New Mod for Juno 106 Supercharges CPU
More patches, arpeggiator, aftertouch and more 05-Dec-13
New Zealand based synth modifiers Kiwitech have anounced a new mod for the venerable Roland Juno 106. A classic 6 voice poly with a chorus to die for.
Kiwitech say that their new kit which offers a complete replacement for the main CPU board, brings the processing power into the 21st Century. This means that they can now add a number of fairly major new features. They recommend that the board be installed by a technician, however there are thorough instructions in the manual and there will be videos put up on Youtube for those wishing to tackle the work themselves.
There are additional 2 envelopes, 2 more LFOs and a sequencer/arpeggiator. There is also an editor for Mac and PC available.
The board can be ordered directly from Kiwi-106.com priced at $395 US.
Blogger Greg Cole is getting hold of one for his Juno and will be posting a review here soon.
Here's what the new board can do in full
- 512 Patches can be stored and edited. It is also possible to temporarily edit any Patch
- Patches are stored in Flash memory so no battery is required.
- Bend Controls (DCO, VCF Bend, LFO Mod Level & Portamento) are stored with the Patch
- MidiCC & Sysex support for all parameters and Midi Sysex support for Patch Dump & Load
- Patch Editor Control of Parameters. Free PC/MAC editor is available from Kiwi-106.com
- NRPN & Sysex variable parameter control supports 12 bit for 4096 parameter steps
- Key Assign Modes are Poly I&II, Unison Legato & Staccato, Mono Legato & Staccato
- Portamento in Unison, Arp & Chord modes
- DCO Key Assign Detune available in all key modes except mono
- Two independent envelope generators. Each ENV Mod can select from ENV 1 or 2 and has an Inverted or Normal modes
- Two independent Low Frequency Oscillators with 6 waveforms each. LFO2 random2 wave can be clocked from the Internal clock. Each LFO Mod can select from LFO 1 or 2. LFOs can be plus and minus base note or plus base note only
- Aftertouch, Modulation Level and Dynamics via midi. Dynamics can optionally control the VCA and/or VCF. The Dynamics have been modeled on the Juno-2 with both the VCF & VCA mod turned on by default for a more natural and expressive play. This brings new life to every patch in the Kiwi-106.
- Arp/Seq/Pattern Clocks can optionally display on the KeyT LED and LFO 1 and LFO 2 clocks can optionally display on the Group lights
- Key transpose allows transposition to any key with a range of plus 2 or minus 1 octaves. Sequencer key can be shifted while playing
CHORD MODE
Any chord with up to 6 notes can be set and played from any key
ARPEGGIATOR
- The Arpeggiator can be clocked from the Internal or External Clocks, LFO2, Pattern Output or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
- Arp modes are Up, Down, Up and Down, Random, 0, 1 or 2 octaves
- Arp can be Started, Stopped & Continued using Midi Commands
- Arpeggiator will Output Midi Data
SEQUENCER
- 8 separate 124 Max step Polyphonic sequences can be created and stored
- Sequences can be edited
- Sequencer can be Started, Stopped & Continued using Midi Commands
- The Sequencer can be clocked from the Internal or External clocks, LFO2, Pattern output or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
- Sequencer will Output Midi Data
PATTERN GENERATOR
- 8 Pattern Generator patterns can be saved. The pattern can be any length between 2 and 16 steps
- The Pattern Generator can be clocked from the Internal or External clocks, LFO2 or midi clock divided by 3,4,6,9,12,18,24,36,48,72,96,128,144,168 or 192.
- Pattern Effect can be faded from no effect to full effect.
In order to facilitate all of this extra functionality within the bounds of the original hardware it is necessary for the controls of the 106 to become multi-function. These functions are split logically into 5 "pages" with those pages accessed by button combinations. All of this is laid out in detail in the manual but here is an image of the front panel which gives an overview.
click to enlargePricing and availability$395 U.S., kits will be available from December 5th
Further information
More From: KIWI TECH
