NAMM: Roland is tipping its hat to the past with the new Juno-G. But while its looks may be retro, its synth architecture has little to do with classic Juno synths.

Description:

Sharing the same high-powered processor as Roland’s famous Fantom-X series, the JUNO-G puts a world of first-class sound and performance features under musicians’ fingertips — and allows more sounds to be added via SRX expansion. Songs can be created with the onboard audio/MIDI recorder, all for an incredibly low price!

For songwriters and performers, the JUNO-G’s16-part MIDI sequencer is a must. But the addition of four companion audio tracks is a huge bonus, and an unexpected surprise for an instrument in this price range! Now players can lay down the perfect backing tracks plus vocals, live guitar parts, and the like. The JUNO-G’s dedicated front-panel transport controls and mixer make the recording experience all the more friendly.

For an instrument packed with so many features, the JUNO-G offers unprecedented ease of use. The aforementioned mixer and transport controls are only part of the friendly “hands-on” work surface. In all, there are over 50 clearly labeled buttons, seven knobs, five sliders, a data wheel, a D Beam, and a pitch/mod lever. In the center of it all is the largest backlit LCD of any synth in this price range.

The beauty of the JUNO-G is that it can be used to by itself create complete songs from start to finish, but for those who want to take it one step further and incorporate a computer into the setup, the JUNO-G can be linked to a PC or Mac via its USB port. All MIDI communications can be handled over USB, which can also be used to send and receive WAV/AIF files and patch data. As an extra computer-related bonus, Roland ships every new JUNO-G with a free copy of Cakewalk’s SONAR LE software for PC.

More information is available at the Roland site.