ROLAND JUNO 106 - SOCKETING THE VOICE CHIPS

I was asked to solder in sockets for the voices on the Juno 106. One of the pros of doing this is that in the future, it's easy to swap out a problematic chip. Also replacement units from other suppliers can be installed easily.

[@RoyMaya]

I just put sockets on my MK30 which also uses these voice chips. I also went ahead and removed the black coating because it was starting to cause problems. It's not difficult work if you have the right tools, just a little time consuming.

[@waheex]

yes it's a good idea and saves issues in the long run

[@aural_escape]

I had this done to my juno, I also had the epoxy coating removed and all the joints for the components on the voice chips, re-flowed, all 6 voice chips have been running fine a tad over 15 years now. That crackle in the chips (all six of mine did that) is likely the epoxy coating starting to become conductive and components starting to separate from the pcb.
Mine has a strange issue where panel LEDs which aren't supposed to be lit are dimly lit.

[@waheex]

thanks. That's very interesting about the coating on the chip. As for the the LED's, maybe check power rails and also that there is no shorting going on. A logic chip also may cause a symptom like this.