TAL-U-No-62

This is one of the "gems" among the hundreds of virtual analogue synths out there. Feature-wise, it's fairly unimpressive, but it's designed almost to the exact specifications of the original it tries to emulate (the Juno-60 if you haven't guessed). The user interface looks almost exactly like the original, or how I imagine a rack-mount version would look like. Those limitations might be frustrating at times, but it also forces you to think outside the box and can be quite inspiring at times. It also makes it quick and easy to design your own sounds from scratch, as it doesn't fill up the screen with a bewildering array of knobs and sliders. It does seem to lack a Unison mode, which is slightly dissapointing.

In terms of sound, I'm not the right person to judge. I nearly got my hands on a real Juno-60 once, but lost the auction. The developer's website does contain sound samples directly comparing it to the original, and to my ears it sounds very close. The filter sounds very unique. It's not warm and smooth like a Moog filter, it has a different, slightly colder but very pleasant character. The Juno is Japaneese of course, while the Minimoog is American, so some "cultural" differences are expected. The Chorus unit is another of the great strengths of this synth, and is also available as a stand-alone VST effect for use with other instruments.

You won't get extremely complex sounds out of this, but the smooth filter and excellent Chorus enable you to create some nice strings, though the real strength of the synth lies in 80's style synthbasses. Lead sounds I tried to create with this synth didn't seem to "cut through" the mix like some other synths but rather sounded like they're just below the surface so to speak. Other synthesists may be more fortunate, or skilled. The presets include a nice set of basses and some presets which appear to be copied from the original.

The synth is quite CPU hungry, which can become a problem if you use it for chords/polyphonic sounds. Since the synth architecture is so simple, I think it should be more CPU friendly. Some optimizations would be welcome, as long as they don't affect the sound (The "Save CPU" button caused some strange things with many patches). Still, you can use the CPU saving feature when previewing your track, and then render to audio when you're happy with the sound.

With its accurate emulation of a famous vintage instrument, this could easily be a commercial plugin, but it's actually Freeware! It's not extremely versatile, but it does what it sais on the "box" and it does it extremely well. So if you've ever wished you had a Juno-60 in your bedroom, go ahead and download this right now!Read Review