A 6-voice
polyphonic analog/
digital hybrid synthesizer, with a 61-note
velocity and
pressure sensitive
keyboard. Released around
1985, it also features
MIDI support.
There is only one
DCO per voice, but the Juno-2 makes up for it with a built-in
chorus effect, a sub-
oscillator and
pulse width modulation. Thanks to these, the
sound isn't as
thin as with many one-oscillator-per-voice
synths.
The Alpha Juno-2 features a four-stage
envelope generator with adjustable
levels and
times, which is an
improvement over a
standard ADSR:s. Unfortunately there's only one envelope and
LFO for each voice. The LFO can however be set to an extremely
slow rate, making the synth great for
trendy filter sweeps. Another nice function for
modern electronic music makers is the
chord memory.
For storing your sounds, the
synth has 64
user-
programmamble memory units along with another 64 for
preset sounds. It is possible to
upgrade the amount by another 64 with an
expensive RAM cartridge.
The presets are said to be better sounding than in most other synths of the same time period.
Like in the
JX series, there is only one
"alpha-dial" for controlling the sound
parameters. These are
grouped into
modulation rate & depth, brilliance and
envelope times. These groups are
extravagantly titled
"Biometrics". Each part of a group can be controlled
simultaneously with the dial.
The
external PG-300 module was released to help ease the programming.
The Alpha Juno-2 is also available as a
rackmount version, the
MKS-50.
back to Roland