Vintage Synth Explorer

Roland • MKS-7 Super Quartet

The MKS-7 Super Quartet is a multitimbral synth module with dedicated sections. The Melody section: 2 voice polyphony, 100 presets; Chord section: 4 voice polyphony, 100 presets; Bass section: monophonic, 20 presets; Rhythm section: 11 PCM sounds. The sound and architecture of the Melody, Chord and Bass sections are the same as the Juno 106 synthesizer. The Rhythm section offers up a few basic electronic rock drum sounds borrowed from the TR-707.

The beauty of using this sound module is that all 4 sections are available at once. Drums, bass, leads and pads can all play independent parts and patches together making this a very nice all-in one vintage Roland tone module. Just like the Juno 106, the MKS-7 is also controllable via MIDI and System Exclusive messages for editing. Most Juno 106 editors will work for the MKS-7 too. An underrated machine.

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AGL

Posted 12 days ago

For clarity's sake, yes, the engine is essentially identical to the Juno-106, and I've traded parts between MKS-7's and Juno's plenty of times (the blasted unreliable filter chips especially, which were rare until someone finally managed to copy them). The little monosynth (bass part) also has the same analogue filter and oscillator chips.

In my opinion, the MKS sounds better than the Juno, thanks to velocity sensitivity, but on the other hand, is completely useless due to lack of patch memory.

Thankfully, the drum kit can be played from the front panel, making this little box way cooler than an MPC.

Jeff K.

Posted 60 days ago

I must concure that that this unit is great for little quishy sounds. I own this and the Juno 106 and it seems that the two have identical voice architecture (the difference being the same between different Juno 106's). It actually interacts quite well with the Juno 106 (which can perform like a dedicated programmer). Front Panel editing is acutally not that difficult. Its just as easy as a toy yamaha...you type in the parameter number you are editing then use the slider to change the value. What is realy great are the two Juno 106 engines inside along with a third single osc. synth engine for BASS. Amazing dirty [beep] analog filter in this thing...it can be an animal. I had this hooked up to fruity loops and was making instant orchestal dance stuff in seconds. Really is a fantastic machine for computer interface.

Todzilla

Posted 511 days ago

Very underrated little analog synth. Horrible programming interface and doesn't store patches over powerdown. But, it can do bubbly squishy resonant filter sounds like you wouldn't believe. Some dispute about this, but I'm told it has the same architecture as the Juno-106.

It also has a 4 part timbrality, with cool drum sounds, a mono bass synth, and two other synths which can be bridged as a 6 note polyphonic synth.

I love mine.

DnA

Posted 521 days ago

The MKS-7 is a great synth module. If you have one and have a PC with mid out, try this step sequencer with it: http://www.wizardmaster.com/bludgeonsoft/wmcp/
The MKS-7 performs flawlessly with it. It can even change patches with each note!

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