Super-7 €79

What happens if you weave a karaoke classic into a programmable sample-based instrument? The results from UVI will be Super!

Karaoke is something of a national pastime in Japan, and while other parts of the world may not share the fascination for public vocal humiliation to the same degree (although X-Factor comes close) it never prevented Roland from trying to bring a little bit of that magic into a domestic setting. Enter one such device, which harks back to the mid-80s. The MKS-7, also branded the Super Quartet, was a desktop and rack-mounted band-in-a-box, designed to bring karaoke to a living room near you.

Preset classics

The MKS-7 was a preset device, split into four sections providing bass, chords (synth), melody (lead) and drums. As it was preset, editing was severely limited. This was a colossal shame as the synth engine was borrowed from the Juno 106, while the drum sounds were similarly repurposed from the TR-707. Shortly after release, the MKS-7 completely bombed in price, leaving it to the tech-savvy to infiltrate the

MKS-7 with SysEx editors, allowing control of the onboard sound sources.

Thankfully, UVI have an extensive and highly enviable track record in sampling modules of this kind, which they have undertaken with their usual panache and detail. Running within their reliable, and freely available Workstation player (or Falcon 2 synth), the Super-7 is split into four segments, like the original.

Beginning with the drum section, UVI have included the 707 complement, but also added CR-78, 606, 626, 808 and 909 samples. Also included are elements from their excellent Drum Designer suite. It’s worth celebrating what we have here; the 707 has become a cult classic, with a sampled sound more akin to a Linn Drum, with additional representations from the everanalogue elements of the 808/909. Moreover, these UVI sounds are production ready, with solid weight and spirit. Simply fantastic. Somewhat regrettably, there is no drum pattern editor, but you can trigger preset patterns, while also triggering individual sounds from within your DAW. It’s also a simple procedure to export the patterns as MIDI files, for dropping into the DAW and programming potential.

Going Juno!

Over in 106-land, preset sounds are split between the Bass, Melody and Synth sections. While there’s similarity between these areas, the distinction is apparent through the preset content and its access to polyphonic operation.

The bass sounds benefit from that beautifully familiar 106 depth, and while there are a smattering of presets, UVI have sampled a huge number of 106 waveforms, combining Saw, Square, a sum of both and the sub. These are great startpoints for user patches, alongside the section’s arpeggiator. Meanwhile, the fantastic overdrive and equalisation sections shore up those UVI production-ready principals.

Let’s applaud UVI; the Super Quartet was a mostly-failed box with great charm. UVI have captured this spirit, providing multi-layeredpresets for an instant 80s karaoke soundtrack, with a single note trigger. The Super-7 gives all the 106-style samples from the ground up, with an additional multimode filter, which provides a versatile colour as an addition to the sampled content. Add extensive effects, two envelopes and tons of programmable options and this is a nifty way to get a 106 and 707.