Here's a few more reviews: Sorry if I miss a few things, but I'm also visiting family, and dropping in for reviews when I get a few minutes.

ROLAND JUNO G:

Features: WOW! What a feature packed workstation. 128 voice poly, Fantom based sounds, SRX expansion, 16 tracks midi, and 4 audio tracks (perfectly synced), HUGE screen, cool retro look...

Sounds: VERY NICE sounds. Pianos are great--prefer them over Yamaha. Fantom based sounds is right on with the money here. Great guitars and punchy synth basses, decent orchestral voices (must say I prefer Yamaha though in orchestral), good brass, synth sounds rocked... Overall.., great sounds in the Juno-G. Plus the synth engine is 4 osc, and you can add one SRX expansion board.

THE BAD: Man the keys just SUCK period. I was shocked at the low quality keys on the Juno-G. My Roland RS-70 has a better keybed. It's just so odd. The Juno-G is a freakin work horse for a budget synth, yet the keys are that weak. I'm not saying they'll break like twigs, but I would not suggest any heavy playing for sure. If you got heavy chops I'd suggest that you use caution with this board.

Overall the Juno-G is a good board for the money. The keys are the biggest let down, but if you got another keyboard that has better keys, just midi it up. I was pleased with the unit, but not thrilled about the action.


YAMAHA MM6:

This is a very interesting keyboard. It reeks of the Motif Classic, but in a good way The sounds aren't the Motif exactly, but have a Motif flavor to them. It has some realtime control knobs, which are in fact the exact same knobs from the Yammie DJX.

Construction is a typical PSR. Keep in mind it's made in the PSR factory. Same keybed, same data wheel, screen, and a few other things from the PSR line. However, the pitch and mod wheels on the MM6 are better than the PSR1500 and 3000. They're the same wheels from the MO series. I was pleased to see this.

The features are VERY limited on this unit. It has great Motif based sounds for sure, but other areas really lack. No dedicated room for user voices other than using the performance memory, 32 note poly, no style recording. The sequencer is very limited, but not as limited as some other PSR's. The onboard sequencer will record the knob movements... I thought that was pretty cool!

Sounds: Again if you know the Motif line, you'll hear the Classic Motif in this board. I thought the sounds were OK. Some were PSR'ish (if that's even a word). It has Mega Voices! that's a big plus, and the arps for the guitars were really nice. I didn't know what to make of a few voices though. The violin, had me wondering "what the hell happened here". Overall though a good set of sounds for what the MM-6 is.

Styles: This aint your daddy's keyboard This board has a modern twist to the styles. If you see the word "Ballad" in a style, it's not going to be the type of ballad you'd find on a traditonal arranger. This boards styles are geared towards the modern music. They're good styles though, but I don't think they'll sit well with some here.

Overall, the MM6 isn't too bad IMO. Not sure if I'd drop the $600 on it. I did blow the poly out pretty fast, but to be fair it blew out because I was "trying" to see how much it could take

You have to take a different approach with the MM6. This board isn't a "heart of your studio" type keyboard. It's more of an "add on" unit. It will make a great addition to what you already have, but don't expect too much from it. You'll get a software sequencer which will be great, but again the low poly will give you problems eventually.

Bottom line is if you want a fresh twist to your current set up but don't want to spend tons of cash, the MM6 just might fit your needs.

Squeak

Several years later..., I retract my comment about the Juno-G's keybed sucking beyond my Roland RS-70. The G's bed IS BETTER than my old beater RS-70 (still can't bring myself to get rid of her though).

I still prefer the orchestral sounds on Yamaha too. Roland's aren't bad.., but I think Yamaha has the edge there (I still however think that Korg tops it in the orchestral area.., again just personal opinion there). Korg has some killer orchestral patches!

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-24-2009).]

Squeak,

I didn't notice the bit about the "crappy keyboard"...I just glanced over it, and figured it might be relevant to Uncle Buck's thread (I also put in a link there).

I got my baby, the Jupiter 8, but both these synths are pretty decent.

Ian

Ohhhhhh the Jupiter 8 That's a beauty.., 2 months ago I almost got a MINT Jup 8 for less than $100.... Talked to someone who said they had an old synth that belonged to a relative and I could have it for under $100. When they said it was in Mint condition and I kid you not they guy said "Yeah.., been in my home for years, I think it's called a Raymond Japitor 8 or some'n like that". Sadly someone in his family did research and discovered what they really had and that deal was off the table. I've missed out on sevearl good vintage synth deals because the person selling either had a family member or friend of the family actually reseach the thing. I almost cried like a little girl when I almost snagged up a Korg M1 for less than a Casio WK model! Damn people and this damn Ebay. What ever happened to the saying "another man's trash is another man's treasure". Ebay shot that to hell.

I was probably a bit too harsh when I called it a crappy keybed. It's not really so bad. Maybe it was really the length of the keys (or lack of length) that troubled me the most. Very short keys.., and I just felt cramped on it.

I've been wanting to build a small vintage synth collection too. Although sounding quite nice my Novation Xio (even though it's a VA synth) is darn close, but is merely pretending to be analogue

I usually pass word around to friends to keep an eye out for me and to tell others I collect keyboards. It may pay off this weekend. Tomorrow I'm looking at 2 things. One is a modern digital (Roland EP-97) being sold locally.., but the GEM that has me excited is I'll be checking out a mint Casio CZ-3000. The guy is the original owner.., bought it new and barely touched it. Been sitting in his den for years under a dust cover. He fires it up every few months to make sure everything still works. We'll see how serious he is about gettin rid of her too



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-24-2009).]