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«  Opinion Patch »

Published on 03/01/12 at 01:42
I do not have an MKS-50 Alpha but Juno2.
I just want to make some corrections to other reviews:
- Attention to the confusion: multiple waveforms does not necessarily mean more oscillators! In this case, the Juno does not have COD 3 but only one. The thing is that it can generate a rectangle (pulse) and a saw-tooth (Saw) simultaneously. With a sub-oscillator for low noise and a more present. But still: it is only one oscillator! It therefore does not possess the features made possible with more COD (VCO): detune, transpose, FM, sync, ring and cross modulation, ... ... ... For example, the series JX (JX-3P, JX-8P ...) have 2 COD them.
- The envelope generator is not an ADSR (as the J106) but a 4-segment envelope. The difference is negligible pa: an ADSR has 4 parameters (ADSR. ..) while that of Juno (and therefore the MKS) possesses 7 (T1/L1, T2/L2, T3/L3, T4). The possibilities are not the same!

UTILIZATION

Without PG-300, the editing is done via the alpha dial. It is less friendly than buttons on a J106 but this is all at attainable.

I personally did not need the manual for the part editing sounds'.
on the other hand, such as editing MIDI is done with Sysex, MIDI charter at the end of manual suddenly becomes indispensable.

SOUNDS

The sounds are actually typical of this type of machine (analog polyphonic mid-80's at a tilt).
That is to say, quite nice, absolutely not realistic, but always enough typed in its place the pieces in need of synthetic sounds.

I like tablecloths, pads, some E-Pianos and some bass. All sounds 'imitators' (realistic sound) for my taste are just bad and difficult to use, often as electronic sounds ...
On the other hand, today, those who want realistic sounds that will provide more than one pattern Juno ...

OVERALL OPINION

Whether the Juno or the MKS, it is excellent ... in his field!
I have other analogue machines (J106, Oberheim Matrix-6, Yamaha CS15, Kawai K3M), a lot of digital (K2000, TG77, Wavestation, R3, SuperNova, ...) and, anyway, my Ju- 2 is always helpful to me: it has a little 'je ne sais quoi' of its own and pushes me to always use it, almost like new!