Collecting the entire MKS series: Insane goal?

[DesolationBlvd]

EDIT: Yes, the general consensus is that this is insane and pointless.

The original three (10, 30, and 80) will satisfy the collector in me while still being useful.

[fh991586]

I'm pretty sure there is a MKS 20 too... Seen one for sale last year, but never heard of it before and after!

[Alex E]

The MKS-10 and 100 aren't terribly useful today, but that means you can also find them cheaply.

The 70/80 comparison... You probably won't notice too much overlap. Worth a listen though.

[ndkent]

MKS-20 is the digital modeled piano. Supposedly has some fans since it cuts well in a dense mix. Agree the 70 and 80 aren't that close.

[philip]

Just do it, splendid idea

[Z]

1. With over 100 synths, I try not to have any duplicates. I've got a MKS-50 at home and a HS-80 at my furniture shop. I like the HS-80 since it has built-in speakers and the external input (does not run through filter).

2. All of the MKS synths are different. There will only be the slight overlap that is common in all synths.

3. In my opinion, the 10 & 100 are worthless. The 10 has 8 preset piano/clav sounds that cannot be edited. The 100's Quik Disc drive could easily fail and it would be tough to find a replacement. The QDs are hard to find and I think you can only hold one sample per side (at least how the Akai S612, S700 & X7000 works).

4. I have all of them except for the MKS-10 Planet P, MKS-100 Sampler and MKS-900 which looks similar to the A-110 in my photo below.

I just noticed that my 5 year-old son must have taken the cart out of the MKS-80 and stuck it into the MKS-20. I've seen him swap cards on my R-8M.

Although I have all the PG programmers (though I can't find my PG-800 at the moment), I've been very intrigued about the KiwiTechnics Patch Editor especially since I have other synths in the same rack that can be used with it.

[fh991586]

Nice rack!

To be really complete, one shouldn't have Rev4 & Rev5 of the MKS80?

[8bit9bot]

a) this is a good idea if you're a collector... GOTTA CATCH EM ALL

b) this is a horrible idea if you wanted to actually use the synths in your setup (way too much overlap & having an overly complex setup will waste your time)

[DesolationBlvd]

So the oscillators are enough to make the difference between 70 and 80, even with the same filter?

I passed on a 70 for $390 that needed a new battery because I figured the 70 would just be a cheaper sounding version of the 80 - no PWM, slower envelopes, keytrigger LFO.

Also, the 80017a in the 7 and 30 are all ticking time bombs, right?

[walkathon]

a) this is a good idea if you're a collector... GOTTA CATCH EM ALL

b) this is a horrible idea if you wanted to actually use the synths in your setup (way too much overlap & having an overly complex setup will waste your time)

Perfectly stated.

[8bit9bot]

So the oscillators are enough to make the difference between 70 and 80, even with the same filter?

yeah the two have a different vibe for sure... the 70 relies heavily on chorus to sound big... basically its similar to an analog version of the D-50 without the PCM... to me this is almost what you could call a late 80s sound - the mks80 sounds huge with no chorus at all... stick w/ the mks80... heck you already own it

Also, the 80017a in the 7 and 30 are all ticking time bombs, right?

yes... but considering that there are now replacement clones being made... i wouldnt worry about that - some would say SSM/CEM chips are ticking time bombs as well

i have owned the mks7, mks50, and mks70 at different times... and personally, i think if you have an MKS80 you dont need any of the others... adding them would only be expanding your sound variety in very small ways... if you want variety... get an american analog (sequential, oberheim) or hybrid (emulator 2, ppg, or esq1) - if you like VCOs... figure that none of the other MKSs have them... and that's your reason to just forget the other MKSs even exist

[DesolationBlvd]

a) this is a good idea if you're a collector... GOTTA CATCH EM ALL

b) this is a horrible idea if you wanted to actually use the synths in your setup (way too much overlap & having an overly complex setup will waste your time)

Yes, I'm a collector at heart. I only see myself using the 30 and 80 very often though, and the 10 and 100 would be solely collector's pieces. I'm holding off on collecting the rest of the MKS units unless they pop up cheaply.

As for other rack units, I plan on getting a V-Synth XT and a TX802/816 (when I have mastered the 4-op FM on the DX100).

So the oscillators are enough to make the difference between 70 and 80, even with the same filter?

yeah the two have a different vibe for sure... the 70 relies heavily on chorus to sound big... basically its similar to an analog version of the D-50 without the PCM... to me this is almost what you could call a late 80s sound - the mks80 sounds huge with no chorus at all... stick w/ the mks80... heck you already own it

Since the V-Synth XT I plan on getting down the line has the D-50 built in, the MKS-70 would be a huge waste of money at its current selling prices, right?

Also, the 80017a in the 7 and 30 are all ticking time bombs, right?

yes... but considering that there are now replacement clones being made... i wouldnt worry about that - some would say SSM/CEM chips are ticking time bombs as well

Thinking about it, I should be more worried about the IR3R03 VCO - only the MKS-80 rev. 5 used it, and it hasn't been cloned, making it a nightmare to find a replacement.

i have owned the mks7, mks50, and mks70 at different times... and personally, i think if you have an MKS80 you dont need any of the others... adding them would only be expanding your sound variety in very small ways... if you want variety... get an american analog (sequential, oberheim) or hybrid (emulator 2, ppg, or esq1) - if you like VCOs... figure that none of the other MKSs have them... and that's your reason to just forget the other MKSs even exist

To be really complete, one shouldn't have Rev4 & Rev5 of the MKS80?

I chose the rev. 5 because it would not step on as much of the sonic ground of a future Curtis poly - leaning heavily towards the OB-8 with the Prophet-600 being my second choice. The OB-Xa and Prophet-5 seem like too much more money for not much improvement. The Curtis polys would also offer more filtering options than the Roland polys - the OB offering 12db/oct filtering and the Prophet offering filter FM.

Side note: I hope the Pedobear/Oberheim logo avatar doesn't offend anyone here. I have nothing against Oberheim, just pointing out the similarity in the logos, and the people over at Harmony Central loved it.

Selling the Alpha Juno will also free up the second tier of the keyboard stand for said Curtis poly, and I can get the MKS-50 when I start to miss the Alpha's sound. I'm just worried because the Alpha Juno has a great keybed and I've heard the Panasonic keybed on the OB-8 and Prophet-600 is not very good in addition to not being velocity sensitive. Oh well, that's why I have the XP-80 for master keyboard duties.


Thanks for setting my priorities straight.

[Pro5]

I'm just worried because the Alpha Juno has a great keybed....

AJuno 2 yes - similar if not the same to the D-50. I liked it that much i retro fitted it to one of my Polysixes (which have awful keybeds as standard).

I parted the J2 (and J1) out.

I prefered the J2 to the MKS50 I had - really didn't like the editing / faffing around on the rack version - of course the sound is all that matters esp if hooked up over midi and forgotten about.

[DesolationBlvd]

I'm just worried because the Alpha Juno has a great keybed....

AJuno 2 yes - similar if not the same to the D-50. I liked it that much i retro fitted it to one of my Polysixes (which have awful keybeds as standard).

I parted the J2 (and J1) out.

And doesn't the Polysix use the same keybed as the OB-8 and Prophet-600? I recall something on the Analogue Heaven archives where this guy gutted a Polysix that died of battery leakage to save his OB-8.

I would feel terrible gutting a fully working Roland synthesizer to get its keybed, though.

Eh, I'll just enjoy my Juno for the long now, focus on my more digital needs for the short run, abandon this silly quest altogether, and worry about the crappy keybed on the Curtis poly when I need the American analog sound (or settle for the Prophet '08 Rack or Matrix-1000, which I would put a distant third and fourth respectively as my Curtis poly choice).

Maybe the good feel lies in the aftertouch strip felt covering. The one on my Juno is much thicker than the one on my XP-80, which is thin enough in spots to cause the key to thwack metal.

[StepLogik]

Noble (albeit expensive) goal if you intend to use them. I've owned the keyboard equivalents of pretty much the entire series, including a s-50 sampler, and there is enough unique sonic character to justify it.

When I was selling off everything to downsize, I had considered replacing all the keys with equivalent mks modules but just found it hard to justify the retarded prices they fetch.