The Roland Alpha Juno 1, introduced in 1985, is an analog polyphonic synthesizer. Produced until 1987, it was priced at US$895/ UK£575. It uses soft touch buttons and a single dial for programming, but the optional Roland PG-300 programmer made every MIDI parameter editable with a dedicated slider or switch.
The Roland Alpha Juno 1 has 6-voice polyphony, monotimbral operation, and 1 DCO per voice with pulse, saw, square, and noise waveforms, plus a sub-oscillator. It features a triangle LFO, analog 4-pole resonant low-pass filter, and multistage envelope generator (3 Level settings for 4 Time stages). The Alpha Juno 1 does not offer aftertouch or velocity expression, but its keybed is much lighter. It has 128 patch storage (64 user, 64 preset) and a chorus effect.
The Alpha Juno 1 uses an 'Alpha dial' for editing, with some parameters having dedicated selector buttons. It offers expanded oscillator choices compared to the Juno-106, including multiple pulse and sawtooth waves, and a sub-oscillator. The synthesizer features a multi-stage envelope design with eight parameters and a Yamaha DX7-style envelope chart on the control panel.
It includes a programmable chorus effect, improving upon the Juno-106's fixed dual-rate chorus. The Alpha Juno 1 has a 49-key keyboard and plastic body with metal chassis underneath. It supports MIDI for external control.
Roland released the HS-10 as the equivalent of the Alpha Juno 1 for the home market.
While not initially very popular, a factory preset dubbed the "hoover sound" later became popular in jungle and rave music. After 30 years, the Alpha Juno 1 has gained appreciation among vintage analog gear enthusiasts due to its sound quality and comparative reliability, with few major issues except occasional need for internal battery replacement or keybed contact cleaning.
P.S. Pay attention to the fragile plastic body, especially near the rear screw holes.