I’ve been trying out several Juno emulations lately. One of the free plugins I found was Sixth Month June by Elektrostudio.
At first, I was impressed with the plugin. But then I experienced a major bug that prevents me from giving it my full recommendation.
What Is Sixth Month June?
Sixth Month June is a virtual instrument that emulates the Roland Juno-6. Simply put, it’s a no-nonsense emulation that does exactly what you’d want it to do. It sounds incredibly faithful to the original instrument and generates an impressive analog sound.
It’s available for free in VST2 format (no AU support).
An impressive emulation of the Roland Juno-60. It offers all the analog warmth of the original instrument. But it may be buggy by today's standards.
- Faithful recreation of the Juno-60
- Great analog sound for free
- Includes 60+ presets
- Only available in outdated VST2 format
- Major bug resets instrument to default settings after closing your DAW
Features
Here’s a list of features, as taken from Plugins4Free:
- VCO with Sawtooth & Pulse (PWM) waves
- Noise Generator
- LFO: Triangle
- VCF: lowpass – cutoff, emphasis
- ADSR envelope with invert option
- Arpeggiator
- Chorus
- Unison
- Keyboard: no velocity/aftertouch
If you’re already familiar with the original Juno-6 or Juno-60, then you’ll be comfortable using Sixth Month June.
Things to Consider Before Downloading
Like I mentioned, Sixth Month June is a no-nonsense plugin that does exactly what it set out to do: emulate the Juno-6. That said, there are some things I experienced you may want to consider before getting this plugin.
Outdated Format
From what I can tell, Sixth Month June was released sometime around 2009 and hasn’t been updated since. In other words, it’s old for an audio plugin. As such, it’s only available as a 32-bit VST2 plugin.
Some DAWs are starting to ditch VST2 support in favor of VST3, AU, or AAX. So if you decide to download it, make sure it’s compatible with your setup.
The Deal-Breaking Bug
This instrument worked just fine while I was writing a demo track and capturing footage. Then I took a break and closed my DAW.
When I came back, every instance of Sixth Month June had reverted back to default settings.
All the sound design and custom settings were gone. I’d have to recreate the sounds from scratch.
For reference, I use Cakewalk by Bandlab, and I can recreate this bug every time. As of this writing, I haven’t tried it in any other DAW. So you may have a different experience altogether.
Lack of Support
Sadly, the original developer is no longer around. The Elektrostudio website is gone as well. So there’s no way to fix these bugs.
Thankfully, all of Elektrostudio’s plugins, including Sixth Month June, have been preserved through sites like Plugins4Free.
Should You Get Sixth Month June?
The plugin is at least functional. But given its age, it may be buggy in any modern DAW.
As a free plugin, there’s no harm in trying it out.
An impressive emulation of the Roland Juno-60. It offers all the analog warmth of the original instrument. But it may be buggy by today's standards.
- Faithful recreation of the Juno-60
- Great analog sound for free
- Includes 60+ presets
- Only available in outdated VST2 format
- Major bug resets instrument to default settings after closing your DAW
Try This Other Free Juno-60 Emulation
Sixth Month June might be a mixed bag today. But if you’re still looking for a Juno-60 plugin, try TAL-U-NO-62 by TAL Software.
The U-NO-62 is a surprisingly faithful recreation of the classic Roland Juno-60. It gives you the phat analog sounds of the original instrument, all for free!
- Solid emulation of the Roland Juno-60
- Includes most features found on the original
- Classic chorus effect is as good as ever!
- Compatible with every major DAW
- May be buggy due to age