Again: Juno or Polysix?

[philip]

Opposite opinion in here. I think Polysix has a pretty dull and dumb kinda timbre, and Juno always sounds lovely and it's easy to put in the mix. Junies are more musical.

I hope you have owned a polysix yourself, because honestly there is nothing dull or dumb about the polysixs sound. I think the general consensus would agree. My advice to the OP, is grab the best "deal" you can find. The 60, Polysix, and p600 are all awesome synths.

Yes I had and I sold it without any regrets, and about polysix sound it's my personal opinion, I now many of people out there who love its sonic capabilities.I'm talking about the timbre, I just don't think it's interesting at all. It has no character like some other vintage korgs - p3100\3200\3300,Trident,Sigma for example. For me it's kinda colourless.

[polyjuno]

I've noticed on a picture that there are three outputs on the Juno-6; left, right and phones (stereo). Is there any problem in using the phones output as line out? (I only have a 6.3mm stereo cable laying around ) From what I read it seems that the output level switch only affects the left/right outputs?

Edit: I read the schematics. The headphone signal is the output signal run through an op-amp. I guess noise and/or distortion can be the problems when using the headphone output instead of the left/right line outputs?

[dzlvs8]

Derrrrrrr, VCO vs DCO. Duh, polysix. I sold a new Juno 106 for $1350 last week. I sold a new Polysix for $2150 last week also. That should say a lot. Mostly, it says that people are crazy. But it should also say that the 106 shouldn't be in consideration. This should strictly be a Polysix vs 60 debate. But still, the Polysix has better sounding oscillators (non DCO) and the polysix is capable of way way more sounds.

I'm a 70's sound guy more than 80's. So I like the polysix. The VCO's are way less plastic sounding. The Juno is all cheezy 80's. That's not my thing. I know the polysix was made in the 80's but it doesn't sound like it.

[THEODICY]

I like my polysix but it has a very "organ-ish" character overall. Pretty good stringer though and the SSM filters are lovely, maybe my favorite. I agree that the Juno is better as an all-arounder. You can use just the Juno to create every sound in a track and it will cover it's bases better than the P6.

[pflosi]

I sold a new Juno 106 for $1350 last week. I sold a new Polysix for $2150 last week also. That should say a lot. Mostly, it says that people are crazy.

That is just insane. Paying more than 1k for a Juno or a P6 is really just throwing money down the drain. Are people losing patience or are there so many rich kiddies who just don't care for prices???

[iProg]

I've had both the Polysix and the Juno-106 for quite a few years. They sound very different and I never use them for same types of sounds. They excel at different things. The 6/60's sound better than the 106, and you will surely acquire a Polysix in addition to the Juno anyhow

[polyjuno]

I've had my Juno-6 for a few days now, and I love it!

It's really easy to use, and it sounds greater than I expected. It's fatter (even without chorus) and more versatile than I expected from the videos I have seen. I guess I'm still a bit overwhelmed (this is my first hands-on synth), but I won't think about that Polysix too much for a while now. It would be nice to be able to store the sounds I'm creating though, but it's still pretty easy to just write down the slider settings.

The Juno-6 really seems like the perfect beginner (poly)synth. The intuitive layout of the various controls makes it very easy to get the sound I want. The arpeggiator is also much fun.

But I guess that when I get a better hang of subtractive synthesis, I'll want a synth with more oscillators (preferably VCOs.) I can already see how just one oscillator is limiting. I don't think I'll part with my Juno-6 however. It's too much fun (right now at last).

[Automatic Gainsay]

A single oscillator is not limiting at all if the synth you buy has the ability to do a lot with that single oscillator.
Both the CS-50 and the Micromoog come to mind.
If the Juno has the sound you want, then you're golden.
However, the Juno is not "fat." "Fat" is something that happens with voltage control, overdriven oscs and filters, and, most frequently, a ladder filter. Even a DCO put through a Moog filter does not sound "fat" compared to that which does. But if it sounds good to you, and suits your purposes, then it's wonderful!

I sold a new Juno 106 for $1350 last week. I sold a new Polysix for $2150 last week also. That should say a lot. Mostly, it says that people are crazy.

Yes, there is something wrong with the world. If you offered me a Juno 106 for $100, I wouldn't buy it... and that was the first synth I ever had.

[dzlvs8]

I sold a new Juno 106 for $1350 last week. I sold a new Polysix for $2150 last week also. That should say a lot. Mostly, it says that people are crazy.

Yes, there is something wrong with the world. If you offered me a Juno 106 for $100, I wouldn't buy it... and that was the first synth I ever had.

I think the explaination for this was that it was tax return season and there are some people that are either extreme collectors or they are extremely incapable of servicing their own synthesizers. I talked to the guy that bought my Polysix for $2150. He wasn't really a collector he was just retarded.

[polyjuno]

I think what's special about the Polysix is that in order to fix one (that suffers from battery leakage), you have to be a bit more than capable of simple servicing. I can do some elementary soldering, but I don't think I would be able to fix a whole broken CPU board in a Polysix. In my case that just makes me wait for a good deal on a working one (or one that I know I can fix), but I guess some people are just impatient (and rich.) $2150 is really an insane price. If I'm not mistaken, one was recently sold on eBay for $2750 too. I wonder what those people are thinking? For that price you can get something a lot better, like a Jupiter 6...

[dzlvs8]

I think what's special about the Polysix is that in order to fix one (that suffers from battery leakage), you have to be a bit more than capable of simple servicing. I can do some elementary soldering, but I don't think I would be able to fix a whole broken CPU board in a Polysix. In my case that just makes me wait for a good deal on a working one (or one that I know I can fix), but I guess some people are just impatient (and rich.) $2150 is really an insane price. If I'm not mistaken, one was recently sold on eBay for $2750 too. I wonder what those people are thinking? For that price you can get something a lot better, like a Jupiter 6...

It was $2150. I sold it on ebay. Nothing has come close to that price since I've been watching them go. Same with the 106. I sold that on ebay too.

I mean, there are a few stupid Juno 106's with "cool" blue LED lights and other wacky cosmetic mods and those can sometimes go for close to $1000. Paying double for a crappy synth because some guy made it look cool, now THATS weird!

[Kenneth]

I'm very surprised that no one has mentioned Polysix's on board ensemble effect. Utterly gorgeous. Totally blows Juno's chorus out of the water. That guy who said Polysix had a bland, flavorless timbre is a bit of a nutter I think... Either that or his Polysix was broken and nobody told him. I have owned several analog polys over the years, including a Juno, and the Polysix has the mot character out of all of them, hands down. The strings... Oh god. I'm wetting myself here just thinking about the strings... Seriously though, VCO>DCO. Duh.

[Dr. Phibes]

I dunno; every once in a while I look at my poysix and think "why do I need this? - such a limited synth!". Then I plug it in and fire it up and I realise that I'm going to keep it for a while yet. I had a Juno 60 for a while and loved it, but it learned to live without it. On the other hand, the polysix has a certain thing I can't let go of.

[Kenneth]

Polyjuno nailed it: Polysix is mysterious. It has an x-factor. Something about the tonality I can't quite put my finger on, but it's there, and it is completely alive with feeling and expression. Beautifully musical, and has character leaking out of its output jacks. I think I'm gonna hang onto mine for many, many years.

[polyjuno]

With this thread back again, I might as well say something about my experience now a year after I bought my first synth.

I do sometimes think about getting rid of the Juno and buying a Polysix. But each time I think about it, I come to the conclusion that I'm better off keeping the Juno and adding a decent monosynth instead. The only thing I really dislike about the Juno is what I was warned about in this thread: "the Juno sound". It didn't take many weeks before I knew what they were talking about. The Juno does have a very distinctive sound, at least with the chorus on. Of course, that's what it's known for; one giant sweet spot, but there are times when something more anonymous and/or organic is needed, and that's when it doesn't do well at all. I have found ways to make it sound good using certain effects, but there have been some times when I've just gotten sick of the Juno and not used it for weeks. However, I can't get myself to replace it with a Polysix, at least not at the price being asked these days.

First of all, I love the extremely snappy attack on the Juno, and I like the envelope shapes. It responds in a, for me, musical way. I had an Akai AX-60 for a brief time, and its god-awful envelopes really made me appreciate the Juno. I also like small details like being able to do envelope PWM. The arpeggiator, together with the snappy envelope attack, makes for some really cool basses imo. I haven't tried a Polysix before, but from what I heard and read, it's not even close in "punchiness". The arpeggiator on the Polysix also behaves differently. When pressing a new chord on the Juno, the next note gets played when the next clock pulse comes, not immediately as it does on the Polysix. My AX-60 did the same thing, and it was extremely irritating, as it required me to press each new chord at the exact right moment. I use the arpeggiator a lot, so this is important to me.

I miss having memories more than I thought I would, especially when recording, and I think the Polysix is superior when it comes to pads, strings and more organic sounds. However, when taking into account that this was to be my only synth, I think the Juno fitted my needs better over all. (And really, when I look back on the last 12 months, I think my development in song writing and production was more important than the choice of what synth to buy anyways. )