GEAR REVIEW
ROLAND ’ S JUNO-X SYNTH IS A WINNER | Eric Dahl
Current praise and worship music requires the use of modern and technologically advanced instruments to convey the message to the congregation and support the Pastor ’ s message . Secular music was the first to implement synthesizers , but Christian music wasn ’ t far behind . The Roland JUNO-60 synthesizer was first released in 1982 and pretty much set the standard for synth based 80 ’ s and 90 ’ s music thanks to its digitally controlled oscillators . Clean and functional vintage Roland JUNO ’ s are not easily found , but thankfully Roland has just released the JUNO-X Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer .
Worship Musician was fortunate enough to receive a demo model for review , considering the keyboard is currently on back order . The layout of the JUNO-X visually looks like the famous JUNO-106 , but don ’ t let looks fool you . Under the hood the JUNO-X is far more advanced . Essentially you have multiple synthesizers within the JUNO-X thanks to Model Expansions . Roland ’ s updated ZEN- Core Sound Engine allows the capability to exchange sounds between other ZEN-Core instruments and the JUNO-X .
Something that all praise teams utilize are pad sounds and the JUNO-X really shines in providing these warm textures to open or provide a bed for a song . I ’ m personally a fan of the JUNO Chorus effect which also adds to the space of anything you ’ re generating on the JUNO . You can also layer four distinct tones simultaneously . The JUNO-X comes with recreations of the JUNO-60 and JUNO-106 already built-in to the software .
But the new features will impress keyboardist also with the new Super Saw waveform , pitch envelope control and velocity sensitivity . Thanks to the Roland Cloud you have access to Sound Packs , Wave Expansions and Sample
Packs . Plus , the JUNO-X includes ten Sound Packs when you buy it . Other classic Roland instruments that are part of the JUNO-X are XV-5080 , Vocoder , RD series acoustic pianos , JUPITER-8 , JD-800 , SH-101 and Vocal Designer . The JUNO-X is a 61-note semiweighted keyboard with extensive connectivity such as unbalanced and balanced audio outputs , MIDI I / O and stereo audio input . There is also an XLR microphone input to utilize the Vocoder . Roland Cloud Connect is achieved with the built-in WC-1 wireless adapter and the JUNO-X includes a one-year membership to Roland Cloud Pro . Providing the capability to download other Model Expansion titles and content via Wi-Fi .
JUNO-X Editor for Mac and Windows is also part of the package , and you have USB capability for data backup and audio / MIDI for direct connect to your DAWS for recording tracks . Internal Bluetooth delivers streaming