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Roland JUNO-G & SH-201 Classic Retro Styling
Author: Ron Burnett
Published: Oct 25, 2007
The first thing you’ll notice about the Juno-G and the
SH-201 is their classic retro styling. The Juno-G and the SH-201 certainly have
the look of their classic ancestors (the Juno-60 and SH-101) but are they
anywhere as groundbreaking? Without a doubt, since under the hood of both is the
latest in Roland’s synthesizer technology.
The Juno-G is a keyboard workstation including a full 16-track sequencer, 4-track audio recorder, USB connectivity and PC card slot. You’d expect with so much going on, that the Juno-G would be confusing, but its big, bright display and lots of real-time control knobs and faders makes the Juno-G easy to get around.
The Juno-G uses the same high-powered, 128-voice sound engine from the Fantom-X series, but instead of a recycling of the Fantom-X patches, I found tons of new presets. There are over one-thousand patches and rhythm sets with enough variety to please any type of player. The Juno-G also includes one SRX expansion slot, so more sounds can be add from Roland’s current collection of twelve SRX expansion boards.
To test the Juno-G as a workstation, I decided to put together a simple demo for my band using the audio recorder and sequencer.
I began by putting together some beats using the sequencer. Navigation is easy thanks to the Juno-G’s “part mixer” and the controls knobs give real-time adjustment to volume and pan settings. For the keyboard challenged, there’s an arpeggiator and chord memory function to help sequence complex parts.
The audio recorder provides unexpected features like real-time time-stretching and phrase-based editing. The audio tracks run side-by-side with the sequencer so you can switch effortlessly between sequencing and recording. With the USB interface, I was able to import loops from my computer and export my finished mix to my computer for CD burning.
In general, the Juno-G is a very usable, friendly machine to use. It’s very lightweight so it won’t break your back when gigging – and for an additional perk, a special version of Cakewalk (Cakewalk LE) is included in the box!
Where the Juno-G is a workstation for creating songs, the SH-201 is a synthesizer for strictly making sounds. It comes from a long line of predecessors including the SH-3 and SH-101.
The SH-201 features two oscillators with eight waveforms, including the innovative Roland “SuperSaw”. (The “SuperSaw” combines seven detuned sawtooth oscillators into one, big fat sound.) The SH-201 also provides audio inputs so you can connect your I-pod or CD player as an oscillator “source”.
The SH-201’s front panel puts every control directly under your fingertips in a logically positioned signal path from left to right. There’s no display, but plenty of dedicated buttons and well labeled controls to tell you what’s happening. You might find this strange at first, especially if you’ve never programmed a synth before, but with an ample supply of knobs and buttons it’s more intuitive than digging though menus.
The SH has a nice big sound. The filters are very smooth, with no audible “stepping” in the cutoff or resonant parameters. The addition of an “amp” section lets you overdrive the sound (cool for lead lines) and there are effects for chorus/delay and reverb to finish the sound. A multi-purpose arpeggiator lets you choose from simple to complex phrases with the ability of recording your own as well.
What most impressed me most about the SH-201 is the addition of a 2-channel USB audio interface. This enables you to stream audio from a PC or Mac as an external input for morphing and mangling with the SH-201’s controls. Another forward thinking innovation is the addition of a VSTi & Audio Units software editor, which allows SH-201 sounds to be manipulated from within a VSTi or Audio Units-compatible host software sequencer.
In closing, the nostalgic look of the Juno-G and SH-201 is very inviting, and the state-of-the-art features of the Juno-G and the SH-201 definitely make them keyboards for 2006 and beyond.
The Juno-G is a keyboard workstation including a full 16-track sequencer, 4-track audio recorder, USB connectivity and PC card slot. You’d expect with so much going on, that the Juno-G would be confusing, but its big, bright display and lots of real-time control knobs and faders makes the Juno-G easy to get around.
The Juno-G uses the same high-powered, 128-voice sound engine from the Fantom-X series, but instead of a recycling of the Fantom-X patches, I found tons of new presets. There are over one-thousand patches and rhythm sets with enough variety to please any type of player. The Juno-G also includes one SRX expansion slot, so more sounds can be add from Roland’s current collection of twelve SRX expansion boards.
To test the Juno-G as a workstation, I decided to put together a simple demo for my band using the audio recorder and sequencer.
I began by putting together some beats using the sequencer. Navigation is easy thanks to the Juno-G’s “part mixer” and the controls knobs give real-time adjustment to volume and pan settings. For the keyboard challenged, there’s an arpeggiator and chord memory function to help sequence complex parts.
The audio recorder provides unexpected features like real-time time-stretching and phrase-based editing. The audio tracks run side-by-side with the sequencer so you can switch effortlessly between sequencing and recording. With the USB interface, I was able to import loops from my computer and export my finished mix to my computer for CD burning.
In general, the Juno-G is a very usable, friendly machine to use. It’s very lightweight so it won’t break your back when gigging – and for an additional perk, a special version of Cakewalk (Cakewalk LE) is included in the box!
Where the Juno-G is a workstation for creating songs, the SH-201 is a synthesizer for strictly making sounds. It comes from a long line of predecessors including the SH-3 and SH-101.
The SH-201 features two oscillators with eight waveforms, including the innovative Roland “SuperSaw”. (The “SuperSaw” combines seven detuned sawtooth oscillators into one, big fat sound.) The SH-201 also provides audio inputs so you can connect your I-pod or CD player as an oscillator “source”.
The SH-201’s front panel puts every control directly under your fingertips in a logically positioned signal path from left to right. There’s no display, but plenty of dedicated buttons and well labeled controls to tell you what’s happening. You might find this strange at first, especially if you’ve never programmed a synth before, but with an ample supply of knobs and buttons it’s more intuitive than digging though menus.
The SH has a nice big sound. The filters are very smooth, with no audible “stepping” in the cutoff or resonant parameters. The addition of an “amp” section lets you overdrive the sound (cool for lead lines) and there are effects for chorus/delay and reverb to finish the sound. A multi-purpose arpeggiator lets you choose from simple to complex phrases with the ability of recording your own as well.
What most impressed me most about the SH-201 is the addition of a 2-channel USB audio interface. This enables you to stream audio from a PC or Mac as an external input for morphing and mangling with the SH-201’s controls. Another forward thinking innovation is the addition of a VSTi & Audio Units software editor, which allows SH-201 sounds to be manipulated from within a VSTi or Audio Units-compatible host software sequencer.
In closing, the nostalgic look of the Juno-G and SH-201 is very inviting, and the state-of-the-art features of the Juno-G and the SH-201 definitely make them keyboards for 2006 and beyond.
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