If one synth defines the lush, shimmering pads of the 1980s, it is the Juno-60. Six voices of digitally-controlled analog oscillators, a gorgeous 24dB resonant low-pass filter sharing the same lightning-fast envelope chip as the flagship Jupiter-8, and that chorus, the stereo bucket-brigade effect so good that decades of plugins still chase it. The control layout is the most logical ever put on a synth, which is why it is the classic everyone recommends first. Vince Clarke, The Cure, Eurythmics and Enya built records on it, and many players rate its sound above the later, MIDI-equipped Juno-106. No menus, no compromise, just fat analog poly and the best chorus in the business.

FEATURES & PROS:

• Six-Voice Analog: DCO-based polyphony that stays in tune, fat and reliable.
• The Famous Chorus: The stereo BBD chorus that defined 80s pads and still gets emulated endlessly.
• Jupiter-Grade Envelope: Uses the same fast IR3R01 envelope chip as the flagship Jupiter-8, snappy and punchy.
• Gorgeous Filter: 24dB/oct resonant low-pass plus high-pass, musical and characterful.
• Logical Layout: One control per function, the friendliest synth interface ever made.
• Arpeggiator: Built-in arp for instant motion and classic 16th-note lines.
• 56 Patch Memories: Store and recall your sounds instantly.
• Used by the Greats: The Cure, Eurythmics, Vince Clarke and Enya.

AS USED BY

• Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
• Wham!, "Last Christmas" (George Michael cut nearly every part on a Juno-60)
• The Cure, a long-standing studio and touring favourite
• Mr. Fingers (Larry Heard), "Can You Feel It"
• Enya, "Caribbean Blue"
• Eurythmics, a-ha and Billy Idol
• Vince Clarke and Faithless, and more recently Metronomy and Tyler, the Creator

THE WORD: Sound on Sound's Gordon Reid calls the Juno-60 the venerated polysynth that made simplicity cool, and notes how reliably it holds its tuning, with his own examples going decades without needing to be set up again. Read the Sound on Sound review.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Model: Roland Juno-60
• Years: 1982 to 1984
• Type: analog subtractive polyphonic synthesizer
• Polyphony: 6 voices (monotimbral)
• Oscillators: 1 DCO per voice (pulse, saw, square, sub)
• Filter: 24dB/oct resonant low-pass, non-resonant high-pass
• Envelope/LFO: 1 ADSR, 1 LFO (triangle)
• Effects: stereo Chorus
• Memory: 56 patches
• Keyboard: 61 keys
• Control: DCB (no MIDI; Kenton MIDI retrofit possible)
• Condition note: vintage synth; may benefit from a service