looks, and when I told them how old it was!!! It still makes a guest appearance sometimes. It's not got half the stuff of modern keyboards, and I can't afford those anyhow... 20+ years down the line, it still does the biz.

It doesn't get any easier with a slider for each parameter. If you know the basics of subtractive synthesis - you don't even need a manual. If you don't know the basics - just call up a patch and tweak a slider and LISTEN - you'll be an expert in no time. Get a universal editor to help back-up your patches - otherwise you'll be off loading via cassette - But you know what - perhaps I could offload via the cassette port to a digital recorder - burn to CD and then WHAM - digital backup!!.

6-voice, 2 Oscillator - but you can get 3 tones if you self-oscillate the filter - I actaully programmed a descent organ patch this way when I tuned the filter tone to a 5th above the tonic.

This is the FIRST of the HyBrid Digital/Analogs - the OSC is digital (a DCO believe it or not) this makes the tuning ROCK SOLID. Older synths with classic VCOs would drift out of tune.

it has an analog resonant VCF (per voice) which really warms it up.

Granted - it's only got one ADSR envelope (per voice) - but for a beginner it really eases the learning curve.

It's got a single LFO - but you know - sometimes simple is GREAT!!! - you really only need multiple LFOs and ADSRs if you're making ambient sounds or crazy unplayable sound FX. For playablilty and EASE of programing - it gets little better than this configuration.

It's got a built in Chorus (a bit noisey)

Full MIDI

No Sequencer or Arpeggiator

First off - it's analog.

But the electric piano and P-Bass sounds are pretty damn good.

It sparkles - it's warm - lush pads - deadly mono-bass when you use the UNISON function and stack all 6 voices (12 oscillators) into one note - add the portamento and it ROCKS as a solo tone.

No Sine wave sounds though - so forget the Sine Bass - but it can still Rumble.

I once created a sound that imitated a flying blimp overhead (if you've ever heard one , you know what I mean) - I pumped it through my amp and my brother went running out the door to see where it was in the sky (hee hee hee hee) - sucker!

No velocity.

I am a FIRST TIME BUYER - I bought it NEW in 1985 - I have NEVER sold it - no will I EVER.

There are sounds in this thing I have NEVER been able to recreate on anything else.

Solid - no problems -

huh?

Again - I bought it when it was the latest thing - it still rocks and will forever be a part of my set-up

Couldn't be easyer hit a slide and your sound is changing (But where's the cv gate, and trigger. It would be nice to have those around that midi to trigger the old synths.)

It has this beutifull sounds not so raw like older synths but harmonic and the MIDI rocks
(It's the only reason i got a MC-303, I never youse his sound(There nothing as ugly as that.))I made a Audio input to the filters and chorus to the nooise (So the nooise is out of sirvice, the Oddysey has pink and white.)That realy is a must an easy to make.

WHAAAAAAAAAT A BEUTY no pro5 but WHAAAAAAAAAT A BEUTY OBxa but WHAAAAAAAAAT A BEUTY

I often hear story's about losing voices, but didn't happen to me yet

Do it your self

Good polyphonic synth with one of the best harmony sounds. Only those Fucking sliders

The Juno is very easy to use. It is a classic example of a synthesizer in which there is a controller available for every function. Patch editing is easy, although the manual is very basic and not that helpful for those that are new to synthesis. I particularly like the controls above the pitch bend knob and wish that Roland still did this for their current model keyboards.

Polyphony is 6 voice which is okay - the JP8000 is only 8 voice so I guess not much has changed since. The built in chorus is interesting but very noisy. The keyboard action is quite good for a non weighted keyboard. Monophonic mode assigns all 6 voices to the one note which is an interesting effect.

The sounds are great and this is why I bought it. The sawtooth wave is awesome. There is something about it that seems to set it apart from modern synths like MS2000's, Ions etc. It does not have velocity or aftertouch though.

I don't gig with it and would be a little woried about doing so. There is something about the chasis on this thing that doesn't quite feel solid... it can bend slightly when you pick it up. I had to get the VCA chip replaced also as the fifth voice would drop out. This was readily available but was quite costly. I have had no problems since.

The local Roland repairers were very good: replaced the problematic VCA chip pretty fast and knew about the issue.

I would definately buy one again. They are great value for the prices you can pick them up for. I only wish Roland still made synths which were intuitive like this one... It's a simple design but you can pull a good variety of sounds from it. And I love sliders: they give you great visual feedback on how your sound has been programmed.

One of the easiest synths ever made - a button, switch or slider for every parameter makes for effortless editing, a joy to use. I would recommend this synth to anyone, from the newbie though to the seasoned synth programmer. Because it's so easy to program, it always lands of lead synth!

6 notes polyphony, which is enough for most applications. There is one effect, a two stage chorus. It is a wonderful effect, however it is very noisy - I would highly receommend a noise gate to silence it. There were two variants, the 106S and the HS-60, which both have speakers built in. Some of these also have a sound input, but I don't think it processes the audio - just mixes it with your synth sounds and sends it to the speakers. MIDI is excellent, with all controls transmitting and receiving SYSEX data, which means a world of possibilities for those who can integrate this into their sequences, enabling them to evolve the timbre itself over time as part of the sequence. Neither the keyboard nor the synth engine is velocity sensitive, which is a bit of a bummer.

I won't try and pigeonhole its sounds into any one category, but suffice to say it has a real character, one which I love hearing in my tracks. I would probably recommend it to people making electronic music or music which incorporates elements of electronic, such as pop-rock. It is very capable of making sounds commonly found in 80's synth-pop (mainly because it is an 80's synth), mean sounding growling bass and leads, powerful piano and harp like sounds, modern squelchy blippy sounds, lush pads and strings, weirdass SCI-FI Dr. Who style sounds effects, and many more.

It is quite solid but I would hesitate to cart it around a lot - it would be more suited to studio use. There is one problem with these though - they often get a dead VCO/VCF chip in them. To test for this, play each note on the keyboard one after the other in quick succesion on a patch with a quick attack and long release (like a piano), and listen to see if any of the keys you press don't make a sound. If so, this can be fixed, but will cost money. Synthrepair in the UK has access to a new run of these chips, but they are a one off run and will run out eventually.

Never needed it, but there is plenty of support online. I am ecstatic that I can still buy brand new DCO/VCF chips for these (as I have needed them).

If this were lost or stolen, I would buy another. In fact I did buy another, without the first even being lost or stolen - I own two of the suckers! These are my main synths, and my others are my MS2000B and my TX7 (a DX7 with no keyboard). I also have a fully loaded Akai S5000 sampler, quite a lot of other boxes that do all sorts of things, and a Mac G3 to control it all. This synth was the first piece of equipment I bought for what is now a comprehensive home studio, and is almost always where new tracks start.

Bought this thing back in 90. Had only the M1 at the time, and both of those synths were the easiest to use. Yamaha products probably the worst, even to this day.

Didnt have upgradables, but programming your sounds was easily the high point of the 106. It was so easy and home-brew voices sounded a lot better than the factory pre-loaded stuff. Plus, with todays PC capabilities, you can MIDI sounds and sequence.

It was a budget synth, so you get what you pay for, BUT you could program almost anything you heard synth wise. Some sounds a bit shallow, but it was great for its time.

Very dependable studio wise. I wouldnt drag this to a gig, being that a slight vibration in the OSC's will change a sound, but great for techno/dance basses and pads.

Basically, the web is your tech support, so I give that a 10. Wow, its so easy to find what you need tech wise and even patch wise for various boards. I recently purchased a Triton Extreme and I downloaded over 40 banks of sounds for free. Thats over 5000 sounds, so you get the picture.

I give it an 8 for the time frame it was popular. Nowadays, you can get the vinage sounds from various new boards on the market. Its about time Korg, Yamaha, and even Roland started implimenting vintage data in the new boards. People have only been asking for it for abou 15 years now. Sad to say that Im selling my Juno, being that the Moss board on the Extreme has vintage capabilities as well as giving me warm pads, great piano and strings as well as a sax or trumpet. The Juno-106 had its day, but time to move on.

Everything's right there in front of you, no menus and submenus to click through, so with a basic knowledge of synth programming concepts you can dig in and start playing with the sliders to see what happens. Great fun, great way to learn about synths.

When I bought my JUNO-106 back in the early 80's, I was impressed just to be able to save patches to memory. Before that I played on an ancient ARP of some sort where I had to change sliders and knobs between songs. The chorus may have been noisy, but it was OK for live settings. The features seem pretty lame by 21st-Century standards, but were cool at the time for a budget synth.

No samples of any sort, nothing very realistic, but it was fine for the kind of sounds you needed to cover stuff like Loverboy or Van Halen's "Jump". I used it for Hammond-like organ sounds, but it was pretty cheesy. But what I loved the most was the chorused synth strings sound; it was lush and it sounded great on slow dances in our live mix. There are lots more realistic strings patches out there now, but I've never found one with that room-filling warmth.

Never had any serious tech problems -- seemed pretty durable.

I sent it back to the factory once because I thought the modulation wasn't working. Turned out it worked fine -- I just didn't understand how the manual said it worked. The factory guys seemed supportive enough, but the user's manual was not the greatest. Japanese-to-English translation wasn't their strong suit.

I sold my JUNO-106 over 10 years ago because that sound wasn't really what I needed, but I've got fond memories of using it on gigs in the early/mid-80's. It was a budget synth, but I was on a budget so it worked out great for me. I wish I could find a midi module that could duplicate the synth strings patch.

this thing is a breeze. one knob (or button) for each function. learn a little about analog synthesis and you will be programming in no time. the most complicated feature i imagine is the tape save feature, although i have yet to use it.

6 voice poly, nice synth action keyboard. i rather enjoy the fact that it doesn't have velocity of aftertouch so i don't have to deprogram these features. 128 memory locations gives you plenty of room for storage. chorus really fattens up the sounds although it is noisey. lfo only has one shape tho- and it would be nice for it to sync to midi. portamento takes some getting used to...

great basic analog synth for bass, pads, weird effects and lead sounds. if you are looking for realistic instrument sounds, look elsewhere. all knobs transmit and recieve midi, so external control is possible. this synth is good for almost any style of electronic music, trance, techno, industrial, ambient, electro or experimental.

seems to be built fairly well, metal body with plastic sides. the faders are not very durable though (two of mine were broken off when i bought it). also, my vcf chip is failing, so i lose every sixth note. i have seen replacements on ebay and other places and don't imagine anyone who knows how to solder woud have trouble replacing these.

never dealt with them. i doubt they would support an old product like this.

been programming for five years now, have used a poly800, esq1, alpha juno 2, d50, ms2000 and various samplers/sequencers. the esq1 and ms2000 have been my favorites so far, but the juno makes sounds like no other (probably those special vcf chips). if lost or stolen, i would probably try to get a jx8p or maybe a jp8000 for more oscillators. if you can find a one in good condition for under $250 buy it! i am still trying to get my hands on some replacement parts so mine functions 100%, but this is not a huge priority.

It couldn't be easier to use. Everything is right out in front of you, lots of sliders well organised. You really don't need a manual for this.

Its all written below.

Ummmmmm, you can create a lot of sounds very easily here but to be honest, I was never quite satisfied with what came out. Its very early 80's and not really that great. It WAS a budget synth back then and it sounds even more budget today. Yeh, it looks retro cool but it really doesn't stand out.

Watch those sound chips, they do tend to fry and aint cheap, but the overall build is very strong.

Well at least Roland were aware of the weakness of their soundchips and mass produced a stockpile to keep them running.

I just sold it for Au$660 and bought a Kawai K5000s for Au$670 which is a far more powerful and richer sounding bit of gear. Yes the JUNO looks kewl and there is a sentimentality attached to these old beasts but after my K5K arrived I quickly forgot about it. The whole retro thing is overrated and there is generally much more bang for your buck than instruments like this give. I am glad I sold it as it never really found a way into my music, to my ear it just sounds cheap and remember it WAS a cheap entry level board in its time.

Sound editing could hardly be easier than this. There is a slider for everything (some buttons and two knobs) and it really isn't a very complicated synth either. Using a patch editor wouldn't help, since the user interface is as god as it gets.

Juno-106 is a six voice polyphonic and programmable analogue synth with DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators) and comes with a 61-note keyboard without velocity or aftertouch. Apart from that the keyboard action is good. The only onboard effects is a chorus with two different settings. The chorus is well known to be very noisy but some like the charater. It is very similar to the Juno 60 but adds portamento, increased patch memory storage (128 patches) and extensive MIDI control. In fact all the sliders on the front panel (17) are sending MIDI sys-ex data which can be sequenced, a fantastic feature back at 1984. The most limiting feature is the lack of another oscillator (sub oscillator doesn?t count). That means you can?t do sync, ring, FM or detune sounds etc. Also the LFO has only one wave shape (but has delay). So when it comes to sounds there's a limit to what can be done.

Overall it has a very smooth sound, almost feminine. It really sounds like the 80?s synthpop and new wave but it is also a fantastic techno/trance synth. For industrial and rhythm?n?noise there might be better alternatives.
Use it to generate lush pads, filter sweeps, and funky bass lines.
What it does it does good, but there really is a limit with only one oscillator. For some audi demo samples (192kbps MP3) go to my dedicated Juno-106 page:
http://www.unease.se/juno.htm

Apart from the trouble with custom IC filter chips (the bad batch) that one should avoid, the Juno-106 is a true workhorse. No troubles.

I'm really missing another oscillator so it could do sync, detune, ring and all these things. Also I prefer a rawer sound with more grit, like Prophets and Moogs. The Juno tends to sound techno-like, possibly synthpop or ambient, but hardly aggressive or raw IMO.

got it slightly used in 1990, previous owner blew a hole in his head(very sad)but I got it for 50 bucks at the estate sale.

The real time control is the only boon to it versus my JX 3p.
I wish I could stick the juno engine into the JX

6 voice, very pedestrian, not very interesting sound. A beginners synth at best. cheats with the chorus due to that it half a synth.
The 1 env gen/voice is also in very bad show.

a bass synth at best, as the 1 osc sound is almost reqired since the phase cancellation would weaken it. othewise a closed door synth devoid of soul

It's made of drywall& wax paper so I tend not to stand on it.
Ive never gigged it, nor have I turned it on in eight years

Im gonna sell it cause It's CRAP.
get me a return on my investmet cause their going for 400 bucks now
A hunk of junk, but a well made hunk of junk.
GET AN AX 80 INSTEAD! you wont be disappointed

Well I had a Juno 60 for years and now 14 years onm i decided to invest in my second. You see the beutey of these things is that they really are all ery individual like a great violin or guitar, ditial can suck my -*+--! It's the easiest synth I have ever used, bordering on Genius. New imitations really copy this all.

So I retrofitted my my Juno 60 taking out the original power pack and the sound changed, a little less fat but boy could i get some more acid out of this baby. Hence the purchase of the 106 (S) yes (s). Fat?? Cor blimey missus, like a dump truck. And about the features, the portmento is a little dodgey, but were talking about one of the innovator synths here. It has 2 speakers lumped in the top so i can just sit and jam. What else, oh it has everything i ever need, thats why i have two, just in case.

Unbelievable. I mean when you play one of these things it's really apparent that it is not a digital sample with brass and piano. If you want a trumpet, go and buy one. If you want a versitile sound machine, here u go. When i listen to the radio i hear a synth sound and i say i can make that, give me a minute and bobs your uncle, there's a n