Does anyone have any comments on the Roland Juno stage?

I am looking for a keyboard to take out gigging in a 3 piece and the fact that it can play backing tracks (that I have recorded) from a usb drive is a very useful feature for me.

I am very tempted to take the plunge but I would need to get rid of my Korg Karma and Trinity V3 Pro to get it......and would probably accept silly money for both but I just can't bring myself to sell either

Some good user comments from SOS members on the juno stage may just tempt me though.

Many thanks.

Stein

Fran wrote:......

"I forgot to mention..a few days ago I played the new Roland Juno Stage (76 keys)..
The stage has all the goodies from the Juno G, and many goodies of it's own...

First off..the key feel is much better than the Juno G (I hated playing my Juno G)..Roland added metal weights under the keys..reminds me of the older workstations..D-70, JV1000, and XP80...I may as well add the Fantom X....since I owned all of them...

The compact size and 76 keys are a plus..at 21 pounds..

The display is nicer than the Juno G..

The added goodies are the mic with phantom power...MP3/wav/midi player...999 songs, I believe...It did not read my thumb drive folders..only the non folder tunes..unlike the Roland RD700gx..that unit read every folder and sub folder..same with the 300gx..

The Stage makes a decent controller for the studio too..it has a single button push to make it a USB controller...

It is a shame that Roland did not include a USB Audio interface to go with the USB MIDI interface...as the Sonic Cell has...

When I put my E-60 on Ebay ..I was considering the Juno Stage and GW8...after playing the Stage and reading the manuals including the GW...I am thoroughly convinced the E-60 to be superior over both...save the MP3/Wave player..the E-60 is better in every other feature...

Of course the E-60 lacks the mic input too..

key feel and playability is slightly better on the E compared to the Stage..

The E-60 is 7 pounds more with a touch screen and speakers..

The lyric read and make up tools..makes the E-60 much..much more desirable..

And the one feature that I keep going back to the E-60..the drum kits are simply the best...

After I played the Stage...it made me more reluctant to sell the E-60.."



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-25-2009).]

Seems a shame to dump a couple of really nice keyboards to get mp3 playback...

Wouldn't an MP3 player do that at considerably less cost?

Or why not a nice arranger? Most can easily keep up with a stage piano in 76 form. In this price range, you need 76, I'd take a good look at an E-60. No, it won't do MP3, but that's easy with an mp3 player. But you DO get a full arranger, which if you are in a duo or trio without rhythm section gives you FAR more opportunity to go 'off the page' than an mp3.

JMO...

Also the Juno Stage has no aftertouch. And it has no sequencer.

Dennis