Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter
The MKS-80 is basically a refined Jupiter 8 in a module. It is called the Super Jupiter and it is very fat and very analog! Its great sound is due in part to the classic analog Roland technology in its filters, modulation capabilities and a thick cluster of 16 analog oscillators at 2 per voice. It comes in a 2 space rack-module - no keyboard here. Tons of editing capabilities, although editing is tedious. It's got all the classic sounds of the Jupiter synths and so much more. An excellent choice for ambient drones, pads, blips, buzzes and leads.! It is used by Hardfloor, Astral Projection, Vince Clarke, Vangelis, Pet Shop Boys, and Snap. Use the MPG-80 for easier and more traditional slider control when editing the MKS-80.
- Demos & Media
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Video 1 - Roland MKS-80 demoAudio Clip 1 - Evolving PWM fifth ambient pad. From Tomislav Babic (more demos here).
Audio Clip 2 - Split mode: big bass plus picked lead. From Tomislav Babic (more demos here).
Audio Clip 3 - Some tones from the Super Jupiter that give just a taste of the full breadth of the analog power inside.
Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.
Patch File - Roland's original Factory patches for the MKS-80. There are several patches in .mid and Midi SysEx formats, for Macintosh and Windows/PC.
Patch Manager - Free MKS-80 Patch Manager. A free Win9x/NT program that makes loading and saving patches/tones from the Roland MKS-80 very easy.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - 8 voices
- Oscillators - 16 Oscillators at 2 per voice!
- Memory - 64 single, 64 combination
- Filter - Low pass filter w/ ADSR, Hi pass filter
- VCA - Standard ADSR
- Arpeg/Seq - None
- Keyboard - None
- Control - MIDI
- Date Produced - 1984
- Websites of Interest
reKon audio VST-AU MKS-80 Editor
- Resources & Credits
Images from Perfect Circuit Audio.
Errors or Corrections? Send them here.


One can download the free MKS80 programmer (called VMP80) in this web site:
www.razaudio.com
Look for VMP80 page.
Thanks !
Thanks
Graham
I have just completed a Software controller & programmer for the mks80 and looking for beta testers.
The controller runs smooth and passed QA, still more users feedback is needed...
Current features:
* runs on PC only, not Mac.
* stand alone, no dependency on DAW (this means it can send sysex and midi even from ableton live...)
* identical graphical layout as the MPG80
* free of charge
If interested, please send private email for a copy.
Thanks !