That one looks really cool too! I ended up selling this SX-210 for the same as I paid for it to someone who appreciated it more. I think for me I just need the convenience of modern syntns like USB midi.
Hey Miles, Excellent video on this and perfect sound design! The 210 is definitely an underrated dco poly from the early to mid 80s. If you like these designs another synth to check out is the Crumar bit one or bit 99. It’s hard to find these working but they are majestic and heavily recommend it. I still recommend getting a Juno personally because none of these other dco synths(imo) really stack up to their punchy and shimmery tones. I have a 6 and 106 and they are both going in the grave with me. Also the ssm 2044 was designed by Dave Rossum who made the original 2040 which was on the p5 rev 1/2 but the 2044 was employed by Korg on the mono/poly and poly six. It has also been used on some PPG designs as well. The last thing I wanted to say was that the Oberheim obx8 might be the best thing for that stranger things sound because Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein used the Oberheim two voice for the arp in the title. Many people thought it was a Juno until they released a video showcasing the process. But great job on the video and I hope you do one on the p5 rev 4 and the Juno’s soon.
Great comment! Really appreciate the insight and details. Super interesting about the filter and the Crumar synths; I've never played a Crumar. I definitely will try to get my hands on a Juno still, I've played them briefly but never deep dived. Interesting about the Juno being fatter than the other DCO synths, I wonder why that is? And I saw that Stranger Things soundtrack listed a bunch of different synths, OBs, Juno, ARP - super cool to know exactly which one they used for the arp intro!
@@devinbelangermusic The 1982 Juno’s (6/60) sound fat and punchy because of design practice that Roland had between the 70s to the early 80s. When they made those 2 synths they used alot of the same techniques as the Jupiter 4,6,8 and sh instruments. They have a discrete voice board that houses the Roland ir-3109 (Roland’s best filter) and the ir3r01 which is their envelopes used on the Juno’s and the other designs mentioned. These envelopes might be some of the snappiest and pleasing to listen to. Due to these components being analog there might be sone fluctuations that give them the “analog magic”. When they made the 106 midi has already been introduced by 1 year so there is a lot more digital control and the components were housed on 6 80017a chips so it could be introduced as a better and cheaper synth. The 106 is not as fat but it does have that bass boost in the high pass filter to compensate for the thin characteristic of the chipset. Also the envelopes are digital on the 106 which does not make it as snappy but it does make the stage last longer.
A: I've been researching this and the 240 on youtube and in FB groups, but this is the best demo and review of what they're actually like - thank-you! B: cool sounds...always nice to hear :) I thought I would like this synth, and was not disappointed. C: love the final appraisal...b/c agreed, I kinda want at least 1 vintage piece too, but have been thinking the same thing - as long as there are ways to achieve a very very similar sound, it's not worth throwing truckloads of money into a range of synths that need maintenance, might not save patches, lack other options etc. Will have to see if I ever get one ...but there's too many modern synths or other units on list for now.
Thanks for the great comment! I really enjoyed making this video, it was a learning experience for me. I actually recently sold my Sx-210 and decided vintage synths just aren’t for me maintenance wise, at least right now with how limited space is. C really resonated with me. For now at least I get more joy out of trying different modern synths and reissues
KAWAI = 80s Underdog! I did a video about KAWAI a while back I like the attention to detail. Always wanted an sx-210 or an Sx-240! Great video left you a 👍
I don't know it it's just the chorus/ensemble (is there a difference?), but this demo makes it even sound better than a prophet. I also loved that you showed of the classical sounds first and then showed us how it sounds in context of a modern track. Extremely well done! ;)
Thank you! Yea that ensemble effect is honestly incredible. This definitely does strings better than the Prophet for that reason, but the Prophet has it beat for anything that needs lots of heft and low end
@@devinbelangermusic I’m lucky enough to have a p5 and a mutron Phasor - and the combination of the two is akin to slipping into a k hole and emerging in another dimension. Great vid
Awesome Demo 👌 Fantastic Music 🎶 at the end of this Video 🤩 I'm pretty sure I remember this synth in my Father's Music Store when I was a child 😅 definitely remember the Juno 6 😊 looking good Ruffles 😻 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 😍 🙌
@@devinbelangermusic Absolute Pleasure 😊 he is retired now no longer has the music store, but seeing this video brought back a few beautiful memories 🙏🏼🤩 🙌
Yours looks like fresh from the factory. I even know some folks that dislike ensemble FX because they remind them of string machines. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with string machines? I don't get it because what were legendary &:groundbreaking instruments like Yamaha GS1 & 2 (the latter I have & adore) without the distinctive Ensemble effect - perhaps only half as amazing.
As a UI nerd I like the clear panel layout of the SX-210. Note the alphanumeric keyboard; no endless rotary encoder dialing for a patch name! The sound is decent - but the main competitor of the Junos was the Korg Polysix with the same filter as the Kawai plus VCOs, chorus, and ensemble effect. I have never understood that Roland hype.
Yea the UI is actually really clever! Very uncluttered and the keyboard for patch naming should be on more synths. Isn't the Korg Polysix mono? I love that sound, but for me what makes this thing shine is the real stereo analog ensemble effect.
@@devinbelangermusic Yep, the ‘poor man‘s Prophet‘ aka Polysix was completely mono - like the P5 itself. You‘re right, the Kawai ensemble effect sounds much better, but all in all I‘d still prefer the Polysix.
Very cool synth! I’d never heard of it, but seems even more Juno-ish than the Poly 6/61? But it can’t beat the UI and simple elegance of the older Juno’s, I think
@M80- I'll be waiting to hear what you can get out of this fine instrument! I'm glad you informed me as I've been addicted for 50 years at least and have a rig with 7 synths! Thanks
Hey I have a Juno. 2x 106 and 1x 60. It is kind of ridiculous what's happened to the prices of these things though. I bought my 60 in 2019 for about $1600 I think. But here in Austin the prices are fairly reasonable if you're buying local. And we have SwitchedOn as well. Those guys have a steady supply of vintage stuff all the time. I bought my Jx3p for $500 from SwitchedON for example. But if you're buying online it's a tough market. And even here in Austin actually the prices have jumped a bit. Now the 106 fetches 2 grand or so. :( You should be able to pick up a Juno 6 however at sub 2k prices still. Which you might be a better option than the 60 anyway because of the sweepable HPF. So give up preset storage for a bit more flexibility on the filter I guess. Maybe a preference thing I don't know. Still, it's pretty sad what's happened to the prices of all the vintage stuff. Paying the asking price for the 60s these days is yup to you as a buyer to decide. Whether it's worth it or not I mean. The median here in the US is about 3.2k. For a single oscillator synth that seems a bit much. Maybe you can get by with a JX3p I don' tknow. Depends what you're doing maybe. If you need that sound you might be tempted to pay but I'm inclined to say it isn't worth the asking price.
Totally agreed - the 60 was always the one I was after, but I agree they are ridiculous now. That's great to know about the market for the 6 in Texas. Here in Vancouver they don't come up too often and when they do its certainly for more than that, so Reverb has been my main place looking- and it ain't pretty! Lucky you though! Very awesome you've got a collection of em :)
@@devinbelangermusic I bought the 106s in London. They've been with me a while. Travelled the world a bit etc etc. I think I paid 500 a piece of each. I did have to spend like 200 quid to service one of them though so ended up more like 700. This was 2013/14 I think. Can still find deals on Reverb I think but the Junos have been especially affected by the price increases. Everyone wants them. I had a look on Kleinenzeigen too and they're bad there also. (that's a German Craigslist equivalent) You can usually find good deals on there or just find shit that you can't get anywhere else. Germans have one of the best used markets in the world for this kind of thing. Far better than the US even. But it doesn't always favour the buyer. Like with the Junos :(. Just in demand everywhere it seems.
Amazing video I don't usually watch these types of video but I felt like it. Hey do you have a video on were I can learn how to make music using my launchpad and maybe a program that's free or is easy to use? thanks.
Thank you so much for watching! I have tons of educational music content, check out my playlist for synths and sound design. Nothing for Launchpad though, the music software I use is Logic X (its like the professional version of Garageband on Apple)
To get a fully working one of these is going to cost not enormously different to a Juno 6 or 106, at least from what my looking up says, and they are much more abundant anyway. I honestly don't see why anyone would get this unless they were offered it like you, or were a total collecting buff.
Ub-xa pretty much puts a true analog in the hands of the masses. I could never justify any synth over 2500.00. And, the lists of synths worth more than 2k is short! This market of vintage gear has been insanity from the start. In 2024, we have endless access to free vsts that kill it. To modern analogs that really are the real deal of vintage sounds with no compromise. Glad there are those who justify the headaches and upkeep, over priced relics. I will stick to modeen gear with no regards for the wasted money dumped into artifacts from the 80s. Lol. 😂
UB-XA is certainly very cool. Its a shame Behringer cut out all their smaller retailers, cause getting one in Canada is very tough. I also have a real OBX8 so hard to justify, but I'm happy it exists as an option for people! You should check out my video on the Korg Prologue, it's cheaper than the UB-XA, is an original VCO design and sounds absolutely unique. Forever the most underrated modern synth. I'm with you, modern gear just makes more sense to me for its convenience and lack of headache.
@MilesAwayOfficial prologue 16 has been a consideration for sure. I need to get caught up with my Hydra Explorer before I commit to another toy. Curios if prologue has the 'vintage' emulation detune and age as on ub xa. System 8 had a good emulation and it wasn't even real analog. Cool that you own the real deal! Juno 106 was last real analog i owned. Starting over yet again. Who knows where g.a.s. will lead this round. Cheers
Why everyone thinks that you strongly need to record any synth thru strymon? This is ridiculous. Every demo of this kind sounds just the same. You guys don’t understand that every synth has it’s own voice. Like all bad singers immediately ask for more and more reverb, thinking it can mask their poor technique, every “producer” turns on strymon in order to sound “wide” and not to spend time on learning how to design proper sounds. Just stupid.
Did you miss the huge chunk of the video I recorded it completely dry without the Strymon delay? Hearing synths with and without FX is important because you use FX in songs, and synths are meant to create songs. So the context of both is important to understand a synth's full potential.
Never heard of this synthesizer before, sounds great!
It really does have a special sound! Thanks for watching/.
I used to have a Kawai SX240, got it for 250 ish and sold it soon for around 350. Been kicking my ass since then.
That one looks really cool too! I ended up selling this SX-210 for the same as I paid for it to someone who appreciated it more. I think for me I just need the convenience of modern syntns like USB midi.
I love how this thing looks actually. The button layout is genius. Is it knob per function?
I agree, it looks super cool! It's button per function, yes haha. Then just the 1 knob to edit everything.
Hey Miles,
Excellent video on this and perfect sound design! The 210 is definitely an underrated dco poly from the early to mid 80s. If you like these designs another synth to check out is the Crumar bit one or bit 99. It’s hard to find these working but they are majestic and heavily recommend it. I still recommend getting a Juno personally because none of these other dco synths(imo) really stack up to their punchy and shimmery tones. I have a 6 and 106 and they are both going in the grave with me. Also the ssm 2044 was designed by Dave Rossum who made the original 2040 which was on the p5 rev 1/2 but the 2044 was employed by Korg on the mono/poly and poly six. It has also been used on some PPG designs as well. The last thing I wanted to say was that the Oberheim obx8 might be the best thing for that stranger things sound because Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein used the Oberheim two voice for the arp in the title. Many people thought it was a Juno until they released a video showcasing the process. But great job on the video and I hope you do one on the p5 rev 4 and the Juno’s soon.
Great comment! Really appreciate the insight and details. Super interesting about the filter and the Crumar synths; I've never played a Crumar. I definitely will try to get my hands on a Juno still, I've played them briefly but never deep dived. Interesting about the Juno being fatter than the other DCO synths, I wonder why that is? And I saw that Stranger Things soundtrack listed a bunch of different synths, OBs, Juno, ARP - super cool to know exactly which one they used for the arp intro!
@@devinbelangermusic The 1982 Juno’s (6/60) sound fat and punchy because of design practice that Roland had between the 70s to the early 80s. When they made those 2 synths they used alot of the same techniques as the Jupiter 4,6,8 and sh instruments. They have a discrete voice board that houses the Roland ir-3109 (Roland’s best filter) and the ir3r01 which is their envelopes used on the Juno’s and the other designs mentioned. These envelopes might be some of the snappiest and pleasing to listen to. Due to these components being analog there might be sone fluctuations that give them the “analog magic”. When they made the 106 midi has already been introduced by 1 year so there is a lot more digital control and the components were housed on 6 80017a chips so it could be introduced as a better and cheaper synth. The 106 is not as fat but it does have that bass boost in the high pass filter to compensate for the thin characteristic of the chipset. Also the envelopes are digital on the 106 which does not make it as snappy but it does make the stage last longer.
A: I've been researching this and the 240 on youtube and in FB groups, but this is the best demo and review of what they're actually like - thank-you!
B: cool sounds...always nice to hear :) I thought I would like this synth, and was not disappointed.
C: love the final appraisal...b/c agreed, I kinda want at least 1 vintage piece too, but have been thinking the same thing - as long as there are ways to achieve a very very similar sound, it's not worth throwing truckloads of money into a range of synths that need maintenance, might not save patches, lack other options etc. Will have to see if I ever get one ...but there's too many modern synths or other units on list for now.
Thanks for the great comment! I really enjoyed making this video, it was a learning experience for me. I actually recently sold my Sx-210 and decided vintage synths just aren’t for me maintenance wise, at least right now with how limited space is. C really resonated with me. For now at least I get more joy out of trying different modern synths and reissues
Minifreak and done...yea only 6 voices but it nails so many genres and eras
bought this couple of weeks ago...what I have to say - its a GEM with fantastic sounds!
Nice! enjoy it! really cool piece of history you now have!
KAWAI = 80s Underdog! I did a video about KAWAI a while back I like the attention to detail. Always wanted an sx-210 or an Sx-240! Great video left you a 👍
Thanks so much! They really are an underrated company!
Hi! Yeah, they sound very unique, I have both and sound demo is coming this year.
I don't know it it's just the chorus/ensemble (is there a difference?), but this demo makes it even sound better than a prophet. I also loved that you showed of the classical sounds first and then showed us how it sounds in context of a modern track. Extremely well done! ;)
Thank you! Yea that ensemble effect is honestly incredible. This definitely does strings better than the Prophet for that reason, but the Prophet has it beat for anything that needs lots of heft and low end
@@devinbelangermusic I’m lucky enough to have a p5 and a mutron Phasor - and the combination of the two is akin to slipping into a k hole and emerging in another dimension. Great vid
@@nostandingonlydancinthat’s an incredible combo wow! Thanks for watching
Awesome Demo 👌 Fantastic Music 🎶 at the end of this Video 🤩 I'm pretty sure I remember this synth in my Father's Music Store when I was a child 😅 definitely remember the Juno 6 😊 looking good Ruffles 😻 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 😍 🙌
Oh very cool! Didn’t know your dad had a music store!! thanks for watching dude :)
@@devinbelangermusic Absolute Pleasure 😊 he is retired now no longer has the music store, but seeing this video brought back a few beautiful memories 🙏🏼🤩 🙌
Great video, really interesting! Also we want more Ruffles the Cat appearances!
Thank you! Ruffles will return more!
Yours looks like fresh from the factory. I even know some folks that dislike ensemble FX because they remind them of string machines. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with string machines? I don't get it because what were legendary &:groundbreaking instruments like Yamaha GS1 & 2 (the latter I have & adore) without the distinctive Ensemble effect - perhaps only half as amazing.
sounds real good !
Thank you so much!
True, I can confirm that. 😎
As a UI nerd I like the clear panel layout of the SX-210. Note the alphanumeric keyboard; no endless rotary encoder dialing for a patch name!
The sound is decent - but the main competitor of the Junos was the Korg Polysix with the same filter as the Kawai plus VCOs, chorus, and ensemble effect. I have never understood that Roland hype.
Yea the UI is actually really clever! Very uncluttered and the keyboard for patch naming should be on more synths. Isn't the Korg Polysix mono? I love that sound, but for me what makes this thing shine is the real stereo analog ensemble effect.
@@devinbelangermusic Yep, the ‘poor man‘s Prophet‘ aka Polysix was completely mono - like the P5 itself.
You‘re right, the Kawai ensemble effect sounds much better, but all in all I‘d still prefer the Polysix.
Very cool synth! I’d never heard of it, but seems even more Juno-ish than the Poly 6/61? But it can’t beat the UI and simple elegance of the older Juno’s, I think
Totally agree, the Juno UI is just timeless, like a minimoog or prophet 5. Thanks for watching!
@@devinbelangermusic The archetypes!
Sounds pretty good to the ears to me. Just because is Olde doesn't mean that it can't sound good! Nice video and demonstration! That was a great find.
Thank you so much! Old is great indeed!
I can confirm, the sound is unique. I have two of them and an SX 240 too. Sound demo is coming this year. 😎
@M80- I'll be waiting to hear what you can get out of this fine instrument! I'm glad you informed me as I've been addicted for 50 years at least and have a rig with 7 synths! Thanks
Hey I have a Juno. 2x 106 and 1x 60. It is kind of ridiculous what's happened to the prices of these things though. I bought my 60 in 2019 for about $1600 I think. But here in Austin the prices are fairly reasonable if you're buying local. And we have SwitchedOn as well. Those guys have a steady supply of vintage stuff all the time. I bought my Jx3p for $500 from SwitchedON for example. But if you're buying online it's a tough market. And even here in Austin actually the prices have jumped a bit. Now the 106 fetches 2 grand or so. :( You should be able to pick up a Juno 6 however at sub 2k prices still. Which you might be a better option than the 60 anyway because of the sweepable HPF. So give up preset storage for a bit more flexibility on the filter I guess. Maybe a preference thing I don't know. Still, it's pretty sad what's happened to the prices of all the vintage stuff.
Paying the asking price for the 60s these days is yup to you as a buyer to decide. Whether it's worth it or not I mean. The median here in the US is about 3.2k. For a single oscillator synth that seems a bit much. Maybe you can get by with a JX3p I don' tknow. Depends what you're doing maybe. If you need that sound you might be tempted to pay but I'm inclined to say it isn't worth the asking price.
Totally agreed - the 60 was always the one I was after, but I agree they are ridiculous now. That's great to know about the market for the 6 in Texas. Here in Vancouver they don't come up too often and when they do its certainly for more than that, so Reverb has been my main place looking- and it ain't pretty! Lucky you though! Very awesome you've got a collection of em :)
@@devinbelangermusic I bought the 106s in London. They've been with me a while. Travelled the world a bit etc etc. I think I paid 500 a piece of each. I did have to spend like 200 quid to service one of them though so ended up more like 700. This was 2013/14 I think. Can still find deals on Reverb I think but the Junos have been especially affected by the price increases. Everyone wants them. I had a look on Kleinenzeigen too and they're bad there also. (that's a German Craigslist equivalent) You can usually find good deals on there or just find shit that you can't get anywhere else. Germans have one of the best used markets in the world for this kind of thing. Far better than the US even. But it doesn't always favour the buyer. Like with the Junos :(. Just in demand everywhere it seems.
Amazing video I don't usually watch these types of video but I felt like it. Hey do you have a video on were I can learn how to make music using my launchpad and maybe a program that's free or is easy to use?
thanks.
Thank you so much for watching! I have tons of educational music content, check out my playlist for synths and sound design. Nothing for Launchpad though, the music software I use is Logic X (its like the professional version of Garageband on Apple)
I have the Teisco 110f , duophonic but single VCF, with equaliser panel and pressure pads for modulation , needs an overhaul
Oh cool! I'm super curious to dive deep into more Kawai/Teisco after this. Do you like the sound?
8 voices rock!
To get a fully working one of these is going to cost not enormously different to a Juno 6 or 106, at least from what my looking up says, and they are much more abundant anyway. I honestly don't see why anyone would get this unless they were offered it like you, or were a total collecting buff.
That seems off - but maybe cause the supply is low people are listing them for higher than they should be? There's usually very few listings.
@@devinbelangermusic The SX 210 and 240 have been expensive for a bit of time now. The rarity must be a factor, but maybe there are others.
❤
Ub-xa pretty much puts a true analog in the hands of the masses. I could never justify any synth over 2500.00. And, the lists of synths worth more than 2k is short!
This market of vintage gear has been insanity from the start. In 2024, we have endless access to free vsts that kill it. To modern analogs that really are the real deal of vintage sounds with no compromise.
Glad there are those who justify the headaches and upkeep, over priced relics. I will stick to modeen gear with no regards for the wasted money dumped into artifacts from the 80s. Lol. 😂
UB-XA is certainly very cool. Its a shame Behringer cut out all their smaller retailers, cause getting one in Canada is very tough. I also have a real OBX8 so hard to justify, but I'm happy it exists as an option for people! You should check out my video on the Korg Prologue, it's cheaper than the UB-XA, is an original VCO design and sounds absolutely unique. Forever the most underrated modern synth.
I'm with you, modern gear just makes more sense to me for its convenience and lack of headache.
@MilesAwayOfficial prologue 16 has been a consideration for sure. I need to get caught up with my Hydra Explorer before I commit to another toy. Curios if prologue has the 'vintage' emulation detune and age as on ub xa. System 8 had a good emulation and it wasn't even real analog. Cool that you own the real deal! Juno 106 was last real analog i owned. Starting over yet again. Who knows where g.a.s. will lead this round. Cheers
Single oscillator.
something
I think they're korean not japan.
Your crooked jaw is kind of cute. Sorry about the synth, it is a piece of crap.
Now you go and buy yourself a juno!
Meh. Junos are overrated, and even more overpriced. Given Mile's current collection, that' like telling Jay Leno to go buy himself a Toyota.
its definitely not a piece of crap!
Why everyone thinks that you strongly need to record any synth thru strymon? This is ridiculous. Every demo of this kind sounds just the same. You guys don’t understand that every synth has it’s own voice. Like all bad singers immediately ask for more and more reverb, thinking it can mask their poor technique, every “producer” turns on strymon in order to sound “wide” and not to spend time on learning how to design proper sounds. Just stupid.
Did you miss the huge chunk of the video I recorded it completely dry without the Strymon delay? Hearing synths with and without FX is important because you use FX in songs, and synths are meant to create songs. So the context of both is important to understand a synth's full potential.