If anyone knows more about the Roland MPU-500, let us know. This is the first post to feature one.
It was spotted by Riva Lima on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge Facebook Group. I ran a quick Google search and I couldn't find much info, but I did find a car cigarette style adapter for it on Amazon! You know, for the one person out there that wants to use it in their car. They also have a standard replacement adapter for it. The adapters are actually from MyVolts who make chained power supplies for the Korg Volcas and Roland Boutiques.There is no manual for the MPU-500 on Roland's manual archive, but I did find the following references:
"MRD-500 RHYTHM BANK - S-MRC (PC ONLY)
This is the Roland MRD-500 Rhythm Bank software. This file contains many rhythm patterns for the MC-50/MC-50mkII or MC-500mkII MicroComposer. Use the PKUNZIP program to uncompress this file to a floppy disk."
MRM-500 SMF CONVERTER (PC - 57K)
"This SDISK file is the MRM-500 Standard MIDI File converter for the MC-500 and MC-50. This SDISK file is the S-550 Library Converter for the S-50 sampler."
Misterious...
ReplyDeleteI have actually acquired it out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteSince there is no reference on the net at all,
seemed pretty rare. Now, for the fun part, it
is in fact MC-50 MK2. Mainboard is clearly
marked as
MC-50 MKII MAIN BOARD
ASSY 79704C5000 00
MADE IN JAPAN
Actually, you can tell just by looking
at the box. Externally it is identical
to MC-50 MK2. The only difference is the
color. MPU-500 is cream and MC-50 MK2 is
black. If anyone is interested, I can
post some pics from disassembly.
Please, send us pictures from him! This is very rare!... How many were produced, was it a trial version? I didn't understand the acronym MPU500
Delete