Roland today introduced the Juno-DS76 synthesizer, the latest in its Juno-DS line.
The Juno-DS76 features a lightweight design and a 76-note synth-action keyboard, 128-voice polyphony, 16 parts, rewritable waveform memory, sample import support, 80 types of effects, a built-in audio player, arpeggiator and more.
Pricing and Availability
Pricing and availability are to be announced. See the Roland site for details.
What is it about Roland products. Who on earth is in charge of production.
clearly its someone who is blind to what is really happening in the industry for the past 10 years.
This synth is the “big announcement” ???we heard of that was coming from Roland just after the Behringer remake of their 909 was shown at Knobcon. For just one minute i stupidly thought that Roland was awake again and going to take up the challenge and actually remake their 909 to take on the Behringer release. I shoulda known better. #fail
What the article fails to mention is that it’s in the Boutuque line and is 10 inches from end to end.
Roland…If you are reading this, please make an Alpha Juno 3.
I agree with you !
Alpha 2 imo
it\s almost a sampler
2nd day in a row of mediocre releases for the masses.
Wow, 76 keys. They’re finally giving a fresh nod to people who can really work the keys in R/T. That’s a good step up from having your hands on two 4-octave whatevers. It’ll be even better if you can split the keyboard into several zones. That would make it a lot more useful in DJ setups. BTW, I had a Juno-1 and 2, which I loved. I think this synth is close to *being* an advanced Juno. It just needs that rockin’ Alpha dial.
Cool 76 keys! Woohoo! Just ad chops ehh 🙂 Players are rejoicing!
“Players are rejoicing”…
Really?
It doesn’t even offer basic aftertouch
I hate the aesthetics of this. Huge ass black empty space on the left. Screen and controls region not centered on the instrument. Giant left space contains tiny single wheel sitting there awkwardly. Calling something a Juno that has only 4 sliders and 4 knobs and apparently no dedicated controls. The instrument is ugly. Roland isn’t even trying at this point.
I like synths with empty dashboard space because I can position other modules on them: maybe a boutique TB drum machine?
I don’t mind the aesthetics, per se. Roland has committed to their joy-stick, and I get why, but I prefer a non-spring-loaded mod wheel, or both (a la A-70). Roland does make pretty durable and stable products. The addition of re-writable user waveform memory (if large enough, and with flexible velocity and key mapping) is a worthy feature addition.
Why doesn’t Roland actually release something new, rather than rehashing the tired Juno-Di under the guise of the Juno-DS. The DS is nothing more than the Di with a few pads and sliders and no deep editing software. Why don’t they come out with a mid-level synthesizer with an updated sound engine instead of continuing to use the old Fantom G engine? (And please Roland, for gods sake, don’t use the Juno name and vintage look again. It’s an insult. These boards have nothing in common with the ‘real’ original Junos. Give it a different name and modern look.) I have a Juno-Di that I’d like to get rid of, but nothing good to replace it with. Roland has definitely fallen behind in innovation and are living in the past. Even Casio has become more innovative than Roland, and that’s saying a lot. I guess I’ll stick with Korg for now.
Are you kidding me?
no TR55/77 or CR78/8k boutiques this time 🙁 i’m so tired of these breed & butter romplers, what’s the point?
congrats, roland. the ds is a great instrument. here is some useful information about its pattern sequencer…
1) Q: can i switch between patterns on the fly?
A: Yes. It’s not the most user-friendly way but it’s possible. You select patterns by turning the jog wheel or the inc/dec buttons, so make sure you record the wanted patterns next to each other.
2) Q: if that is the case, is there a noticeable lag when switching between patterns? (the current electribe models have that problem.)
A: Not that I noticed.
3) Q: if i’m playing a pattern and switch to another pattern (assuming it’s possible), does it complete the first pattern to the end of the sequence, or is it immediate?
A: It completes the running pattern and then switches to the next one automatically.
4) Q: does the new pattern play seamlessly or do i have to manually start it? (ideally, the first pattern will finish it’s current sequence before starting the new pattern, and it will play automatically.)
A: As long as you selected Loop “on” everything keeps running.
5) Q: has anyone organized patterns into songs? for example, 1 pattern per song part: intro, verse, bridge, chorus which would be 4 total patterns (with up to 8 tracks per pattern).
A: Not as such, but it is possible for sure. Keep in mind that every time you create a new pattern you have to select the right patch to every track again. This can be time consuming so it’s better to copy the first pattern to a new one, erase the recordings and record your new pattern. Or you can start with an empty pattern where you assign the wanted instruments and then save that as a template for every new pattern of your “song”.
unfortunately the ds sequencer still lacks swing/shuffle. i thought about the following workaround: the mx-1 generates swing. the ds is compatible with the aira link ports of the mx-1. at ds’s ‘system settings’ i’d choose ‘slave’ instead of ‘master’ as ‘sync mode’. its ‘clock source’ would be ‘usb’. so far, so good. here’s the question: can i change juno patterns/performances on the device (by using the jog wheel) WHILE the juno is synchronized to the incoming clock signal from the mx-1?
Why all the hate?
This is an entry-level extremely portable keyboard, it’s an update to an existing product.
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, just move on.
If you’re gigging or don’t have a pro budget, need a good sounding bread & butter set of keys (76 is nice!) then Roland have you covered.
It competes with similar products from KORG & Yamaha & possibly Casio.
Lastly I suspect this thing will have standard analogue wave forms from a variety of old Roland synths, coupled with decent digital filters, so if that’s your thing, you can create those sorts of presets too.
I am not against this kind of products. I have a korg krome myself, for those bread and butter sounds as someone said. Splitting and layering up to 16 tones is very useful and you can use them as midi channels to control and ipad or a computer.
The main limiting factor is that most of these things don’t have “smooth sound transition” or however it is called by a given brand.
Whta these things are not for is loop based music so I understand why in an electronic music site they do not have many fans
i would buy if for a dollar – if it was called DS808
Not every synth that gets released has to fit into a Tangerine Dream setup.