Anybody out there have a JUNO-60 with the Minerva MIDI upgrade? I’m really thinking about doing it, but want to make sure it works well before I do it. I searched the web for reviews, but oddly enough, reviews are scant. Plenty of people saying “it’s cool” but I’m more curious if it’s a solid upgrade, or buggy as hell.
I’ve been thinking about selling my JUNO (had it for years) so I can buy an A4, but now that I’m onto the Minerva thing, I’m thinking of going that route instead, and just sequencing and manipulating the JUNO via my MNM and MD! That way I’ll get the analogue element that I want, whilst at the same time I’ll retain some cash for other things.
Thoughts?
p.s. If you don’t know, the Minerva kit turns the JUNO-60 into a MIDI compatible synth, plus adds a few features.
Did you end up running minerva&juno w/ the elektron gear?
If so what are your thoughts on it?
Curious as I’ve got the minerva on its way, seems really exciting. Juno60 is godly in terms of sound, so adding Elektron sequencing (plocks, lfo’s, etc) is a dream come true if you ask me. In my case I’ll be using the OT w/it, not sure if that’s alot different than the MM/MD (I have neither)
Sorry it took me so long to reply to your post. You probably have the Minerva kit installed and are already balls deep into it!
I did get the get installed in my JUNO-60, and it has been amazing. Honestly, I was ready to sell my JUNO …until I got the Minerva kit!
I have an MD and an MNM, and sequencing the JUNO with them is a dream come true. On one hand, the MNM is great for this because you can play it like a keyboard. But on the other hand, the MD midi machines can play chords with a single trigger, so that’s pretty cool. I’ve also sampled the JUNO into my MD which is cool, but you definitely lose that rich analogue depth due to the 12bit sample rate limit.
Let me know how you like the Minerva. I haven’t found anyone else who has it! Best kept secret of the synth world!
Yeah I’ve got it rolling now, it’s great. Using the OT to sequence…really powerful.
I esp like using multiple midi tracks of varying pattern lengths, set down simple single note or 2 note hits…but you do this on 3 or 4 tracks w/ the same midi channel set and get really nice polyrhythm with sometimes overlapping chords etc etc.
The only bummer I see is MIDI learn functionality doesn’t work. Can’t have the IN and OUT both hooked up at the same time on the J60 or else you get a MIDI loop and it locks up notes. Though you can quick swap the cords to learn the various parameters in OT and then swap em back. So you can’t “listen” for incoming notes or CC changes on the OT and live-rec them. I imagine just about any other device you could though, which I could see being a huge asset in live play situations.
Overall 10/10, Minerva brought the Juno from the 80’s into the present. Plus P-locking w/ Elektron and now it’s future as fuck.
I’ve only been really using the J60 for simple tasks (I’ve got an AK OT and Rytm, so I find the AK manages to do most of the synth voicing on a technical lvl) so the J60 is usually just a simple pad or straight forward voice. Can get really tech with it but it’s just a bit time consuming having to manually plug in notes to OT MIDI’s. Whereas AK just live rec notes param changes etc etc
If you’ve got a soundcloud or sum’n w/ tracks you’ve made on it I’d love to hear em. Ship a link!
I had the Minerva kit installed yesterday and was wondering how accessing the additional parameters works exactly.
The manual says: “The Second Page is toggled by the VERIFY button.
When Second Page is active the following sliders and switches act different as they set extra parameters.”
When i toggle verify on, the screen shows the midi channel. Using the bank and patch keys i can change this. So far so good.
But when i for instance want to toggle LFO sync to MIDI clock by pushing the DCO Sub button nothing happens. There is no ligth going on or off.
How can i check/see is a parameter (of the Minerva second page ) is on or off?