The bass kicks ass. Well...
the filter & chorus are so juicy & rich sounding that pretty each & every sound from
this synth kicks ass. The bass sounds like a chunk of meat splashing
into hot, spicy stew. The pad sounds like an all-embracing storm cloud
or tornado carrying
electrical insects that burrow into your ears. Eargasm. Nothing
will ever imitate these unique sounds. Not just the austere, bare
waves which get visualized in the boringly recurring patterns on a fucking oscilloscope. I mean
these sounds
(choose "stormcloud").
The appeal of its natural tone is inexhaustible. I'll say
more: the appeal of its very existence is inexhaustible. I not only
love it as a synth, I love it as a thing - a beautiful piece of craft
that decorates my flat and fills it with pleasurable
sound and a spirit of a bygone era. And believe me when I say that I dislike to love things, I'd
rather only love creatures. But here I am... sticking my penis each night
into the Juno input socket - just kidding. The utter perfection
of this synth isn't limited to the exterior and the sound - unscrew
and open your Juno, and you will see yet another layer of perfection -
orderly, ergonomic & serviceable layout of all the electrical wires
and chips.
I guess this is what a collector feels
(the "beautiful piece of craft that decorates my flat and fills..." part) and strives for when building his
collection. I'm no collector, yet I do feel it with this synth. That
is why, despite being severely limited, this model is superb for me.
(To retain 100% of objective fairness in relation to all the other synths, it should be
marked "proper". I hope you forgive me this unique
instance when I allow myself the liberty of an unbridled emotional
journey).
The design+sound package enormously makes up for the engine /
versatility gaps, and
inspires each little cell in my body. That's why I have behaved and
will behave irrationally when it comes to this model.
You could ask "then what about the Nord Lead, isn't it the same case
of great sound winning over the limited engine?" Well, since the
Nord Lead is a not-that-cheap, modern VA synth, for my defense I'll
say that I expect somewhat more of it; this one tiny level of
technical depth & organization. On the other hand, due to
fucking-nerd-assault on Jupiter-8 over the last few years (2008-2013),
the Juno-60 has gained considerably in value (because it's basically
"a poor man's Jupiter" so it's being pulled up by the Jupiter's
gravitational force). This way my argument is being eroded. Well,
whatever.
Some people say
the Juno-60 is simply a Juno-106 without MIDI, but let me
tell you: the difference in the sound is quite intangible, yet it
makes the two sufficiently different. The JU-60 sound is so vintage,
agile & organic, that I get goosebumps. The JU-106 auditioned afterwards
makes me gnash my teeth. An experience like seeing your girlfriend after a plastic
surgery gone bad a bit. You need to hear it yourself to believe. Just
don't get carried away with this approach; the difference is really
tiny, yet big enough for me to simply choose the 60 over the 106 if I
have such a choice. Or maybe... could it be that not the sound but
the design: color scheme and the slanted, thick panel wins my
love?... No, I don't think so. At the end of the day, those analog
envelopes on the JU-60 definitely give it a softer tone (and going
back to the Jupiters, kill me but I have to say it with all certitude:
the Juno 6/60 sounds 300% groovier and fuller than the
Jupiter-6, so
paying 300% or more of the Juno price to get a Jupiter is one of the most
economically unsound, epic-fail deals in my view).
A friend of mine prefers the Alpha Juno
because he finds the Juno-60 sound too "boring, bland and samey",
whereas I love the sound of the Juno-60 because it sounds as if it was
flowing through a decaying leaf. And I find natural phenomena and
unstoppable forces very interesting and inspiring, but at the same
time appaling and unjust - I love it and I rebel against it
simultaneously. And the Juno-60 sound is aggressive-but-fragile &
imprecise-but-explicit at the same time. This is what makes it an extremely alluring synth
in my view, and one that best defines my
notion of what
"analog" feels like. Analog is not Vangelis, or the Moog
filter, or the VCO. It's decay on a warm autumn day.
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