The AX60 is among some of the last true analog polysynths of the mid-eighties. It was Akai's answer to the hugely successful Roland Juno series and Yamaha's new digital DX-series. The AX60 is a programmable six-voice synth with a nice LFO, lowpass (VCF) filter, envelope sections, and more. An eight-voice version, the AX80, was already available.

Programming this synth is easy using dedicated sliders, knobs and/or buttons for its parameters. It also has a useful noise generator and some other cool functions that include auto-tuning, chorus, a multi-mode arpeggiator and a keyboard that can be split into two key-zones, making it somewhat bi-timbral. All six voices can be stacked in unison mode for a powerful and thick lead sound. Its features and sound make the AX60 a worthy alternative to Roland's Juno 106. The AX60 may have been used by Bjork.

polyjuno

January 17, 2013 @ 1:31 pm

The LFO can be routed to the VCO, VCF cutoff or the VCA. You must choose between one of these, they can not be affected simultaneously. The mod wheel only controls the strength of the modulation in each case. The two knobs right above the bend and mod wheels are used to control how much the bender (not the mod wheel!) should affect the VCO and VCF cutoff.

benighted pal

January 16, 2013 @ 3:05 pm

thanks. is the mod wheel only controlling VCF or can the user select other parameters to modulate?

polyjuno

January 13, 2013 @ 9:39 am

Yes, this is a 1 VCO per voice synth and everything you select on the front panel will be applied to every voice. (The specs are a bit misleading on this page; it should say "1 VCO per voice" like it does on other pages.)

benighted pal

January 11, 2013 @ 11:50 pm

the specs says it has 6 vcos. i assume that they just power the voices and can't be detuned or have different waveforms chosen for them, correct? anyone?

polyjuno

January 3, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

I absolutely disagree in that it is an alternative to the Juno 106. It has nothing to do with 'worthiness', but rather the fact that is sounds completely different. It is more or less incapable of silky smooth, etheral pads, an area where the Junos excel. On the other hand, this synth can do some sounds which are far outside of the Junos' capabilities. I wouldn't exchange one for the other, but rather use them together.

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