![]() ![]() There are of course many trade-offs along the way, but none are real deal-breakers. Next time you're browsing in the second hand store, pray that you stumble across the MKS-7.ĭespite the non-Juno nametag, the MKS-7 is in fact THREE Juno-106s (all able to run different sounds, so the MKS-7 is multitimbral) PLUS a Roland TR-707 drum machine, all in a single box… Wow, what a ‘super quartet’… Appearances can be deceptive and this unassuming black (and released in limited numbers, white) box is something special. With the 106 going great in ‘84, ‘85 saw the Juno family expand in unusual directions. But why (oh why) did the 106 have to lose the 6 and 60’s arpeggiator? Perhaps the thinking was that with such great MIDI on board you could now simply program your own? Ho hum. Which is all great and a huge part of why the 106 went on to become the greatest selling synth of all time. On the 106 every slider outputted CC numbers allowing you to program slider changes (and thereby sound tweaks) as part of your sequences. Yes, the 106 added MIDI but also sported 128 patch memories (up from 56), a new LED display (to make navigating that expanded bank a little easier) and was the first airing of Roland’s push forwards Bender, allowing the previously pitch-only mod control to introduce an LFO into the sound as you play.Īnd that MIDI implementation took the standard to a whole new level from the simple note on/off and patch change implementation on the JX-3P. So what do for ‘84? It was back to the Juno drawing board basically for an upgraded 60 with a cleaner new look. ![]() Imagine…ĭCB didn’t last long being introduced at exactly the same time that MIDI was becoming a standard so Roland were soon thoughtfully offering a Roland MD8 box that converted MIDI to DCB so JSQ users didn’t get left high and dry. The 60 came equipped with a socket for Roland’s new DCB (Digital Control Buss) which allowed it to interface with their JSQ-100 and later MSQ-700 hardware sequencers, allowing users to program notes and have them played back perfectly rather than manually having to play the thing yourself. Users could even dump these presets to tape and load them back in later.Īnd the innovations didn’t end there. ![]() Thus the scene was set for a major win when – also in 1982 – the Juno-6 became the Juno-60 with 56 patch memories on board. Most notably it lacked the ability to store and quickly recall sounds, a feature reserved for its pricier big brother, the Jupiter. For all its winning good looks and sleek, synthy sound, the market-leading 6 wasn’t without its faults. ![]()
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