MSQ700 + JX3P weird behavior.

Hey guys. Any tech here? My stuff is fully serviced... the MSQ700 is in great condition... works great. DCB/MIDI. When I hook up my JX3P to the MSQ700 (midi in for replaying notes to JX3P) and midi out to input notes into the MSQ700... when I dial in the custom patch... which works flawlessly... and I switch from PG200 position to MIDI position on the three-way JX3P switch... and start playing the synth or sequencing it with the MSQ700 it changes the timbre of my patches. Like it's the same patch. But the timbre starts to be "formant" and deeper. I don't get it. I have a full 100% high pass on that patch... Is the MSQ700 damaged, or JX3P is acting sus, or is this some vintage behavior I am not aware of? If any tech could clarify I would be most grateful.

How do the patches sound without the pg200 plugged in? When you are switching to midi it is turning off the pg200. I am wondering if it is changing your signal when it is on (which might be an issue) then when you turn it off you are noticing the difference of it no longer influencing the sound.

Note: I am not a tech just someone who owns a jx3p and pg200

Hey. Yes I got it plugged in but you need to switch PG to midi mode in which it is no longer doing anything to the synth. It’s weird.

Ever fix this?

Hey Jim. I haven’t yet. One thing that I notice when MSQ-700 is on is that it produces a constant “transformer hum”. I was looking into manual and it states there clearly it’s working with radio equipment internals. As for Juno-6 operation via DCB bus it works flawlessly. I have literally no idea.

I assume you've tried different midi cables to eliminate that possibility. I would open her up and see if the midi out jack has any lifted pcb traces on its pins to start (assuming its pc mount, I've never seen one with flying leads but only the bell tone yeam would know for sure, those guys have seen it all). It can happen when pcbs start pushing 40 and have been exposed to temperature swings. Next I would think about any capacitors in the midi path. If there are electrolytics in the midi circuit or in part of the PSU that's only for powering midi functionality they wear out eventually... and polarized caps can reverse polarity if they get old and have gotten too warm at the end of their life which is really bad for supported circuitry. Midi power rails would be supply branches at 3.3v. Humming isa bad sign for PSU stability.

It could be from a dead voltage regulator IC or Z80 processor chipif there are separate chips for midi and sync. Z80s are obsolete but readily available. Voltage regulators have been hit by the chip shortage.

Update: Thinking it over it seems like its sending cc messages over midi with note data. Which is odd because I didn't think the msq could do anything but note on off? It's been awhile since I've seen one lol! Old tech.

Either that or its something wrong with the synth where it's not holding all of the programmer data when not receiving programmer messages.

Hey there. Enjoying a beer after a while, American style lager with nice gold color. It's lovely. Light and crispy. A little bit better than Coors Light. Although that one is a nice choice too. I am using https://www.roland.com/global/products/rmidi-g3/ solely for MIDI connections as I am not taking any second chances with cables anymore. If we would be speaking solely in terms of cables then the Roland gold-plated ones are my best bet for mono and Warm Audio/Gotham for TRS/balanced connections right now. That has solved a lot of stuff lately.

As for the suggestions, I will try and see myself. I have opened MSQ-700 once and found there were couple screws loose from the PCB build. I haven't checked the midi path and PSU yet but I guess that could be it. I think what you propose makes more sense actually as the DCB is working well. It has to be something with the midi path internals and maybe even PSU. Thank you! I thought it was a great catch really but I believe the guy who sold it to me had no idea about the condition. Well, he couldn't know anyway. Most these days have no idea about analog circuitry and how it works anyway...

As for the sequencer itself. It's a lot of fun. You read the manual once and you are ready to go, really. As for the pair with vintage synths... they are a good fit. The step input mode is amazing. You can build full track-long riffs solely on that. Very close to the built-in JX3P internal seq but that has less length under its belt. You can arp and swing it really easily. They go for good prices as well. Even though the situation with that was better in earlier days now that's for sure. If I won't be able to make it work then I will try some rep. It's a vital piece.

I just have hundreds of Hosa midi cables and toss them without regret when they go bad. My policy is to always have at least twice as many cables as I need for any application, even stuff that stays hardwired. Once my spare stash dips below that number I order replacements in bulk.

See my last post for other ideas. As for hum, anything made before 92 should probably be recapped now before a catastrophic failure that could take additional support circuitry with it if the caps are polarized or decreasing in value. Even 90s gear us getting old enough where only the nicest electrolytics will have a lot more life and that life could be off spec performance.

I will look into service manual if there is one. And then measure it. All of these are possibilities. The sequencer is really advanced for its time, lol. Right?

Maybe it could be on JX3P as well. I will look if there is an option to disable CC and program changes... maybe that could be it...

Apart from these minor issues and the fact that my AX-60 came with a blasted key that I will be repairing soon... I had loads of fun. Now I only need to finish my stereo outboard path with some Stam Audio... stereo Pultec, 1176+ tube clones, and SSL bus comp with Fairchild mod and I am ready for a 1-hour record based solely on "vintage" arp riff improvisations recorded live through my insane FX chain. The footwork for that is already done. I have one 30 min track that is based around an arp that multiplies itself generatively and bounces between 8 OSC + sub in para. And a very killer, warm AX-60 arp. I will be sending it to a good master engineer in the US but I really want to beef it all up before it hits the A/D. Not taking any step down in quality here. Even though that's subjective.

How about you? Holding on quite well I assume? :).

That sequencer is all digital apart from the PSU which is why I focused on that... in that realm everything in the early midi era relies on z80 processors. Your synth might have a bad z80 too... or the programmer. These things go. They were being pushed really hard in these machines. Gligli has mods that replace them with more powerful chips that will never be taxed and the mod adds functionality to the synth with new firmware that takes advantage of the increase in processor performance.

That's some classy outboard you're investing in! Great choices. For drum buses let me recommend the drawmer 1974 eq to follow stere fet compression or matched distressors. I've been using a overstayer stereo fet here lately with spanky results.

Yeah, you are right. I will probably take my babies to rep in due time anyway. So they get re-serviced. Or try some of the renovators that are close. Who knows what's next in this setting. They always state it has been serviced on Reverb but who really knows if that's true? Hosa cables I have tried that as well. They have failed me miserably in normal studio conditions. I have learned that investing a little bit more into the premium really pays off in the end. I am not talking about any Planet Waves or these "lifetime warranty" brands... they actually became quite obsolete by now in my opinion when Warm Audio and Roland introduced their cables that are of absolute quality. I have heard the difference when used in conjunction with class A analog gear and outboard, even euro. I am planning to replace all my patch cables between pedals now with Warm Audio. What comes close to Roland though is the Boss line which is of similar build and components.

That sequencer is all digital apart from the PSU which is why I focused on that... in that realm everything in the early midi era relies on z80 processors. Your synth might have a bad z80 too... or the programmer. These things go. They were being pushed really hard in these machines. Gligli has mods that replace them with more powerful chips that will never be taxed and the mod adds functionality to the synth with new firmware that takes advantage of the increase in processor performance.

This could be a great mod actually. I will look into this thank you humbly for this lovely tip! I want to make my setup as bulletproof as it possibly gets right now.

I quite like the wa cables by Gotham but I have mostly proco stuff in audio cables and the odd mogami loom where critical... instrument level cables are kirlin. My favorite guitar cable is a spectraflex I bought when I was like 15. I do have some warm mic cables that are quite nice supplementing mogamis. Patchbay cables and eurorack are a mix of stuff. Anyway, for balanced +4 lines driving modern impedance over 600 ohms I don't feel the cost/benefit of slightly lower capacitance cable is worth it. I can hear a tiny difference but unless I were doing mastering or doing an old style matched impedance connection at 600? Meh. I can deal.... of course any permanent install cables that aren't looms or db25 I makemysef and typically use terminal blocks or Phoenix connectors and then I have some spools of really well specced cable from the telecommunications and broadcast industries.

This could be a great mod actually. I will look into this thank you humbly for this lovely tip! I want to make my setup as bulletproof as it possibly gets right now.

I think gligli ir kiwi will have a mod for you. Hit up google.

That's some classy outboard you're investing in! Great choices. For drum buses let me recommend the drawmer 1974 eq to follow stere fet compression or matched distressors. I've been using a overstayer stereo fet here lately with spanky results.

Well "classy". They are not the most expensive options out there. But from what I gather it will really add to what I have already used. Also Pro Channel 2 so I can run stuff in stereo through two of these in the pre-amp stage, one of their stereo comps, and TransY fet-based stereo comp just to make it a little bit more beefed up. I like multiple compressor stages in succession... as I like delays/reverbs and other processing. I am fond of Warm Audio stuff quite much but Stam seems to be using a better transformer and internal component pairs, to begin with. You can switch tubes for NOS as well and they seem to have quality in their workshop. Warm Audio has nice color, it colors very well actually. But Stam seems to have more headroom and that is very important for me if I want to push these to get overtones, and extra warm harmonics, and still retain more high-end. When comparing results from VST plugins, ITB processing (dynamic processing), and the real deal... it's a no-brainer. Most of the ITB stuff gets clipped awfully and squashed down into mud that I don't really like, really.

one thing to keep in mind with what you hear from all these low capacitance and resistance snake oil cables is the improved specs are less audible with proper impedance connections. While synths and some modern pedals are nominally line level they're not +4dbv and while low impedance capable of driving a typical 100-250kohm line input they're not always 50-100 ohms output so the cable specs take on greater significance. By the time my synths get to outboard processingthesignsl is 50 ohms at +4 and the difference between a mogami and even a hosa is leveled out considerably.

I have the warm bus comp and really like it. With transformers disengaged and 5534 opamps the warm is very SSL. The components in an SSL g aren't special. It's just a good detector circuit. With the discrete amps and cinemags its different, quite nice. Cinemag is an excellent transformer company on par with jensen as both have roots in the old electradyne, quad8 and sphere family of recording consoles which also are related to the later api through a shared opamp designerand mci and harrison consoles thru jensen and hardy and their branch of discrete opamp design from the original electradyne amps. I could talk component manufacturer history all day. Anyway... I tried the transy fet. Sent it back. Art's good dynamics units are the VLA optos and their pwm limiter if you need hard limiting without coloration. Based on the old disontinued mxr stere rack limiter popular in live sound for decades. Drawmer makes some cool, affordable bys compressors including a fet... you can't go wrong with an RNC or RNLA either.

Got links to you and your setup in action? The recent stuff like the 30 minute arp improv?

I don't know if any of my clients have posted my mixes yet or where to look... I'll have to ask. I am totally putting off bouncing stems for a rock band who can't afford me now that drums are done... I should actually do that soon. Ugh.