Juno 106 vs. Nord Lead 2X

[tekara]

im thinking of buying one or the either, but cannot afford both. I know the two are in different price brackets, but its okay, i just wanted to see what your opinions were.

So?

would you guys go for analogue mayhem? Or get a newer VA synth?

both will be second hand.

cheers guys!

[TechMouse]

The 106 isn't pure analogue... it's DCA (digitally controlled analogue)... but it is phat.

I'd imagine the Nord would be more flexible though.

It depends what you desire more...

1. You want a general purpose workhorse synth for all synth duties.

2. You want a synth which might be more limited, but will be oozing with character to make up for it.

Generally, I'd say that you won't be able to do much with the Nord that you can't do with some decent VST synth.

The 106 doesn't half pump out the bass!

[thetonewrecka]

Go for the nord 2. It never ceases to amaze with it's control. Hell, you can send it program changes on 16th notes and it won't even choke.

[RDR]

Agree with this, i owned a Nord 2 and it rocks hard.

As for the VSTi comment mark... im gonna disagree there mate. The Nord is PHAT... not saying that VSTi's cant be phat, but i loved playing with my knobs on the nord, great piece of kit.

Cant comment on a Juno.. never owned one.

[TechMouse]

As for the VSTi comment mark... im gonna disagree there mate. The Nord is PHAT... not saying that VSTi's cant be phat, but i loved playing with my knobs on the nord, great piece of kit.
Aye, the Nord is a great but of kit, no doubt. But (there's always a but) at the end of the day, the Nord is VA - Virtual Analogue.

That is, an analogue emulation created algorithmically. Which is exactly how VSTi's work.

Which is why, say, the Novation V-Station plugin sounds the same as the Novation K-Station synth... it's the same algorithm! This is how Access have been able to bring out a perfect software version of the Virus. The only real difference is there are no physical knobs on a VSTi - and that's soon sorted with a control surface. I'd recommend a Kenton, but there are other options. It depends what combination of buttons you're after.

Bottom line... with enough processing power, and a good control surface, there is no real difference between a hardware VA synth and a good VSTi synth.

The Juno 106 is DCA (Digitally Controlled Analogue)... That is, the oscillators etc. are real analogue, but they're controlled by a digital circuit for the purposes of MIDI etc.

So, I stand by what I say. If you want a workhorse synth that will be good for all purposes then get the Nord. You won't regret it and it will last you for a long time.

If you want a more individual (read: full of character) synth, and you have pure phatness in mind (and I do mean PURE PHATNESS), then you won't be disappointed by the Juno.

[FIK]

I would go for the Clavia if I were to choose.

[carltaylor43]

The Juno is limited (very easy to use becasue of this), but does sound very nice for what it is.... the on board chorus sounds great as well (in a way thats what makes it sound like a Juno)... ive been using mine for basslines / strings and other stuff for years. Never owned a Nord 2 so I cant really comment on those.

[Basil Rush]

I had a Juno. I sold it, got bored of it, made fat bass sounds but the Creamware Juno emulation is better than the Juno itself. Nothing wrong with the Juno if it's your only bit of analogue kit in the studio though, if I had no analogue kit other than the Juno I'd never have sold it but the ATC-1 more than makes up for the lack of Juno.

Nord 2 might be cool, never used on, I have a friend who has one and it's one of the only bits of hardware he's got that's not for sale so it must do something pretty cool.

Bass was reallly nice on the Juno though ..... mmmmm :)

[tekara]

:)

[Debroglie]

I've had 2 Juno 106's in the past and they are great synths with out a doubt , smooth,warm and easy to control, but there is one extreme downside to these lovely synths, "The Filter Chip" and all I can say is that it's a matter of time before it's ready for the dumpster ....and here in Japan this becoming very obvious with the prices of Juno's rising and the fact that tons of people are getting rid of them, which is shame... :(

Any ways I guess what I'm saying is get a Nord ! :)

[thetonewrecka]

The obvious note to make is that the Nord can run as 4 separate instruments on 4 separate channels/outputs or stacked in any combo. Some really powerful and interesting textures can be created on this box.

Hell...it works as a great controller for soft synths too since all the knobs and buttons send midi cc data.

I can't stop ranting about this machine.

[Evil G]

get a nord 2 instead of a 2x and use the money saved to get the juno 106 as well.