Members KJI Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Yes I agree it's pretty flimsy, not what it was gases up to be. Not to say I completely disagree with the shortcomings of the Juno Stage, I'd say that it's still quite capable for what it is - a cheap preset-oriented rompler intended for live use. I know TONS of people whom could use one of these just fine - small churches without a dedicated synth player, cheap night-club bands... (hey, I once met a guy using a XV-5080 as a freakin' GM module:facepalm:) We ("pro" musicians) just weren't the intended market for the Juno Stage, and we should just leave it at that. I mean, we "pro"s could look through the marketing hype and make informed decisions, unlike the "semi-pro"s out there thinking they're buying top-tier quality at half the price, right? :poke: I personally was looking forward to the Juno Stage, being the cheap student musician that I am, and in the end the keybed(the one thing I really looked forward to) ruined it for me. But like I said, in terms of the whole market for which the Stage was intended, I accept that I'm in the minority that actually gives a damn about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthman1 Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 I'd say that it's still quite capable for what it is - a cheap preset-oriented rompler intended for live use. There is sort of the paradox. Anyone who has invested 5-10 in music is good enough to perform and commits to actually playing out, most likely isn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 If it sounds like some of us are harsh on the Juno Stage it's because we have fond memories of the last time Roland gave us a live performance rompler in this price range.... the XP-30. Although it had only 61 keys, it was built rock solid with the best sounds Roland had at the time. They're still being used today. I noticed that the keyboard player for Duffy mentioned that the XP-30 is in his stage setup in a recent interview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintagekeys Posted January 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Yeah I don't know why the companies have lost sight of quality. The boards (even entry level as well) released 10 years were much better made and the companies actually thought their products thru, they were also devoted to ensuring even entry level low cost boards included playable keybeds, sturdy casing, quality sounds, value, etc. Now you get one or the other. I remember when the XP-30 came out with the addition of the SR-JV boards built in, solid keybed, sounds galore, quality casing, of course I understand the need to use cost effective components but come on add a decent keybed to any board over $1000.00 after all we are paying more for these boards than we did in the past, there should be a minimum threshold of quality when shelling out a grand or more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cutterhd Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 The Roland stage is made in China Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synthman1 Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 If it sounds like some of us are harsh on the Juno Stage it's because we have fond memories of the last time Roland gave us a live performance rompler in this price range.... the XP-30. The XP-80 76 key flagship version was used in a ton of live/church rigs in its day. Both used a standard Roland keybed with velocity and aftertouch and had an excellent reputation. Stage performers are not entry level. They are high mid to advanced level. There are so many crucial steps a musician must take for them to be even close to performing. This whole premise of "le" or light versions of Motifs, Tritions and Fantoms has a place in the food chain I suppose. But it beg to question, if you are serious why not just save up a few more months and bite the bullet? A Juno-Stage is is $1400 which is already in striking distance of a high-end board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NuSkoolTone Posted January 29, 2009 Members Share Posted January 29, 2009 Recently Shopped around and auditioned the Juno Stage. NOT impressed! Went with the M50. The keys feel fine to me, light as a feather for gigging and sounds great! And btw, in the US if you dig around you can find an XS7 for a touch under $2300 and totally legit! My local guy hooked me up! I did the M50 and XS7 at the same time so my deal was sweetened a touch, but only by about $50 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diametro Posted January 29, 2009 Members Share Posted January 29, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members polymer Posted January 29, 2009 Members Share Posted January 29, 2009 It's not that easy collecting 1700 to 2100 dollars... Saved up money, and worked on a farm to get 900 dollars, my parents paid 500 dollars at Christmas...The only store that had any real selection of keyboards only had Rolands. I wanted to be able to hear what I was buying, and out of the options I could afford, the Stage was the most impressive. It's essentially a sonic cell with a keyboard shell for an extra 400 dollars. I'd like to know...Is it really that bad? Or is it just bad in contrast to these 2100$ and 1800$ contenders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diametro Posted January 29, 2009 Members Share Posted January 29, 2009 I don't think it's bad at all ... And if YOU like it, that's all that matters ... Would I buy one ... ??? Probably never but that doesn't mean it doesn't have good sounds and features ... If it had aftertouch I think the reception would have been different ... If you don't miss it, then I wouldn't worry ... The other thing is that some don't like the idea of the Juno name on something that plays samples (which is fine but not what the Juno's synth heritage is about ... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hahuusko Posted January 29, 2009 Members Share Posted January 29, 2009 A Juno-Stage owner here! I've had my Stage for about three weeks now, and I am pretty impressed. I was looking for a relatively light-weight board with over 61 keys, good-feeling keys and good sounds. Juno-Stage is all that and the price was also right. I also think it is quite sturdy (at least a lot sturdier than my Korg X50). And I know that everybody doesn't like the key action, but I liked it immediately. The velocity response felt a bit strange in the beginning (you have to play really hard to get the high velocities) and the velocity switching on piano/e-piano sounds could be smoother, but otherwise I can't say anything bad about it. Well, maybe the rock organ sounds aren't that impressive and the vocoder is kind of a joke. Still, there's something strange about the Juno-Stage that I can't completely connect with. I'm thinking about selling it and trying another Stage (that is, Nord Stage). Juno-Stage does fill all my needs, but...something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintagekeys Posted June 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 Change of heart on the Juno stage after spending a few hours with it here in Japan, with it set up right, (stereo, with SRX cards, etc). Excellent board. I had to get rid of the Fantom X as I am tired of buying workstations when I do not use them for tracking. Its overkill and a waste. I just need something for performances and the Stage fits the bill.. Any other change of hearts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintagekeys Posted June 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members keybdwizrd Posted June 16, 2010 Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nismology Posted June 16, 2010 Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 I'd stay away from the Junos. I got through two of them within the space of 2 weeks. The first one wouldn't even turn on. all I got was the backlight and a message that said 'error 1'. (fried motherboard apparently). The second one basically fell to pieces within a week, AND IT NEVER LEFT MY HOUSE. I now have a gorgeous yellow M50 which I've now had for months and it is still running absolutely perfectly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hahuusko Posted June 16, 2010 Members Share Posted June 16, 2010 I'd stay away from the Junos. I got through two of them within the space of 2 weeks. The first one wouldn't even turn on. all I got was the backlight and a message that said 'error 1'. (fried motherboard apparently). The second one basically fell to pieces within a week, AND IT NEVER LEFT MY HOUSE. Didn't you have a Juno-G, not a Stage? I've heard many people having problems with Juno-G:s but at least I didn't have any problems with my Juno-Stage. I had it for a year and a half and it worked perfectly and felt overall like a quality instrument. The only reason why I sold it was that a 61-key board fit my needs better (got a Kurzweil PC361). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintagekeys Posted June 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 17, 2010 I'd stay away from the Junos. I got through two of them within the space of 2 weeks. The first one wouldn't even turn on. all I got was the backlight and a message that said 'error 1'. (fried motherboard apparently). The second one basically fell to pieces within a week, AND IT NEVER LEFT MY HOUSE. I now have a gorgeous yellow M50 which I've now had for months and it is still running absolutely perfectly! Naw I was one dimensional when I first started this post.... I was conditioned like many board players to the workstations being the only options for performance boards as that is what all the pros did and that is how products were being marketed. I finally told myself why am I using a workstation for gigs when I NEVER use the workstation for tracking. Protools does it much better... Regarding reliability I had a Juno G for a year and no problem so you unfortunately got ahold of some bad ones which is possible with ANY board.. I personally hate the M50, everything about it felt wrong to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintagekeys Posted June 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 17, 2010 Don't ya miss aftertouch? Seriously and I mean seriously why would I need aftertouch during performance gigs. I really have not noticed a difference and as you can see I use a variety of boards for gigs depending on the artist/band I am playing for or the music list.... I hear people cry about the lack of aftertouch on some of the new boards and I wonder if its a legacy thing or a legitimate functionality one needs for playing... Please educate me... mildbill - I really have lost interest in Kurzweil after trying out the PC3, the EPs were just not as full as the Roland stuff. Even Korg has improved in that area with the SV1 (which I owned for about 2 months before returning)... Kurzweil is great in pianos and other sounds but not the EPs.. The Yamaha S70XS was disappointing to me, Yamaha (which usually gets it right), seemed to be moving backwards from the S90es vs forward. I would take my S90es ALL day over the new S90/70xs... I think my addition of the Juno Stage is perfect for gigs, next month the Yamaha CP5 and a replacement amp for my Roland KC series will be the final expenditures for my road rig, and I should be good. The Stage is light weight vs the almost 40lbs of my Fantom X7. The Fantom had a bunch of stuff I did not need on it. I thought it was the ultimate gigging board until I really delved into the Stage... its perfect for live performance and dialing up effects, changes and edits on the fly.. No need to get buried in menus on the Motif and Fantom.... and to think I was actually going to pick up the Fantom G7... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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