# Anyone own a Juno-DS88?



## ag75 (May 8, 2020)

I am looking for a new controller that has a really great piano feel and one that also has some on board sounds so I’m not always having to hook it up to a computer to practice. Sweetwater is running an incredible deal on this particular model so I wanted to reach out to anyone in here to see if you might have some experience with this keyboard in terms of feel, weighted keys, playability? 

thanks.


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## bill5 (May 9, 2020)

Didn't own it but did test drive it various times in the store, if that has any value. Short answer I really liked it and was about to buy before I decided I'd rather save money and get a simple controller. Some very nice on board sounds too. 

However where are you seeing this deal? Here it looks like standard price: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JunoDS88--roland-juno-ds88-88-key-synthesizer in fact it went up $100 since I last looked


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## ag75 (May 9, 2020)

bill5 said:


> Didn't own it but did test drive it various times in the store, if that has any value. Short answer I really liked it and was about to buy before I decided I'd rather save money and get a simple controller. Some very nice on board sounds too.
> 
> However where are you seeing this deal? Here it looks like standard price: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JunoDS88--roland-juno-ds88-88-key-synthesizer in fact it went up $100 since I last looked


Good to know. Actually I just realized it’s not that great of a deal. I got mixed up. Still pretty cheap for what you are getting.


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## bill5 (May 10, 2020)

It's not a "deal" at all; it's just the regular price, and about what you'll pay for comparable keyboards with similar features.


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## JPQ (May 13, 2020)

bill5 said:


> Didn't own it but did test drive it various times in the store, if that has any value. Short answer I really liked it and was about to buy before I decided I'd rather save money and get a simple controller. Some very nice on board sounds too.
> 
> However where are you seeing this deal? Here it looks like standard price: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JunoDS88--roland-juno-ds88-88-key-synthesizer in fact it went up $100 since I last looked


what kind sounds these are what you really liked? if i forget Juno-G keys thing and very lkely goming display problems some pads i liked.


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## TomislavEP (May 16, 2020)

I have Juno DS61 and I'm using it professionally along with the Kurzweil stage piano when playing gigs with a band. Before getting Juno, I've used Fantom X for many years.

Personally, I find Juno to be an almost perfect workstation for live performances. It has nearly all the sounds from the Fantom series built-in plus many new ones, and it can also load virtual SRX expansion boards. At first, Juno DS couldn't handle multisamples, but with the newest firmware update, it is now fully compatible in that respect.

The only downsides in my book are the lack of aftertouch (though I don't miss it that much as I'm actively using breath and foot controllers when performing), and the fact it can only load one expansion at the time.

I never tried an 88 keys model, though I'm guessing its keybed is decent in a Roland tradition. However, I think that a workstation keyboard such as this is a bit out of scope to be mainly used as a MIDI controller. I use Studiologic and M-AUDIO controllers for compositional and studio work. For practice, some stage pianos designed for home use - in the style of Clavinova - could also be a viable option.


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## ag75 (May 22, 2020)

Thanks for all the replies. I might go ahead and get this.


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## KJL (Sep 24, 2021)

ag75 said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I might go ahead and get this.


I'm a Juno DS88 owner, owned it for 3 years now and i use it mostly as a midi controller for my DAW (Cubase).

It got 4 knobs and 4 sliders that we can assign to different CCs.

I've set up a Mackie control in Cubase so that each pad can trigger commands that i've set and its been a handy production tool since.

The fact that is an 88-keys keyboard means i have the full-range of notes available right there for composing without having to constantly pressing octave button to play the lowest notes or the highest notes.

I'm a bassist and i'm not that good at playing piano so maybe i'm not the right person to judge whether the action is great or not. In my experience, it can be quite an effort to emulate repeated notes like double/triple-tongue in brass or ghost notes in drums, but then i can just fix the midi in the DAW later after recording. So overall no complains (because maybe its just my bad playing hehe).

The Juno also have an audio interface built-in, although it only operates in *44.1 kHz *sample rate. It's not the best audio interface but it does the job (now i use Focusrite 2i4 2nd gen).

Its packed with features for production and also for performing and that's what i like about it. The built-in sounds is also not bad especially the DS patches and you can download an expansion sound set from Roland's Axial website too.

I think its a great investment for production or performing. How about your experience so far?


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## Stevie (Feb 14, 2022)

ag75 said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I might go ahead and get this.


Did you ever get the DS-88?


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## ag75 (Feb 14, 2022)

Stevie said:


> Did you ever get the DS-88?


I actually ended up not getting it.


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## Stevie (Feb 14, 2022)

Thought so 😬


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## dcoscina (Feb 14, 2022)

I think the DS8 is the only Roland left that still uses the Ivory G keyboard. Really nice action. Worth it


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## Zoot_Rollo (Feb 14, 2022)

dcoscina said:


> I think the DS8 is the only Roland left that still uses the Ivory G keyboard. Really nice action. Worth it


Roland FP-50

Older A-88.

I looked hard at the DS-88, just couldn't justify the internal sounds and lack of AT.


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## Jaxman12 (Feb 23, 2022)

I have used a Roland DS88 for 2-3 years. They keybed is very good. I am a piano player also and a good hammer action weighted keybed is a "must have" to me. I use the hammer action on all sounds, not just the piano sounds, even though I also have a Roland A800 Pro and an Akai Advance MIDI Controller.
You can adjust the velocity curves on the keyboard which helps a lot.
It does have both a pedal on/off jack and an Expression Pedal Input.
It will save keyboard layers and splits.
It can be battery powered
No on-board speakers
The on-board sounds are quite good, but I never use them since my software surpasses the quality of the on-board sounds. However, in a live giging performance, the on-boards sounds will do just fine. Also, you can download a lot of vintage sounds off of Rolands "Axial" website here-> http://axial.roland.com/category/jun...o-ds88_xps-30/ which gives you a ton of more sounds. Download the presets and load them into the DS88 via USB Thumb Drive.
I use Cubase Pro 11 and Sonar Platinum / BandLab Cakewalk and there are no issues interfacing with either DAW.
Can it be easily carried to a live gig? That depends on how strong you are. It's not a problem for me.

By the way, take a good set of Headphones to a local Guitar Center or other music store that has a Roland DS88 and spend some time with it (or any other keyboard) and judge for yourself.


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