AudioRealism ReDominator Brings Roland Alpha Juno Sound To Your DAW

redominator-synthesizer

AudioRealism has released ReDominator – an unofficial software emulation of the classic Roland Alpha Juno 1/2 (JU-1/2).

The Alpha Juno became popular in the early 90’s techno and rave scene, particularly the classic Hoover sound. But beyond those niche sounds is a versatile synthesizer that does bass, pads, leads, organs and other sounds.

Here’s the official intro video:

Key Features:

  • VCO – Featuring fourteen (14) different harmonically rich waveforms including a unique PWM-sawtooth. Three waveforms can be combined per voice enabling massive sounds.
  • Filter – ReDominator contains a high quality 24dB/octave lowpass filter with a warmth control (VCA level) which unlike the original Alpha Juno causes warm overtones in place of harsh digital distortion when overdriven.
  • Envelope – ReDominator features a unique 8 parameter envelope which enables much more complicated and expressive sounds than a standard ADSR. There are four time settings, three levels and a unique keyboard scaling parameter which gives the sound a “sampler” quality.
  • 14 different low aliasing waveforms including a unique PWM-sawtooth
  • High quality full range 24dB/octave low-pass filter
  • Unique 8 parameter envelope generator which enables much more complicated and expressive sounds than a standard ADSR
  • 200+ bundled patches (of which many are sysex converted from our own JU-2)
  • Patch importer which allows importing sysex patches from your own Alpha Juno and play them in ReDominator
  • Chord Memory function (VST/AU version only)

Here are official audio demos for ReDominator:

This software product runs as a VST or AU (Audio Unit) 32 or 64-bit plug-in for Windows XP/7/8 and Mac OS X 10.7 or later. Please check the demo version before purchasing to ensure that it is compatible with your host software.

ReDominator is available now for US $82.32 at the AudioRealism site.

32 thoughts on “AudioRealism ReDominator Brings Roland Alpha Juno Sound To Your DAW

    1. I look at that render and all I want is Roland or someone else to make it. Analog or digital, a poly with that full-size 1:1 dedicated slider UI on a rackable/desktop wedge is exactly what everyone wants, yet no one does it. Year after year, no one makes it.
      Couple slabs of maple and I’d drop 1k in a heartbeat.

      1. I don’t live anywhere New York, and the old Junos I see go for $350 to $450. I guess Just need to hit thousands of garage sales until I get lucky.

    1. I got the alpha jno 2 for 150€ 1 month ago!!!
      And it is fat and warm!!! Really loving it!
      I had to take of the keys to repair those but it is really easy and the result is that i’m super happy so no problems

    1. YEAH! The panel should be a neon World of Warcraft scene or a unicorn screwing a dolphin, as in that infamous tattoo. How about something from a Matt Groening cartoon? Or your 3 pugs? Or dark red labels on a black background? That’s always a crowd pleaser! 😛 The Junos had little panel presence, just the buttons, so if they want to borrow a sibling’s color scheme, it seems like fair game. Its still a Juno.

  1. Ah, good. They have the crazy Juno oscillators with the notches cut out of the saw. Can’t remember if I’ve seen that before in a VST/AU.

  2. Great recreation at a great price. I had a Juno-1 and loved it, but I found myself using it as a layer more often than as a solo voice. Screw the obvious uses like the Hoover sound; layering it subtly under a more prominent sound made everything bigger ‘n better. It simply has a unique voice. It really needs and deserves a 2nd oscillator; a 2nd LFO; a separate filter envelope and a slightly better effects section. Nostalgia is fine, but in this case, a little more would be a lot better. I prefer using 2 or 3 capable synths over 12 instances of thinner ones. All the same, this is very well done. I encourage newbies in particular to try it out. Layer it with a sampler or 2nd synth and feel the shazam. Its an amazingly capable synth design masquerading as something more modest. Hardware rules at a couple of things (my hardware synths are staying where they ARE!), but if a v.2 came out with that added muscle, I’d buy it and that says a lot when you’ve become a bit jaded by all the flashiness. A Juno 1/2 in any form is a sort of analog-y Swiss Army knife. If Roland wants to tap the analog craze again, this’d be a great place to do it.

  3. The thing I disliked about the Alpha when I had the chance to use one was menu diving to patch. It’s a great synth but that really stopped me from getting one. This seems like it’ll do the job pretty damn well, and with ‘knobs’ to boot.

  4. How much for the rack?

    What do you mean this is software?

    I want that in hardware! (And seriously, make it connectable with an original Alpha Juno for 12 voices…)

  5. alpha Juno 2 was my first keyboard back when they were new in the music stores, when I was learning to play in college. Had to sell it for rent a long time ago. But now I have another one. You can’t turn your back on your roots. Had I known back then what a fabulous keyboard it is (analog polyphonic programmable with aftertouch? Who does that these days? for under two grand?) I would never have sold it. But now I also have the PG-300 controller, and it can be tweaked to sound just like a Jupiter 8. Take that, Howard Jones.

  6. Cool VST. Looks beautiful. Too bad the demo music sucks tired ass 1990’s balls though. Are we so uncreative that we just recycle that same old shit over and over and over? I guess i’m just fed up with the constant appeal to the ‘retro’ trendy. Still, cool VST!

      1. Yes, the constant recycling bores me like a Smurfs movie. People often cling to whatever they liked in high school and that limits you too much. I don’t mind tributes too badly, but they should be leaping-off points for something that’s more your own. You have to hear a broader range of music to learn where the OPTIONS are. That’s where you start to sound like You instead of a clone of someone else. We all bear some of the style(s) we like best, but if you also drink in things that are far from your usual range, it’ll up your game. I sometimes used my Juno-1 as a fake cello by simply running it through an EQ and an Ibanez reverb rack. That’s not where you’d first go with a modest ‘dance’ synth, but it sure delivered.

  7. They should have put Eric Persing’s photo instead of Hoover, since the man with the golden programming chops invented the Hoover.

    1. I grew up just a couple miles from the original Hoover factory. In fact, my school bus went past the Hoover family mansion and we had picnics at Hoover Park in North Canton. So I guess I’m a bit of an expert on Hoovers. A guy named Spangler invented it and his cousin was part of the Hoover family. Overall, I think the sounds of this synth match the vacuum cleaners pretty well, but this is just not quite as analog as one of the original stand-up models.

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