DAW or Juno Gi for the singer/songwriter ?

[OMNICELL]

I have a computer set up in my apartment.. Mac/Motu DP/ software synths. ect...

I have a Fantom s88 ( its in need of work, many keys need to be replaced, the viewing window needs a new light, and a few other things... I love the effects in the s88. I can sing through it, use the sequencer, then down load to Hn4 hand held multitrack, take it back to my apartment and work on it in a DAW.. However, This is getting old... I don't like the Hn4. I would prefer something bigger with faders..

I need tracks.. Atleast a 2 to 4. I have to get the vocals on one track (a separate track...) To me the Hn4 sucks for multitrack recording. This is just my opinion. Its not right for me..!
Im looking for another alternative... Therefore , I came up with three possible choices..

1. 8 track or more, stand alone multitrack.. Fostex/Boss ?

2. Drag my computer to the church every time I want to record... I would need a new audio interface, monitor, cables, keyboard , mouse...

3. Something like a Juno Gi with built in recorder..

Like many people, I like it simple.. an open easy environment to record simple tracks... The computer can do this,, However, I feel smothered by the computer.. I want something different...

The multitrack sounded good , However, Ive read of problems dealing with to many dialog boxes and screens and files to work through to get a simple recording. Im not sure about the quality of the preamps on these recorders. However, I will run the vocals through the s88 for a preamp...

This brings me to the Juno Gi. I have read much on this machine... Mostly negative, However, these reviews arnt telling me if anyone is getting any real world use of it.. For example...

Are the preamps in the recorder passible for vocals... I will be mastering the final outake on the computer... is it possible to save all tracks as independent tracks.. or at least one vocal track and one other instrument track..

NO SEQUENCER..? Hmmmmmm.......

Are their any happy singer/songwriters out their that are getting results with this machine... Im not looking to create a master with the Gi. I just need some independent track capability. 2 independent tracks when transferring to computer...

How is the over all experience using the Gi for basic song writing with vocals. Drums/Bass/Guitar/Synth/Vocal.
is it intuitive..? are you getting your work done.. do you enjoy the use of this machine....

Im sure Im not the only song writer looking for these solutions when it comes to equipment....

I would like to here your thoughts or alternatives...

Thanks......

[mgmg4871]

I am also a singer songwriter and have used the Juno Gi in a church setting. The sounds are fantastic. Recording vocals, guitar, etc is pretty straight forward. There are some things I'm not happy with about the Juno Gi as no ability to click out to a drummer in a live setting. There is no global settings for editing recorded audio. In other words you would have to edit track by track. That gets a little tedious. The A-B repeat funtion helps somewhat for punching in. There is no overdubbing on audio. The Rhythm pattern works pretty good. You can edit drum patterns and save. No sequencer is a minus. Recording livesets into a sequencer requires a external soundcard if recording more than one track. undo/redo function is good. The guitar and vocal effects are good. I eventually had to resort to Ableton Live to get everything i wanted for live church performance. But you did say you were trying to get away from the computer. I record livesets in Ableton Live and create my entire song set and control everything just triggering keys on my netbook. Works great and I get full orchestration. Ableton is a songwriters dream. Everything can be edited during playback. Hope this helps.

[Mystic38]

if you can live without the sequencer (i cannot) then its worth taking a look at.. though personally for that money, and particularly since you are coming from a fantom S, i would go for a good used fantom X6.. or even x8 ..thousands of available patches, sampling audio recording, great sequencer, better build quality..etc etc

[delirium]

get juno gi, great little keyboard.

[DJ RAZZ]

First the Juno Gi can be a very powerful synth and workstation. It has great sounds, a decent interface, and a good recorder. It works best with Cakewalk/Sonar though. And Roland's new interfaces do look and sound better than the Gi alone, thus making for a great project studio overall.

[PauloF]

...
Are their any happy singer/songwriters out their that are getting results with this machine... Im not looking to create a master with the Gi. I just need some independent track capability. 2 independent tracks when transferring to computer...

How is the over all experience using the Gi for basic song writing with vocals. Drums/Bass/Guitar/Synth/Vocal.
is it intuitive..? are you getting your work done.. do you enjoy the use of this machine....

Im sure Im not the only song writer looking for these solutions when it comes to equipment....

I would like to here your thoughts or alternatives...

Thanks......

Well, I'm not a Juno Gi owner, but I do have a Boss BR-864 Recorder, that is pre-historic compared to the Digital Recorder inside the Gi, and before I moved into the DAW world, I did all my Songs with it. Tedious? yes, especially when bouncing or moving V-Tracks.

From what I've seen so far the Gi is pretty capable sound and control wise.
The Recorder has decent Drums for guidance, stunning and very powerful effects section that can be added to the Gi's MFX processors, and can record 2 Tracks at a time (up to 8 Tracks /64 V-Tracks), and can output 8 tracks at once.

Take a look to the Adrian Scott's Edge of the Water, where he used the Gi as the center of the production, Recording both Internal and External parts.

Take also a look to the Roland Demo Recording, parts 1 to 5

Last but not the least, see the Juno-Gi Workshops from the Support Page on Rolandus website RECORDING

On top of other users experiences and opinions, maybe this will be helpful to you too.

Cheers,
PauloF

[DJ RAZZ]

...
Are their any happy singer/songwriters out their that are getting results with this machine... Im not looking to create a master with the Gi. I just need some independent track capability. 2 independent tracks when transferring to computer...

How is the over all experience using the Gi for basic song writing with vocals. Drums/Bass/Guitar/Synth/Vocal.
is it intuitive..? are you getting your work done.. do you enjoy the use of this machine....

Im sure Im not the only song writer looking for these solutions when it comes to equipment....

I would like to here your thoughts or alternatives...

Thanks......

Well, I'm not a Juno Gi owner, but I do have a Boss BR-864 Recorder, that is pre-historic compared to the Digital Recorder inside the Gi, and before I moved into the DAW world, I did all my Songs with it. Tedious? yes, especially when bouncing or moving V-Tracks.

From what I've seen so far the Gi is pretty capable sound and control wise.
The Recorder has decent Drums for guidance, stunning and very powerful effects section that can be added to the Gi's MFX processors, and can record 2 Tracks at a time (up to 8 Tracks /64 V-Tracks), and can output 8 tracks at once.

Take a look to the Adrian Scott's Edge of the Water, where he used the Gi as the center of the production, Recording both Internal and External parts.

Take also a look to the Roland Demo Recording, parts 1 to 5

Last but not the least, see the Juno-Gi Workshops from the Support Page on Rolandus website RECORDING

On top of other users experiences and opinions, maybe this will be helpful to you too.

Cheers,
PauloF

This is good advise for usage of the Juno Gi only. You can always expand later for more pro recordings.