Roland Juno-106
The six-voice analog polysynth that put a real Roland on every bedroom producer's desk — and whose chorus button is still doing half the work in modern pop.
Overview
Released in 1984 at $1,095, the Juno-106 replaced the Juno-60 with full MIDI, 128 patch memories, and digitally controlled oscillators that stay in tune without a warm-up ritual. Roland sold roughly 80,000 units, making it one of the most common — and most sampled — analog polysynths ever built.
The architecture is simple on purpose: one DCO per voice with pulse and saw available simultaneously, a sub-oscillator, the celebrated IR3109-based 24dB low-pass filter, and the two-mode Juno chorus. Every parameter lives on a front-panel slider, which is why it remains a first analog synth recommendation four decades on.
Heard on
- Take On Me — a-ha 1985
- Digital Love — Daft Punk 2001
- Midnight City — M83 2011
- Borderline — Madonna 1984
Frequently asked questions
Is the Juno-106 fully analog?
The sound path is analog. Oscillators are digitally controlled (DCOs) for tuning stability, but waveshaping, the filter and the VCA are all analog circuitry.
What is the famous voice chip problem?
The 80017A voice chips were dipped in resin that turns conductive with age, killing voices one by one. Stripping the coating or fitting modern clone chips is a permanent, well-documented fix.
Juno-106 or Juno-60 — which should I buy?
The 106 has MIDI, more memory and is cheaper; the 60 has an arpeggiator and a slightly punchier envelope. For studio integration, the 106 wins.
Does it have velocity or aftertouch?
Neither. The keyboard transmits fixed velocity, which is part of why its pads and brasses sound so even.