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#267976 - 07/21/09 07:38 PM My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
I just received my Roland Juno Stage 76..this afternoon....I have my first 8 hours under my belt now..

After I unpacked the board and set it up..First thing I noticed..it feels great..the keys are full size and have the Roland style metal weights under the keys..nice and solid..

The next thing I checked out was the acoustic piano...I liked it a lot (after reading Keyboard mag slam the pianos..I know they are out to lunch)..

The EP pianos are also great..
There aren't any bad sounds on board at all..

My main interest..was next..I had to test out the Song Player..especially after my disappointment with the Sonic Cell...It was refreshing and rewarding..Easy to set up..and easy to use...One problem I ran into..You can not exceed 32 letters in the song title...The Playlist editor will ignore them...So I had to go thru my MP'3/wave files and rename them (not many)..that resided on my hard drive..

I made several Playlist...a playlist can hold 999 songs and you can have 999 playlist''

BTW: I used an 8 gig thumb drive..And the compartment lid closes with the USB thumb drive in place..You can leave it in safe and secure..They even supply a security cover (anti theft)..

I made the first playlist with 330 of our trio MP'3/waves...These are backing tracks that I recorded....They worked perfectly...I select a song and it stops after playing..

The next playlist had 150 break songs..I set these up to play continuously..one after the other...I just select the starting location on the song list..and next break ..select another starting position..works great..

Next up..Another play list of SMF's that I use, and other SMF's that I use when I work a duo with Kath...again works and sounds great..I even found you can make edits on the SMF and it can save in the playlist...Remember there is no sequencer on the Juno Stage..

The Presets patches and performances are interesting..And the Stage covers the "modern" music too..The drum kits are great and the factory drum patterns are good..The Arpeggios are decent too..If you b need a bass-line that follows your chords, or a guitar, Piano comp...this will do the job...If you are lazy..it has the chord memory too..All have presets and user areas..

There is a favorite single button push for your favorite sounds..A piano mode button..and also a USB midi mode at a push of a button..

The stereo audio input is cool too..I even used it to patch the E-50 thru the Stage..and control the mix from the Juno Stage..

The handy EQ is always functional...when you need to EQ thru out the gig..

The Mic and effects are also great..


I will have a follow up a little later...Let me get back to my toys...
_________________________
www.francarango.com



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#267977 - 07/22/09 03:22 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
squeak_D Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 4715
Loc: West Virginia
Great review Fran! The Stage is pretty popular and many say they like the action too. Are the reports true in that the action (being a 76er) is very similiar to the XP-80? I have the Juno Stages baby brother coming soon (Juno-Di). The Di's more closely related to the Stage than the JG
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GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.

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#267978 - 07/22/09 06:27 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
cassp Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 03/21/03
Posts: 3748
Loc: Motown
Nice early review, Fran. I'm looking forward to more info as time goes by (hey, that could be a song title - lol).

Also, it's refreshing to see more keyboards being bought. Maybe this is a forerunner of better thing$ to come in the market.
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Riding on the Avenue of Time
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#267979 - 07/22/09 10:23 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14182
Loc: NW Florida
Could you give us your opinions of how the Stage's main piano stacks up against the G70's GrandX patch..?

Didn't see the Keyboard review, were they slamming it compared to other Roland pianos, or just generally?
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#267980 - 07/22/09 01:32 PM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
Cass..I am doing my part to keep the economy strong...I only wish that dude in Washington would send me a stimulus package too..

Diki..the 88 Stage Grand piano is very close to the Best piano on the G70...The Juno Stage..It does have an adjustable lid and Resonance control that can be applied to any piano you choose in Piano Mode..

The E series Classic piano is the closest to the Juno 88 Stage Grand..

But....to my ears using the same quality headphones..I hear more harmonics with the G70 Grand X...The next choice would be the 88 Stage Grand on the Juno...and for the E..the Classic piano comes in 3rd..The E is hard to explain..it seems to lack the quality of the G70...less harmonics, maybe even less sample content..

I believe the Juno is also slightly compromised with sample content..although it is pretty good...


Another couple of things to mention about the Juno Stage...
Without a USB thumb drive..It boots up in a few seconds....Using the USB drive the System goes into load process (I don't know what it is loading..I think it just scans the thumb drive..although it says loading on the screen..).

The more content the longer boot time...300 MP3's ..it scanned (loaded) in 20 seconds..as I used the Playlist editor to add more playlist..boot up time was extended....I have loaded up my 8 gig thumb drive with several playlist...and now it takes about 3 minutes to boot up...This is fine with me..Just turn the Juno on while you are setting up..

I adjusted the mic and effects..and it is Super...phantom power if you need it...There is a nice option to adjust your SMF level, audio levels differently in song play..It is easy to get the right balance of Keyboard, mic, seq play, and audio play....The main volume controls all including the EXT audio input (This volume has to be set by the external device..I tried the ext input with a laptop, Zune, E-50, and a mixer...all worked well..via this 1/8 inch stereo jack..

There is one problem I needed to work around...I had this problem with my Juno G too..actually any unit that is only 16 midi..
When you play back a seq (SMF) on the Juno..it will transmit one of the 16 seq tracks (channels) to the keyboard..this will change the tone depending on the seq..If you change it to your selection ..it will change in the seq play too...You can select "part select" and use "minus one"..and play that part or even change the tone..it won't have a bearing on the seq since you removed it from seq play..

What Roland needs to do...Do what they have been doing with the G70, E80, E60 and E50...Add addition parts for real time keyboard parts...as in 20 to 32 midi channels..To me this is a big boo boo..

It is very interesting to me..that although the Juno does not have a sequencer..You can edit the SMF's and save the change in the "playlist"..This is done within the Juno..no need to use the PC playlist software...

The drivers for Juno to PC worked great with my Vista laptop..but I did not have success with my desktop XP....I had this problem in the past..I need to go and reduce the number of drivers..XP has a limit to the drivers allowed...No big problem..just delete the driver or 2 that I no longer use...Like my EMU driver (sold yesterday)..

For you guys that like synth workstations..You will love the Juno...You have all the edits that we had on the XP80...very deep in patch editing...Juno Stage adds the arpeggios, D beam etc..that we did not have on the XP80..XP80 did have a sequencer though..

I owned the Fantom X6..and never liked it..It was too much "work" to use ..I never used or needed sampling..No one can sample like the factory..People sample nonsense stuff.. and I never sequenced on the Fantom..both my G1000 and G70 were better sequencers for me......So,,the Juno cut out a couple useless things...and made the Juno more affordable...

Another thing I didn't/don't like about the Fantoms...several sound categories just don't have it (same with the competition workstations)..when it comes to choirs, scats or any real sounding vocal patches..they don't exists....This is where the G70 and E series shines...They are unmatched in vocal sounds....I will have to consider loading up the 2 SRX slots..

The Juno has a lot of modern music patches with a lot of movement and effects..so you guys that like this stuff..the Juno Stage will light your fire..(but totally not me)..

The drum kits are great..and the preset drum patterns are great too..very modern presets...You can make your own patterns from scratch too..

There is a lot to play around with on the Juno (interesting)..I haven't had the TV on since UPS showed up.. ..

And yet, I got the Juno Stage set up in a couple hours to use with the band...Now I only need to set up a couple work arounds..edit some sequences and save to the playlist...and complete my "favorite" tones....

I will post more as I get a chance...
_________________________
www.francarango.com



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#267981 - 07/23/09 06:44 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
Quote:
Originally posted by squeak_D:
Great review Fran! The Stage is pretty popular and many say they like the action too. Are the reports true in that the action (being a 76er) is very similiar to the XP-80? I have the Juno Stages baby brother coming soon (Juno-Di). The Di's more closely related to the Stage than the JG


Squeak , the Stage is very close to the XP80 and JV1000 keys (I owned both of these for several years)...I think the Juno has more resistance though...maybe because it is brand new...and I am only going from memory...This key-bed is quality that you know as soon as you touch the keys..

Squeak did you get your new "baby" yet?
_________________________
www.francarango.com



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#267982 - 07/23/09 06:49 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
I corrected the driver issue with XP...The Juno Stage gives you an option of "generic" (XP drivers)..or "Vendor" (Juno drivers)..

Once I selected "Vendor"..the Juno Series drivers were recognized...

This option resides in the Juno Stage system..
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www.francarango.com



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#267983 - 07/23/09 07:50 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
squeak_D Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 4715
Loc: West Virginia
Nope..., Roland is taking their time on the US delivery. Honestly though..., I think it's more retailer "release date/shipping confirmation" fudging than Roland actually delaying delivery.

Many of the online sources were reporting a September release date for the Juno-Di in the USA. However.., Sweetwater wasn't too honest about the shipping confirmation either. Ya know how it is Fran.., retailers play with shipping confirmation dates on pre-order items that they know are going to be hot with a goal to try and sell out the entire first delivery on pre-orders alone

My Sweetwater rep made a mistake (probably didn't even realize it) and spilled the beans that the original dates listed on their site were fudged and part of his response confirmed Sweetwater wasn't honest about that shippping notice. That's business though. Some practices are a little shady.., but consumers don't jump on that as credit cards aren't charged until the item physically ships from Sweetwater.

I'm hoping to get it soon. It's still confirmed that I am the very first order placed at Sweetwater for the Juno-Di. I placed my order very shortly after they started accepting pre-orders.

I usually don't pre-order gear..., but it's obvious the Di's going to be a hot seller and many online retailers will def blow out their first delivery on pre-orders.

Glad you're liking your Juno-Stage. Interesting that you do liken the keys to that of the XP-80 too. I used to own the XP-60



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-23-2009).]
_________________________
GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.

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#267984 - 07/23/09 09:37 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
Fran,
The problem I had with the Sonic Cell is when playing a standard midi file, the performance mode calls up the GM performance template. And, as you stated, the sound you play on the keyboard is one of these parts within this GM performance. What annoys me is that the part has no effects on when you play it because the template that gets called up has all the effects at 0 until the sequencer parts send a midi event to change the effects to a value. When changing sounds to anything on this part of the template, none of the sounds would have any effects. It was not until I would return to another performance preset that I would here the factory programmed effects for that sound. I called Roland up along time ago and they said this was the case.
Have you found a way to have a song play and have a grand piano be called up with the right amount of Reverb.

------------------
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

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#267985 - 07/23/09 11:27 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
"Have you found a way to have a song play and have a grand piano be called up with the right amount of Reverb."


Yes George on the Juno Stage..I assigned the "minus one" to channel (midi) 4..this takes it out of the song (seq)...I than can play a tone (piano) with reverb...in that part location..

Playing audio files are no problem ..any patch or performance plays correctly..

The Sonic Cell drove me crazy..I would set up mic and effects..and when you played a Sequence or MP3..the mic settings would go off..I never did figure out a way to use it..After starting a song..you had to quickly make your mic settings...

I thought Roland may have corrected this in a update..like when they improved the song count from 99 to 399...

The Juno Stage is so much better than my original Sonic Cell...If they allocate the real time voices in addition to the 16 midi channels..It would be that much better..
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www.francarango.com



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#267986 - 07/23/09 11:33 AM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
squeak_D Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 4715
Loc: West Virginia
Fran.., how do you like the Vocoder on the Juno Stage? I can't wait to dig into the Vocoder on my Juno-Di. I've talked to many owners on YouTube who LOVE the Stage's Vocoder.... I'm physched because the Juno-Di's Vocoder will allow you to use the internal tone generator for your source patch (outside of using the few presets they provide).

I'm going to program a TalkBox Patch for my Di's vocoder when I get it.
_________________________
GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.

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#267987 - 07/23/09 12:20 PM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
Quote:
Originally posted by squeak_D:
Fran.., how do you like the Vocoder on the Juno Stage? I can't wait to dig into the Vocoder on my Juno-Di. I've talked to many owners on YouTube who LOVE the Stage's Vocoder.... I'm physched because the Juno-Di's Vocoder will allow you to use the internal tone generator for your source patch (outside of using the few presets they provide).

I'm going to program a TalkBox Patch for my Di's vocoder when I get it.


Squeak I would like the vocoder better if the Juno had decent choir sounds that we could use with the vocoder..

Also I have not found a way to use the mic, naturally with effects..and the vocoder at the same time...That would be cool..
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www.francarango.com



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#267988 - 07/23/09 12:31 PM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
squeak_D Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 4715
Loc: West Virginia
Have you tried tweeking any of the choir patches for use with the Vocoder? I don't expect the choirs onboard the Di to be any better than the Stages either I'll dig into the software editor to see what I can do with those presets. I know I'll put the Vocoder to use by creating Talkbox type patches. Nothing says funk like a Talkbox patch setting

Not sure how the Stages mic input is compared to the Di's.., but a few reports on the Di's have been favorable. The one at RolandUS.com has the womans voice drowned in reverb.., but even that compressed audio on their site (although with what they called a lush reverb) sounded pretty good to my ears. You're spoiled with your G-70 man That G-70 has a damn good harmonizer.
_________________________
GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.

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#267989 - 07/23/09 05:46 PM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
BTW:..a correction is necessary...Total file capacity on songs readable for each storage device..is 999..It will not exceed that amount...More songs will need another thumb drive etc..

Also I experimented with a USB All in one card reader...and all devices worked .... Compact flash, smart media and all others...The media has to be formatted to "FAT"...
_________________________
www.francarango.com



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#267990 - 07/27/09 03:02 PM Re: My new Juno Stage 76
Fran Carango Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 05/26/99
Posts: 9673
Loc: Levittown, Pa, USA
4 day old Juno Stage 76 available.....

I used the Juno Stage last night on stage..

Not bad for the first outing...

A few quirks I need to resolve..mostly getting use to operating...in the dark..

I sure did find out why they put a "lock" button on the "sound modify" section...
The "stage was dark" and...went for low and high eq knobs...and found release and resonance knobs instead..

I also found it ideal to adjust/edit your sequences...before "show time"...It just isn't a G70 or an E-60...to edit on the fly..

Right now I have mixed feelings about using it as the only board on my band gigs...Although the wave/MP3 played perfectly without any problems..the sequence play {SMF) left me a little uncomfortable..and concerned if I needed to change anything on stage...Menu/cursor driven is not the way I want to work on stage..If you do your homework first ..no problems...The biggy is if you need to transpose the SMF...4 button pushes ..a cursor move and dial....(master key shift)..

Mute operation can be saved the way you want "Minus one" to work (channel 4 as an example) at a single button push..


The ideal way for me to use the Juno Stage..is with the G70..
The G70 doing style/ SMF/ harmonizer...and the Juno a dedicated sound source (piano)...and the Juno Stage would handle all the wave/ MP3 play...

2 keyboards..but can be a very enjoyable way to perform....And no visible Laptop inquiries..


On the serious side..I may be interested in selling the Juno Stage..If you are interested make me an offer..You will save $$$...

A couple more gigs should help me make a final decision..either way..
I have a feeling another gig will make me a happy camper...we will see....

The Juno Stage is excellent as a76 key controller too..another reason I have to think about my decision....Too many in the plus column...to sell... more...
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www.francarango.com



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