When Roland released the MKS-70 in 1986, they essentially took the legendary JX-10 keyboard and distilled it into a compact 2U rackmount module, making it the last full analog synthesizer the company would manufacture. This wasn't just a shrink-down job—it was a thoughtful redesign that combined two complete JX-8P synthesis engines into one cohesive unit, giving you the depth of a much larger system without the footprint.
The sound engine is built on 12 voices of polyphony with dual digitally controlled oscillators per voice, feeding into a resonant 24dB analog low-pass filter that's responsible for much of the module's warmth and character. You get four-stage envelopes for shaping dynamics, onboard chorus and delay effects, and portamento for smooth pitch transitions between notes. The MKS-70 stores 100 patches and 64 tones internally, with support for external memory cartridges if you need to expand your sonic library. MIDI implementation is comprehensive, letting you integrate it seamlessly into modern setups, and the optional PG-800 programmer gives you hands-on control over parameters that would otherwise be tedious to edit from the rack face itself.
The MKS-70 has aged remarkably well in studios and live rigs worldwide. It's particularly celebrated for lush pad sounds and analog brass and strings—the "Cello Orchestra" patch is genuinely one of the best pad sounds ever created, and the "Soundtrack" tone remains a favorite among sound designers. Musicians like Vangelis, Josh Wink, and Astral Projection have relied on it for decades. The main criticism you'll hear is that front-panel editing is cumbersome without the PG-800, but that's a minor inconvenience given what the module delivers sonically.
