hmmm

Yamaha RS-7000
Yamaha RM1x
Roland MC-505
Roland MC-307
Roland MC-909 (comes out next month, Roland's answer to RS 7000)
Korg Electribe M

any more?

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All rhythm evolves around a kick...

I have a MC-303 and access to a MC-307......
except I find them limited in Synths.....

I have an mc 505, and well, it s ok. I made some really nice things with it. But if things get really serious, it is too limiting. For the moment I have to control 2 extern synths + a sampler and things get very complicated, an mc505 is not made to do such a things, that's why i'm gonna buy a pc very soon. Another thing is that sequencing difficult leads can be hard sometimes but it is VERY powerfull to sequence drums (tr 909 style) (this song was made using only the mc 505 for sequencing, this could give you an idea what it can do http://users.pandora.be/dezma/DeZmA...pic%20Dream.mp3 ). Synth engine is really good if you do some tweaking, you can make it sound very pro. Sure, (virtual) analog synthesis sounds better then s&s but you can assign 4 tones (samples) to one patch over 8 tracks and each tone can have it's own adsr and filter settings, I consider this as one of the most powerfull features of the mc 505.

Rm1x is a very good alternative for mc 505, 16 track sequencing whereas the mc 505 has only 8 (BUT with 8 rhytm mute tracks) but the synth engine is a lot weaker (2 tones and just one simple lp filter + less adrs posibilities). Also, it is cheaper then a mc505 so If you want kickass sequencing go for rm1x, if synth engine is most important, go for 505.

I would personally not choose a groovebox with onboard sampling.. but a stand alone sampler (such as yamaha a series, emu esi series, akai s series). Of course they are more expensive but then again, you'll go A LOT further with these.

I don't know the korg M, so i won't discuss that one.

Pseudocoder... mc 303 was crap if you compare it to 307 and 505. All those who say 505 sucks never tweaked it or tested the octave button on the low boost

Hope this helped you a bit

Last edited by DeZmA on Oct-02-2002 at 19:16

That helps a lot - thansk for te demo song

That track is SWEET!
Did you use any external samples or is it all onboard the 505??

thanx, this was my first demo.

As i said all sequencing is done with mc 505, I muted/unmuted all tracks realtime. The lead is done with my an1x, the overdrive arpegio is done with the korg ea-1, the open hi-hat is from the er-1. drums/pads/bassline/riffs are out of the mc 505 (with some tweaking of course)

So the 505 was the master, and you slaved the sampler? Can you show a photo or diagram of the setup??

On a side note: Can I control any parts of Reason from my 303

Whats a good sampler for the money...something that is visual (waveform based)

an1x, ea and er are in fact synths that are not sample based but have synthesis. I did not use an external sampler for the song. The mc 505 can send tempo data and pattern begin data over 8 channels so the other synths are autmaticly beatmatched.

I don't think you can send channels from reason but you have to do it with another sequencer (you can run reason in tempo with this sequencer with rewire)

this was done on a midi patcher so a diagram would not be relevant here

samplers : try to get a 2nd hand akai s3000xl or yammy a4000, these are visual, but you can always do the loops on computer and then send them to the sampler (the way i will do it with my a3000) so would not really leave a good sampler for visual waveform display.