The MKS-50 is a rack-mount version of the Alpha Juno. It has the same synth engine and architecture, with some added features like 16 programmable chord memories, the ability to store velocity, volume, panning, de-tune, portamento and other similar parameters within each patch you create. The optional and highly recommended PG-300 will give you traditional slider type control of all editable tone parameters which include DCO (digitally controlled oscillators) LFO, bend, ENV, pulse, waveforms, noise, PW/PWM, high pass filter, VCF (filter) with freq/env/res/LFO/kybd, VCA envelope, chorus, and more.

Its sound is not quite as warm as the previous Juno's but it's still a nice addition to any techno synth rig. Other features include better MIDI implementation than previous Roland synths, a nice LCD display, an LFO capable of a very slow rate for some cool sweeping effects, and a great bass sound (especially nice for acid basslines) and noise effects! It is used by Überzone, Astral Projection, Fluke, Future Sound of London, Pet Shop Boys, and Vince Clarke.

Macca

November 5, 2010 @ 5:48 pm

This has an absolutely great sound, I cannot believe that this was only praised for its hoover sound throughout the 90s. Had I known it was this nice I would have bought one years ago. I have this and the keyboard version and I swear that the module has a fatter sound. It just sounds punchier and slightly thicker. I love the bass and pads and sparkley bell tones that cut through almost anything. I think its just as good as a Juno 6 as it can sound digital too but warm digital and has the added benefits of midi and patch storage.

Steve

October 17, 2010 @ 7:11 pm

Picked one of these up on ebay and liked the sound quite a bit , just got a Novation Remote Zero SL controller and found a template someone built for it on the yahoo mks-50 user group. Now i love it , tweaking in real time without spending 300+ dollars for a PG-300 (that only works for the Alpha Juno) is a god send.

crudirobot

September 17, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

Dudes, this little guy is FAT! yes, there's only one envelope but the osc engine with the sub osc can be sooo huge. These are usually cheap and totally worth it. No, no knobs to twiddle, but wonderfull Juno series warmth and fat.

GazTy

August 10, 2010 @ 2:45 pm

This is one smooth puppy. Relatively simple synthesis engine but seems to have a very nice tone and some tricks up it's sleeve. Worth owning for the space it takes up. Looks cool in the rack.

Voltergeist

April 16, 2010 @ 8:34 am

The EG is cool, too. Many more possibilities than ADSR. And, yeah, like Ashe37 said, nice Roland stereo chorus. And given how inexpensive they are, you might think about getting using two, like I do. From my experience, using two with variations of the same patch is 10x more powerful than one MKS-50 alone. I just had one of my MKS-50's die (shortly before a show), and I've got a new appreciation for how unique it is and how much I rely on it, despite having many other nice synths to choose from.

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