Nice work. Just wondering is the MIDI interface on this unit faulty? There are plenty of free editors for JX8P that work fine with MKS70 and a pair of MIDI cables.
Thanks! I've tried several options and none worked: apparently the JX-10/MKS-70 has a bug in its MIDI implementation which prevents real-time sysex editing from working. I've read about it here also (www.colinfraser.com/jx10/jx.htm), so I decided to make my own mod instead of using existing ones, mostly because of my love for tinkering :P
Awesome job! As a musician with enough knowledge of electronics who can read and understand schematics and does repairs, but can't code, I understand what you have achieved. Compliments. I have MKS70. Looking forward to your future videos.
I clicked on this thinking, "oh god this young man is gonna circuit bend this amazing synth". Was pleasantly surprised to see one of the best technical run downs of how a particular vintage synth actually works. This was not going to be some random hack job. While it is true there are ways to access the voice parameters via midi CC or sysex it's not really up to real time control of the entire voice. Fantastic work!
These units were really well built compared to what's done in nowadays. i'm starting to learn digital electronics myself these days (i build analog gear for a living). My teachers are the Socrates, Plato and Aristote of digital audio : RA Penfold, Don Lancaster, and Hal Chamberlin... Great job man...
Brilliant! Clever hardware and software modifications. I suppose the 16n faderbank is the midi controller pictured, to adjust parameters. Very impressive work.
Interesting as an engineering effort! But I wonder, what problem are you solving that is not already solved? There are MKS-70 editors out there, both free and paid. Is the midi board in this unity faulty or something?
@@AndrewJohnClive I get it from a hacking perspective, but what he is using it for is still already solved since there are editors available. And the title is click-bait... "unusable"? No, it is not, welcome to UI if the late 80s = menu-diving deluxe 😀
@@patsonmusic I hear you, and as an owner of a number of 80’s Roland “minimal” interfaces (and a Yamaha SY77 for my sins) these things are no stranger to me, but what this fine man is giving the general populous, is the knowledge to do this yourself, not just to wait for someone else to do it for you. Regardless if it has been done before, for your average person, what he has exlpained is a dark art. Give a man a fish etc…🙏🏼❤️
You could have saved yourself a lot of time by just getting a PG800 off of ebay and using that to program your synthesizer. You already have ROM v1.08 so you have all the MIDI bugs fixed. If this is still not satisfying to you, there is something called a 'Vecoven" mod that you can buy which turns the MKS70 into a while new synthesizer by adding new waveforms, PWM, and a few other goodies. But all that aside, I am glad that someone is digging into the internals of the MKS70. It's always been a mysterious synthesizer. I should dig mine out of the closet and reform the capacitors since I haven't used it in about 5 years.
I had no idea service manuals with actual schematics / block diagrams were a thing. By the way, amazing job reverse engineering this thing. Pls keep posting new stuff!
Cool video, thank you. 00:20 Well I'm not sure the MKS-70, a kind of JX10-P in a rack, had "digital oscilators". Maybe 2 DCO? It means the oscilators are not digital (no DSP), they're analog oscilators but digitaly controled, they will not get out of tune after 30 minutes 😉 ( DCO=Digitaly Controled Oscilator) Seem picky, yes, but it makes quite a difference. Regarding making a computer interface for it I would do the simple layman's way: the Sysex chart of the MKS70 and the Logic MIDI Environment (or an other application whch can send sysex). You can do that without opening the machine. I remember, in the 90s I did that for my TX81z, my Juno1, my K5, etc... Convenient. But, well I'm a simple guy without any real electronic knowledge.
There is a very useful editor for iPad which simulates PG-800 well with MKS-70. What would be nice is to have a working patch librarian as the patch management is a nightmare. Vecoven made some great improvements to the assigner by a flash memory add-on making the synth more updated midi wise. This is a must upgrade!
Amazing video! Please provide links as the other commenter noted, if it’s not too much trouble. I’d like to learn how to do these types of projects myself!
it's strange the MKS-70 midi implementation is quite complete and can remote control every parameters! Furthermore midi quest provide a graphical implementation of the roland midi sysex implementation! Not mentioning that there is video on youtube whose are using the PG800! You're device is faulty, no mod are needed! Should investigate! Usb is worst than Midi. How do you add a thru physical remote control with your usb mod! Worst than better!
But… there are already so many programmers available, both software and hardware? Whose price reflects what you get, because with Retroactive you open up so many possibilities the original and the Stereoping doesn’t. Also, the PG8X soft synth is free and does exactly what the JX-8P does. Aaaaaand you have bazillions of presets and custom patches available for download… I really can’t see the reason why you had to re-invent the wheel once more. 🤪
Because… it's fun? I totally see your point, but I'm doing this mostly because I like to build electronics/software and understanding how it works. With this video I'm just trying to share some minor stuff I learned and my passion for the topic. Apart from that the Retroaktiv, while very cool, it's an order of magnitude more expensive than what I did here. I'm not trying to dunk on their work, just showing an alternative that worked well for me. If we consider everything as already done what would we do videos about? :P
I have one of these rack modules and I purchased the Vecoven upgrade which adds Pulse wave modulation, but they require desoldering and modification to each sound board and I decided it was beyond my skill level. Any suggestions on who could do the upgrade? And would it be possible to add a second LFO to module?
now do the MKS-100 so i can take just its ADC/DAC and sampling RAM circuitry out and put it in a box that doesn't whiegh six billion tons and stick almost 16 freakin inches into the rack
@@famitory hahaha the MKS-100 is fun, i have an S-50 which is very very similar (same sampler chip). It would be cool to decap it and dump the internal FIR coefficients for the interpolation, then it would be possible to have a perfect software emulation of it. The operating system of the S-50 already works on MAME
It's known fact that Roland screw up MIDI in Jx10/MKS70 and I AM shocked that you bought it without reading anything before purchase. Anyway Try Vecoven mod
I could tell you are a software engineer by looking at your arms and shoulders.. You look like youve been in a concerntration camp. Go and put some energy into phsyical training.. It will save your life
Nice work. Just wondering is the MIDI interface on this unit faulty? There are plenty of free editors for JX8P that work fine with MKS70 and a pair of MIDI cables.
Thanks! I've tried several options and none worked: apparently the JX-10/MKS-70 has a bug in its MIDI implementation which prevents real-time sysex editing from working. I've read about it here also (www.colinfraser.com/jx10/jx.htm), so I decided to make my own mod instead of using existing ones, mostly because of my love for tinkering :P
Awesome job! As a musician with enough knowledge of electronics who can read and understand schematics and does repairs, but can't code, I understand what you have achieved. Compliments. I have MKS70. Looking forward to your future videos.
Great work, respect! And great music as well. You’re a true multi talent…
Fantastic work. This and your work on MAME is great.
I clicked on this thinking, "oh god this young man is gonna circuit bend this amazing synth". Was pleasantly surprised to see one of the best technical run downs of how a particular vintage synth actually works. This was not going to be some random hack job. While it is true there are ways to access the voice parameters via midi CC or sysex it's not really up to real time control of the entire voice. Fantastic work!
@@cali4tune thank you!!
This was in my "watch later" list for a while and I'm glad I finally watched it ! Great job !
These units were really well built compared to what's done in nowadays. i'm starting to learn digital electronics myself these days (i build analog gear for a living). My teachers are the Socrates, Plato and Aristote of digital audio : RA Penfold, Don Lancaster, and Hal Chamberlin... Great job man...
Brilliant! Clever hardware and software modifications. I suppose the 16n faderbank is the midi controller pictured, to adjust parameters. Very impressive work.
Interesting as an engineering effort! But I wonder, what problem are you solving that is not already solved? There are MKS-70 editors out there, both free and paid. Is the midi board in this unity faulty or something?
He’s showing anyone who’s interested how to go about it.
@@AndrewJohnClive I get it from a hacking perspective, but what he is using it for is still already solved since there are editors available. And the title is click-bait... "unusable"? No, it is not, welcome to UI if the late 80s = menu-diving deluxe 😀
@@patsonmusic I hear you, and as an owner of a number of 80’s Roland “minimal” interfaces (and a Yamaha SY77 for my sins) these things are no stranger to me, but what this fine man is giving the general populous, is the knowledge to do this yourself, not just to wait for someone else to do it for you. Regardless if it has been done before, for your average person, what he has exlpained is a dark art. Give a man a fish etc…🙏🏼❤️
@@AndrewJohnClive He is definitely worth a fish or two 😉
Very impressive work! And I was even impressed by your music. Good job! 👍
Uhh... buy a PG-800?
Grandissimo! Una stupenda dichiarazione d'amore per il reverse engineering!
This sounds like the Panzer Dragoon sound track on Sega Saturn
Outstanding work - just amazing.
You could have saved yourself a lot of time by just getting a PG800 off of ebay and using that to program your synthesizer. You already have ROM v1.08 so you have all the MIDI bugs fixed. If this is still not satisfying to you, there is something called a 'Vecoven" mod that you can buy which turns the MKS70 into a while new synthesizer by adding new waveforms, PWM, and a few other goodies. But all that aside, I am glad that someone is digging into the internals of the MKS70. It's always been a mysterious synthesizer. I should dig mine out of the closet and reform the capacitors since I haven't used it in about 5 years.
I had no idea service manuals with actual schematics / block diagrams were a thing. By the way, amazing job reverse engineering this thing. Pls keep posting new stuff!
Cool video, thank you. 00:20 Well I'm not sure the MKS-70, a kind of JX10-P in a rack, had "digital oscilators". Maybe 2 DCO? It means the oscilators are not digital (no DSP), they're analog oscilators but digitaly controled, they will not get out of tune after 30 minutes 😉 ( DCO=Digitaly Controled Oscilator) Seem picky, yes, but it makes quite a difference.
Regarding making a computer interface for it I would do the simple layman's way: the Sysex chart of the MKS70 and the Logic MIDI Environment (or an other application whch can send sysex). You can do that without opening the machine. I remember, in the 90s I did that for my TX81z, my Juno1, my K5, etc... Convenient. But, well I'm a simple guy without any real electronic knowledge.
Nice work. I have a MKS-70 with a fried CPU-card. I will try this out. I also have a JX-10 and a PG-800 so this will be a cool addition.
This is incredible! Well done man!
Genious outstanding job
There is a very useful editor for iPad which simulates PG-800 well with MKS-70. What would be nice is to have a working patch librarian as the patch management is a nightmare. Vecoven made some great improvements to the assigner by a flash memory add-on making the synth more updated midi wise. This is a must upgrade!
amazing Job !! serious !!
Amazing jam at the end 🎉🎉 well done
You can trust a guy that has an SY99. :)
Amazing video! Please provide links as the other commenter noted, if it’s not too much trouble. I’d like to learn how to do these types of projects myself!
Oops almost forgot sorry! Here it is: github.com/giulioz/mks-zombie
But why??? Doesn’t all this box do all of it via midi interface?
Great Job! Can you this for a Lexicon PCM 70?
amazing !! great job! and thank you for documenting and sharing!
it's strange the MKS-70 midi implementation is quite complete and can remote control every parameters! Furthermore midi quest provide a graphical implementation of the roland midi sysex implementation! Not mentioning that there is video on youtube whose are using the PG800! You're device is faulty, no mod are needed! Should investigate! Usb is worst than Midi. How do you add a thru physical remote control with your usb mod! Worst than better!
But… there are already so many programmers available, both software and hardware? Whose price reflects what you get, because with Retroactive you open up so many possibilities the original and the Stereoping doesn’t. Also, the PG8X soft synth is free and does exactly what the JX-8P does. Aaaaaand you have bazillions of presets and custom patches available for download… I really can’t see the reason why you had to re-invent the wheel once more. 🤪
Because… it's fun? I totally see your point, but I'm doing this mostly because I like to build electronics/software and understanding how it works. With this video I'm just trying to share some minor stuff I learned and my passion for the topic.
Apart from that the Retroaktiv, while very cool, it's an order of magnitude more expensive than what I did here. I'm not trying to dunk on their work, just showing an alternative that worked well for me.
If we consider everything as already done what would we do videos about? :P
Very cool!
Great reverse engineering, loved the breakdown!
there is an Ipad Midi app!! I use it in my Jx 8p and it works fine with the IK Midi interface.
I have one of these rack modules and I purchased the Vecoven upgrade which adds Pulse wave modulation, but they require desoldering and modification to each sound board and I decided it was beyond my skill level. Any suggestions on who could do the upgrade? And would it be possible to add a second LFO to module?
Massimo rispetto!
very nice! subscribed 👍👍
now do the MKS-100 so i can take just its ADC/DAC and sampling RAM circuitry out and put it in a box that doesn't whiegh six billion tons and stick almost 16 freakin inches into the rack
@@famitory hahaha the MKS-100 is fun, i have an S-50 which is very very similar (same sampler chip). It would be cool to decap it and dump the internal FIR coefficients for the interpolation, then it would be possible to have a perfect software emulation of it. The operating system of the S-50 already works on MAME
It's known fact that Roland screw up MIDI in Jx10/MKS70 and I AM shocked that you bought it without reading anything before purchase. Anyway Try Vecoven mod
Bel video!
💥💫 Thats awesome! WOW thanx a lot! invite you to join us.
That's one hell of a paperweight
Absolutely amazing job. It's a bit of a glorified VST tho :P
Except it's real analog.
I could tell you are a software engineer by looking at your arms and shoulders.. You look like youve been in a concerntration camp. Go and put some energy into phsyical training.. It will save your life
Not cool man
Anyone asked for life style advices?
Stop being judgemental about 'difference'. Have you heard about DEI? Probably not!
You sound triggered, Im guessing you have noodle arms too. Soyboy @@MrArpSolina
Seethe @@jukka-pekkanissinen1371