Roland Boutique

[HaziaJuno]

Bought my JU-06 with the K25M on preorder, been fiddling with it for about two weeks now. While I have always been more of a fan of the JUNO 6/60 sound, the 106 is an excellent instrument, and I could not resist the temptation to have a pint-sized JUNO that I can carry around in a laptop case.

The awesome:
-SPOT ON emulation of the 106, right down to the filter behavior and characteristic chorus circuit background noise.
-Massive, organic sound. Just huge.
-Ostensibly solid and professional build quality.
-Classic and stunningly authentic JUNO sounds in a box roughly the size and weight of a small textbook.
-Has been running strong on a single set of batteries for several hours now.
-The internal speaker, while not sophisticated, is LOADS of fun.

Mixed feelings:
-USB powered.
-The K25M. It feels fine, I like the portability of it... but I would ABSOLUTELY shell out $$ for a similarly proprietary controller with proper-sized keys and more than two bloody octaves.

The not so awesome:
-Roland's failure to invest the extra fraction of a cent in a proper 1/4" line out jack for those of us who actually want to USE IT... with real patch cables of adequate length, at least. I have to use one of those goofy converters that makes the patch cable stick like 4 f'n inches out the back, resulting in an unpleasant amount of downward weight and pressure being applied to the dinky little mini line out jack they somehow thought would be adequate. It sucks, and there's no sweeping it under the carpet.

But all in all, that's a whole lot of pros to overwhelm my fairly petty complaints.

It sounds wonderful! I say go for it!

[Hybrid88]

Nice review. To be fair on the downsides though, got to remember that the original vintage versions definitely had their quirks and problems. I mean thinking about it, the 106 voice chips die, the Jupiter 8 initially had tuning issues and the 3P always suffered from its stripped down interface.

These new synths look cool, cheap as chips so no point expecting perfect build quality and features. In my opinion though best to just skip the useless gimmicky keyboard and use them as modules triggered from either a MIDI sequencer or better controller keyboard.

[Bitexion]

There exists cables with a 1/4 jack at one end and minijack on the other end. You don't need goofy converters if you get one of those. I use several of those for my modular system to connect with other stuff.

[HaziaJuno]

There exists cables with a 1/4 jack at one end and minijack on the other end. You don't need goofy converters if you get one of those. I use several of those for my modular system to connect with other stuff.

So far I have only been able to locate dinky small-gauge 1/4" to mini cables that are not much beefier than the cord from your average cheap headphones - and they are almost always 10ft or less. And a 1/4" to RIGHT ANGLE mini? Fuggetaboudit.

Yes it's petty, and a minor complaint - but to me, even having to seek out a specific cable to use it feels like a problem I shouldn't even be having to begin with.

Where do you find yours?

[HaziaJuno]

Nice review. To be fair on the downsides though, got to remember that the original vintage versions definitely had their quirks and problems. I mean thinking about it, the 106 voice chips die, the Jupiter 8 initially had tuning issues and the 3P always suffered from its stripped down interface.

These new synths look cool, cheap as chips so no point expecting perfect build quality and features. In my opinion though best to just skip the useless gimmicky keyboard and use them as modules triggered from either a MIDI sequencer or better controller keyboard.

I may very well try controlling it with my DX7, see if i can layer the sounds for some thick, multi-timbral digital/analog madness.

I certainly appreciate the price point, and the quality of the technology itself - in general, I try not to complain about this stuff too harshly because I so wholeheartedly appreciate the amount of effort it takes to bring such technology into existence - and you are spot on, in that it does ostensibly solve a lot of the old equipment's instabilities and idiosyncrasies. But it just isn't perfect, and I think certain things could have been done better for virtually no additional cost.

The module/controller thing really is a matter of taste, and I will always much more prefer an instrument with a "complete" appearance - that is to say, with a full keyboard, mod, and pitch wheel already on deck. The K25M was an effective (albeit basic) way of achieving this appearance. One piece, no batteries, just take it out and play it, and put the whole shebang back in the case when you're done. Boom. Just my personal tastes.

In general, the few MIDI controllers I've had were not fun to program, and almost always had scores of buttons and sliders I didn't really even need. Many seem to only have USB jacks these days, resulting in even MORE needed special cables to plug in a USB-MIDI converter... You have to find somewhere on the keyboard stand to put the module, and then run a cable to the controller - which also has to be either plugged in with separate AC power, or filled with batteries. All in all, for someone with no experience and little interest in the DAW phenomenon, it has been a counter-intuitive and space-inefficient ordeal that I pretty wholeheartedly dislike.

But that's just me I guess! Getting old and set in my ways.

[jaypodesta]

There exists cables with a 1/4 jack at one end and minijack on the other end. You don't need goofy converters if you get one of those. I use several of those for my modular system to connect with other stuff.

So far I have only been able to locate dinky small-gauge 1/4" to mini cables that are not much beefier than the cord from your average cheap headphones - and they are almost always 10ft or less. And a 1/4" to RIGHT ANGLE mini? Fuggetaboudit.

Yes it's petty, and a minor complaint - but to me, even having to seek out a specific cable to use it feels like a problem I shouldn't even be having to begin with.

Where do you find yours?

You should try Kenton

[Weirdofromouterspace]

There exists cables with a 1/4 jack at one end and minijack on the other end.

Where do you find yours?

I solder them myself . It's not that much work, actually .

[Bitexion]

I got a few when I bought my modular system, since my modular has minijack in/outs. They had them on-shelf in the store.

You can also get a 1/4 plug that plugs into a minijack plug
There's no need to use a plug converter on the synth side at all.

[salwa]

You can also make yourself needed converter - solder mini jack to short and thin stereo cable with 1/4 stereo socket (or pair of mono sockets) on the other end. This way you can use regular guitar cables and stop worrying about destroying syths out socket. Of course you have to use sockets, that can be mounted on cable, but this shouldn't be a problem. In "good old days" we use such thing with a laptop, that had only mini jack out, when we played live.

[Bitexion]

And just as I hoped, here it is:



And holy c**p those sliders are tiny. It looks like programming the CS-80 via the patch storage sliders instead of the actual synth controls.
Why they chose to leave out the Arpeggiator we will never know.

"The faders are really teeny weeny tiny"-Nick

[salwa]

I would actually love to hear compariton of two Jupiters with the same sounds. I always wonder how big is the difference between two aged analog units.

[Bitexion]

Nick does several direct JP-8 vs JP-08 comparisons with similar patches in this at least since he has them both in the studio.

Actual JP-8's are so rare that I doubt you'd ever find two in the same room.

[salwa]

Actual JP-8's are so rare that I doubt you'd ever find two in the same room.

Yes, I was thinking about the originals. And it was Nick talking about calibration who made me think about comparing original Jupiters.

[gcoudert]

This video answers a few technical questions about the JP-08, notably the actual length of the sliders.

[Rick N Boogie]

Just brought my new JP-08 home last night. Yes, sliders have very short throws, etc, but really, these things sound amazing. I also bought a Yamaha CS Reface a while back, and while those are greatness in their own right, I have to say, this little Jupiter clone is knocking me out with it's incredible sound. And, it's not such a big deal, with the sliders. I find it quite easy to adjust in tiny increments because they feel sturdy and solid. This thing is a winner.