Softube Model 84 (Juno 106)

[dellboy]

I have a hardware Juno 6, so I thought I would download the demo to see how close they have got.

What a lot of hoops you have got to jump through to get to the demo, I nearly gave up but got there in the end.

Anyway, I loaded the first patch "A11Brass", and pulled up the sliders on the Juno 6 to match, and with a few tweaks the sound is pretty much identical. I tried to match "A18 Piano1" and got very close, but after ten minutes of tweaking I gave up. The Softube Piano actually sounded a bit better, so I guess something else was going on behind the scenes. Well done Softube, its a very nice VST.

[zerocrossing]

As usual, all I care about is, “do I like it.” I do. The Juno 106 was my first synth, but it was purchased new, and I’ve not really touched one since 1987 or so. Model 84 brings me right back, but memory is a tricky thing and all I can say is it feels like I’m back with my old synth when I play with it. Is it 100%? Yes, but to me. By that I mean, I really don’t care about having an exact Juno 106 sound, as I’m never going to buy one again. Too limited to take up that much space in my world, and I don’t want to deal with elderly electronics. So, having something that gets very close but doesn’t have any of the down side is fine by me.

This is the most important thing, far, FAR more important than how accurate the emulation is.

I should also say that a big part of why I purchased it is because I‘m a huge fan of Softube Modular, so I really wanted the components for extra variety.

I do like having hardware analogs. I have 7 of them. I still love using software too, because it fills gaps in my little studio, which is lacking any sort of hardware Roland sound. I own the Roland Aria 106 as well, along with the Jupiter 8, 4, JX, 808 System 8 and System 100. That’s the exact amount of Roland I like in my world.

How is Jupiter 4? I haven't tried it yet but I'll prolly be subscribing to cloud again soon.

It’s really good. I think they maybe pulled back a bit on the VCA distortion that’s possible with the Jupiter 4, but it sounds good anyway. My only complaint with Roland is that they don’t go as far as other companies when they do their emulations. I love the fact that RePro has a mod matrix, Obsession has MPE compatibility. Stuff like that.

[Examigan]

I just noticed after I made a preset myself that I can't give it a name. I tried both VST2 and VST3.
It seems the focus works differently with Model 84 within Cakewalk.

It works OK in Tone2's NanoHost.

I sent them a support ticket.

[chk071]

I had the same issue... I thought it was a problem in Komplete Kontrol.

Works in savihost, but, using capitals in the preset name doesn't seem to work there either...

[perpetual3]

As usual, all I care about is, “do I like it.” I do. The Juno 106 was my first synth, but it was purchased new, and I’ve not really touched one since 1987 or so. Model 84 brings me right back, but memory is a tricky thing and all I can say is it feels like I’m back with my old synth when I play with it. Is it 100%? Yes, but to me. By that I mean, I really don’t care about having an exact Juno 106 sound, as I’m never going to buy one again. Too limited to take up that much space in my world, and I don’t want to deal with elderly electronics. So, having something that gets very close but doesn’t have any of the down side is fine by me.

This is the most important thing, far, FAR more important than how accurate the emulation is.

I should also say that a big part of why I purchased it is because I‘m a huge fan of Softube Modular, so I really wanted the components for extra variety.

I do like having hardware analogs. I have 7 of them. I still love using software too, because it fills gaps in my little studio, which is lacking any sort of hardware Roland sound. I own the Roland Aria 106 as well, along with the Jupiter 8, 4, JX, 808 System 8 and System 100. That’s the exact amount of Roland I like in my world.

How is Jupiter 4? I haven't tried it yet but I'll prolly be subscribing to cloud again soon.

It’s really good. I think they maybe pulled back a bit on the VCA distortion that’s possible with the Jupiter 4, but it sounds good anyway. My only complaint with Roland is that they don’t go as far as other companies when they do their emulations. I love the fact that RePro has a mod matrix, Obsession has MPE compatibility. Stuff like that.

Co-sign everything said here. J4 is pretty good. Makes me want that System - 8.

[Examigan]

I had the same issue... I thought it was a problem in Komplete Kontrol.

Works in savihost, but, using capitals in the preset name doesn't seem to work there either...

I just noticed it does work if I open the full browser window and rename it from there.

[Vortifex]

I reported that ages ago. If you just 'save as' in the VST window you can only use lower case. You have to open the preset browser to use capitals. Softube's preset system is shite tbh.

[Examigan]

I wrote to their support and explained exactly what was occurring, but they still didn't seem to understand and asked me to do a video capture of what is happening. I didn't bother to create a video. I figure Cakewalk can be downloaded for free and they can test it out.

[jksound]

model 84 has no arp ?

[mholloway]

model 84 has no arp ?

Correct. The Juno-106 (which it's an emulation of) also had no arp. Juno-60 had one, but 106 dropped it.

[mholloway]

Anyway, I loaded the first patch "A11Brass", and pulled up the sliders on the Juno 6 to match, and with a few tweaks the sound is pretty much identical. I tried to match "A18 Piano1" and got very close, but after ten minutes of tweaking I gave up. The Softube Piano actually sounded a bit better, so I guess something else was going on behind the scenes.

I believe there are enough differences between the Juno 6 and the 106 that could account for why a 106 emulation sounds different than your 6.

[rezoneight]

model 84 has no arp ?

It does not.

[rezoneight]

model 84 has no arp ?

Correct. The Juno-106 (which it's an emulation of) also had no arp. Juno-60 had one, but 106 dropped it.

Well, that doesn't mean their emulation couldn't add one They did add the slide-out panel with stuff the 106 didn't have...like response to velocity and aftertouch.

[seangm]

model 84 has no arp ?

Correct. The Juno-106 (which it's an emulation of) also had no arp. Juno-60 had one, but 106 dropped it.

Well, that doesn't mean their emulation couldn't add one They did add the slide-out panel with stuff the 106 didn't have...like response to velocity and aftertouch.

They could have given it more than the original 6 voice limit also but they kept it "painfully true" to the original. I like the synth but I don't see the reason to keep the limitations of the original synth in this day and age. Same with the mono Model 82 which has no option for polyphony.

[plexuss]

model 84 has no arp ?

Correct. The Juno-106 (which it's an emulation of) also had no arp. Juno-60 had one, but 106 dropped it.

Well, that doesn't mean their emulation couldn't add one They did add the slide-out panel with stuff the 106 didn't have...like response to velocity and aftertouch.

They could have given it more than the original 6 voice limit also but they kept it "painfully true" to the original. I like the synth but I don't see the reason to keep the limitations of the original synth in this day and age. Same with the mono Model 82 which has no option for polyphony.

The voicing limitations of a synth have an impact on how they sound, ultimately. If I were to decide to use my minimoog on a track it would because, among other things, I intend to utilize its mono nature. Similarily, the voice limitation of the 106 can have an impact on how its played and sounds. Softube seems to have intended these to be accurate emulations and so maintaining these condtraints and limitations is ok with me. In fact, I prefer it. It's great to have some emulations that are that accurate... along with others that are not, for when the desire hits.