And today we’re gonna be talking about computer speakers, and in particular, computer speakers

*you’ve* been talking about on my comments for the past year.

These are the Roland MA-12C Micro Monitors, released in 1990 for about $300 US dollars per pair.

Yeah, with an original asking price like that you’d expect them to be awesome, and I’m

happy to report that they absolutely are.

They’re also quite eye-catching, as just about every time I’ve shown them in the

background of an LGR video there are always comments saying as much.

And it’s not just general compliments, I’ve received no shortage of questions about them

as well, ranging from what exact model of Roland speakers they are, why they have so

many knobs and why they come in identical pairs, how they hook up to a sound card, and

whether or not they’re worth buying and using today, along with various opinions regarding

the Roland logo printed on the faceplate.

And I’ll go ahead and respond to that last one right now: that Roland logo is great and

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And no there's no sponsorships or anything here I just have always liked Roland, ever

since I was a kid.

I lusted after everything from the Roland MT-32 and Sound Canvas sound device options

in my favorite computer games, and was absolutely enamored with the capabilities of each Roland

synthesizer I came across in music stores around town.

Heck, half of my MIDI Mountain consists of Roland hardware, because when it comes to

retro PC games for DOS and Windows, it’s rare that you’ll regret going with Roland gear.

So naturally, I wanted some Roland speakers to go along with it.

While I was lucky enough to find these Roland MA-8s for a good price while thrifting, I

was a bit disappointed in their build quality.

They look slick and they sound pretty decent compared to your basic ‘90s computer speakers,

but the plastic feels cheap, the audio input broke after a week, and they’re lightweight

enough that they often slide around.

That led me to the Roland MA-12Cs, which I’d seen in various articles in old computer magazines,

praising their quality with statements like, “if money is no object and you simply must

have the best set of mini speakers in the business, Roland’s MA-12C micro monitors

are hard to beat for both expense and performance.”

And they just looked boss.

Heh, yeah pun intended, they’re also sold under Roland’s Boss brand as the MA-12V.

And while those looked great as well, I really wanted some beige speakers to go alongside

my various beige CRTs and PCs from the ‘90s, because it’s doggone appropriate.

And they’re easier to find and a bit less costly it seems, selling secondhand at around

$60 a pair back in 2017.

And finally, the MA-12Cs are specifically built with internal magnetic shielding so

that they don’t interfere with computer parts sensitive to magnetic interference.

Far as I can tell the MA-12Vs don’t have the same shielding, at least according to the manual.

I also love that the MA-12C manual specifically shows it hooking up to the MT-32 as an example,

so in terms of wanting something period-appropriate for my PCs these are pretty much ideal for

what I was looking to accomplish both aesthetically and technically.

They’re also built ridiculously well, encased in a beefy plastic shell that’s wrapped

in a band of rubber to prevent sliding and dampen surface vibrations, and with a sturdy

metal grille to protect the speaker cones.

Each unit weighs in at two and a half kilograms, or five and a half pounds, so if anything

their weight also lends them credence.

Even the built-in power cord is a beast, with each speaker boasting one of these substantial

cables that just screams “AMPLIFIER.”

Each speaker is rather large too, much more akin to studio monitors rather than the typical

kinds of desktop computer speakers you’d more commonly see in the ‘90s.

They aren’t built to the specifications of a studio monitor, and they don’t sound

as good as say, my Mackie CR4 reference monitors, but that’s fine by me.

The MA-12Cs each feature a single 10 centimeter 6 ohm mid-range speaker outputting at 10 watts,

more than enough to make DOS games and MIDI music sound lovely.

[Jazz Jackrabbit gameplay]

[passport.mid plays through Aureal Vortex 2 wavetable]

Again, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but they are by far the best computer speakers

I’ve ever heard from the time period, and combine that with the look, build quality,

and Roland fanboy branding, and they’re a no-brainer for me.

I also love that you get these knobs on each speaker, which tie into an active circuit

for adjusting the bass and treble, along with the amplifier for volume.

This is a welcome option for those that want, or need, to adjust stereo separation and acoustics

to make the best of tricky room layouts and hearing situations.

However, that’s not to say this is convenient, because ah, it’s not.

Every time I want to turn them on you have to do so for each of them individually, and

the same goes for adjusting the volume.

Unless that is you connect them to a power strip and an external audio control box of

some kind, which is exactly what I do when I set these up.

The minor complications that may or may not bother you at all continue around back with

the inputs and outputs.

There are three mono inputs on the back of each unit: microphone, instrument, and line,

with line being the port you’ll use with a PC for line-level audio from a sound card.

Now, I’m not normally one to complain about quality quarter-inch jacks like this

I love me a thick jack.

But when it comes to plugging speakers into a 486 PC or whatever, unless you’re exclusively

using an MT-32 and MPU-401 or something, you’re probably dealing with a stereo 3.5mm audio jack.

So in most situations you’ll need a cable like this, which of course Roland was happy

to sell you for an additional thirty bucks or something.

You get two one quarter-inch mono jacks on this end, which combine into a single 3.5mm

stereo audio jack on the other end.

So yeah, not a huge deal, just a step beyond

the majority of easy-going desktop computer speakers I’ve used.

But the result of all this is that you get high quality, magnetically-shielded, well

amplified, retro computer speakers that I think look fantastic and sound wonderful.

[Duke Nukem 3D gameplay explodes forth]

Obviously you’re not gonna hear how they actually sound through a YouTube video, but

to me the sound profile has just enough of the high and low end for PC games to sound

authentic as well as pleasing.

And there’s practically nothing in the way of noise and distortion, you can crank the

MA-12Cs up dangerously loud without any issue and as long as you have a nice grounded connection

they sound just as pleasant when nothing is playing at all.

So yeah, to answer all those questions you’ve asked me:

the Roland MA-12Cs are great speakers, retro or not.

About my only complaints are the inconvenience of using them and setting them up, and the

fact that they don’t have a headphone jack on front.

Not a big deal, I rarely use headphones on retro PCs, but I feel it should be mentioned regardless.

And that’s it for the MA-12Cs!

To sum it up they’re awesome for old computer speakers

and I recommend the crap out of them if you can find them.

And yeah, lemme know in the comments what you thought about this kind of video, whether

or not you’d like to see more, or if you still have questions.

Either way there are new videos every week here on LGR so I hope you enjoyed enough to

check back for that.

And as always thank you very much for watching!