junods88 questions

[luckyluca]

Hi,
I went to my local shop today to try out a casio px560 ( I'm in need for a home digital piano with the odd synth capabilities and sequencer ) and I just happen to pay the junods88 beneath it and loved it!

I've got a few questions I was hoping you could help me with.

Does the junods88 support plugging a second keyboard (Nord lead a1) to its lineIn and record it on the sequencer?

alternatively can i connect the nla1 via midi, play on the nla1 and record a track on the junods88, and finally play both keyboards back on an external mixer for recording?

have you noticed keys developing noise clanking noise or other after a while?

would you recommend it?

i.e. i like the px560 but it develops a clanking keybed after a while, even the store demo one had this issue along with a sticky mod wheel.

thx
Luca

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

Great keyboard, if I was in the market for 88 keys the Juno 88 is what I would get.

I will leave it to Gary to answer your query, he is the Juno guy here.

 

[happyrat1]

I own a Juno DS61, the little brother to the DS88.

First of all, the DS sequencer is a 32 Step Sequencer, not a Song Sequencer.

While you can plug a Nord into the audio input and record note samples or play back thru the DS FX block, it won't record an entire MIDI sequence.

For that I would recommend hooking up the DS and the Nord to a computerized DAW MIDI Sequencer to do your recordings.

As to the eventual noisiness of the keybed I cannot speak one way or the other. My DS61 is synth action while the DS88 is Weighted Hammer Action.

In general there is a tendency on most 88 hammer action keybeds to become noisier with time simply because of the additional mechanism involved but most people don't find it a problem at regular playing volumes.

Basically just consider it as par for the course and decide accordingly.

Otherwise though, I have to say that I truly love the sound of my Juno DS and I highly recommend these synths for anyone who wants to play modern covers as well as traditional tunes on a very natural sounding instrument.

Also, while the PX560 is a very good synth indeed, I tend to favor synths without internal speakers, since I always find external amps to be better sounding and allowing an upgrade path which internal speakers simply do not allow.

The DS also has sampling and vocoder features which the Casios lack.

Hope this helps in your decision.

Feel free to fire off any other questions you may have.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

BTW, the DS has some free expansion pack sounds available for download from Roland.

The Casio has no such expansion capability.

http://axial.roland.com/category/juno-ds61_juno-ds88_xps-30/

Gary

 

[luckyluca]

many thanks, much appreciated.
I really liked the hand/sound connection today on the juno but going with the casio would temporarily save me money on amp speakers as well as daw ( it allows for crude .wav recording of its sequencer tracks and linein inputs together ).

I'd be curious to hear from existing 88 owners what their thoughts are about keys becoming noisy over time.

it's crazy i was looking at the kawai mp7se nord piano3 casio px560 and all of them seem to develop clanky keys...

 

[luckyluca]

also ii forgot to ask, is the
Ivory Feel-G Keyboard with Escapement a triple sensor keybed?

I quite liked it. I found the kawais a bit mushy and the casio px560 nice but slightly light and cheap.

oh and does the junods88 come bundled with music sheets stand and or sustain pedal?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

going with the casio would temporarily save me money on amp speakers as well as daw

You can get a perfectly reasonable DAW for free, although of course the free DAWs aren't going to have all of the bells and whistles and capabilities of a paid DAW. Still, at the very least a free DAW would probably match the capabilities of the Casio's onboard song sequencer-- and then some! And that isn't meant as a criticism of the Casio, because the same could most likely be said if you were comparing a free DAW to the onboard song sequencer of some other manufacturer's keyboard-- Yamaha, Roland, Korg, etc. There's something to be said about the convenience of having a built-in song sequencer that lets you record and edit a song whenever and wherever inspiration strikes without needing to be connected to a computer. But any DAW, even a free "lite" version, is generally going to be more flexible and powerful than the onboard song sequencer of a keyboard.

 

[happyrat1]

1) Can't speak specifically but most 88 keybeds produced these days are triple strike.

2) As far as DAWs go, http://bandlab.com recently bought out cakewalk and offer the top of the line Cakewalk Sonar Platinum as a free download. No strings attached. This is a premium DAW considered by many to be an industry standard.

3) No the Juno DS does not come with a free pedal or a music stand or even a place to attach one. An M-Audio Universal SP-2 Sustain pedal will set you back all of $20 as an extra and likewise a cheap folding music stand can be had for about the same.

4) If amplification is a worry, you can a) use headphones or b) in a pinch buy the right cables and adapters and plug into any stereo's Aux Input and enjoy top quality sound.

5) If you consider any of these items to be dealbreakers then I think you should go back to the store and allow your ears to be the ultimate judge of which unit you want to buy.

In the end, all that really matters is how good a keyboard sounds to YOU. NOT the fluff and filler they bundle with it to lubricate the sale.

Gary

 

[luckyluca]

Many thanks, got it.
I was comparing prices and the roland fa08 is not far off right now, I understand it has the same keybed as the ds88 plus a selection of the fantastic sn sounds.

Is the fa08 sequencer any different? i.e. would it allow recording a whole song or is in this regard similar to the ds88?

so far my shortlist is:
junods88 great!
kawai mp7se (keybed feels a bit mushy to my taste)
casio px560 (great feature set, feels a little less premium, concerned about build quality)
yamaha mx88, tried it yesterday, action feels a bit too light
roland fa08?
anything else?

It's funny I'm ending up preferring stage pianos despite not being interested in gigging. I suppose I like the odd good piano + synths/sampler sounds combination with pitch bend / mod wheel.

Another alternative would be a standard digital piano with very good keybed and a limited soundset connected via midi to the nla1 and have the latter having one of its synth engines driven by the dp when needed.

 

[Biggles]

I am getting confused at your changing wish list.

You write about saving cash on the Casio since you would not have to buy an amp etc when the DS88 with amp or powered speakers will still be cheaper than the Casio.

Now you add the FA08 which is $600 more than the Casio.

Looking for a new keyboard can be troublesome as there are a lot of options and it is confusing but it is difficult to advise if the criteria change.

Some question:-

1 - Is 88 keys as must have?

2 - What is your budget?

3 - What are the main wish list criteria you have?

4 - Have you considered an Arranger?

Recoding and editing seem to be important and certainly on my Arranger I can input other instruments and a mike and record them.

If key action is a problem for you then maybe a synth action like are fitted to non 88 key instruments would be a better way forward, the feel of the keys is also adjustable.

 

[luckyluca]

I apologies, I've been all over the place I admit, but it's part of the fun when browsing for new instruments.

Here in the UK all of the listed boards are more or less priced similarly, between £700 and £1180 except for the kawai priced at £1450. Price is not an issue (within reason).

I own a nord lead a1, what I'm after is a digital piano-synth with very good keybed for home piano practice (no gigging). I'm also after the ability to sketch some ideas and record both midi and audio coming from the 2 keyboards.
ideally with an internal sequencer (midi) and internal wave audio recorder or external multitracker or daw.

In my (limited) mind I see the following scenarios:
-1 88weighted workstation, 1nla1 with internal sequencer and int or ext recording
-1 88weighted synth, 1nla1 with external daw
-1 88weighted digital piano, super simple, connected via midi and driving 1-2 of the 4 synth engines of the nla1, ext daw

Key features are:
-great 88 keybed, I;m currently liking the junods88 quite a lot, same for the casio 560
-very good piano sounds, ample selection of orchestral sounds, synths and pads
-joystick/pitch and mod wheels
-song sequencer preferred but not essential. If included the sequencer would need to be able to record midi (or audio) coming from my second keyboard, a nord lead a1.

I currently only own the nord lead a1 and a good set of headphones. So I need to consider amp, speakers, daw interface + laptop or multitracker, dual keyboard stand and music sheet stand. The less equipment the better as I'm setting up the equipment in the bedroom so it needs to look tidy and graceful to the eyes (I don't live alone...).

Lastly is the roland fa08 the *exact* keybed as the junods88?
they only had a fa06 at the store but they told me they are the same keybeds, albeit I read differently online.

Many thanks!
Luca

 

[Biggles]

Luca

I to live in the UK and by far my favourite browsing music store is PMT in Manchester, where they have a great selection on keyboards on display and ready to play. They have stores all over England.

A drive to a PMT store or a similar well equipped keyboard store would give you the chance of having a good play at a whole host of keyboards. If you do visit a store do ring prior to ensure they have some of you shortlist.

I did just this to compare the Juno DS 61 and the Korg Kross 2 both of which were on my shortlist of a lightweight, easily transportable workstation/synth. Whilst I was there I did of course browse quite a few others.

My own local store in central Lancashire has a good selection of Rolands, Korgs and Yamaha's and last time I was there they had both Rolands on your list as well as a Korg Krome and Kronos, I am not a Yamaha fan so did not take too much notice but did have a play of a Moxif 8

My own thoughts are that either of the Rolands would probably be number 1 and 2 of choice.

 

[luckyluca]

Thanks. Unfortunately driving to a big store is out of the question. I think I'm going a bit off topic, I'll create a specific roland fa08 topic next.

I was wondering, having tested the junods88 and liking its action, is the fa08 the very same exact action?

 

[happyrat1]

Why don't you email Roland Pre Sales Support and ask them?


https://www.roland.com/us/


Gary

 

[luckyluca]

Roland Product Support (Roland Corporation)

Jun 21, 12:30 PM PDT

Hi Luca,

You are correct. Bothe the FA-08 and Juno-DS88 have the "Ivory Feel-G Keyboard with Escapement" keybed.
Kind regards,
Roland Product Support

 

[luckyluca]

I think I might get the juno ds88, it's quite sweet.

however a bit of help on the following points would be much appreciated:

-do you know if it's possible to split the keyboard and send the 2 splits on 2 separate midi channels out?

-also the phrase pads, is it possible to record two instruments one of to of each other to the same pad, in two goes?

-oh and is it possible to record the turning on and off of the pads?

many thanks and happy Sunday

 

[happyrat1]

Again I would suggest posing these questions to Pre Sales Support.

I'm pretty sure the splits are assigned to different channels by default.

I'm not so certain about the pad questions though.

Roland support will be able to give you definitive answers.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Another thing you might do is go to the web site of whoever manufactures a keyboard you're interested in and see if you can download manuals and other documents related to that keyboard. These will give you a lot of detailed information which will probably answer most questions that you might have.

 

[luckyluca]

thanks but I found the manual and cs dissatisfactory.
Usually collective knowledge coming from users is way more valuable than manuals and paid customer support, hence my posts

 

[Biggles]

We do not seem to exactly answer your questions so way not try the dedicated Roland forum.

http://forums.rolandclan.com/

Spending £750 on a keyboard, I would certainly make the effort to go to a music store that has one and spend time working it out on a DS.

I know that you have been negative about this advice prior but it is the most effective way of you learning the capabilities of the keyboard.

I played instore for a total of about five hours via multiple visits before I bought my keyboard.