Great video. Had to do this a few years ago with my 106. Soldering took forever but being able to pull the voice chips out is so worth it in the end. I even snagged a scrapped 106 circuit board with all of the voice chips on it for possible replacements. Also, nice Animal Style shirt. :)
The service manual is online for free and, after your rework the voice chips, you MAY want to calibrate each voice bank. The SM has step by step directions on calibration
I have a Roland HS-60. It’s an identical model to the 106, only with built-in speakers. (Like the Dodge Aries-K to a Plymouth Reliant). Just want to make sure these materials will work for the HS-60 as well. Thanks.
I know this an older vid but thanks to the crew at SYNTAUR in new Braunfels TX.USA you can get bulletproof new VC's and anything else a juno would new,they stock millions of parts and don;t take in repairs,bt do buy broken synths to refurbish,customize oe tear down for parts stock. Their first custom, had the new chips,an audio in to play an instrument through that killer chorus and an amazing full circuit that run a patch sweep! It aslo got a facelift with custom graphics and chromed knobs... They dont handle any electro-mechanical boards like Rhodes,Wurli or Hammond but I do in the Atlanta ,Ga area. I am personally looking for a dead juno to refamiliarize myself having made the mistake of selling in the 90's..I may have a synth to trade.
There’s over a dozen of these videos online and not one single one explains why taking the epoxy off makes a difference, nor do they address the other three chips next to the voice strips, nor do they address scraping out the rubbery goo between all the legs and what that stuff is. It’s not the same Apoxsee that these are wrapped in. Is that conducting electricity between the legs? I’m really surprise nobody ever talks about the actual problem, only the solution.
Thank you, Nick!! Since I really don't trust myself with this repair, would you be able to recommend a reputable service center that fixes voice chips?
Hi, I am an original owner of a vintage Juno 106, bought it in 1884 or 5, took care of it, exterior is cherry condition- perfect! I would never have dared to do the repairs you show on here, but I had it serviced, replaced all DCO and voice chips due to the epoxy problems. Dont know what the technician did but all factory recorded voices have been lost. Each voice bank just a mess. I can save change, my question is there any way to to a factory reset for this old-tech board or reload the patches from any source? I dearly want my lovely old analog sounds again, any advice??
did you ever get sorted ? from what i recall the juno 106 has its factory settings stored on a cassette tape which needs played back in to restore it - i know this is true for the juno 60 and near sure 106 too ?
Hi this might be the mains transformer. When I got mine, the whole unit was vibrating along with the transformer. Nothing to worriy about. A transformer consists of metal plates held together with a copper wire coiled around. When those metal plates can move, this results in audible buzzing or vibrations like mine. I solved my problem by tightening the transformer with a zip tie round the bottom.
I have what seems to be a faulty voice chip. ie when i turn my roland hs60 on, there are a few dead notes, which change position each time i turn off and on. So i used your method to find out what was wrong, and, strangely, i found that switching to poly 2 from poly 1 fixed it. Any suggestions why that should be?
Well, it two years later, but... Switching to Poly2 does not fix the issue. In Poly2 mode, the first key pressed is always using voice chip 1, pressing an additional note will trigger chip 2, and so on... So, if your dead voice chip is #6, you will only ever (not) hear it when having six keys pressed at the same time. If your dead chip is #1, Poly 2 will immediatley trigger the faulty chip, rendering this mode useless.
I had a voice chip problem (voice chip 1) like this and did all you said here. Now it's even worse. A lot more keys don't work and when I do the voice chip test you've explained at the beginning, none of the chips seem to work. Please help me!
Does this have to have an amp to make a sound? Bought one at pawnshop the other day and trying to get it working its making crackling sounds and certain keys work so that has to be the voice chips
You can then simply pull the voice chips out and push them back in without soldering 136 times. Less time, effort and you can't f something up in the process.
I hope you might have some idea about my problem with my Juno 106. The synth has a strange problem where the sound changes slightly over time. Almost like a flanger effect. I can press the same key many times and the sound will slowly change back and forth
I don't know whether you're Dutch like me (your name seems Dutch) so I'll translate to the best of my abilities: It may be a couple of things, maybe replacement of the voicechip(s) is necessary, maybe the unit needs to be tweaked back to factory specifications (tuning the filter, especially the resonance) Then there's the soldered internal backup battery that may have to be replaced and heat may have broken soldered parts in the powerunit. It's not very common, but one of the 5534A Waveshaper-chips may have a defect. There are 3 of those in a Juno-106. I am no expert by any means so the language and names I used may be off. Good luck.
@@jairkerker2821 Thanks for your answer. I'm actually Danish 😊. I can say for sure nothing has ever been done to synth. In fact I don't think it has ever been opened. The caps might also be dried out completely. So I think I'll try some of the things you suggest and maybe also replace the electrolytic caps
@@jwester7009 Lots of luck, those 106's are precious. In a video made by another guy, there was a weird sound coming from a 106, maybe it sounds like yours. I'll try and find it for you, you can hear it somewhere in the first part of the video.
Francisco Montes no, the 5534 is called wave generator. 80017 are usually named voice chips as they work one per voice. 5534 is 2 voices each. And also, even if you have all 5534 working, you still may have missing voices depending on 80017 conditions.
Actually I don't use any analog audio equipment and this video is nothing I will ever need but your videos are so well done, I liked it nevertheless. Good work, keep it up!!
Definitely need a solder wick or solder sucker and then some flux to reflow any stubborn joints. Not sure why Roland saw the need to coat these boards with epoxy. 🤔. (Roland seems to have problems with epoxy, like with XP-80’s)
@@ScottFrye000111222 I hear ya there. I'm a retired EE, and have popped the top off of many IC's to take a peek inside. Unbelievable some things I've seen. With some of our stolen designs, the perpetrator stole the photomasks from the front-ends, but was stupid enough to leave our company logo on them when they processed them. (a simple laser job could've removed that, done it several times to remove unwanted traces on photomasks)
Tienes que desoldar los chips, sumergirlos en acetona durante tres días, remover la cubierta de hule con cuidado, soldar nuevos sockets, soldar patas a los chips, reinstalar los chips.
Wtf epoxy becomes conductive over time, creating a short circuit between the pins of the chips. removing the epoxy does not completely solve the problem, the chips sound differently even after cleaning them. there are chips from a company that I can't remember now but they can be found to replace the old chips.
I'm selling one of these on eBay that was one of the latest models to not have this issue. I'm only selling it to invest in older analogs. if anyone is interested let me know
JX-3P has 12 oscillators (6 more than the 106), chorus, MIDI and a sequencer. Why mess with voices of the 106 going bad when you can pick up a JX-3P and the PG-200 controller. Makes no sense.
The Juno 6 and Juno 106 are different from eachother (the 6 sounds a bit more punchy for instance), and the JX-3P is different from both in a lot of ways. They have different functionality: the JX has cross modes and more waveforms to choose from, the Juno can tie the pitch bend to the filter, has pulse width modulation and, as the other commenter stated, the Juno has portamento. The biggest difference imho: the Juno's famed warmth is unique, something the JX lacks a bit. Only the Jupiter 8 may surpass the Juno in that regard. Listen to a Juno 106 and a JX-3P side by side and you will hear they both have their ups and downs. The Juno has 3 chorus settings (1, 2 and 1+2 combined) and has MIDI in, out and through btw.
Great video. Had to do this a few years ago with my 106. Soldering took forever but being able to pull the voice chips out is so worth it in the end. I even snagged a scrapped 106 circuit board with all of the voice chips on it for possible replacements. Also, nice Animal Style shirt. :)
The service manual is online for free and, after your rework the voice chips, you MAY want to calibrate each voice bank. The SM has step by step directions on calibration
I have a Roland HS-60. It’s an identical model to the 106, only with built-in speakers. (Like the Dodge Aries-K to a Plymouth Reliant). Just want to make sure these materials will work for the HS-60 as well. Thanks.
You, good sir, are a gem.
Thank you so much, and thanks to the guy you referred to, too!
@Zavier Lionel
Thanks for the heads up!
I know this an older vid but thanks to the crew at SYNTAUR in new Braunfels TX.USA you can get bulletproof new VC's and anything else a juno would new,they stock millions of parts and don;t take in repairs,bt do buy broken synths to refurbish,customize oe tear down for parts stock. Their first custom, had the new chips,an audio in to play an instrument through that killer chorus and an amazing full circuit that run a patch sweep! It aslo got a facelift with custom graphics and chromed knobs... They dont handle any electro-mechanical boards like Rhodes,Wurli or Hammond but I do in the Atlanta ,Ga area. I am personally looking for a dead juno to refamiliarize myself having made the mistake of selling in the 90's..I may have a synth to trade.
So simply removing the expoxy makes them again?
There’s over a dozen of these videos online and not one single one explains why taking the epoxy off makes a difference, nor do they address the other three chips next to the voice strips, nor do they address scraping out the rubbery goo between all the legs and what that stuff is. It’s not the same Apoxsee that these are wrapped in. Is that conducting electricity between the legs? I’m really surprise nobody ever talks about the actual problem, only the solution.
I believe another video I watched did talk about the coating creating conductivity, yes
Thank you, Nick!! Since I really don't trust myself with this repair, would you be able to recommend a reputable service center that fixes voice chips?
cool video thanks.
did you need to perform the adjustment procedure which is described in the JUNO-106 service manual?
Hi, I am an original owner of a vintage Juno 106, bought it in 1884 or 5, took care of it, exterior is cherry condition- perfect! I would never have dared to do the repairs you show on here, but I had it serviced, replaced all DCO and voice chips due to the epoxy problems. Dont know what the technician did but all factory recorded voices have been lost. Each voice bank just a mess. I can save change, my question is there any way to to a factory reset for this old-tech board or reload the patches from any source? I dearly want my lovely old analog sounds again, any advice??
did you ever get sorted ? from what i recall the juno 106 has its factory settings stored on a cassette tape which needs played back in to restore it - i know this is true for the juno 60 and near sure 106 too ?
where did you get the white polarity pegs for your header sockets?
My Juno makes a loud buzzing noise when it is on. Is there something wrong with it?
Hi this might be the mains transformer. When I got mine, the whole unit was vibrating along with the transformer. Nothing to worriy about. A transformer consists of metal plates held together with a copper wire coiled around. When those metal plates can move, this results in audible buzzing or vibrations like mine. I solved my problem by tightening the transformer with a zip tie round the bottom.
Thanks for the reply Pieter!
So I just got a Juno-106 for cheap and it only has two functioning voice chips haha.
I have what seems to be a faulty voice chip. ie when i turn my roland hs60 on, there are a few dead notes, which change position each time i turn off and on. So i used your method to find out what was wrong, and, strangely, i found that switching to poly 2 from poly 1 fixed it. Any suggestions why that should be?
Well, it two years later, but...
Switching to Poly2 does not fix the issue. In Poly2 mode, the first key pressed is always using voice chip 1, pressing an additional note will trigger chip 2, and so on...
So, if your dead voice chip is #6, you will only ever (not) hear it when having six keys pressed at the same time. If your dead chip is #1, Poly 2 will immediatley trigger the faulty chip, rendering this mode useless.
I had a voice chip problem (voice chip 1) like this and did all you said here. Now it's even worse. A lot more keys don't work and when I do the voice chip test you've explained at the beginning, none of the chips seem to work. Please help me!
Hey Nick,
Isn't it necessary to re-adjust the Juno as described in the service manual?
Thanks for this!
Im having similar priblems with a juno2. Is it the same fix? Im inside it but the chips are very different
Great Video, thanks, my Juno has this problem Do you know a good place in LA ?
Does this have to have an amp to make a sound? Bought one at pawnshop the other day and trying to get it working its making crackling sounds and certain keys work so that has to be the voice chips
Why modify the voice chips with those headers?
You can then simply pull the voice chips out and push them back in without soldering 136 times.
Less time, effort and you can't f something up in the process.
I hope you might have some idea about my problem with my Juno 106. The synth has a strange problem where the sound changes slightly over time. Almost like a flanger effect. I can press the same key many times and the sound will slowly change back and forth
I don't know whether you're Dutch like me (your name seems Dutch) so I'll translate to the best of my abilities:
It may be a couple of things, maybe replacement of the voicechip(s) is necessary,
maybe the unit needs to be tweaked back to factory specifications (tuning the filter, especially the resonance)
Then there's the soldered internal backup battery that may have to be replaced
and heat may have broken soldered parts in the powerunit.
It's not very common, but one of the 5534A Waveshaper-chips may have a defect. There are 3 of those in a Juno-106.
I am no expert by any means so the language and names I used may be off.
Good luck.
@@jairkerker2821 Thanks for your answer. I'm actually Danish 😊. I can say for sure nothing has ever been done to synth. In fact I don't think it has ever been opened. The caps might also be dried out completely. So I think I'll try some of the things you suggest and maybe also replace the electrolytic caps
@@jwester7009
Lots of luck, those 106's are precious.
In a video made by another guy, there was a weird sound coming from a 106, maybe it sounds like yours. I'll try and find it for you, you can hear it somewhere in the first part of the video.
Please correct the info in the video, the voice chips are the MC5534 (3 of them, 2 voice each) and the VCA/VCF Chip Is the 80017(6 of them).
Cheers
Francisco Montes no, the 5534 is called wave generator. 80017 are usually named voice chips as they work one per voice. 5534 is 2 voices each. And also, even if you have all 5534 working, you still may have missing voices depending on 80017 conditions.
Where can I get the replacement voice chips?
Actually I don't use any analog audio equipment and this video is nothing I will ever need but your videos are so well done, I liked it nevertheless. Good work, keep it up!!
This is incredible !! thank you so much
Definitely need a solder wick or solder sucker and then some flux to reflow any stubborn joints. Not sure why Roland saw the need to coat these boards with epoxy. 🤔. (Roland seems to have problems with epoxy, like with XP-80’s)
I think Roland didnt want anyone reverse engineering their circuit. I've seen plenty of ICs like that in 40 years
@@ScottFrye000111222 I hear ya there. I'm a retired EE, and have popped the top off of many IC's to take a peek inside. Unbelievable some things I've seen. With some of our stolen designs, the perpetrator stole the photomasks from the front-ends, but was stupid enough to leave our company logo on them when they processed them. (a simple laser job could've removed that, done it several times to remove unwanted traces on photomasks)
Great video!
truly great
GREAT JOB BRO !!
great video. thank you.
soy de nicaragua y tengo un roland juno 106 .podria alguien ayudarme con la traduccion al español
Tienes que desoldar los chips, sumergirlos en acetona durante tres días, remover la cubierta de hule con cuidado, soldar nuevos sockets, soldar patas a los chips, reinstalar los chips.
Great, thanks for this tips
Thank you!
So first of all, wtf are those chips. Second, wtf are they doing.
Third, wtf is epoxy resin and how does that cause deterioration of those chips.
Wtf epoxy becomes conductive over time, creating a short circuit between the pins of the chips. removing the epoxy does not completely solve the problem, the chips sound differently even after cleaning them. there are chips from a company that I can't remember now but they can be found to replace the old chips.
I don't get this happens after money spend ,
I'm selling one of these on eBay that was one of the latest models to not have this issue. I'm only selling it to invest in older analogs. if anyone is interested let me know
How many versions of the 106 are there?
JX-3P has 12 oscillators (6 more than the 106), chorus, MIDI and a sequencer. Why mess with voices of the 106 going bad when you can pick up a JX-3P and the PG-200 controller. Makes no sense.
Digiphex Electronics does is have portamento?
The Juno 6 and Juno 106 are different from eachother (the 6 sounds a bit more punchy for instance), and the JX-3P is different from both in a lot of ways.
They have different functionality: the JX has cross modes and more waveforms to choose from, the Juno can tie the pitch bend to the filter, has pulse width modulation and, as the other commenter stated, the Juno has portamento.
The biggest difference imho: the Juno's famed warmth is unique, something the JX lacks a bit.
Only the Jupiter 8 may surpass the Juno in that regard.
Listen to a Juno 106 and a JX-3P side by side and you will hear they both have their ups and downs.
The Juno has 3 chorus settings (1, 2 and 1+2 combined) and has MIDI in, out and through btw.