Thank you for including DCO-106 in this rundown, Woody! It goes to show that although it's not a case of "There can be only one," it certainly seems to be the case that "There can be only one "! 😄

I checked my Juno collection and found these others Six Month June - Bridged Retromod 106 Poly-2106 - Bridged Oh and the Arturia Jun-6V I really like the Cherry and Arturia. The TAL still holds up well IMO

Thank you Woody, a good presentation , cheers.

I tend to put my emulations in two buckets: which one sounds right in a busy mix and which one sounds best in a solo/featured sound light mix. Thanks for all the hard work on this.

Softtube Model 84' the Best !

Mate, you’ve done a fine job, appreciate your dedication and time

Thanks Woody! I had forgotten all about the Zenology version. And yes, all of them sound excellent.

My favorites is the Roland Juno 60 vst since it also have a Juno 106 mode built in and i find that it sounds better than their Juno 106 version. Number 2 is the Softube 106 :)

Well done , enjoyed the mix , I've got the DCO 106 and like most of them it's a fantastic way of understanding how a synth works

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

hi, totally agree!

7:56 Tal 9:46 DCO-106 11:16 Roland cloud Juno-60 12:47 Roland cloud Juno-106 14:13 Roland cloud zenology 15:42 softube model-84

@roomofidiots

Жыл бұрын

I went with the softube model84z uh-mazing sounding!

I have both the Roland Cloud and the Arturia takes of the Juno and I do enjoy both of them.

Thank you Woody, you have obviously gone to some considerable effort in making this video. Bottom line for me is, none of them sound bad when you play each of the 6 with a break in between them. All of them are acceptable. I don't know though any of them quite manage to capture the sound of a real Juno 60. It's just more aggressive, more arghhhhhh!!! I'm terrible at explaining quite what I mean!

Out on the road today I saw a Hardware sticker on a Cadillac. A little voice inside my head said don’t look back. You can never look back.

Thanks for the great video. I usually use the DCO-106 (I just like the UI of it a lot) but after this video, I might go back to use the TAL-UN-O-LX again :-). But I agree, they‘re all good

sounds phenomenal

Thank you for the video. I have a original 106 from the 80´s and in my opinion the vst´s are great and can catch the "spirit" of that instrument. We don't need to talk about the fact that the analog device is much more massive and there is simply no plugin for it that has this pressure. Nevertheless, you have to do gainstaging, EQing etc. and at the end of the day you get an almost indistinguishable sound with the direct VSTs. In addition, the musical substance counts and it doesn't matter whether it's an original or an emulation! Hats off to the programmers, they did a great job and enrich us with their ideas and possibilities, which they also add to the VSTs.

What I noticed in the initial isolated comparisons was the cleanness of the sound of non-roland made clones. The Roland ones had some notable white noise in them when the plugin was idle. It is no longer that noticeable once it plays something. I bet this is the added emulated “authenticity”, i.e. the characteristic variation in vintage electronics. I wonder if this just some periodic white noise or if it is truly random every time. You could try this with a null-test to see if this noise is always the same or not. Some plugins will not null out if you bounch the same part multiple times (I have noticed this with Korg Gadget when I tested something). I know it’s a bit far fetched but it be an interesting test. In the mix, I could not really notice any real differences, all of them get the job done, any of them is fine by me.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

good ears on you, the roland plugout synths are the only ones to model the hissing chorus circuit!

Oh wait, let me get my popcorn for the comments! I'll refrain from any opinions, especially "best". Some of them I would call "inspired by" while others are trying to more authentic. You're completely right to do it this way without waveform-gazing, which while amusing, has little to do with what matters. But you're ignoring something important, which is workflow. But really, that's very hard to quantify.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

waveform-gazing, I like that! the good thing for us consumers, is that none of these sound bad! i'll cover other aspects in separate vids, but workflow, pretty much the same I think, more which style of GUI you like.

No matter which synth it was, I always felt a bit sad at the beginning then full of hope and then again a little bit sad that it didn't work out in the end. I'm trying to say the song and composition is above the sound source. :) But this was a great video. Thank You Woody.

I always wanted a Juno but never managed to score one. I stumbled across Cherry's DCO-106 and for just 30 clams I was in Roland 80s heaven :D

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

that'll do the trick!

@Analoque444

Жыл бұрын

No worries bro. As a owner of a real 106 I can tell you, that Cherry´s DCO-106 is a very good alternative and you get the spirit of the 106 with that vsti. Have fun producing and don´t think about it. Best regards

I'm going with the Tal. The bass line definitely sounds more punchy and dynamic! Best overall sound! Not a bad price, either ... $60 at Sweetwater.

@davidosolo

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. And if you connect it with a SFC-60, you have a hardware synth without loosing the conveniences of a software synth.

@joehermanartist

Жыл бұрын

@@davidosolo what's an sfc-60?

DCO 106 nice balanced sound, lush pad and nice high but the low end on the Softube one is really something special

Sounding great 👍

Thanks for all the work Woody. Really nice and useful comparison. Sidenote: next time you make a video like this, please consider indicating the synth you are using, while you are playing.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

ok, thanks for the feedback! I did put it in huge letters before each demo, but I guess if you skip around the vid you'd miss that!

@davidosolo

Жыл бұрын

@@WoodyPianoShack Yeah, I saw that Woody. But you know, these days people nearly never really focus on only one thing anymore. So if someone plays your video in the background while working on a project or browsing a website, for example, a more continuous indication of the synth being used would be very useful. Also maybe showing a picture of the user interface of the synth while playing it would be a nice addition.

As a former "Juno 106"" Owner, I love the Softtube Model 84, it has a nice GUI, and I tried programming my old sounds that I used in the Hardware 106, and it pretty darn close ....Roland's own Emulation is great even got.that "Chorus stereo hiss that was associated with the originalJuno 106, sadly though ,Roland's cloud "required a super computer to run...it's cpu hungry ,so I stopped using it

@Beethovan

2 ай бұрын

Which one sounds better like the Original? Softube Model 84 or Roland Cloud Juno 106? If a person has Roland Juno 106, is it worth buying Softube Model 84?

@MrJpbmusic2005

2 ай бұрын

@Beethovan yep, I got the "Juno Feel" to be honest it's not such a difficult synth to emulate with only one DCO and a sub I think the chorus is the big selling point....cherry Audio do a great Emulation TAL seem to have cracked it....but my opinion is Softube s GUI is so realistic it would be great if there was a "PG-800 style external controller that could look like rhe GUI that would be great

I really wish you could have included the Arturia and U-he Diva versions too.

Hi Woody. I enjoyed that. I couldn't compare to a real 106 but my immediate perception was that the Roland Cloud Junos were better plus the Softube 84, as you say though, they all sounded good in their own unique ways

The Rolands sound buttery and musical, you bet, especially the Juno 6... but the TAL sounds more like how I remember analogue synths actually sounding in the 80's... Funny, that.

Nice comparison, I use the Roland Cloud 106 for 106 style sounds along with the boutique version.. I think none of them sound like my original 106 that I used to have when they are played as solo sounds but all the new versions sit in a mix much better than the original ever did. I certainly wouldn't go back to an original one now ... too temperamental. Thanks for the comparisons.

This is mainly about first impressions (although I guessed trained ears can judge right away) but I think when you'd use them for a few weeks one may become more favorable than the others (apart from features and GUI). Besides I think 'old' ears that were young in the 80s will prefer the closest emulation fot nostalgic reasons (for it will evoke the deepest memories).

Nice look at the different versions. A lot of work went in to this, might have been good to hear the Arturia Juno 6 emulation amongst the comparisons too. You have to draw the line somewhere though🙂

They are all great. Thanks. Good for Roland since their synth was the original. They deserver credit for that.

all junos together sounds the best!! so buy all of them!!! next best sound in the mix for me the tal

I personally think they sound close enough, that it's not going to make as big of an impact on the final product as how you tweak them and how you mix/master the track. All are great. Personally, I have the DCO-106, mostly because it came at a really good price.

Hi Woody, or should I say Don Woody's Boys of Winter 2022 ? They all sound nice in their own way and sound like having a drink with Sonny Crockett at the nearest 7/11 ! This comparison is really interesting but the final word is how would you end up using any of this synth.... Keep up the good job

Good video Woody. I guess one could pick them apart but they all sounded good to me. I have a Juno 60 and I promise you that if you took two of them and compared them to each other you could find some differences with certain sound setups because they are all 40 years old or close to it. Mine was made in October 1983. Now if you used the Roland service manual to calibrate them and then tested them I would bet they would be much closer. The oscillators would be fine but how about the filter's resonance tuning? Yes, you tune it when calibrating it. The manual states that you let it warm up a minimum of 20 minutes before making any adjustments. Same thing for my Jupiter 8, but it would be a different story since it has VCOs and not DCOs that get the clock from, I think, the CPU's master clock that's crystal controlled. I Don't have the manual handy but I think it runs on an Intel 8048 micro controller. The Jupiter 8 runs on a Zilog Z-80 BTW. Anyways, there are 3 trimmer pots per oscillator on the Jupiter, but I don't think there's any on the Juno's oscillators, but won't swear to that since It's been awhile since I last calibrated it. I'm hoping to get set back up and post some content about those and other synths I have and do videos on a step by step procedure on calibrating them. That can make a big difference in how some vintage analog synths sound. It's more than just replacing caps in the PS.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

congrats on the J6, and interesting comments about the calibration, I guess, not necessary with DCO. mine was last switched on in 1989 so excited and dreading to find what condition the circuitry is in. cosmetically, it's immaculate, basically only 3 years old. :)

@PatrickRosenbalm

Жыл бұрын

@@WoodyPianoShack Hey that's too cool that you have a Juno 60 in that condition. However, before you switch it on again, I highly recommend that you take it to a trusted tech and have them unplug the PS and check voltages and the capacitors in it. You don't need any AC or too much ripple messing things up. The PS on those old Rolands are pretty robust so I bet it's in fine shape. Also, the memory back up battery might need replaced. Mine still has the original and the last time I checked it a couple of years ago it read 3.2 volts!! No signs of leakage and I left it alone. As for calibration, there are adjustments for the duty cycle of the square wave, ADSR times, filter tuning and more. The can make a big difference in the sound if they have drifted out a bit. Especially the filter. Calibrating a Juno is much simpler than a Jupiter 8. As I said, Mine is about ready for a re-cal and I plan on posting a multi part series on the procedure on my channel. Hopefully sooner than later. Catch ya later Woody! 🙂

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

@@PatrickRosenbalm noted, I will be careful. did I mention I have an ms20 in the same condition?

I had TAL-U-No-LX for a while and recently (2 years ago) the new Arturia Juno-6, they sound great. I tried the 2 Roland Cloud once before but heavy on CPU. I think it's something important to look at after the sounds quality. TAL-U-No-LX is still the best for both of it : CPU efficient, sounds good and also a clear interface. The Arturia one is a little bit CPU heavy in my opinion, but the main problem is always this lost of space screen with the realistic interface reproduction. It's beautifull but do we really need the reproduction of wood borders and aeration grid upper ? It's lead to 2 problems when you want to have te full view of the synthesizer in your screen, the knobs anf faders look small and when you zoom in to get a good size view of knobs and faders, you have to scroll to find the others one. Same problem for Roland. The TAL-U-No-LX is the best interface in comparison and I think with Cherry Audio the cheaper one.

I have the Cherry audio version which is decent but can be a bit of a resource hog if you up the sampling on it. I've been looking between Roland's Cloud version and the Softube as an upgrade. The softube 84 was on sale a few weeks ago, I wish I had of bought it then.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

i saw it on sale too, it was a lot cheaper than I though it was, good deal at the sale price! thanks for the comment on the cpu, that's something I'll investigate.

@mudi2000a

Жыл бұрын

The softube uses much less CPU than the Cherry one. Maybe wait for another sale. Maybe try it out, there is a 20 day demo available.

You missed a trick with the title. Could have been "Juno which sounds the best" :)

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

genius!

TAL and Softube are great. I have both. The Softube especially is fantastic. I don't own any of the others. I'm sure the Roland stuff is great but I am put off by the whole cloud manager thing and subscriptions etc etc so that kind of rules it out for me. I have both the 60 and 106 in hardware though it's maybe neither here nor there. Plugins are pretty great for pre-production though and putting together compositions quickly so still get a lot of use.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

yeah the cloud manager and the authentication is kinda fussy, keeps bugging me to reauthenticate, but maybe I'm doing something wrong. but, to try out all the roland stuff for just a handful of dollars is pretty sweet deal, a lot of fun for the small investment.

Great demo track! Regarding the 106, I sometimes feel those days are gone forever. We should just let them go. ;-)

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

thank you! just wait until I get my hands on my old J-6. it'll be on every other vid! oh, i do see what you did there... :D

I hope you have your go bag packed. Word on the street is that Don Henley sent his hit squad.

Wow! All sounded great. I liked the 106s better. The Softube was superwarm also.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

yes, can't really go wrong with any of them is the wrap-up.

I have the Juno 106 plugin , you have to tweak the sound to your liking, I like the Roland Zen Juno samples better. The Drum sequence with that clap are on point, that is near studio. The prices are reasonable consider the physical synth are thousands. these are in 150 to 200 price range.

@PatrickRosenbalm

Жыл бұрын

If we could only go back to the mid and late 90s. Junos 6 and 60s were in that price range. 106 and Alphas went for a little more because they had MIDI.

where can u get these 😍😍🎶🎶 emulations plugins r they library sounds like Kontakt or standalone plugins

The attack of the sound is important to play fast riffs even though the ADSR settings are the same. Hope you can demo it some day. Regards.

I would like to have heard the Arturia in the comparison as that has become my go to Juno. But they do all sound pretty good. I just like the gui on the Arturia synths.

Sounds good I have the Roland Cloud version and the Arturia on both are impeccable 👌

I think these plug-ins are so d-mn close that to really spot a difference you would have to do the "inspect waveforms" and turn up the filter/resonance. ON/Off with chorus etc. I mean, the bass patch sounded very different on the different Junos and I think that probably is down to how difficult it is to match the sounds/sliders on the different Junos. Especially on a Synth Bass where there is a combo of Cutoff Frequencey, CUtoff amount/intensity, resonance and the envelope generator settings The pads on the other hand sounded much more alike, with very little difference to me. That the all sound so close on the pad is the most important attribute of the Junos to me, so that is great news since you can choose any of the plug-ins for that aspect and get a good result(And probably for most other sounds too)! The Chorus emulation seems to be good on all of them!

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

i think you nailed it there with your points thanks, yeah the pad was a simpler sound, so easier to match! although I think there are differences in the envelopes and filters, more apparent in the bass, but i can't say one sounds better than the other!

I create some really lovely ambient tracks using the DCO 106. It sound great to my ears and is wn inspirational inspirational instrument due to its minimal and efficient design. 😊

In some way this video brings me back to Wembley, summer '85.

You can get the Arturia V collection right now for 150 bucks. Comes with like 30 different synths....unbeatable value

lovely composition. go further!

I honestly don't know which one is closest to the original. Every one sounded pretty good. If I had to pick I'd go with the TAL one because... well, because I have it and know how to use it. I did like the Roland offerings quite a lot, but I suspect they sound a bit more oomphy than the originals did.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

hi, agree, you can't go wrong with what you already have!

Dont't remember if I mentioned it before, but the Roland cloud Juno emu copies the original synth so much realistic including noise. Funny but not neccessary......need some dolby C or something from iZotope (RX). Thank you again for your enthusiasm and this great lesson.

@AutPen38

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad that most of the modern "emulations" of the Juno chorus don't include the hiss of the original hardware. (TAL even provides a free hiss-free Juno-style chorus plugin that you can use on other synths). It appears that the Cloud versions included the hissing for "realism", but one hopes there is an option to switch it off!

@oliveruecker4919

Жыл бұрын

@@AutPen38 Thank you! I habve the Juno 60 from Arturia as well; pretty thing but sounds somewhat "thin".

Hi Very Interesting video. I have a mint Juno 60. I have done some testing too, comparing some of them up against the real Juno 60. With my result it is the Roland own that come closest. There is one very importent area where the others fail. Their evenlopes arent just fast/snappy enough. The others are "sponkey" and soft. I could make a bass that was really 90% close to the real Juno with the Roland plugin. With the others I would say about 75%.

Any free emulation? I remember the original TAL U-NO being free.

@WoodyPianoShack

2 ай бұрын

tis the only free one afaik

Model 84 and Roland Cloud are most authentic for me

They all sound good to be honest. To me though, the Softube sounds the "nicest". Comparing it to a real one is impossible in this case, unless you gave an actual vintage Juno to compare it to. But as far as "best sounding", I really dig the Softube one in this demonstration. A close second would be the Cherry Audio one. I've always been a fan of the TAL plugins, and I think with some tweaking you could get that to sound closer to the others, because it's very much capable of doing that. And that goes for all of the other plugins listed also, you can get them to sound a lot closer.

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

good ears. i think you're onto something, i did notice some kind of "lushness" with softube.

I own the newest Arturia one, so bad luck it's not included here. 😀

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

agree, but really thought I had them all until i was narrating the vid!

The Behringer Deepmind 12 is the best sounding Juno.

@middaymeds

Жыл бұрын

I disagree. I don't dislike it or anything, it's fantastic value for the price and has a great mod matrix. BUT I think it sounds a bit thin when compared with the original Juno. Nothing that can't be accounted for with EQ though.

@jakobole

Жыл бұрын

@@middaymeds Yup - just don't use it for bass. I pair it with a Poly D, and the house starts shakin' :)

@DangerAmbrose

Жыл бұрын

Sorry but the Deepmind is far superior to the Juno.

@PatrickRosenbalm

Жыл бұрын

@@DangerAmbrose And it ought to be. It's much newer and has way way more features. I say this as a Juno 60 owner.

@adamjacksonmedia

8 ай бұрын

This is interesting, because I've never heard anything that appeals to me from the Deepmind. Otherwise I'd buy it. I really love those super fat, warm brass and pads. The system 8 does it, Juno X almost does it, most of the plug-ins and plug-outs do it. But I've never heard convincing Juno 60 sounds from the Deepmind... sadly.

Don Henley is calling his attorneys 😂 My favorite is Roland’s, only one of these I own so…

To me, the Tal and cherry audio sounds best but in a different way.

Fascinating. For me, the Softube version sounds the most like my 106. It has a liveliness and weight to it. I like the TAL synth, always have. It certainly sounds good in the mix. Must admit, probably felt the Roland software was the weakest! Who’d have thought it, eh?!

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

haha, I know where you're coming from, interesting that you liked the softube, there is a certain lushness to it. ^^^ this guy has fantastic soundpacks for tal, check it out! ^^^

Softube's strings are the best

according to my old ears.....!! Tal - U-No-Lx - nice, like it. Cherry DCO-106 - Most digital sounding - little bit muddy. Roland Cloud Juno 60 - best separation, enjoyed the clarity. Roland Cloud Juno 106 - too bass heavy, was that without the sub? Zenology - muddy - probably fix by EQ'ing the mix. Softube Model 84 - nice resonance.. needs a bit of EQ'ing to fix mix.

@adamjacksonmedia

8 ай бұрын

May I ask what direction you would potentially take the EQ? I have Zenology and would like to maximise the sound.

@GlenJDiamond

7 ай бұрын

@@adamjacksonmedia wow - that post was a year old! perhaps Roland have enhanced their zenology range by now? otherwise running zenology in a DAW you can EQ it on the channel strip.

@adamjacksonmedia

7 ай бұрын

@GlenJDiamond No that's fine 😊 I have zenology, and I was looking for eq ideas.

Don Henley would be proud ;)

👍

I am not hearing differences that could convince me to buy one or another. Point is that juno generation was a "simple" synthesizer, so it shouldn't be so hard to be simulated. Using strange side effects with filters and noises from a Jupiter8 is much more complex. Anyway, all software houses seem to have worked well. In my computer I have Zenology, Arturia and Cherry versions but I never used a juno thing, I am more focused on big beasts that I couldn't buy when I was a kid... For example I love Cherry Audio Elka X, Jd800 in Zenology, Arturia Jupiter8 and U-he Repro 5.

@mrdali67

Жыл бұрын

I feel kinda the same as you. The Juno was a very simplistic Synth, hence I fail to see all the fuzz and hype about it. It sounded good and was at a reasonable price point, just as the jx3p, but nothing extraordinaire that you couldn’t do on many other Synths of the time. I think its the oddballs that stand out, which did sounds that nothing else did. And of cause the big Monsters like the Jupiter 8, and CS80. It’s another thing with stuff like the DX7 and other synths that can use sysex to load sounds and Banks i kinda expect the software versions to be pretty spot on as it’s much easier to tweak your code to get eg. the filter to react at least close to the original. But many of the sounds here, basic strings, brassy sounds, basic synbasses is fairly easy to make on just about any synth wether its analog, digital or wavetable based. Just shows you can choose anyone of these that you and your wallet likes and they will work just fine 😊

@MusicZeroOne

Жыл бұрын

@@mrdali67 That’s exactly the point, I love my Juno as it’s SO easy to use. We’ve overly complicated things these days. That Juno chorus is also what makes them special. My Jupiter Xm can get an almost identical sound, but I still prefer to play the Juno. There’s just something you can’t replace, silly & weird but it’s a factor to owning one.

@mrdali67

Жыл бұрын

@@MusicZeroOne Ya I had both a DW8000 and later the EX8000 version, and the build in digi delay made it sound much bigger than most other Synths. The chorus in the Juno is also very nice and is what makes it sound much better the price on it indicates.

Boys of Summer

What song is this?

@adamjacksonmedia

8 ай бұрын

It's based on Boys of Summer.

The Softube is incredible. TAL are a cool company worthy of support. Everything else is meh or below.

For me personally I think all VSTs fall down when it comes to bass sounds, there's nothing quite like analogue bass. I have Syntronik, Sample Tank and my own samples and they still don't have that sound.

You missed Arturia Juno 60 and as far as I checked and compared to real Juno. Arturia is the best. Softube 84 is really good if you need vintage sounding Juno 106, and Roland and TAL when you're looking for more modern sound.

Tal & Cherry had a great mix. I never heard Softtube emulation, but I liked it! Didn't care for any of Roland's, the mix was unbalanced somehow.

@mrz80

Жыл бұрын

Never minding the sound quality, I just can't buy into Roland's subscription model of bleeding money out of the marketplace. :D

@vaiman7777

Жыл бұрын

@@mrz80 Buying them bypasses subscription. Crazy I know!

@BrandonRyan

Жыл бұрын

@@mrz80 You can get the Roland synths via membership or buy them individually or as part of bundles/collections.

Roland ACB is excellent, which makes me sad because i want zenology to be as good and not noticeable. Some were soft and muddy, Roland i think had it

Tom Petty refused that song, written by Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell. Doh!

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

interesting, did not know that. kind of glad it went to don, but would loved to have heard tom do a version, well whilst he could.

Don Henley inspired?

Presets on tal and dco106 are not that great.

Lack of an Arturia entry de legitimizes this shoot-out.

With great power comes great responsibility

16:00 ...fingers crossed for no copyright strike from the worst copyright strike offenders on youtube ;)

V Boys of Summer

@WoodyPianoShack

Жыл бұрын

boys of synthwave

Привіт з України!

Arturia all the way...which you don't have here.

roland vsts are cpu killers

@Czyszy

Жыл бұрын

i agree

TAL Uno is an amazing piece of kit. Blows everything else I've heard out of the water.

I don't think this is a good test. You could easily replicate these sounds in any decent poly soft syntn like Vital, Serum, Dune, Omnisphere etc. The point about the emulations is the big chords, the filter and the bass. Not a noodling lead sound that every soft synth does. Sorry, not a good test.