KORG DW-8000 vs ROLAND ALPHA JUNO 2: Battle of the Best Value 80's Synths

[@EuroDJ]

Both sound cool...thanks for the comparison :)

[@ingolf7411]

Nice to see the Korg DW-8000. The DW-6000 was my first (new!) poly after a first try with a Korg MS-10. Those day synths were pretty expensive (for me as student) but the DW sounded amazing.

[@VultureCulture]

The DW-8000 is such an underrated instrument. Sounds absolutely gorgeous.

[@littlebritain64]

Hey You all! I have both and, beyond the fact they sound great, they complement very well each other, trust me! Only, consider to purchase a little reverb to make them shine!

[@VultureCulture]

I love fx! People get super mad at me when I leave them on during the comparisons though lol

[@littlebritain64]

@@VultureCulture 😄. Anyway it is the best option to compare them without. You may insert a little bonus in the end allowing people to understand how little It takes to improve a so called old machine...😊

[@Gerald_Daniel]

I just did a quick read in the MKS50 online manual and only found storage for chord memory. Maybe Unison is on one of the 16 storage slots?( I never believe what anyone tells me anymore.) Anyway, Alpha Juno has no chord slots. It just stores the present one

[@ZozillaThaGreat]

Great time we spent thks to your positiv vibes , synths is secondary ;)

[@VultureCulture]

🙏🙏🙏

[@this_connor_guy]

Post stream cheers! Drinking some Becherovka! Interesting to see these two together. I never thought of them as being comparable, but this is interesting to see and hear! As you do some of these comparisons - I would go for the DW8000. That tone really appeals to me. I'm just a sucker for a good digital synth though, haha!

[@VultureCulture]

People overwhelmingly loved the DW in this comparison - I happen to love them both but especially the presence of the Alpha!

[@lundsweden]

I think an honest review is ok, its not nessaraly negative that the plug is "inspired by" vintage gear but not that close in sound. You did say it sounded good, just different.

[@theaudioeng]

Defo keeping my EX-8000, had in the rack for 20+ years! Had the DW but didn't enjoy the clacky, plastiky keybed and of course, needed the studio space.... can sound classically 70's old skool analogue whilst then sounding 80's lush pad/bell-ish with that creamy filter - another keeper for sure!!! 😎👍🎹🎶🍻💥

[@VultureCulture]

Absolutely one of the worst keybeds. Strong argument for the rack version

[@theaudioeng]

@VultureCulture Shame, but there were a few like that back then VC! However, many legendary ones too, like the D50 & SY99 😔🙌

[@Gerald_Daniel]

...but the info Prophet 08 consisting of modified versions of matrix-6 chips is absolutely true.& can be taken from various sources.

[@oscargrouch8888]

I bought the dw6000 and dw8000 based on watching recommendations by Espen Kraft . I also bought the two alpha juno 1/2 but I honestly play the alpha juno more and have more fun with it and the jog wheel . Plus I’m not good at programming synths unfortunately I’m ocd over changing the presets and possibly losing the factory settings

[@VultureCulture]

You can always reload the factory presets via midi.

[@mrdali67]

1:01:00 - 1:05:00 Pure heaven with the DW8000 ..totally owns the Alpha Juno .. Listening on a DT 700 Pro X 😍

[@colinblanchard7136]

What is a fair market value for either of these? I feel as though sold listings in ebay or Reverb are a little higher than true.

[@VultureCulture]

Around $600-800 if everything's working

[@80ssynthfan48]

I can tell you that the Alpha Juno has stayed pretty similar in price for a couple of years as a generalisation, though some sellers are of course a bit cheeky with their prices. The alpha-Juno 1 with 49 keys will be a bit cheaper than the Alpha Juno 2 with 61 keys. The DW8000 I'm not sure about, it seems to have appreciated a bit, but still cheaper than certain other vintage synths.

[@mrdali67]

I take that we blame the whisky too that you mentioned neither of them have buildin effects .. the DW8000 have a digital delay 🙃

[@madness8556]

Indeed it does and it's actually the first synth released with built in digital effects thanks to its nice sounding digital delay and modulation effects.

[@mrdali67]

@@madness8556 Ya, I used to have both a DW8000 and a Yamaha TX802 and I actually had much more fun with the Korg. The DX7's was more about those iconic presets like the basses, Stevie harp, and the tines, and the TX was actually a good at making basic Organ sounds. I ran it thru a Dynachord CLS-22 which was a pretty darn good analog leslie sim for the time. But I loved the DW for its lush pads. strings and brass sounds with a little tweaking you could make it darn close to the analog JP-8 sound

[@VultureCulture]

Yeah - I just meant it doesn't have the full suite of FX the DeepMind does. Classic unforced error lol

[@mwarsell]

The Juno also has DCO, I don't know why you keep saying it's completely analog. I got the EX-8000, sounds amazing with ext. fx. Was gassing for a Juno, but the DW rack sounds better I think.

[@VultureCulture]

A DCO is still an analog oscillator. The DW / EX really is the goat when it comes to budget vintage synths. Just so incredible sounding.

[@mwarsell]

@@VultureCulture Umm...DCO = digital controlled oscillator is still analog somehow? vs VCO

[@VultureCulture]

It's a digitally controlled (as in tuning) analog oscillator. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitally_controlled_oscillator

[@mwarsell]

So both the DW and Juno has DCO. Why is the Juno in your words fully analog?

[@uraganiushurricanius9606]

You talk a lot🙂 If you want to hear more synthesizer voices...

[@VultureCulture]

If you want to hear more sounds and less of my voice than check out these two videos: Alpha Juno 2 Presets Demo Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHSsXphqbdN_bNksi=UOLmzCkxSj53tHjp DW-8000 Presets Demo Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGXZdIapgdJnn7Msi=QXB3Z2E5DrFosfFA

[@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

You should put the negative review video out of the plug in, making a product and falsely claiming it is like a particular hardware than ask money for this false marketing means dishonest and stealing money from customer on false claims!! it doesn’t metter if they are big or small, they don’t have the right to cheat/steal the customer money on false claims (especially the customers that buy a plug in instead of hardware have few money and stealing from this kind of customer is even worst). Now you said you want to protect them as they are a small company and this gives them a by pass to cheat the customer “just because they are small, wired way of thinking but anyway”! Ask your self a question , who will protect all those producers on a budget that dream the hardware and will get tricked and buy this falsely advertised plug in ? “Man a small group of thief/or incompetente is not better than a large one”, by protecting incompetent people/companies you damage the real honest and skilful one!

[@VultureCulture]

Very fair point, thank you 🙏

[@oupahens9219]

DW8000. Rolands keybeds do not age well.

[@VultureCulture]

Judging from the comments I've received I'd say the keybed is the biggest complaint about the DW.

[@oupahens9219]

@@VultureCulture Oh, what is wrong with it?

[@VultureCulture]

@oupahens9219 very clacky and I get a lot of reports of keys not working. It does not feel very pro

[@oupahens9219]

@@VultureCulture Apparently it is a Matsushita ESK 901 keybed, like I just checked. Matsushitas are normally used extensively by Roland. D50, D70, Fantom, etc

[@AngeloKokkinakos]

It is. Keys stop working all the time. Drives me crazy. @@VultureCulture