EP 066 · 70 MIN YOUR SV7 CODES ARE DEAD. USE SV6
Midjourney V8.1 Review & Reactions + Wen Edit Model?
The short version
Episode 66 is Rory and Drew's hands-on review of Midjourney V8.1, which both call an unambiguous upgrade over V8: three times faster, native 2K, and personalization profiles that finally feel reliable again. They find old SV4/SV5/SV7 style-reference codes broken, only SV6 survives, test Describe and mood boards against Nano Banana and Grok, and conclude the real unlock is still the promised edit model.
Key takeaways
- 01
Midjourney V8.1 is a resounding, 'objectively true' upgrade over V8: about 3x faster and 3x cheaper, with native 2K as the new default resolution.
- 02
Old SV4, SV5 and SV7 style-reference codes don't work in V8.1 — only SV6 survives, so re-test your saved style codes before relying on them.
- 03
Personalization profiles are now 'the anchor of all the quality' you get; without one dialed in, V8.1's base output is noticeably weaker.
- 04
Describe got a rewrite but still isn't one-to-one: it missed a Modelo bottle's gold leafing and a subject's gender, though Nano Banana reportedly nails the bottle.
- 05
Higher --exp values still push V8.1 toward blue-and-pink color casts; Drew caps his own use around 5 and won't go past 20.
- 06
Text is finally integrating into scenes instead of sitting on top like a Canva overlay — one 'touch grass' prompt hid the word inside a textured background.
- 07
The edit model is still the unlock everyone's waiting on: Midjourney says it's upgrading the existing V8 edit model to an 8.1 base, ETA a few weeks out.
Receipts · said on the record
“The true test for me was, am I pushing the button over and over and over again? And the answer was yes.”
“The 8.1 is legitimately good. It's good. But the real inflection point, like we've been saying, is the edit model. That's got to be legitimately great in order to start pulling people back in.”
“Reve is really good. Grok is actually like my sleeper. I was just like awesome.”
“Well, I got some news for you. SV7 isn't supported with 8.1. So that's interesting. It's gotta be at six.”
“For me, the more blue and pink it got. It just took my profile code and just launched it into another dimension.”
“I changed my Claude folder to a basketball texture. I changed this to a spray paint, created a smiley face graffiti. I created a Sony a7III camera, which is the one I have.”
Chapters
- 0:00:00 Intro and v8.1 arrives
- 0:01:05 Is v8.1 actually better than v8?
- 0:04:09 The edit model is the real test
- 0:06:22 Should Midjourney even chase video?
- 0:10:07 v8.1 needs more prompt depth
- 0:12:07 Mood boards feel usable again
- 0:14:28 Testing the new describe tool
- 0:21:00 Personalization profile matters most
- 0:22:09 Text tests and object recognition
- 0:23:57 “Photo” vs art and stylize tests
- 0:29:54 Why v8.1 feels a bit like v6
- 0:30:43 Old style codes hit differently now
- 0:42:08 sv7 issue and style-code confusion
- 0:45:47 Missing parameters and what still works
- 0:47:26 Hidden text tests and image weight
- 0:49:57 exp tests and behavior shifts
- 0:52:35 Grid view and the alpha site
- 0:54:50 Office Hours, 8.2, and edit timing
- 1:03:27 Custom Mac folder icon detour
- 1:09:01 Wrap-up and parting nonsense
Questions this episode answers
Is Midjourney V8.1 better than V8, according to Fast Hours?
Yes — Rory and Drew call it an unambiguous, 'objectively true' upgrade: about 3x faster and cheaper, native 2K by default, and personalization profiles that finally feel like the anchor of quality again after V8's inconsistency.
Do old Midjourney style-reference (SREF) codes still work in V8.1?
Not all of them — testing live, Drew and Rory found SV4, SV5 and SV7 codes don't work in V8.1, while SV6 codes still do.
When is Midjourney's new edit model coming?
Per Office Hours notes the hosts read on air, Midjourney is upgrading its existing V8 edit model to an 8.1 base with an estimated timeline of a few weeks; Drew says he'd rather it ship later if that means it's actually great.
How does Midjourney V8.1 compare to Nano Banana and Grok?
The edit-model gap is still the main thing pulling users to Nano Banana for consistency and detail work (like an exact bottle label), while Rory calls Grok his 'sleeper' pick for fast, cheap generations with a bit of Midjourney's own magic.
Does Midjourney V8.1 still have the blue-and-pink color problem?
Yes — Drew says pushing --exp higher still skews his personalized outputs toward blue and pink, so he caps his own use around 5 and avoids going past 20.
Show notes
Midjourney finally dropped v8.1, so Drew and Rory did what any responsible adults would do: generated way too many images, argued with style codes, stress-tested text, and immediately started asking whether the edit model is the part that actually matters.
In episode 66 of the Fast Hours podcast, the boys dig into why Midjourney v8.1 feels way better than v8, where it still falls short, and why this release feels less like a victory lap and more like Midjourney finally arriving at the version v8 probably should’ve been in the first place.
They get into faster generations, native 2K output, mood boards, prompt depth, describe, personalization profiles, text rendering, image weight, --exp behavior, old v6 style-code weirdness, and the growing sense that the real make-or-break feature is still the edit model.
They also get into how Midjourney stacks up against tools like Nano Banana, Grok, Reve, and Luma, why image generation still feels fragmented across platforms, and whether Midjourney should even bother chasing video or just go all-in on images, editing, and control.
Then, because this is still Midjourney Fast Hours, the episode somehow ends with a deeply important discussion about custom Mac folder icons.
If you care about Midjourney v8.1, prompting strategy, style references, AI image workflows, generative art tools, or where Midjourney is actually headed next, this one’s got the goods.
