Dreadbox Nymphes vs Roland Juno-106, Mano a Mano

The latest video from Jorb offers a direct comparison between the new Dreadbox Nymphes and a vintage Roland Juno-106.

There’s been a lot of comparisons made between the Nymphes and the Juno-106, because of similarities in their voice architectures. Jorb’s entire point is that the two synths are totally different. But making the comparison reveals a lot of interesting things, including how different implementations of a synth architecture can impact the resulting sound, some of the pros and cons of vintage technology, and how the sound of the Nymphes stands up to a classic.

Topics covered:

0:00 Intro
1:36 Here’s the plan / Thesis
2:55 Oscillators, VCO & DCO
6:30 Simultaneous Waveforms
9:00 Sub Oscillator
11:00 Noise, for some reason
11:14 Mentioning oscillator modulation (briefly)
11:37 High Pass Filters
12:31 Low Pass Filters
14:54 Envelopes
16:14 Nothing is that special / Breaking down
17:55 Chorus is mentioned
19:09 Breaking Down pt2, the whole point
20:43 Accepting why I made this video
21:21 What is the ESSENCE

Check out the video and share your thoughts on the two synths in the comments!

12 thoughts on “Dreadbox Nymphes vs Roland Juno-106, Mano a Mano

  1. I find the Nymphes interesting. I would like to see Dreadbox go even further in regards to hardware design, and release either a 12 voice module with double the number of controls, stereo outs, etc. or a small keyboard version with more direct access to programs. This is a good company that deserves continued success.

    While I have yet to watch the video, I own a 106 and had the TC pedal. I found the pedal to not sound like the 106 chorus. I think partnering it maybe with a Waza chorus might be a stronger choice, though I acknowledge that they are considerably more expensive.

      1. I bought the V2 and compared it to my Juno60 chorus. While the chorus sound is there, the V2 pedal lacks low end compared to the original. The original chorus makes bass sounds more powerful, the V2 pedal makes them weaker. I ended up returning it.

    1. I’m not a tech, so forgive me if this is off a bit, but I was talking about the TC June chorus pedal (which I have) to the techs at Bell Tone Synthworks (who beautifully restored my Juno 106) and Alison, the founder, pointed out that the Juno’s chorus is in a different point in the signal path, so it’s not possible to exactly recreate the Juno’s internal chorus with an external pedal.

  2. “There’s been a lot of comparisons made between the Nymphes and the Juno-106”
    By who? At what point in this video was someone like yeah this sounds the same?

    Lets see what Soundforce will do in the near future. He’s probably the only one that will bring a real Juno back on the market again. 🙂

  3. Andertons did a video recreating Juno sounds on the Nymphes. I think that might be what he is referring to. The Andertons video is fun as always, but I also found it a bit strange. In that Andertons video I don’t think they ever really emphasised that the Nymphes is _not_ supposed to be a Juno clone, and that the deepmind is closer if you want that.

    1. I actually thought this was the Andertons video and replied without watching. My bad.
      Tried deleting my previous post but that didn’t work so it seems.

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