yeah if you need lush pads just get an mks-70 cause it dominates in that area anyway. the mks-80rev4 is awesome at bass/stab sounds, you could almost mistake it for a dx7 sometimes which is odd but sometimes true.

Dude they are so close sonically- dont worry about it just buy which ever unit you can get cheaper
FWIW, i sold my MKS80 and programmer in favour of a JP6.. found the MPG fiddly and love the JP6 UI, multimode filter and arpeggiator.

heh i've been tempted to do that a few times, I think i'd probably use it more often too, the jp6 looks so much more inviting. aint got no space right now though. i agree that the revision differences are probably a lot more minor than made out to be. Generally the difference heard in some of those demos is nothing that a minor nudge of the cutoff /resonance slider wouldn't fix. you can't expect every synth to sound exactly the same, even of the same revision, especially in VCO land

I have both Rev 4 and Rev 5 MKS-80s. They sound near-enough identical. Any differences are down to a slight mismatch between parameters, such as filter cut-off, where the two synths might need slightly different settings to produce the same result.

It's really not worth sweating about - Rev 4 or Rev 5 - both sound just fine.

I also have an MKS-70. It's a beautiful sounding synth, but covers very different territory than the MKS-80. For rolling pads, strings and soundscapes the MKS-70 is stunning.

And, as I always mention, I can get near as damnit to any of the above with a JP-80x0!

So the impression I've picked up on the net that the Rev 5 has slower envelopes and isnt that good for bass is rubbish?

There's absolutely no truth in this.

And as previously mentioned, this statement made me go buy the JP8080 and the MKS80.... just to be sure. heh

I still haven't had enough time to do an indepth comparison.

FWIW ALL mks-80s and jupiter 6's have software envelopes. If you want hardware envelopes you need a jupiter 8 or juno 60...

I decided to see if I could match the rev 4 comparison sounds that Don Solaris posted at the beginning of this thread. I don't yet own an MKS-80 but I'm testing a rev 5 with the option to buy. Unfortunately, the tune knob isn’t functional and it does not respond to velocity. However, I thought it would be interesting to see how close I could come.

I managed to tune the instrument with the pitch wheel in lieu of a functional tune knob. I think I got pretty close. The main difference I hear is that in the rev 4 example the velocity is routed to the VCF, where in my example the VCF is re-triggered with the same intensity on each note since the velocity is not functional.

The original comparison:
http://www.astro.hr/ucionica/tom/rol...v4-rev5-05.wav

My re-programmed example on the rev 5:
http://audiocookbook.org/wp-content/...programmed.mp3

More details are available on Audio Cookbook where I'm posting a synthesizer sound every day.

Audio Cookbook » Blog Archive » Roland Super Jupiter MKS-80 Rev 4 Versus Rev 5

Fixed the MKS-80. Turned out to be a panel board issue. Here's the details:

Audio Cookbook » Blog Archive » Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter Repair

For lots of custom audio examples from this synth visit:

Audio Cookbook » Roland MKS-80

Glad you found the prob. I figured it was a broken board since it had evidence of being dropped from the pics you sent me.

Yeah. Thanks for all the help, Doug. After dis-assembling and re-assembling this beast more than a few times I've have become intimate with the insides. It's a very study and well built machine. It must have taken a fall, and then the dynamics and tuning problem may have shown up later. It was very satisfying to get it working. Since then I haven't had anymore problems with it. Now if I could only find a reasonably priced cartridge... :P

Enough speculation, I own a Rev 5, I also used to own a rev 4 while I had my rev 5. Rev 5 sounds more Roland to me than the rev 4, which is dominated by the "white" and coarse CEM oscillator sound

I also own a Jupiter 8 and I reckon the rev 5 gives you more of that tone, colour and vibe than the rev 4. PWM especially. No surprise since it's using Roland VCO and VCA chips

Same patches, different revs

I totally agree, all Rolands have a similar 'character', just like all Oberhiems, Waldorfs, Yamaha FM synths and models of Access Viruses do. There will always be some crossover between two models from the same manufacturer made in the same era. A Jupiter 6 does not sound the same as a rev 4 MKS-80, but they are 'close enough' in character not to have both unless you're REALLY an enthusiast of that 'era' from Roland. Personally I think the Jupiter series, and the 'cost downs' they made during the same time (the Juno series) were some of their best work ever.

Yup, the filter in the rev 5 makes it sound more like an MKS 70. (because that's what they used in the 70).

Thanks for posting these. Listening to them... I think it's a tie.

I'm not saying I think they sound the same, but rather that I think they sound slightly different and both excel at different things. For example, I preferred "CCJ_MKS80_rev4_Square2.mp3" over "CCJ_MKS80_rev5_Square2.mp3", but I also preferred "CCJ_MKS80_rev5_EP.mp3" over "CCJ_MKS80_rev4_EP.mp3". It seems neither is really superior over the other, but that they just sound somewhat different.

It's seems as though there are no Rev4 comparison files for "CCJ_MKS80_rev5_melloPWM.mp3" and "CCJ_Mks80_rev5_BellChords.mp3".

Anyhow, I own a Rev4 MKS-80, and I can find uses for it. I think that's really all that matters to me.

That's because I did those sound files well after I had sold my rev 4

But I don't think the rev 4 will do the MellowPWM quite as nice, as the rev 4 PWM doesn't sound as good. A rougher CEM quality to it.

That sound is pretty close to the JP8 patch I modelled it after.

Rev 5 does smooth, silky and mellow much better than the rev 4

All new MKS80 rev 5 live demo to fufill a request

A live demo of my Roland MKS-80 rev 5 and MPG-80 programmer, for editing and tweaking the sounds in real time.
Doesn't show all the kinds of sound it can do, but someone wanted a better impression of the bass sounds. Most sounds in the clip don't use unison, only 1 section has it. Makes it sound phased out

MKS-80 went through my Speck Xtramix line mixer and then into my audio interface - no processing, but the Speck Xtramix does "enhance" it a little

Just be careful there are some dramatic volume shifts! Alas Soundcloud's processing has removed all the Roland sweetness in the rev 5 sound :/

It also does "keyboard" sounds better than the rev 4. Specifically, sounds that have a piano type envelope in which the shape of the decay portion is critical. The decay on the rev 4 slopes down too fast to suit some of these types of sounds. This was an explicit change by Roland on the rev. 5.

mks80 rules for unison bass

You think? I don't find it that nice for unison sounds, the VX-90 I had before was much better and a lot cheaper
VX90 gets bigger sound with unison, Mks80 not really, the texture changes, but you get a lot of phase cancellation
And only 6 VCOs vs 16.....

The Mks80 can do dual 2 patch mode like the JP8 which would sound a lot better than the unison mode.
16 VCO is overkill

With 2 separate outputs as well - use it, it sounds better than the mix mode

Another live demo of the Mks-80 rev 5



Lead sounds - kinda Mini Moog'ish in flavour

High pass filter was set at 50%
Solo legato mode, with some glide here and there
Saw, dual saw octave apart, then unison

Honestly it sounds better than I used to think of my rev 5. It must be because I'm using the separate tone outs mode rather than the mix....
It sounds more like the other drifty MKS-80 rev5 I used to have, now - or it could be the extra 10 years of aging added ontop

I still have a rev 5 unit with an MPG and two cartridges I'm looking to sell...

[/spam] heh

dB

MKS80 rev 5 getting the triple resonator treatment

Unison on an MKS 80 kind of bites. I don't know if it's this thread or another one but someone mentioned phase cancellation. It's the same thing stacked up. Not strategically placed. I have a rev 5. I won't part with it. It's not a holy grail (what is) another color. I was never a big fan of the Jupiter 6, so I'm happy to have the rev 5. Don't ever let anyone tell you that it sucks from a sonic perspective. Because that person would be deluding themselves

You've got over 300 posts, you're entitled to have a SPAM: FS thread here all of your own

Ok curiosity finally got the better of me and I bought a Rev 4 today after having a Rev 5 for about a year.

It's just my opinion but it sounds so much nicer.

Richer fuller sound that I didn't know the 5 was missing.

Anyway, Rev 5 sold today!

...sitting boxed up outside my studio....waiting for someone to give it a good home.....



dB

Depends on what kind of tones your after I supposed, and for those types of other tones, some of my other synths murder it.
And I've owned two rev 5 MKS80, and they both sounded different. One was thinner and drifty, while my current one is more static but thicker sounding

I tend to use my MKS80 as abread and butter fill in synth. I don't like to waste my other analog synth's character by processing them, so the MKS80 get used for that role.
Filtering, triple resonating, VST'ing - MKS80 is the donor synth
Better than using a soft synth for that role

That distinctive Roland Glow can still be heard after some VST filtering - that's the Rev5 tone. Rev 4 doesn't quite have it