Roland synths price point back in the day

[Mark76]

I'm curious.

When you look back at Rolands legacy in the 1980s there seems to be a bewildering range of different synth product lines Jupiters/Junos/Alpha Junos/D Series. I realise all of these came out at different times and had different technology, but from a marketing perspective what was the price point of each of these synth types? Who were they aimed at?

From what I've read, I understand the Jupiter range was the 'Bentley' of the Roland brand and therefore was at the top of the tree price wise. Am I right in thinking the Juno series was actually designed as a budget range? And the D50 was top of the range with the D10/D20 was the cheaper version of a similar synth?

Because the lines are so blurred these days with such inflated prices it's difficult to see where they all stacked up originally and what was a superior product over something else. Does anyone have any insight into this?

[meatballfulton]

These are list prices from Wikipedia, before any discounts. Nowadays we often discuss "street" prices which are already discounted (so why is there even a list price any more?)

In the analog days:

Jupiter 8 $5300
Jupiter 6 $3000...a bargain
JX-3P $1400
JX-8P $1700
JX-10 $2750
Juno 60 $1800
Juno 106 $1100 note large price drop
Alpha Juno 1 $900
Alpha Juno 2 $1300
SH-101 $500
TB-303 $395
TR-808 $1200

Digital:

D50 $1900
MT32 $700
D-10/20/110 were in between those two, roughly $1000-1500

Some people think current used prices on thse synths are too high. Only a few sell for more than they did new (SH-101, TB-303, TR-808). Most sell for far less, even before accounting for inflation.

Junos were the budget models, single DCO, single EG
JX series had two DCOs and was the intermediate range
Jupiters were the flagships, after production stopped, JX-10 was the flagship

In the D series, the D50 was the flagship, the others had reduced features. The MT32 was their first budget model aimed at the MIDI sequencing market, Roland's answer to Yamaha's FB-01 and precursor to the General MIDI instruments of today.

[edoox]

In 1990 when I bought my D-20 it costed 10 000 FRF (French Francs) to my parents
Taking in account the inflation, this is equivalent to 2400€ of 2020. (and I realize how big was this gift)

[V301H]

In the 80s you could usually get a pretty good discount on higher-end musical gear if you paid cash. I went to Guitar Center to buy a Jupiter 6. I offered $2700 cash out the door for a Jupiter 6, Anvil ATA case, and Ultimate Support 3-tier A-frame stand and they took it.

[blueknob]

In around the mid 1980s the SH101 was £199 - the Casio CZ101 and Yamaha DX100 were £350, the Yamaha DX7 was £1200, the Ensoinq ESQ1 was about £1400, the Roland Jupiter 8 was £3300 as was the Seq. Prophet 5. Linn Drum was £5500. I think the Korg PolySix was about £700.

At the time for most young people (21-26 years) >£1000 needed a bank loan, it was way out of reach of the average saver. Over time I got the £350 synths as I could just about get the cash together from my pay at the time.
A 1980s £3300 might feel like £10,000 today and the Linn is like £50,000!

[meatballfulton]

In around the mid 1980s the SH101 was £199 - the Casio CZ101 and Yamaha DX100 were £350, the Yamaha DX7 was £1200, the Ensoinq ESQ1 was about £1400

That's really bizarre, because in the USA the SH-101, CZ-101 and DX100 were all the same list price: $500.

The DX7 was somewhere around $2000 but the ESQ-1 was only $1400.