 |
|
|
|
Average rating:
4.4 out of 5
|
|
I've only had my MKS-70 for a little over a week, so I'm hardly an expert on it yet. However, I can say it is without exception the nicest synth I’ve ever owned. Many sounds are instantly recognizable from recordings. And the sounds... sweet! - soft resonant tones, big 80s brass, excellent flutes, and many variations of the lush analog strings this synth is known for. This synth also does extremely well blending with other synths – add a monophonic lead over it or a fat bass under it and its electronic music heaven.
After a little reading I was able to load factory patches via sysex and without the memory card. (It can also be done with .mid files from a sequencer like Cakewalk.) Other soundsets can just as easily be loaded. In fact, I've encountered no real sysex hassles. Velocity, volume, pitch, modulation, and patch changes are all recognized. Mine has bios version 1.03. Front panel controls and menus are typical of the period, but reading the manual and a little experimentation goes a long way. The only real headache is controlling portamento as it has to be set twice – once for each of the two boards.
|
|
This thing is an amazing and yet under-rated analog synth. It excells at the most gorgeous bells and pads you'll hear from a poly analog synth. But it has been unknown for it's aggressive nature. Sure the envelopes aren't punchy like moogs and other rolands, but that's what mono synths are for. Monos can't do pads can they, not like this machine and neither can the MKS70 do punchy bass. But it still can get very nasty in a good way from ripping leads to wild SFX. I love the leads on it, especially if you couple ot with anothe mono.
The PG800 programmer is definitely a must. Trust me, you don't want to edit without it.
Just a testiment of how good this synth is, Hans Zimmer has more than 1 in his studio. That tells you the quality of this synth being that he has some of the top of the line synths.
4 DCO osc to work with for some really thick sounds! Cross mod yeilds great sounds. Gotta give it a 5, because nothing sounds like it and there is truely no substitution.
|
|
I have bought an MKS 70 for 380 Euro on ebay - last year, now i got another one! :) Crazy, but i really love this synth! Wanted to make sure i will have one working if the other one will ever fail. VSTi - it's just great for the dropping prices on the REAL analogue gear! I got a PG 800 too and now i'm in Heaven! I also own an MKS 80 but the MKS 70 has something extra ! www.centralbpm.com
|
|
I've been using the MKS-70 in combination with the Roland Gk1 pickup and a Fender Silver Anniversary Strat for studio track recording for the past 10 years. There is still nothing to date that can compete with this sound module. I highly recommend getting the latest rom version,1.08 (free from Roland)and adding a Roland PG-800 programmer. The pg-800 allows the user to fully access all of its potential sound variations. This is truly, a vintage synth for the books!
|
|
Mks-70 is great analogue synth module. Strings and pads are its strenghts, leads and bass sounds are good. The price of this and JX-10 is incredibly low at the moment. And people are buying vst synths.. hmm..;-)
|
Add your review of the Roland MKS-70
NEW SYSTEM - to keep the user reviews focussed, we are now approving all submissions before they appear.
We will endeavour to process your comments within 24hrs
Please keep your reviews on topic.
Questions, requests for manuals, ongoing conversations and inappropriate comments are not reviews, and will not be approved.
Manuals can often be found on the links section for this model.
If you want to chat or ask questions, visit the Gas Station, the dedicated user forum here at Sonic State.
|
