Air Music Tech Jura, new polyphonic Synthesizer plugin brings the iconic sounds of the Roland Juno synths to your DAW and Akai MPC/Force hardware.
Today, Akai Pro introduced the MPC One Plus (+), the official successor to the entry-level MPC, with some improvements, including 16 GB of internal storage. Air Music Tech develops the internal plugins of the MPC/Force. These are also included in the new version.
The Akai Plugin Ecosystem is growing and growing. After the Delay Pro, another synthesizer plugin (VST/Akai hardware) was developed in collaboration with AIR Music Tech. The Jura is a new polyphonic Synthesizer that emulates the features and sound of the iconic Roland Juno hardware synthesizers.
Air Music Tech Jura
AIR Music Tech describes Jura as a 1982 Synthesizer. The year the Juno-60 was launched. And they play with the year simply to avoid legal problems with Roland. To get straight to the point: Jura is an emulation of the Roland Juno-60 with an extended feature set.
In 1982 something magical happened in the world of synths, a Japanese legend was born. It was one of the synths that defined the sound of the 1980s and was used on countless hits by artists such as The Eurythmics, Cyndi Lauper, and Aha. Now it’s loved more than ever and used on hits by acts like Charlie Puth, Tame Impala, and the Weeknd.
The plugin can be used as a classic DAW plugin or on the Akai MPC/Force hardware. So a hardware Juno in the box. If you use the plugin as a VST/AU/AAX plugin, you can choose between two interfaces—one with the classic layout and another with expanded controls.
On the engine side, it’s an authentic emulation of the classic Juno-60. You get a button-selectable single oscillator with pulse with PWM, saw, sub, and noise waveforms. The filter offers cutoff, resonance, newly added saturation, and drive. In this, you can get also filter modulation via an invertible envelope, LFO, keyboard, and velocity tracking. A dedicated high-pass filter is also onboard.
Then, you have a VCA section with gate/envelope modes, plus velocity tracking option. Unlike the original hardware, you get two ADSR envelopes instead of one and a BPM syncable LFO with eight shapes, including two random generators. It has speed, delay, and ramp controls, as well as re-sync, and is manually triggerable via an LFO trigger button.
Further, it also hosts an emulation of the legendary Juno Chorus section. Additionally, you get a BPM syncable delay with up to 2 seconds of delay and advanced controls. This includes a comprehensive feedback + resonance section with high-pass, L/R ratio, and with controls. There is also a built-in reverb. Next to this, you also have a 3-band EQ section.
For additional analog-style mojo, it also includes an analog character knob. Lastly, you get an arpeggiator, glide, detune-able unison, and editable chord modes.
First Impression
At first glance an excellent additional plugin for the Akai/MPC world. I can’t say how good the plugin is. I would have to compare that with the competition from Arturia, Roland, and others. Being able to use it on the hardware is definitely a big plus. It’s a good move from Akai/AIR Music Tech that they added more features to its Juno emulation. The original hardware synth was very simple. These new features allow for more complex sounds with the same Juno character.
AIR Music Tech Jura is available now for an introductory price of 74,99€ instead of 149,99€ (50% OFF). It runs as a VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows. Plus, it also works on the Akai MPC and Force hardware.
And new customers of the MPC One Plus will get a voucher where you can choose a plugin. In the list is also the new Jura synth.
More information here: AIR Music Tech
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