Jura

Name: Jura
Price: 34 USD
Author: AIR Music Technology

by AIR Music Technology · Synth · 80s polysynth emulation

Not rated yet

Jura is modelled on a 1982 single-DCO polysynth in the Juno style, with a sub oscillator, filter and two chorus types.

It adds a second envelope, extra LFO shapes and effects, and costs $149.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Bass, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Hip-Hop & Trap.

Keywords: 80s, hardware emulation, polyphonic, vintage, drum machine, modern, pads, analog, basses, inspired by, airy, lush, skeuomorphic, sound design, subtractive, warm.

What it does

Jura is AIR's recreation of a "Japanese legend" polysynth from 1982: a single-DCO design with a big sub oscillator and lush chorus, in the Roland Juno mould. It keeps the original front panel and adds an extended modern view.

Voice: one DCO with a strong sub oscillator, and two noise types (modern and vintage).
Filter: a VCF with cutoff, resonance, saturation and drive, modulated by envelope, LFO, keyboard tracking or velocity.
Modern additions: a second envelope, and an LFO with eight shapes: ramp up, ramp down, triangle, sine, square, positive square and two random modes.
Chorus: two '80s-style chorus types with a mix control.
Delay and reverb: a delay of up to 2 seconds with sync, filtering and stereo width, and a reverb with high/low cut, diffusion, damping, octave shift and modulation.
EQ and views: a full EQ section; the original panel or the extended interface, with touch control on MPC/Force.

The current version is 1.2.0.8, and a 10-day demo is available.

Source: AIR Music Technology product page

When to use it

Jura is a narrow, Juno-style instrument, so its real rivals are other Juno emulations such as TAL-U-NO-LX and Arturia's Jun-6 V. Compared with Diva, which models several vintage polysynths, a Juno among them, with very high fidelity, Jura has a much lower CPU load. It has fewer oscillators than Sylenth1, a general-purpose virtual analog, and a different character; Sylenth1 sounds cleaner. Jura gives you that specific chorused '80s pad and bass sound quickly, with modern extras like a second envelope and built-in delay and reverb. It is also one of the few such emulations that runs on an MPC or Force.

Best for: chorused pads, warm basses and '80s-style chords.
Genres: synthwave, pop, house, lo-fi and hip-hop.
Look elsewhere if: you need more than one oscillator per voice or wide modulation; Diva or Vital offer more.

What producers say

The few user reviews are all top marks, mainly for the chorus, pads and presets.

Sweetwater buyers rate it 5 out of 5 from 6 reviews, praising "fantastic pads", the sound and how well it works on Akai MPC hardware.
KVR user (one review, 5 out of 5, 2023) said they'd "never had so much fun with a Juno plugin", praising the chorus, the chord mode and the preset library.

Where to buy

Best Service: $34
PluginFox: $34 (regular $149)
Plugin Boutique: $36 (regular $149)
AIR Music Technology: $149 (list price from KVR Audio; airmusictech.com shows prices only in its shop)
AudioDeluxe: $149
Audio Plugin Deals: $149.99

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

JUNO-60 by Roland · JUNO-60 analog polysynth emulation · $69
TAL-U-NO-LX by TAL Software · Juno-60 style analog synth · $100
JUNO-106 by Roland · JUNO-106 analog polysynth emulation · $199
DCO-106 by Cherry Audio · Roland Juno-106 emulation · $29
Jun-6 V by Arturia · Virtual analog polysynth · $149
RetroMod 106 by Tracktion · Sample-based Juno synth · $49
TAL-Pha by TAL Software · Alpha Juno style synth · $89
ReDominator by AudioRealism · Alpha Juno polysynth emulation · $62.45
Polysix by KORG · Analog polysynth emulation · $99.99
Super 8 by Native Instruments · Polyphonic analog-style synth · $99

All synths