Roland Juno 106

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tkoind

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Hello. I need some advice. I bought a 2nd hand Juno 106 and debating if I should return it or not. It has two problems. One I can fix and one I'm not sure about. The fixable problem is the memory batter. The other problem seems to be with something more serious.

In Poly mode 1 random keys will fail to produce notes. It isn't the same key each time, but seems to be about every 3rd or 4th key also it cuts notes well before using the 6 note poly. When in Poly 2 mode every key plays fine but there is no polyphony and again notes cut out before reaching 6 voices.

Another site had an old posting with a similar problem and suggested it might be the ocillator circuit that is failing. Is this a fatal problem for this synth or something that can fixed within a reasonable price range?

Thanks for your help
 
are u sure that its not every 6th key? If so you have a dead VCF/VCA (Roland 80017A) chip. There is one on Ebay for $65

the 106 was a budget version of the 60 and used a integrated VCA/VCF chip that is prone to failure
 
Hey,

I just bought a Juno 106 today knowing that a voice chip (80017A) was out which knocked down the price quite a bit. When I arrived the seller said it appeared all were working, which they were when I arrived as you can do a test by pressing ''key transpose'' as you power it up and then by pressing the poly 1 and 2 simultaneously...hit any key and it will display a series of 1 to 6 and you can tell if a voice chip is out. Anyway, by the time I got it home and played with it for an hour I indeed noticed a voice chip was out after it running for a bit.

So others out there be warned, check it out well before the purchase and don't just go and drop 600 plus on ebay for one you can't physically see especially when that's way higher than vintagesynth.com estimates the value at. Sidenote...a Jupiter 8 according the vintage synth should resell 500-1500...haha, if you could ever find one! this obviously disproves my point but I do feel that if you have something mass produced like a 106, fair is fair and you have to take into consideration condition and what you're going to be putting into it...just like buying a car. Thankfully my seller was hip to this mindset and I got mine for 300 Canadian dineros.

Anyway back on the topic... So...the question is...with research and finding out that all the original chips are or were possibly faulty and will or could eventually die one day do you replace the broken one or replace them all? I certainly wouldn't buy original chips for the machine with this being the case, so I found a guy in Belgium that makes clones that are just as good but much better in the sense of them lasting and him fixing the glitch. Apparently only 10% of the Juno 106's made had no problems and any chips made that were lot #41 were potentially faulty due...not just to use, moving the machine too much but just a simple glitch on production. I think I'm just going to buy 6 new ones (for the price of 5 that he sells for) and with the help of youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU0N08WI0nc&feature=related replace them all myself. This way you have a classic synth that you won't worry about it farting out on you during that cherished take. I also bought a beautiful piece of cherry wood 1 3/8" thick to add to the sides like it should have been done. If only they included that with the warmth of the 6 and 60 but it was the 80's and people were on vast amounts of blow. Anyway, best of luck with yours. Fuck ebay, go to a good source when you find one and do it right.;)

here's the link to purchase new chips http://www.analoguerenaissance.com/D80017/
 
tkoind said:
Hello. I need some advice. I bought a 2nd hand Juno 106 and debating if I should return it or not. It has two problems. One I can fix and one I'm not sure about. The fixable problem is the memory batter. The other problem seems to be with something more serious.

In Poly mode 1 random keys will fail to produce notes. It isn't the same key each time, but seems to be about every 3rd or 4th key also it cuts notes well before using the 6 note poly. When in Poly 2 mode every key plays fine but there is no polyphony and again notes cut out before reaching 6 voices.

Another site had an old posting with a similar problem and suggested it might be the ocillator circuit that is failing. Is this a fatal problem for this synth or something that can fixed within a reasonable price range?

Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

I have had the HS-60 (the home version of the Juno-106) since it was brand new and can attest to how beautiful these things are. Having owned one of these since day one, can also attest to the fact that these are not without problems. The cheaply built proprietary chipzzz (yes 6 of those beasts in there). Also quite common is the main CPU spazzing out when hot (my issue).
 
baneofmyexistns said:
Hey,

I just bought a Juno 106 today knowing that a voice chip (80017A) was out which knocked down the price quite a bit. When I arrived the seller said it appeared all were working, which they were when I arrived as you can do a test by pressing ''key transpose'' as you power it up and then by pressing the poly 1 and 2 simultaneously...hit any key and it will display a series of 1 to 6 and you can tell if a voice chip is out. Anyway, by the time I got it home and played with it for an hour I indeed noticed a voice chip was out after it running for a bit.



Anyway back on the topic... So...the question is...with research and finding out that all the original chips are or were possibly faulty and will or could eventually die one day do you replace the broken one or replace them all? I certainly wouldn't buy original chips for the machine with this being the case, so I found a guy in Belgium that makes clones that are just as good but much better in the sense of them lasting and him fixing the glitch. Apparently only 10% of the Juno 106's made had no problems and any chips made that were lot #41 were potentially faulty due...not just to use, moving the machine too much but just a simple glitch on production. I think I'm just going to buy 6 new ones (for the price of 5 that he sells for) and with the help of youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU0N08WI0nc&feature=related replace them all myself. go to a good source when you find one and do it right.;)

here's the link to purchase new chips http://www.analoguerenaissance.com/D80017/
Click to expand...

Been eying those chips for some time now. interested in seeing just how good they **really** are for my HS-60.
 
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