The Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter is a rack mount sound module version of the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizers. It is an 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer that Roland manufactured between 1984 and 1987. It is the only one of the MKS series of synthesizers to have analogue voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) instead of analogue digitally-controlled oscillators (DCOs). The voice architecture is almost identical to the Jupiter-6 synthesizer. The service manual states that "The module board of MKS-80 features the following in addition to that of JP-6, its brother module. 1) HPF. 2) Low boost circuit in the 2nd VCA. 3) DC supply current boost circuit (IC50)."

In February 1985, Roland started producing a new revision of MKS-80, known as "Rev 5", with a new generation of both Roland VCOs, VCA and filters. The Rev 5 filter was also used in JX-8P, JX-10 and MKS-70 synthesizers.

Features[edit]

The voice architecture of the MKS-80 is fully analog with 8 polyphonic voices with 2 voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO) per voice, using the Curtis CEM3340 VCO integrated circuit. The unit also includes one voltage-controlled filter (VCF) and one voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) per voice.

The MKS-80 has a 64-patch internal memory (8 banks of 8 patches each) and an optional memory cartridge called the M-64C with room for another 128 (2 banks of 64 each). A full MIDI implementation is built into the MKS-80, with MIDI IN, OUT and THRU jacks positioned at the rear of the unit.

External programmer[edit]

The MPG-80 is the optional programmer designed specifically for the MKS-80, providing direct access to most of the MKS-80's features. Using a special cable, the MPG-80 connects to the MKS-80 via the Controller port. When used with an MPG-80, the MKS-80's MIDI IN port is not used in favour of the MIDI IN on the MPG-80.