JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Forum for Juno-DS and XPS-30 keyboards
Jishan
Posts: 2
Joined: 01:11, 21 May 2016

JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by Jishan »

Hello everyone. I am new here.
I am totally new to this forums and in comparison to the experts here, new to music as well.
I am a student with limited budget and I love music. I am no expert in synths, creating patches, filters etc., but as a hobbyist, I want to learn now.
I have played the piano for 8 years, but seldom a synthesizer.
I mostly play Indian classical and fusion, but that should not affect the question I am going to ask.
I want the best in terms of sound quality and the number of patcher (the different instruments that can be simulated that is what I mean) and I don't care if it has Indian instruments or not.

I am looking for:

Sounds
I am looking for a nice set of Piano, Excellent strings and Atmospheric Pads and Synths.
Player Spec
I am an one man army. I play solo on stage and for my self satisfaction. :)
Usage
I will use a computer to arrange and modify my music, but a self sufficient keyboard will suit me the most.
Sound Modification
I would love a large amount of nice presents than sound modification, however, I crave for some sound modification. A ideal mix of both will be acceptable.

I am confused between Juno DS and FA-06. One reason of it is perhaps I really don't know what I am looking for, to me, the maximum number of different instruments a keyboard can simulate is the only grading point (because of my 0 knowledge about synths). If I buy FA06, I will be severely limited in budget for buying monitors, pedals etc.

Which one should I choose and why?
Thanks.

Sorry for my bad English, I am a non-native speaker.
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

First, if you like playing piano, do not buy FA-06 or JunoDS61. Their keyboard is very distant from piano keyboard. You should go to JunoDs88 or Fa-08.
Secondly, for sounds the FA series is richer. For Piano, Excellent strings and Atmospheric Pads and Synths, both FA and DS are great, with some more points with FA which has also "supernaural" sounds.
Thirdly, you can edit bot synths.

Final question from you Which one should I choose and why?
My answer: you should go and listen to the sound. The one you like better, you choose. Trust only your ears. For me, as an example, I prefer Fantom-x/JUNODS piano sound, rather than supernatural ones. It's a matter of taste.
Jishan
Posts: 2
Joined: 01:11, 21 May 2016

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by Jishan »

joelfan wrote:First, if you like playing piano, do not buy FA-06 or JunoDS61. Their keyboard is very distant from piano keyboard. You should go to JunoDs88 or Fa-08.
Secondly, for sounds the FA series is richer. For Piano, Excellent strings and Atmospheric Pads and Synths, both FA and DS are great, with some more points with FA which has also "supernaural" sounds.
Thirdly, you can edit bot synths.

Final question from you Which one should I choose and why?
My answer: you should go and listen to the sound. The one you like better, you choose. Trust only your ears. For me, as an example, I prefer Fantom-x/JUNODS piano sound, rather than supernatural ones. It's a matter of taste.
thank you for the reply. I plan to go and listen soon.
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PauloF
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Joined: 02:35, 16 January 2006
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
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Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by PauloF »

Jishan wrote:
joelfan wrote:First, if you like playing piano, do not buy FA-06 or JunoDS61. Their keyboard is very distant from piano keyboard. You should go to JunoDs88 or Fa-08.
Secondly, for sounds the FA series is richer. For Piano, Excellent strings and Atmospheric Pads and Synths, both FA and DS are great, with some more points with FA which has also "supernaural" sounds.
Thirdly, you can edit bot synths.

Final question from you Which one should I choose and why?
My answer: you should go and listen to the sound. The one you like better, you choose. Trust only your ears. For me, as an example, I prefer Fantom-x/JUNODS piano sound, rather than supernatural ones. It's a matter of taste.
thank you for the reply. I plan to go and listen soon.
Welcome to the Clan!

Fully agree with Joelfan in almost all except on the fact that, for me, the Supernatural Acoustic pianos and Guitars are unbeatable when compared with the PCM sounds from the "old league", but that is only my opinion...

But the bottom line here is==> Listen to both and decide based on your listening!

Take care
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

Do not forget that FA serie does not include FantomX/G sounds.
The Roland FA include only Supernatural Acoustic, Supernatural Synth, Drums and PCM, but PCM are JV/XV sounds, not Fantom!
anotherscott
Posts: 513
Joined: 19:05, 1 July 2010

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by anotherscott »

joelfan wrote:Do not forget that FA serie does not include FantomX/G sounds.
The Roland FA include only Supernatural Acoustic, Supernatural Synth, Drums and PCM, but PCM are JV/XV sounds, not Fantom!
That's true, but what do the Juno DS sounds come from?
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

anotherscott wrote:
joelfan wrote:Do not forget that FA serie does not include FantomX/G sounds.
The Roland FA include only Supernatural Acoustic, Supernatural Synth, Drums and PCM, but PCM are JV/XV sounds, not Fantom!
That's true, but what do the Juno DS sounds come from?
Fantom X + new waves.
My opinion is that the sound palette in JunoDS is far superior to that of FA.This is only my opinion, but tell me: what you're going to do with 2.000 Supernatural Synth Sounds??!?!?!? JunoDs forever.
anotherscott
Posts: 513
Joined: 19:05, 1 July 2010

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by anotherscott »

joelfan wrote:
anotherscott wrote:what do the Juno DS sounds come from?
Fantom X + new waves.
My opinion is that the sound palette in JunoDS is far superior to that of FA.
Okay, so the FA has
* the 64 mb wave set from the XV-5080
+ supernatural VA synth
+ supernatural clonewheel organ
+ supernatural piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, ensemble strings
+ the ability to load two axial expansion sets

the DS has
* the 64 mb wave set from the Juno DI, which I think you're saying come from the Fantom X... but I think the Fantom X itself has the 64 mb wave set from the XV-5080 plus 64 mb of additional sounds. If that's indeed the case, then the Juno DI set, having half the wave memory as a Fantom X, either has some mix of 5080 and non-5080 sounds, OR it only consists of the 64 mb of sounds that were NOT in the 5080...?
+ an additional set of waves that the DI did not have (i.e. for the sounds in the DS bank) - don't know how many (if any) of these are unique to the DS, or if they all come from other Rolands?
+ the ability to load one axial expansion set (and those sets include the 8 main XV-5080 banks, which implies these sounds are not already in the DS, so maybe th DI set is specifically the subset of Fantom X sounds that were not in the 5080?)
+ the ability to load custom samples

It's a bit confusing, maybe someone can clear up the items here that are ambiguous.
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

anotherscott wrote:
joelfan wrote:
anotherscott wrote:what do the Juno DS sounds come from?
Fantom X + new waves.
My opinion is that the sound palette in JunoDS is far superior to that of FA.
Okay, so the FA has
* the 64 mb wave set from the XV-5080
+ supernatural VA synth
+ supernatural clonewheel organ
+ supernatural piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, ensemble strings
+ the ability to load two axial expansion sets

the DS has
* the 64 mb wave set from the Juno DI, which I think you're saying come from the Fantom X... but I think the Fantom X itself has the 64 mb wave set from the XV-5080 plus 64 mb of additional sounds. If that's indeed the case, then the Juno DI set, having half the wave memory as a Fantom X, either has some mix of 5080 and non-5080 sounds, OR it only consists of the 64 mb of sounds that were NOT in the 5080...?
+ an additional set of waves that the DI did not have (i.e. for the sounds in the DS bank) - don't know how many (if any) of these are unique to the DS, or if they all come from other Rolands?
+ the ability to load one axial expansion set (and those sets include the 8 main XV-5080 banks, which implies these sounds are not already in the DS, so maybe th DI set is specifically the subset of Fantom X sounds that were not in the 5080?)
+ the ability to load custom samples

It's a bit confusing, maybe someone can clear up the items here that are ambiguous.
Just go to a dealer and listen.
And trust only your ears.
That's it.

To demonstrate that my opinion is shared, read comments here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyH816LxsHc&t=327s
The DS is scored best according to most comments.
anotherscott
Posts: 513
Joined: 19:05, 1 July 2010

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by anotherscott »

Correcting something in my earlier post, the Fantom X did not have the XV-5080 waves. Roland did make the XV-5080 sound set available for it as a download, but with the caveat, "Since the Waveform's contents are different between the Fantom-X and the XV Series, previous XV Patches will not sound completely the same on the Fantom-X Series." So it sounds like they picked similar waveforms to create close approximations. So the Fantom-based DI and DS wouldn't have those 5080 waves either. Also, unlike most of the Axial expansions for the DS, the XV-5080 expansions are really tiny downloads, so I suspect they are ports of that Fantom download, i.e. again approximating the XV-5080 patches with the Fantom wave set.
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

anotherscott wrote:So the Fantom-based DI and DS wouldn't have those 5080 waves either.
I believe JUNO DS has those 5080 waves.
anotherscott wrote: Also, unlike most of the Axial expansions for the DS, the XV-5080 expansions are really tiny downloads, so I suspect they are ports of that Fantom download, i.e. again approximating the XV-5080 patches with the Fantom wave set.
They are tiny downloads simply beacuse thay are not waves, but patch parameters. In fact, you load them with a different tool, the librarian. And you can partially load a XV expansion, while you nust load an SRX expansion as a whole. This demonstrates that the JUNO DS has those 5080 waves.
anotherscott
Posts: 513
Joined: 19:05, 1 July 2010

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by anotherscott »

joelfan wrote:
anotherscott wrote:So the Fantom-based DI and DS wouldn't have those 5080 waves either.
I believe JUNO DS has those 5080 waves.
My understanding is that the DI has a 64 mb set of Fantom-derived sounds. The DS has the same set, plus an additional 64(?) mb of additional sounds for the new "DS" tone bank. I don't know where they come from, but they do not appear to be 5080-based. Roland talks about its new improved pianos, for example.
joelfan wrote:
anotherscott wrote:the XV-5080 expansions are really tiny downloads, so I suspect they are ports of that Fantom download, i.e. again approximating the XV-5080 patches with the Fantom wave set.
They are tiny downloads simply beacuse thay are not waves, but patch parameters. In fact, you load them with a different tool, the librarian. And you can partially load a XV expansion, while you nust load an SRX expansion as a whole. This demonstrates that the JUNO DS has those 5080 waves.
That does not demonstrate that the DS has those 5080 waves. As I said, the XV expansions could be recreations of XV sounds using Fantom waves rather than XV5080 waves, just as they did with the 5080 patch download set for the Fantom. (They could even be the exact same patches.)
russnixon
Posts: 2
Joined: 17:26, 9 May 2018

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by russnixon »

Greetings,

I'm new here, but I have been a Roland user for a long while now and plan to be adding either a Juno DS or an FA to my mobile rig soon. I recently acquired a Korg Krome for use in hotels as I travel for work, and while the keyboard really does sound fantastic, I'm finding it dreadfully uninspiring for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly I don't like, but it's just not working for me. I'm blaming the fact that I have a Kronos in the studio with similar sounds, as well as loads of other fantastic gear, which makes the Karma-less Krome seem redundant and dull. I'm craving fresh sounds.

Since the only Roland gear I am using regularly is my old XP-30 (which I absolutely love to this day), and a TD-10 V-Drum kit (not counting my beloved A-80 controller), I'm thinking that an FA or a DS for my road keyboard might be a better option. I'm finding the choice between FA and DS to be harder than I expected. When I audition the DS, I absolutely love it. It's everything I want, except for the fact that I can't get it in 76 keys. If I could get a Juno DS 76, I would be all set. But I can't stand the 61, and the 88 is really too big for what I'd like right now.

That brings me to the FA-07. I haven't played an 07, just the 06 and the 08. I've heard that the 07'S keybed is fantastic. My trouble is that the few times I've auditioned the FA, I haven't felt the same magic that I feel with the DS. Even listening to the FA demos on Youtube versus the DS demos on Youtube, I really like the DS sound over the FA. I feel like there must be something wrong with me, because I feel like the FA is supposed to be the better instrument. I really feel like I SHOULD like the FA better. But personally, I feel more warmth and playability in the DS.

I've really struggled with the decision for several weeks now, but I think I am going to take the advice of this thread, and trust my ears. I'll quite likely get a DS88 and deal with the size, and just hope they'll do what they did for the FA some day and release a 76-key version with a killer keybed.

I found the "trust your ears" advice to be most valuable in this thread. Thanks very much!

Russ
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

russnixon wrote:Greetings,

I'm new here, but I have been a Roland user for a long while now and plan to be adding either a Juno DS or an FA to my mobile rig soon. I recently acquired a Korg Krome for use in hotels as I travel for work, and while the keyboard really does sound fantastic, I'm finding it dreadfully uninspiring for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly I don't like, but it's just not working for me. I'm blaming the fact that I have a Kronos in the studio with similar sounds, as well as loads of other fantastic gear, which makes the Karma-less Krome seem redundant and dull. I'm craving fresh sounds.

Since the only Roland gear I am using regularly is my old XP-30 (which I absolutely love to this day), and a TD-10 V-Drum kit (not counting my beloved A-80 controller), I'm thinking that an FA or a DS for my road keyboard might be a better option. I'm finding the choice between FA and DS to be harder than I expected. When I audition the DS, I absolutely love it. It's everything I want, except for the fact that I can't get it in 76 keys. If I could get a Juno DS 76, I would be all set. But I can't stand the 61, and the 88 is really too big for what I'd like right now.

That brings me to the FA-07. I haven't played an 07, just the 06 and the 08. I've heard that the 07'S keybed is fantastic. My trouble is that the few times I've auditioned the FA, I haven't felt the same magic that I feel with the DS. Even listening to the FA demos on Youtube versus the DS demos on Youtube, I really like the DS sound over the FA. I feel like there must be something wrong with me, because I feel like the FA is supposed to be the better instrument. I really feel like I SHOULD like the FA better. But personally, I feel more warmth and playability in the DS.

I've really struggled with the decision for several weeks now, but I think I am going to take the advice of this thread, and trust my ears. I'll quite likely get a DS88 and deal with the size, and just hope they'll do what they did for the FA some day and release a 76-key version with a killer keybed.

I found the "trust your ears" advice to be most valuable in this thread. Thanks very much!

Russ
Thank you to share your view, Ross. Me too, I can hardly find disagreement.
joelfan
Posts: 76
Joined: 12:54, 4 April 2013

Re: JUNO DS vs. FA 06

Post by joelfan »

anotherscott wrote:My understanding is that the DI has a 64 mb set of Fantom-derived sounds. The DS has the same set, plus an additional 64(?) mb of additional sounds for the new "DS" tone bank. I don't know where they come from, but they do not appear to be 5080-based. Roland talks about its new improved pianos, for example... ...That does not demonstrate that the DS has those 5080 waves. As I said, the XV expansions could be recreations of XV sounds using Fantom waves rather than XV5080 waves, just as they did with the 5080 patch download set for the Fantom. (They could even be the exact same patches.)
Well, I see that your rationale is based on size in MB. Who knows, of course you can be right. But let me come back to sounds.

Maybe I'm wrong. But I found all banks of 5080 in Arial, available. Librarian patches. Patches, not samples or waves. They just render all 5080 banks. That should mean that 5080 waves are in JunoDS. You tell us that those waves are recreations. Well, I do not know, maybe they are simplified waves. But I had the Juno Stage (Fantom X based 76 keyboard, 128MB of samples), I could not succeed in having the same RD-1000 sound, as I had on JV-2080 and other machines. Now I have it in Juno DS, because it is in Axial 5080 banks. And it's fantastic.

Great machine, long life to JunoDS!
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