Roland Juno Stage

[jamman1701]

hey guys

 

Im looking into synths and i'm liking the Juno Stage.

I want a synth with a nice grand piano and string sound.

Is there anyone out there that owns or has expierence with the juno stage?

 

Do you know if you can combine the piano and string sound to play at the same time?

Here is a example of what im looking for, its a sound i really love

 

 

Thanks in advance

 

Jam

[AnotherScott]

There are tons of boards where you can layer a nice piano and string sound, including the Juno Stage, though someone can certainly prefer the sound of one over another, and that's a subjective choice. If you want any other guidance, the factors that come to mind are... other kinds of sounds you may be looking for... preference for weighted vs. unweighted action... desire for 61, 73/76, or 88 keys... importance of low weight... simplicity of operation... budget...

 

Other than that, I would just point out that the Juno Stage is discontinued. It looks like the far more capable and up-to-date Jupiter 50 is pretty much its replacement, coming out in July. But that will be $2k, and you can find the Stage for a lot less than that.

[ChristianRock]

I've seen used Juno Stages go for about 700 dollars. It's a good deal for what it does, I think.

[DJ RAZZ]

The Juno Stage has some design, quality control, and OS bug issues so be careful.

[hogger]

I got one when, of all places - Best Buy, had them for $799. It was a very weird deal that they had them so cheap, I figured something must have been wrong with it.

 

All in all, I love the thing. The acoustic pianos and strings in it are great, in my opinion. The same ones that are in my Fantom XR. A lot of the sounds are the same as what are in the Fantom. It also supports the SRX cards (2 of em), so it can really enhanced depending on what it is you want out of it. I have a SRX12 for EPs and Clavs, and it helps a lot. It's a very lightweight keyboard, I keep mine in a gigbag ready to go in an emergency. The action doesn't bother me. It has an XLR input, so for those emergency things it's very versatile. I run a mic into it and put reverb on the mic sometimes, just to get by.

 

Now that I'm thinking about that keyboard, I'm remembering one thing that's really cool about it - the rhythm machine. It's got a decent rhythm programming interface, and those eight buttons right above the keyboard can bring in different patterns. The drums in it sound very good to me, and I have used it for some one-man-band stuff. You can assign a pedal to start the rhythm, quickly reach up and change the pattern, and hit the pedal to stop the rhythm. It worked better on that keyboard than any keyboard I've ever tried such things on, going back dozens of keyboards into the 1980s.

 

It has a USB port that you can stick a thumb drive into, from which you can play mp3s during set breaks. I do that at private party gigs sometimes. It's very handy.

 

It has that proximity-sensor thing - the "D Beam". That's kinda handy for playing around with solo patches.

 

The organs on it suck. I've been playing around with building an organ on my Fantom that uses nine sinewave patches in a multi to replicate the nine drawbars, plus another two mono patches for the 2nd and 3rd percussion. It works VERY well on my Fantom, and when I get time I'm going to try and port it to a Juno Stage "multi". If I can get it working then it would completely blow away any organ patch on the thing from the factory. It has a few assignable knobs that could be used to simulate drawbars, but not nine of em. I'm thinking that I could program a patch that has 888000000, and then bring up the six rightmost drawbars with one knob, thus giving a pretty easy transition from 888000000 to 888888888.

 

I wish it had some sample RAM, but alas it has none. You gets what you get with samples, aside from what you can get on the SRX modules.

 

I think it was a steal at $799, and it's not a bad deal at $1000 or so. Much more, however, and I would probably start considering a Nord before taking the Juno Stage leap.

[SonnyDaye]

The Juno-Stage had the best features of any keyboard I've EVER owned.

But, right from the outset there were KEYBED problems (certain keys play at full volume no matter how hard you hit the key). The problem was widespread if you read all the boards. I made the mistake of waiting to let all the keys that would fail go bad before shipping it back for repair. I assumed there was a one year warranty since Roland had such a reputation of being a quality company. So, just before the year was up I was ready to send it and THEN found out there was ONLY a 90 day warranty. I was pissed!

Do you think they knew about the lack of quality and that's why they only gave a 90 day warranty? There DEFINITELY should have been a RECALL on the board because of all the faulty keybeds.

I switched to a Kurzweil SP4-7 and am VERY happy with the board and their tech support. VERY SAD what became of the Roland company.

[hogger]

 

certain keys play at full volume no matter how hard you hit the key

 

I had heard that there were issues, but I never noticed anything wrong with mine so I never researched what the issues were. I haven't ever noticed any keys playing at full volume when I didn't expect it, not that I doubt you at all. Your story would make sense given their weird price slashing down to something Best Buy could sell for $799 and still make a profit. They must have really blown them out.

[Mega Jon]

The feature set and sound engine are outstanding for the price. The quality is terrible. You won't get any support from Roland when it goes bad (unless you find it new in a box from a licenced reseller) and you risk spending your purchase price on repairs - always a risk but much, much higher with the Junos. You will really like it but there is a high failure rate. I replaced my busted Juno with a Korg M-50. I am still mad at Roland, sort of ex-girlfriend mad. It's been six months. I adore the Korg. I play it more, and sound better , and wonder why I didn't just listen to the good folks who told me not to buy the Juno in the first place. Trouble is, the Juno is a sweet board. I was going to sell mine to the first $50 that came along. Swore I'd never buy another Roland ever. Haven't done that though, still have it. Bought a new stand so I can keep it in my studio. I haven't played it, but I can't part with it. I keep saying I'll use it as a controller for Abelton or something which is silly becuase the keybed is worse than the beat up Casio that sits next to it.

 

If you feel lucky, or you are great doing your own repairs and don't mind dropping a few hundred dollars for parts down the road, you'll be very happy with it. If you get a really, really good deal it's probably worth it - if you don't mind the aggrivation of the downtime while it's getting repaired.

 

If you need a reliable board becuase you have a business commitment, don't even look at it. You'll be tempted, you'll buy it, and you'll be sorry. For jammin with tapes or friends, [shrug].

 

Look at me with the big opinion

[DJ RAZZ]

If you can afford it and have the time seriously consider checking out the new Roland Jupiter 50. It is going to be a beast of a synth for any Roland fan.

[Bernard]

 

If you can afford it and have the time seriously consider checking out the new Roland Jupiter 50. It is going to be a beast of a synth for any Roland fan.

 

 

Same keybed and probs?

[Madocian]

 

But, right from the outset there were KEYBED problems (certain keys play at full volume no matter how hard you hit the key). The problem was widespread if you read all the boards.

 

 

I was fortunate enough to have a Roland Canada technician do some research and find that there was a service bulletin about the key bed. Roland replaced the key bed for no charge although it was well past warranty.

 

Gord

[SonnyDaye]

 

I was fortunate enough to have a Roland Canada technician do some research and find that there was a service bulletin about the key bed. Roland replaced the key bed for no charge although it was well past warranty. Gord

 

 

Thanks for that info Gord! I HAD heard something about a service bulletin in Canada a while back. But, I had a U.S. Authorized technician look into it - he told me he couldn't find any service bulletin. And Roland doesn't post any info like this on their websites. You have to be a detective. Any info on HOW TO FIND the service bulletin and get the KEYBED replaced by a U. S. Authorized technician for no charge would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thanks in advance!

[Madocian]

Hey Sonny,

 

Maybe give Roland Canada in Mississauga a call (905) 362-9707. If I remember correctly, the technican's name was also Gord. Unfortunately, I no longer have the service receipt as I included it when I sold my Juno.

 

Best of luck,

Gord

[MickeyKeys]

Worst gear purchase I ever made. Owned it for two years. Dumped it on FeeBay and re-bought a QS7.1 - which was the board I'd been trying to replace - off CL.

 

I employ a lot of splits and layers, and use my stage piano to call song-specific setups on both boards with one patch change. I had been seduced by my perception of how usable the Stage would be. As I got more into the menus I found the interface a royal pain in the patoot and the MIDI functionality limited. The QS, despite its dated technology, worked better for me.

 

Picked up a Kurz PC3 eight months ago. In two weeks I achieved more with the PC3 than I did with the Stage in two damn years. Superior soundset overall (especially the KB3 organs), and once I overcame my initial intimidation, WAYYY easier to create the setups I need.

 

Yeah, quite a bit pricier - and heavier (even the 76 which is what I have), but at the end of the day worth every red cent and every strained muscle on gig night. Band raves about the new sounds.

 

I'm done with Roland synths. If you GAVE me a Jupiter - 80, I'd sell it so fast your head would swim, buy an 88 key weighted Kurzweil to replace my RD, and pocket the change.

 

But hey, that's just me. YMMV.

[SonnyDaye]

 

Hey Sonny, Maybe give Roland Canada in Mississauga a call (905) 362-9707. If I remember correctly, the technican's name was also Gord. Unfortunately, I no longer have the service receipt as I included it when I sold my Juno. Best of luck, Gord

 

 

Thanks for that info Gord. I'll follow up and see if I get anywhere.

[SonnyDaye]

 

Worst gear purchase I ever made. Owned it for two years. Dumped it on FeeBay and re-bought a QS7.1 - which was the board I'd been trying to replace - off CL. I employ a lot of splits and layers, and use my stage piano to call song-specific setups on both boards with one patch change. I had been seduced by my perception of how usable the Stage would be. As I got more into the menus I found the interface a royal pain in the patoot and the MIDI functionality limited. The QS, despite its dated technology, worked better for me. Picked up a Kurz PC3 eight months ago. In two weeks I achieved more with the PC3 than I did with the Stage in two damn years. Superior soundset overall (especially the KB3 organs), and once I overcame my initial intimidation, WAYYY easier to create the setups I need. Yeah, quite a bit pricier - and heavier (even the 76 which is what I have), but at the end of the day worth every red cent and every strained muscle on gig night. Band raves about the new sounds. I'm done with Roland synths. If you GAVE me a Jupiter - 80, I'd sell it so fast your head would swim, buy an 88 key weighted Kurzweil to replace my RD, and pocket the change. But hey, that's just me. YMMV.

 

 

I actually had a QS7.1 also.

After I gave up on the Juno-Stage with all its keybed problems, I would have loved to go the PC3 route but can't handle the weight. I settled for the Kurz SP4-7 as a compromise and am VERY happy with it. Love the Kurz support as opposed to the Roland NON-support!

[DJ RAZZ]

 

Same keybed and probs?

 

I would hope not. That would be a disaster.

[Bernard]

 

I would hope not. That would be a disaster.

 

 

It's a shame as the J80 is a tad OTT with the sticky out rubbery switches under the keybed and the J50 has that risk and the synth engine was not an easy one to strip. They may have killed it!

 

There was a perfect synth somewhere in between... At the right price it would have sold well. Even with THAT name... LOL

[DJ RAZZ]

 

It's a shame as the J80 is a tad OTT with the sticky out rubbery switches under the keybed and the J50 has that risk and the synth engine was not an easy one to strip. They may have killed it! There was a perfect synth somewhere in between... At the right price it would have sold well. Even with THAT name... LOL

 

 

Yes something around $2500, with aftertouch, the high quality keybed, and the touch screen, of the JP80, but more along the feature set and ease of use of the JP50. There are just so many keyboards out these days to do too much watering down.

[AnotherScott]

 

Yes something around $2500, with aftertouch, the high quality keybed, and the touch screen, of the JP80, but more along the feature set and ease of use of the JP50. There are just so many keyboards out these days to do too much watering down.

 

Let's see what that leaves as a JP80 advantage... 10 parts over 4 keyboard ranges instead of 6 parts over 3, 256 polyphony vs 128, 256 registrations vs. 128 (and more direct access buttons), digital out, internal power supply, balanced outs... anything else? I wonder if there's enough there to justify the difference between $2500 and $3500. Though I'm not sure they could make what you want for $2500... the things you want added all have significant cost.

 

I'm fine with losing the touchscreen... To me, the over-riding plus of the JP50 is the much more manageable size and weight, and I don't think they could have done that with the touch screen. I'd rather see a more extensive iPad app. As for the keyboard, I actually hoped for the VR-700 keyboard, but even apart from price, I don't know if they could have put either of the higher end keyboards (JP80/VR700) into the JP50 without making the unit heavier and bulkier, and to me, the size/weight is one of the biggest advantages of the 50.

 

But if it wouldn't add bulk or much weight, I'd have paid a coupla' hundred more for aftertouch and 9 sliders that could act as drawbars or be assigned to other functions. That would be enough for me, I think...

[DJ RAZZ]

Forgot sliders. There are 3 but that is all. I think the weight of the V-SYNTH would be OK.

[SonnyDaye]

UPDATE!

Just got off the phone with RolandUS Service. I told them that I was just told that there WAS a Service Bulletin for the faulty KEYBED issue of the Juno Stage, but it was for Roland Canada. A poster said their keybed was replaced free of charge even though it was beyond the warranty period. She told me they were basically different companies and she could find no Service Bulletin within Roland US. She said she wasn't aware of any KEYBED problems. I guess she (and the service dept.) doesn't read any of these boards that have had a multitude of posts about the problem that began when the Juno-Stage FIRST came out!

And WHY would ONLY Roland Canada issue a Service Bulletin if all the Juno-Stages are made in the same place?

I'm at a dead end here and VERY unhappy with this company.

[hogger]

I brought my Juno Stage home from the practice room where it normally lives, and played around with it quite a bit last night. I tested all 76 keys; each one seems to respond just fine to low and high velocity strikes. I got mine from Best Buy around October of last year. I guess it's not all of them that have the issue, or they don't all exhibit it from the factory. Perhaps mine will develop the issue. Hope not. I love that keyboard.

[DJ RAZZ]

I hope not as well.

[bkorol5048]

Guys I bought a used Juno Stage from Guitar center and it had a velocity problem. So I contacted Roland but of course they indicated they didn't know about the issue. Anyways I found a keyboard parts supplier to order a new keybed for about $209. https://syntaur.com/Items/2210.html

So I installed it myself and it solved all my velocity issues.

There is a youtube video for a Roland Juno D

 

which covers keybed repair which is similar to the Roland Juno Stage.