Frequently Asked Questions...
Best under $1000 synth: the Roland Juno G or the Yamaha MO 6? (looking for a synth/workstation)?
Answer:
The Juno specs look better. But not by much.
The MO6 doesn't have any expansion board. That sucks. The Juno has one slot for the horribly expensive SRX boards -that's slightly better. (Just FYI, my ten years old Roland XP80 has four slots for the inexpensive old generation expansion cards, and I use them all the time. Despite the claims of the manufacturers, we are going backwards).
It's inexcusable that neither of them has aftertouch. Again, all the old school workstations have it -apparently it's the first thing manufacturers eliminate to save a few bucks. Terrible idea.
The Juno has 128 voice polyphony against 64 for the MO. But that doesn't mean much since Roland synths use multiple voices for some patches. For example, a piano patch can use up to four voices, then the "piano only" true polyphony would be 32.
Just a piece of advice: once you buy a certain brand, if you really spend time studying its features, you're likely to stay with that brand just so you don;t have to learn it all over again. I got a Roland D50 a long time ago and have stayed with Roland -not because they're inherently better than Yamahas or Korgs, but because I'm lost in any non-Roland menu. I know many keyboardists who use multiple brands in stage or studio, but typically they only use their most basic features (translation=they don;t know what to do with the things).
Roland Juno
Roland JUNO-Di introduction (part 1)
Brands of Guitar Amplifiers
A wide range of instrument amplifiers is now available, some for general purposes and some designed for specific instruments and even for particular sounds. Traditional guitar amplifiers come up with a clean, warm sound, a sharp treble roll off at 5 kHz or less and bass roll off at 60 to100 Hz, often with built in reverb and tremolo units. Bass amplifiers have extended bass response and tone controls optimized for bass guitars (or more rarely, for upright bass).
Higher end bass amplifiers sometimes include compressor or limited features, which help to keep the amplifier from distorting at high volume levels. Keyboard amplifiers have a very low distortion and extended flat frequency response in both directions. Keyboard amplifiers often have a simple onboard mixer, so that keyboardists can control the tone and level of several keyboards. Acoustic amplifiers are designed specifically to produce a clean, transparent, acoustic sound when used with acoustic instruments with built in transducer pickups and microphones.
Some well known brands of guitar amplifiers
While there are almost innumerable manufacturers of guitar amplifiers, we will be discussing the most important brands that have created history in guitar amplification.
Carvin Corporation
The Carvin Corporation is a musical instrument and equipment manufacturer, located in San Diego, California, well known among guitar players for their guitars. Carvin was founded in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and originally manufactured guitar pickups. Carvin Corporation manufactures acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitars and accessories, amplifiers, live studio sound equipments, microphones and lighting gears.
Korg Corporation
Korg Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments and guitar tuners. The company is one of the most widely used and respected names in the electronic music world. Founded in 1962 in Japan by Tsutomu Kato and Tadashi Osanai, Korg was originally known as Keio Electronic Laboratories because its fledgling offices were located near the Keio train line in Tokyo and Keio can be formed by combining the first letters of Kato and Osanai. Yamaha Corporation has always been a major partner of Korg, supplying them with circuitry and mechanical parts.
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company which designs and manufactures electric guitar amplifiers. Marshall Amplifiers are well known and highly popular among guitarists. Marshall Amplifiers were originally built as direct copies of Fender amplifiers, but soon incorporated certain traits which made them more favorable to guitarists seeking a heavier sound. Like most professional level amplifiers, Marshall amplifiers still use valve preamp and power amplifier stages instead of solid state devices. Marshall also manufactures cheaper solid-state or hybrid devices.
Vox
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer, which is most famous for making the AC30 guitar amplifier and the Vox electric organ. Founded in Great Britain, Vox is now owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg. In 1959, with sales under pressure from the more powerful Fender Twin and from The Shadows, who requested amplifiers with more power, Vox produced what was essentially a double powered AC15 and named it the AC30.
Roland Corporation
Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972 with 33 million yen in capital. Some of the recent amplifiers from Roland Corporation are Roland SH 201, Roland Juno G, Roland MV 8800 and Roland V Synth GT.
About the Author
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, and synthesizers. You can find the best marketplace for guitars, drums, and synthesizers at these 3 sites: guitars, guitar amplifiers, drums, drum sets, drum kits, and synthesizers, keyboards.
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