TAL-U-No-62

A broken Juno. That's what this is. Because this synth has a critical bug in its voice allocation system.

Basically, if you use TAL-U-No-62 polyphonically with long release times, there will be occurrences where previous notes are overwritten in an unpredictable, antagonistic manner.

TAL U-No-LX does not have this problem in either RR or N voice allocation modes. In fact, I've never found a synth that intentionally implements the strange behavior TAL-U-No-62 does. Surprisingly, the predecessor version TAL-U-No-60 doesn't suffer from this issue, so long as "Save CPU" is turned off (if on, it severely compromises polyphony in a completely different manner).

Unfortunately, this freebie is unlikely to ever be updated or fixed, as it's immensely old, and it's existence stands in competition with TAL U-No-LX, despite the fact that this old freebie is not as accurate or as feature-rich.

Again, this problem only appears to affect long release times on released keys, when subsequent notes play when a release tail is active. This should not affect chord or pad type sequences, only arpeggios that use long release times as a feature. If you are using gated polyphonic sounds or monophonic sounds, this is a non-issue. So I give it 2 stars for that, but it's still a lacerated synth, and it saddens me that it was left this way.

TAL-U-No-62 had potential. It had a solid foundation, and its DNA would live on to TAL-Elek7ro (which doesn't have this bug) and eventually TAL NoiseMaker, and likely TAL's commercial synths to some degree as well. But I can only recommend it fully if you restrict it to gated mode, or in monophonic mode, or otherwise rely very little on the release time parameter.

So, polyphonic leads with overlapping release tails? Don't bother. Expect buggy, randomly cut release tails. Just use gate mode with delay/reverb, or try TAL-U-No-60.

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I've been a fan of Juno's for over 20 years when I used to play a Juno 106 in a band. Recently, I just bought a Juno 106 so it gave me a good opportunity to compare the software to a real vintage Juno. I know the Juno 60 and 106 are not the same but they are very similar sound wise with that distinctive Juno sound.

The first thing that strikes you is that is really sounds like a vintage Juno. Get a quick pad set up, add the Juno chorus and suddenly your transported back 25 years. Get a bass sound going with a fast filter envelope going and start twisting the filters and you start hearing some absolute classic bass sounds.
One other thing is that Juno's have an amazing ability to sit in the mix and this emulation is no different.

Once you tweak the settings, I could get sounds that were exact duplicates of the real thing, sure there we slight tonal differences across the keyboard but probably there would be with any two old Juno's sitting side by side.

In many ways, this is the most faithful analogue synth recreation i've heard and it's just amazing that it's free.

If your are a Juno lover, then you really do need to give this a tryRead Review

Since a few days I've got a real Roland Juno 60 at home. It belongs to a band member. I was curious if this U-No62 VSTi really was any good compared to the real thing. Downloaded it and to cut a long story short: it's amazing.

The online samples from TAL showed no difference at all with the real Juno, but I had to hear it for myself. I programmed some U-No62 presets on the Juno and vice versa. After a few hours programming and comparing I was convinced. Some sounds sounded exactly the same. Some? You may ask. I admit I'm not a skilled programmer, but if I can do it...

The interface was at one point a bit annoying to work with. Yes, the GUI looks good. Nearly exactly like the real Juno 60, but the scales of the parameters are not the same. The parameter 'stripes' are also difficult to read. I also think that the parameters of the U-No62 react slightly in another way than the real beast. But after some trying I was able to get some striking resemblances. And maybe it's also the fact that no Juno sounds exactly the same, old material not working correct anymore etc. After all it's a real analogue synth.

The features are okay. Yes, the possibilities are limited, just like the real thing. You won't get a lot of different sounding pads or basses. On the other hand: with the self oscillating filter you can do things other synths can't.

There are not many presets and they are not all that great. Some are, however. But this synth is very easy to program. For the first time in my life I've found myself programming good presets. On the internet you can find schemes of real Juno sounds. But if you haven't got the real one to compare, the results are not always exact.

There's no documentation as far as I know, but you can download the Juno 60 manual at Rolands site. I don't have experience with customer support. If TAL gives this great synth for free, that's already supportive enough for me.

Conclusion: although the interface reacts slightly different to sound than my real Juno and the parameter scales are a bit different and difficult to read, this VSTi sounds exactly like a real Juno. The sound has a real character. Great work!Read Review

This is one of the "gems" among the hundreds of virtual analogue synths out there. Feature-wise, it's fairly unimpressive, but it's designed almost to the exact specifications of the original it tries to emulate (the Juno-60 if you haven't guessed). The user interface looks almost exactly like the original, or how I imagine a rack-mount version would look like. Those limitations might be frustrating at times, but it also forces you to think outside the box and can be quite inspiring at times. It also makes it quick and easy to design your own sounds from scratch, as it doesn't fill up the screen with a bewildering array of knobs and sliders. It does seem to lack a Unison mode, which is slightly dissapointing.

In terms of sound, I'm not the right person to judge. I nearly got my hands on a real Juno-60 once, but lost the auction. The developer's website does contain sound samples directly comparing it to the original, and to my ears it sounds very close. The filter sounds very unique. It's not warm and smooth like a Moog filter, it has a different, slightly colder but very pleasant character. The Juno is Japaneese of course, while the Minimoog is American, so some "cultural" differences are expected. The Chorus unit is another of the great strengths of this synth, and is also available as a stand-alone VST effect for use with other instruments.

You won't get extremely complex sounds out of this, but the smooth filter and excellent Chorus enable you to create some nice strings, though the real strength of the synth lies in 80's style synthbasses. Lead sounds I tried to create with this synth didn't seem to "cut through" the mix like some other synths but rather sounded like they're just below the surface so to speak. Other synthesists may be more fortunate, or skilled. The presets include a nice set of basses and some presets which appear to be copied from the original.

The synth is quite CPU hungry, which can become a problem if you use it for chords/polyphonic sounds. Since the synth architecture is so simple, I think it should be more CPU friendly. Some optimizations would be welcome, as long as they don't affect the sound (The "Save CPU" button caused some strange things with many patches). Still, you can use the CPU saving feature when previewing your track, and then render to audio when you're happy with the sound.

With its accurate emulation of a famous vintage instrument, this could easily be a commercial plugin, but it's actually Freeware! It's not extremely versatile, but it does what it sais on the "box" and it does it extremely well. So if you've ever wished you had a Juno-60 in your bedroom, go ahead and download this right now!Read Review

This is the first time I've reviewed anything, not because I dont use plenty of software, but I'm just rarely overwhelmed by a free synth.

This blew me away though.

Everyone knows there are thousands of free synths out there, everyone has a few. Most people also have a powerhorse like Zebra or Albino too, but this offers something different - quick, instant moogyness, for free, and weighing in at under a meg.

One of the review guidelines is:
Features- Is it a one trick pony or does it offer more than you would expect?
... Well yeah, its a one trick pony, and that is what I want for moogy VA sounds.

It also looks beautifull, and for me anyway, thats a real plus.

Of course, it doesnt compete with some premium VAs for features, but if you just want a quick moogy bass or lead, this little beauty will do the trick nicely.

Easy to use, looks great, sounds great, tiny footprint and offers something a bit different.

I only use a handfull of free synths, and now this is one of them.

Get it now.Read Review