Juno-Di

Back in 2009, this synth arrived as a game-changer for gigging players, doubling the polyphony and waveform memory of its predecessor to deliver massive, lush sounds in a featherweight package that runs on batteries.

At its core is a sample-based wave engine with 64 MB of waveforms across 839 tones, powering 128-voice polyphony and 16-part multitimbrality, complete with 4 TVF filters, ADSR envelopes, and 2 LFOs per tone for dynamic shaping. You'll find 79 multi-effects, 3 chorus types, 5 reverbs, plus a built-in vocoder and mic input with dedicated reverb—perfect for live vocal twists. Hands-on tweaks come via five Sound Modify knobs for envelope attack/release, filter cutoff/resonance, and reverb, alongside a D-Beam for gesture control, pitch/mod wheel, and split/dual modes on its 61 velocity-sensitive synth-action keys. It's ultra-portable at just 5.2 kg, with USB for song playback (MP3/WAV/SMF), memory storage, and a simple LED display, plus MIDI I/O and stereo outs.

Players have long praised its vast, gig-ready sound palette and road-tough build, though some note the front-panel editing stays surface-level, best paired with the included PC/Mac editor for deeper dives.