Behringer JN-80

[Nick]

[Nick]

And yes I preordered one.

[NickD]

What's it a dupe of? Juno? (I assume it's a dupe)

[BearBoy]

It's supposed to be a Juno 60 clone, but with 8 voices instead of 6.

[Nick]

Yeah....I guess it's getting some fair criticism from the Behringer heads that the Deepmind does a lot of the same sounds plus a lot more.

Some are saying the Deepmind is based on the Juno 106 and the JN80 is based on the Juno 60.

I just know I've played around with the Deepmind before but it seemed like a lot of menu diving and not too performance friendly. I've wanted a Juno forever, the last time I tried to buy one (Roland HS-60), one of the voice chips didn't work and I returned it to Guitar Center (who promised to repair it and call me, but just hung onto it for a year then put it on the floort as-is).

I also had that little JU-06 mini VA, but with only 4 voice polyphony it wasn't great for chords.

This looks brilliant and 8 voices is usually the sweet spot for not having note stealing.

[BearBoy]

I've got one of those JU-06s. It sounds great but, like you say, four voices isn't really enough for playing chords. I think Behringer going with eight on the JN-80 is a good move.

Andertons have got the JN-80 up for pre-order for £499, which is very tempting...

[paul_]

I have a JU-06 too and yeah, the 4 note polyphony is a drag. Would be interested in a bunch of Behringer synths but especially this one unless they ever come out with their VCS3 (which I'm thinking isn't coming now).

[BearBoy]

I've got a Poly D, which is good fun, but would like a (proper) polyphonic synth to go with it. Would maybe prefer the JT-16 Jupiter 8 clone but, although they had a prototype at NAMM last year, that could still be some way from release. Always a bit hard to tell with Behringer as they often announce things years before they actually arrive.

[Nick]

I've got a Poly D, which is good fun, but would like a (proper) polyphonic synth to go with it.

I'm looking into one of those after playing an original Moog Model D at a local store ( at 20x the price tag!). I've just been hoping they would come out with a small keyboard for it like Roland has with the K25m, but I suppose my Keystep would be good enough.

Really annoyed at Sweetwater for getting the feature set of the JN80 wrong on their website. They're claiming it has polyphonic aftertouch when Behringers own website and virtual assistant states it doesn't. Google AI overview is also repeating Sweetwater so I'm not sure who got it wrong first.

[BearBoy]

I think it was an error in a Behringer video that set off the poly aftertouch thing:

JN-80 Video - Copy.jpg (88.6 KiB) Viewed 192 times

The voice over just says "built in aftertouch".

[gusman2x]

As a deepmind 12 owner (and a terrible synth/keys player), the more simplified approach would be welcome. Undoubtedly then Deepemind has much more to offer, the the immediate fun and form factor of the JN-08 looks cool as mince.

[BearBoy]

The manual’s available now: LANK

Front cover of which says:

Classic Analog 8-Voice Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer with
3109 VCFs, BBD Chorus and 49-Key Poly Aftertouch Keyboard

So who knows whether it’s poly aftertouch or not? Some guy over on Gearspace who got one early and has posted some demos on YouTube said it definitely didn’t have poly aftertouch but Behringer themselves seem somewhat confused.