I used the Alpha 1 for a long time for Filter Cutoff velocity sounds, because the song "Nothing" by Depeche Mode has this typical Roland Alpha 1 Velocity Filter sound in the intro. Sure, DM probably used a different synth 😁, but you can copy the "Nothing" sound 1:1, because the Filter resonance is pretty much identical. It has this crystally clear after the opening. Rare to find with Eurorack filters. In the 90s, the Roland Juno 1 was practically the Depeche Mode synth in the scene for people who didn't have much money. As I said, the special thing is the VCF resonance of the Filter.
My new fave from them next to TAL Drum . Sharp and edged when I need it and thanks to the detune and mod options warm and tubby when I want it . Can’t complain . Cheers !
I've done an extensive comparison with my own Alpha, and sent my findings to the developer, and he introduced the "normal" filter mode that more closely nails the resonance. What i found is that the software has much more resonance at 100% setting, so if you want to load your patches correctly , you need to put the resonance on the SW to around 90-95% of the patch. Other parameters are also slightly off, like the LFO speed, but it nails the soul of the synth perfectly.
Ahhhh I just rebought the alpha in rack form. MKS-50 with the intent of programming it with a software editor. I’m definitely giving this a shot. TAL are pretty much the only soft synths I ever use.
i love the improvements TAL made. i like that you can detune the oscillators. i do patches with PWM, OSC detune AND the chorus all combined to make a truly huge sounds
Interestingly, my experience was the opposite. The Alpha Juno 2 was my second synth, but the first synth I learned how to program. And I got really deep programming it. It was really intuitive, and I thought it was a great synth to learn how to program sounds on. Especially for the time (early 90s) when no synths had knobs or sliders. The alpha dial on the Alpha Juno was a giant knob that could control a lot of parameters, so it was real-time control for sound, which was something missing on other synths. Really great synth with a very good and logical user interface. Glad you still have yours and are showing it love. I still have mine too and use it a lot.
Awesome. TAL just doing TAL things - like they always do. I have the Juno 60 emulation and it just sounds so incredible. Who needs Roland's cloud stuff, when you can get these and the Jupiter and the 101 sounding and feeling like this? 🤩
Wow, I wasn’t aware how much power lurks underneath that Alpha Juno panel. Funny how these late 80s synths have multi-stage envelopes and most modern synths have plain-jane ADSRs. Also: KITTY! :)
I was using TAL synths before they started selling them like Noisemaker, U-NO-62, and Bassline, and buy their VSTs because of their demos. I prefer working with VA synths, and love that these are demonstrably close to their counterparts.
I would stack my alpha Juno with the rack mount version (MKS 50) using the same patch but detuning the MKS. Really thickened things up and gave a wider spread in the stereo spectrum with some panning on the mixer. One thing that really made life easier was the BCR 2000 midi controller, which essentially made the synth a knob per function wonder with no more menu diving.
Software has a bit more high end to my ears on the oscillators, maybe a loudness thing, or where the breakpoint is on a fully open filter. But this thing sounds awesome. TAL does great stuff, I use their sampler all the time.
I believe this was initially done deliberately to make the synth sound less dated and more modern but they've released an update that allows you to choose a more modern or a more original sounding filter.
As someone whose first synth was an Alpha Juno-1 all those years ago, I can totally relate to your opening comments about it not being a good 1st synth… but that’s what it was, and because it was my first, I loved it for what it was. I was saddened when I had to sell it back in 2000. I’d buy an Alpha Juno-2 if the right opportunity arises, but I’m baffled as to why Roland has not released one for Roland Cloud? I know it doesn’t quite qualify as “Legendary” like it’s big brothers, but I would certainly give it a go in my DAW. If Tal-pha sounds that close, I’ll definitely consider it if Roland doesn’t come through - but still - I’ll miss that Alpha-dial!
I dont think Roland need bother now as I doubt its going to be better than this emulation, this is spot on and Roland are a bit too slow at releasing stuff for my liking, they could have made so much money out of these type of emulations had they got a bit of speed on but my patience has ran out.
@@StarskyCarr Admit it! When you first started playing the synth all those years ago, you thought that the dial was cool - until you realized that you had to do EVERYTHING with it! 😂
On the chord memory, I have a similar issue and it's part of the alphas signature sound.. I reached out to TAL, they said this "We will probably add a monophonic chord mode in the future. You can limit the number of voices to the number of chord-notes as a workaround." I'm going to try it, but the update would be awesome.. great review..
@@StarskyCarr I know that it wasn't intentional, I enjoy this sound a lot, the 90s was the golden age for my ears, having this sound overall with bands like Human Resource , Praga Khan, Altern 8, Prodigy 😍
Great comparison! They've recently released an update that allows you to select a filter that is a tad less bright and closer to the original. Would be nice to hear a comparison! :)
I have owned 2 Alpha Juno 2s, and the after touch ribbon cable tends to pop out. It's an easy fix to slide it back in and tape it in place, once you remove a bunch of screws to get to it.
I've tried that but it musty be fried. It might help some though so thanks for mentioning it. For anyone considering this opening the synth is much trickier than most ... not hard but you have to take care as the boards are layered over some screws etc.
The TAL-Pha is consistently brighter than the hardware - on the scope you can see the software has a little under-damped oscillation at the jumps in the waveform. Maybe it's just the software opens the VCF more than your harware unit and if you just dropped the VCF a hair on the software you'd get closer results. Not sure it really matters in a mix - a bit of EQ would probably handle any excessive brightness.
There's something with Tal's high end, you can hear it without even looking at the screen, like EQ is a bit high in a Presence department. Especially on chords. But one gotta love Tal, they do not disappoint (again) and make a lot of good stuff and very generous when it comes to freebies and demo modes. Got a soft spot in my heart for Tal and Audiodamage stuff.
Excellent modeling by tal it sounds atleast 90 to 95% the same. The original has a slightly fatter deeper boost on 0 on the high pass but the model does sound a little brighters so its nothing a bit of eq wouldnt fix on both. If the Alpha juno's were exspensive synth to buy and sell I would definitely cash mine in and buy the Tal model without a doubt but considering its only £350 more exspensive than the VST and it has a nice keyboard i will keep it for now.
@@StarskyCarr The 1st one I brought cost me £300 back in 2015 which I sold in 2016 for £300. The one I have now which is like brand new cost me £400 last year. for a short period they went up in value for around £600 to £700 around 2019 to 2022 time. Now they sit between £400 to £550.
On headphone there is a lot difference tho, the real alpha juno has more depth in fundamental tone and it is a darker sound too, while Tal sounds good but a bit flat and brighter. Still prefer the rral alpha juno 2
This is something I've always found. No matter how good a software emulation sounds coming out of my phone speakers is, as soon as I plug phones in, it's dull and lifeless (or bright and lifeless). It probably doesn't matter in a mix, but you sure do notice playing it in live
Well it is exactly what metters in the mix, that slightly 10/15% of tonal depth which can help your track set a part from other billion of tunes made everyday. THO you can give to a software VST depth and warmth by simply running it out of the PC in to still cheap analog hardware mixer/EQs/tape/vintage samplers/FX etc, so there are ways to give depth to a VST for cheap. WHAT IS WRONG IN MY OPINION IS TO STAY IN THE COMFORT ZONE /EASY WAY AND USE POPULAR VST AND POPULAR PATCHES AND MAKE CLICHÉ/MEDIOCRE MUSIC WITHOUT CREATIVE EFORT like what is happening in “Melodic Techno” / EDM that everyone use the horrible Serum (that sounds like a Witch Scream screaming) and do the same old soup with 0 individual creativity just to belong of some kind of heard
Acceptably close, good video. Redominator did the hoovers OK but wasn't close on a lot of other patches, i.e. the first Polysynth patch. From my own tests TAL's is a touch fizzier in the top end (common with his synths) and lacks a little bit in the lows around 200hz, though the original is quite a muddy synth so that often needs an EQ cut anyway. If my MKS-50 broke, would definitely get this instead!
Its perhaps the 1st bass sound that sounded cutting edge on a synth back in the day and it defined 3 genres in house techno and U.k hardcore so it deserves its place in history for that along side the Reese bass and the others that came after. Goldies track the terminator is perhaps the most advanced hoover sound sound design wise. he gets it to sound more springy some how.
I think that’s more to do with the presets not being matched precisely. I really wanted to see if they would import exactly the same or if I would need to spend some time tweaking. As I could match a few complex ones (like the hoover) I’m sure I could get them closer it just takes a while to get them exact.
Thanks Starsky, great software isn’t it! love my Alpha-Juno but personally never got the “Hoover” thing😅 Even owning one for years i didn’t really know about it as mine is Japanese version which doesn’t even have “what the...” as a preset😂..... I know there’s some iconic songs ( to some people) that use it but I find it a pretty useless preset as it just dominates a whole mix .(pun intended😉). Compared to many iconic presets I think it’s the most overrated 😮. ....Rolands JP supersaw- now THATS an iconic preset 😍😀👏
Haha,,,ive never used the sound in a commercial release and i also thought What The was the most useless preset for years! I never overwrote it as it was weird, not for the love of it.
I still have my Juno 2 with the PG300. It's covered with a towel, and i do not use it. I paid £250 for it about 20 years ago. Just keep it for nostalgia. I have looked at replacing the aftertouch strip, but it seems an uneconomical repair with how much it costs.
Thanks for always good videos. Only been waiting around 10 years or more for an alpha (good) in software version. Does anyone know why Roland has not? Anyway will be happy testing this out
Sounds fab! Are you sure the oscs on the Juno 6 are DCO’s though? I was sure it had VCO’s. The 60 too or was that just a bigger and midi-less version of the 106? Anyway, excellent video. Love a hoover me. The AJ-1 was my first synth
You’ll need to tweak them to get them to sound the same, but it’s possible. The velocity and filter response is different as is the envelope - at least they are in mine (slightly but enough to need an attention) they could be bang in with yours. I find simply loading presets never works - the prophet 5 presets I have for loads of things sound different, but can be brought in line with a few judicious tweaks.
firstly, thanks for doing this.... pity you didn't do it a week or so later.. why? Patrick is known for quick updates to fix stuff... I see you are on 1.0.3.. he is now at 1.1.7 and there was stuff to the filters and envelopes he did to make it even closer...and also the software can now directly control the hardware.. anyway, thanks for doing this...
Also I assume you know you can put the software in Sysex mode and it can be controlled by the synth (though not sure why you would want to do that), and I imagine it may even be able to be controlled from your controller without having to remap cc.
I like TALs stuff and this is a great plugin and great value. But just like all VSTs it lacks that last 5% that makes 95% of the difference to my ears. You can really hear that extra spark starting at about 14:48 or so, even with YT compression. Listen on good speakers... it's subtle but there. Now whether anyone would hear that in a mix is going to depend on an infinite number of other factors, some of which could be compensated for (in favor of either the plugin or the hardware) through mixing techniques. But for me that extra edge (which is much more pronounced in person than over YT) between VSTs and hardware synths is exactly why I do almost everything with hardware these days.
I wonder if there’s been comments somewhere on a forum as so many people are mentioning it being brighter. On some patches the velocity sensitivity of the keyboard makes it hard to get them the same. I could spend longer matching each of them but thought the initial patch demo’d how close they are. I honestly think I’m a blind test it’d be 50/50. (Given more time matching them).
It quite literally does say that! But they cal it TalPha in the app itself (I checked to avoid the embarrassment of getting it wrong all the way through. .. I did that with the Pittsburgh Taiga. I pronounced it Tay Ga and it’s actually Tiger 🐯 🤦♂️).
In some patches I'd agree but its really being picky, I prefer the hardware for the string sounds but most of the others are just as good on the plugin and its a lot easier to integrate with the effects etc.
I’ve got all of them here at the moment… even the 6. Can’t keep em all so trying g to bring myself to sell a couple. I’ve got rudimentary MIDI control of the 60 so maybe that’s the keeper (with this one - she’s been with me for so long).
6 it´s more snappy than the 60 I have been told, never seen one in person. Have you ever handled the IseNin JP8 clone, is it good? being offered one for 3500, I do not like clones but this one promises. I sold my real jp8 decades ago. Best@@StarskyCarr
I had an Alpha Juno once. Decent DCO job with unique waveforms for an analog synth, cool chorus, but I just couldn't stand its filter. It's just so dull honestly. What was Roland thinking?
That noise is so awful. Eric Persing even says in interviews that he made the patch as a joke. I guess it's like the UK version of an obnoxious DJ airhorn sample. 😂
Yep… it’s horrible, but that’s the fun of it😂. It’s all based on the ‘What The?’ preset. I think Jost Beltran’s Mentasm was the first to use it in anger… could be wrong though.
I do get that!! I’m not an idiot 😂😂😂 I thought that too at first, but the app is called talpha when you open it, not talphalpha. I think the alpha is just a fun graphic.
