sci pro one or roland mks 80?what would you do?

[Justynfromnz]

so im at a strange juncture...i can afford only one of these synths but i cant decide which one...

in my synth land currently i have...

ms 20
korg early 80's gat synth
matrix 1000
juno 106
cx3
dx7
monopoly
poly 800

as far as a monosynth goes i love the pro one
funny seq , arp etc...sounds awesome...

but a jupiter in a box?thats pretty cool....
but it doesnt come with the controller pg mk 8million whatever thingy...so ill be sysex-ing or midi-ing it to tweak stuff. I cant afford to get the controller as well...

so what do you reckon?Ive only got 2.5 monosynths...
so maybe that would be the way to go?
but i've never owned a jupiter!
so maybe thats the way to go...!?!?

oh crap i cant make up my mind
can anyone shed any light for or against either of these?
thanks a bunch!

(ps-i must buy a synth...so not choosing either is not an option!Slutz for life)

[Jesse Skeens]

Originally Posted by Justynfromnz

so im at a strange juncture...i can afford only one of these synths but i cant decide which one...

in my synth land currently i have...

ms 20
korg early 80's gat synth
matrix 1000
juno 106
cx3
dx7
monopoly
poly 800

as far as a monosynth goes i love the pro one
funny seq , arp etc...sounds awesome...

but a jupiter in a box?thats pretty cool....
but it doesnt come with the controller pg mk 8million whatever thingy...so ill be sysex-ing or midi-ing it to tweak stuff. I cant afford to get the controller as well...

so what do you reckon?Ive only got 2.5 monosynths...
so maybe that would be the way to go?
but i've never owned a jupiter!
so maybe thats the way to go...!?!?

oh crap i cant make up my mind
can anyone shed any light for or against either of these?
thanks a bunch!

(ps-i must buy a synth...so not choosing either is not an option!Slutz for life)

Never used a real pro-one (just have the creamware emulation) but I do own an mks80. I think it really depends what types of sounds youre looking for. I get the impression the pro-one is a bit more raw and biting. The mks80 is amazing for pads/strings/leads. Does really lush unison/detuning as well. For basses and blippy type sounds though I'd prefer the pro-one.

[steveman]

You've already got one Roland, so I'd go for the Pro-One, it'll give you something different. All depends on what you intend using it for in the end - can't get more different than a mono or a poly...

[synth.ignition]

Originally Posted by steveman

You've already got one Roland, so I'd go for the Pro-One, it'll give you something different. All depends on what you intend using it for in the end - can't get more different than a mono or a poly...

good advice here. spread out your manufacturers!

definitely too different machines but without the mks controller i think this is a no brainer. i have a pro-one and love it.

[Siem]

Just get a Pro-One you won't regret it. In the unlikely case you don't like it afterwards you can always sell it, they're quite wanted.
I've got two Pro-Ones I've never used a mks 80.

[jonnypowell]

I've owned both.
The MKS-80 is good, but make sure it's the rev. 4 and not rev. 5.
Very different sounding synths as they have different VCO's & VCF's.
I know there's a guy who makes a really good software editor for the MKS-80, but it is designed for Logic only.

The Pro-One is dope, but has a few things holding it back compared to the MKS-80.
A) It's mono-phonic
B) No memory for patches!!!

Like I said, if it's a rev. 4 MKS-80 - grab it, otherwise you're pretty sorted for mono-synths with the MS-20.

Jonny Pow!

[sleepwalker]

I've got the MKS-80 and it's an amazing synth. It's not the most flexible thing out there, but it sounds really good. I have had trouble getting it to talk to Midi Quest, so I'd be wary of the MKS80 unless you have an editor that's guaranteed to work with it.

I've got the mpg editor and that's what I use.

Originally Posted by Justynfromnz

so im at a strange juncture...i can afford only one of these synths but i cant decide which one...

in my synth land currently i have...

ms 20
korg early 80's gat synth
matrix 1000
juno 106
cx3
dx7
monopoly
poly 800

as far as a monosynth goes i love the pro one
funny seq , arp etc...sounds awesome...

but a jupiter in a box?thats pretty cool....
but it doesnt come with the controller pg mk 8million whatever thingy...so ill be sysex-ing or midi-ing it to tweak stuff. I cant afford to get the controller as well...

so what do you reckon?Ive only got 2.5 monosynths...
so maybe that would be the way to go?
but i've never owned a jupiter!
so maybe thats the way to go...!?!?

oh crap i cant make up my mind
can anyone shed any light for or against either of these?
thanks a bunch!

(ps-i must buy a synth...so not choosing either is not an option!Slutz for life)

[pwpi]

You've got a Juno 106 and in my experience there's not a hell of a lot I couldn't get the Juno to do that the MKS-80 was doing. I agree as well that the 80's a bit flacid compared with it's ivory sibling. Too bad, I love space saving rack mount units.

[sleepwalker]

Wow. I definitely differ with you here. The MKS-80 sounds loads better than the 106. Loads better.

Originally Posted by pwpi

You've got a Juno 106 and in my experience there's not a hell of a lot I couldn't get the Juno to do that the MKS-80 was doing. I agree as well that the 80's a bit flacid compared with it's ivory sibling. Too bad, I love space saving rack mount units.

[analogbass]

I've owned both, compared them directly:

The both have pros & cons technically, an edge to the Jupiter for convenience re: midi, polyphony, patch memory, etc. On the other hand the pro-one can be inexpensively midied and has an arpeggiator, is more easily programmed. A jupe without programmer is not bad BTW, just not as fast as an old mono. In fact i sold the programmer because using the cursors was fine, for me.

Therefore i'd say on these points it's close to a draw, depending on your priorities more than anything.

Keeping in mind that you already have polyphony from other synths:

-On the basis of convenience coupled with excellent sounds, Jupiter.

-If what matters to you more is sound, you have to decide which characteristics you prefer:

Pro One: as someone said more biting, edgier, more raw, deeper - bassline on Move Out, Yaz, Axel-F. Typical early 80s synth sounds including lots of industrial music like Skinny Puppy.

Super Jupiter: high quality analog-digital hybrid; something like a Prophet but smoother, not with the same rawness but slightly tighter & more articulate envelopes, very fast midi: bassline on Open your Heart, Isla Bon Ita, Into the Groove, bassline on Information Society tracks. More widely heard in the mid-late 80s.


I'd say that you'd probably want to have both. Having owned some of your other synths i'd say that the Jupe easily replaces the Mono Poly, and is more flexible, and the Pro One's also better than the Mono Poly. Likewise the Juno doesn't sound exactly like the Jupe but can be replaced by it for the most part, as well as your other synths. I'd sell those two and use the jupe AND a pro one, thereby getting a wider, better choice of sounds.

Juno and other Rolands have some similarities but don't sound that close to one another either.

[jonnypowell]

Once again, the rev. number is very important to your decision.
o you know if it's 4 or 5?

[analogbass]

The different revs don't sound that different IMO; the main difference is parts availability.

[jonnypowell]

Have you heard both..?
I thought that it must be minimal till I heard a rev. 4.
I bought a rev. 5 thinking it would be just as good, but they are heaps brighter and sharper sounding. The 4 is a different story, which is why they generally go for much more money cause they sound like a real Jupiter..

[analogbass]

Originally Posted by jonnypowell

Have you heard both..?
I thought that it must be minimal till I heard a rev. 4.
I bought a rev. 5 thinking it would be just as good, but they are heaps brighter and sharper sounding. The 4 is a different story, which is why they generally go for much more money cause they sound like a real Jupiter..

There are all sorts of myths propogated online; neither sounds like a Jupiter 8, which is another classic myth that it's a Jupiter 8 in a box when it's something else that is both similar and yet quite different. Different prices for different revs i've never seen that. The "difference" is often mainly a marketing strategy to pump up the sales price. The difference reminds me of a Prophet rev 2 and 3; some claim there's a difference, others think it's minimal. I can't tell the difference on records between different revs of vintage synths, bottom line.

There's a much more noticable difference between earlier jupiters and the super jupe than between revs.

[Justynfromnz]

man thanks for all those responses people!
they were great and very helpful...
but in true addict fashion
i bought both
and now although my credit card is a bit sick
in a couple of years it wont matter
i'll have forgotten the pain of paying it back
and ill still have two cool synths
i managed to get a kenton pro 4 in the deal too!
so thats cool as now the arp and seq on the pro one will be midi clock-able
great
although im tired now...
hey so does anyone have either a patch editor or a logic environment for the mks?
That would be swell
thanks again for all your help...the answers were really thoughtful and helped a bunchthumbsup

two jawa's and a dancing dude for all of you

[analogbass]

Good move; after using for a while you may find that a couple of the others you have are expendable.

[jkamata]

Originally Posted by Justynfromnz

man thanks for all those responses people!
they were great and very helpful...
but in true addict fashion
i bought both
and now although my credit card is a bit sick
in a couple of years it wont matter
i'll have forgotten the pain of paying it back
and ill still have two cool synths
i managed to get a kenton pro 4 in the deal too!
so thats cool as now the arp and seq on the pro one will be midi clock-able
great
although im tired now...
hey so does anyone have either a patch editor or a logic environment for the mks?
That would be swell
thanks again for all your help...the answers were really thoughtful and helped a bunchthumbsup

two jawa's and a dancing dude for all of you

true slut u are..congrats with the pro-one true beast it is!

[Kestral]

I owned the MKS-80 Super Jupiter with the programmer at one point and also owned a Juno 106 and Matrix 1000.

I personally preferred the Juno 106 for what I liked so I kept that and the Matrix 1000 and sold the MKS-80.

[analogbass]

Originally Posted by Kestral

I owned the MKS-80 Super Jupiter with the programmer at one point and also owned a Juno 106 and Matrix 1000.

I personally preferred the Juno 106 for what I liked so I kept that and the Matrix 1000 and sold the MKS-80.

Those Rolands are definitely different from one another-Junos, MKSs, vintage Jupiter 6/8s included. Some similarities, lots of variations.

[Kestral]

Originally Posted by analogbass

Those Rolands are definitely different from one another-Junos, MKSs, vintage Jupiter 6/8s included. Some similarities, lots of variations.

For sure, I found the MKS80 to be more midrange focused whereas the Juno 106 was a little more gentle in the midrange but had that wonderful deep bass, which is what I liked. My Matrix 1000 is very midranged focused as well and at the time, I was offered like $2600 CDN for my MKS80 so I took it and ran. To this day I feel no need or desire to own one ever again, don't miss it at all.

[Justynfromnz]

Originally Posted by Kestral

For sure, I found the MKS80 to be more midrange focused whereas the Juno 106 was a little more gentle in the midrange but had that wonderful deep bass, which is what I liked. My Matrix 1000 is very midranged focused as well and at the time, I was offered like $2600 CDN for my MKS80 so I took it and ran. To this day I feel no need or desire to own one ever again, don't miss it at all.

wow thats great!
did you have an editor too?or a computer based one?

[Kestral]

Originally Posted by Justynfromnz

wow thats great!
did you have an editor too?or a computer based one?

That was with the Programmer as well. There are some things that bother me with the MKS-80.

Each "Patch" is made up of two "Tones". Which is fine. The problem is, if you modify a Tone from one Patch, then it changes for ALL Patches that use that Tone. After about the third time I made a great patch only to find it killed a whole bunch of other previous patches, I said f--- this.

[Jesse Skeens]

Originally Posted by sleepwalker

I've got the MKS-80 and it's an amazing synth. It's not the most flexible thing out there, but it sounds really good. I have had trouble getting it to talk to Midi Quest, so I'd be wary of the MKS80 unless you have an editor that's guaranteed to work with it.

I've got the mpg editor and that's what I use.

No problems with MidiQuest here. I sold my programmer when I needed some cash and don't miss it too much now that I use MidiQuest.

There were a few bugs in their MKS-80 profile a while ago that I brought to their attention and they fixed, maybe this was your problem.