Trend price : 700€
Successor of the Juno-60 synthesizer, still very sought-after for the Midi interface and the poly synth structure.
Overview
(weight: 10 Kg) 61 keys, main panel features a basic segment display, 20 levers, 2 knobs, 3 switches and 34 buttons. On the left side there is a joystick for pitchbending or modulation assignable to filter cutoff.
Back panel terminal connectors:
-
Midi interface
-
tape interface
- main out
- headphones
- 2 pedalswitch inputs
Voice
core CPU NEC D7811G manages 6 oscillators DCO digitally controlled based on 3 MC5534A waveform generators.
Oscillators
structure offers different summable waveforms:
-
square with variable width
- triangle
- square sub-oscillator (set to 1 octave lower)
- white noise
Performance
- poly1: voice is assigned restarting from first free available
- poly2: voice rotate always from 1 to 6
- unison stacks up the 6 voices, sadly it misses a DETUNE option
Filter
analog filter based on IC 80017A (also EG) with 2 modes:
-
lowpass: resonant (self-oscillating) at 4 poles
- highpass: is not resonant
LFO
single delayed triangle modulator, frequency range from 0.1 to 30 Hz and 3 destinations:
- DCO pitch
- VCF cutoff
- DCO
pulse width
Envelope
1 ADSR (4-segments) EG for both:
-
VCA amplitude
-
VCF cutoff filter
Midi
the J-106 offers one of the most impressive Midi implementation for the time: in fact all sliders sends and receive Midi exclusives systems.
Memory
-128 patch RAM
Maintenance
faulty 80017A IC is an enclosure of 3 famous chips the 3109 + 2 BA662 - common IC failure.
Audio demo:
Video Clip:
Review
OK: classic synth / Midi
NOT : faulty VCA/VCF / limited DCO structure
"the 106 is a swiss-army knife for polysynth sounds at affordable price: it unleashes some warm strings, nervous techno bassess and famous electro-brasses."
Text , review, special demos copyright polynominal.com / Eric Pochesci