Roland Hardware Sequencers

This obviously is the little brother of the mc-909. it combines a synth with a secuencer and a sampler. the addition of the sampler is really nice, and sets it apart from other grooveboxes. the downside is that roland really wants you to buy a mc-909 (at about 1800 euro) so the quality of the sampler is not so good. it sounds like an 8bit sampler. i think this is because the audio looper is not of good quality. whenever you put a loop in the looper, it starts to sound a bit crackily... the other downside is that it only has room for 4 audioloops. this means that you can not play more than 5 loops independently. (you can merge loops, but since this 'groups' the loops, you cannot play those loops indepently of each other anymore) The synth on the other hand does sound very FAT. it's only a monophonic sound, but it's great to make those acid sounds. the sequencer is kinda limited. but it does have tb-recording, wich basicly is the way you'd programe your tb-303 (and up) this is great for recording drum-patterns. from a drum perspective it is a 303! this is good news for all you 303 freaks out there... if you are looking for a 303, i'd say go for this little box!!!! (i probably souldn't say this but i personely think the 303 drum sound are not all that, but because it is so much reverred, i'll just keep thinking i don't know how to get those wicked sounds without any help from a compressor or something) the sequencer is very simple, and does not have a lot of features, it only allows you to programme 2 x16 steps. again, it compares with the tb-303 sequencer. the 09 also has some fx onboard, again, do not think of it as a great multi fx, it has some okay fx, that's it. anyway, a 303 with an sampler and asynth and a sequencer and fx for this price is not bad at all!!! Price paid 299 euro ($300) UTILIZATION It's ok when you get used to it (this is my first groovebox, i have played with a tb-303 in the past) when you are not familiar with the weird 3 digit abbriviations, you'll be condemmed to read the manual. wich is no fun to get throu but gets you there in the end. this box lookes and feels very solid. apart from the poor'ish sound, this is VERY MUCH groovebox for your money. SOUNDS Aside from the synth, wich i really love, the overall sound quality is not overwhelming. like i said, to me it sounds like 8bit (my old amiga500 sampler) exept form the synth, again, this sound FAT! OVERALL OPINION This is my first groovebox, and i love the 'hands on' feel, so yes, i love it a lot. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003)

-96 khz of sampling. -More Drum Kits. Price paid $2000 UTILIZATION Very after you spend time. Nothin beats time invested you'll learn without knowing. It has a real great design. SOUNDS The sound quality on this machine is great. The features is off the hook; sampling, making beats, its like pro tools in a box for beats. crisp sound, intense editing features, u can edit each sound on the pads individually; volume, LFO, Amplifier and much more for the quick edit feature. Mastering tool kit, Pix jam. It is truly a piece of machinery for you if your trying to create a different sound, especially if your on a decent budget. This machine obtained the Remix Award. An optional card can be installed MV8-OP1, this adds 6 analog outputs Speakers etc., digital and coxial inputs and an R-Bus connectors, those are just to connect to other devices, digital recorders etc. You can also add the MV8-VGA; this allows you to connect a screen and mouse to use it like an station, it doesn't just operate it uses a software, 3.0 is the latest version. This includes pattern and sequence mode, drum grid editor for all you fruity loops users; the drum grid editor makes those hard drum parts easier and you can change the velocity on every note easy as hell. With MPC you always have to switch pages. It allows you to make finished beats and songs. The downfall of this is you can't connect a condenser mic but you can record on a workstation and transfer vocals and master them and create finished songs. This piece of machine is living up to 'Production Studio'. but i cant make you buy it, in this business you can't just buy things because of wut you heard. The MPC has always been raw though, its that hardcore drummin'. I plan to get the 4000 next year. The MV-8000 is new in the game, you'll hear producers like us in the street talkin bout the MPC, thats wut everbody know about, I be killin niggas with this even producers who been doin it longer than me (grown men) they cant believe i'm so knowledgable. You have to do research and find wuts comfortable fo you. It still needs more time to develop, but when they do, u can get the free updates. OVERALL OPINION I wouldn't change it Its an MPC and a half. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Rudeboy_407 ( 7-, 2005)

The Roland MV 8800 is an all out monster. You can do pretty much everything on it, I was in guitar center for about 3 hours just messing with it when they had it set up. It attracted me right away. Probably the only reason I didn’t purchase it is because of my MPC 5000 which is probably the only sampling sequencer that can compete with the MV 8800. The MV 8800 just provides so many things that you can do with your music. One of the main things that is crazy to me first is that you can hook up and monitor to it which is KEY. Because you don’t want to make a whole project on the built in back lit screen. Also, you can plug in a mouse for the internal software that it uses. Not to mention the ability to use software synths or vst’s right in the MV 8800. This might be the first of its kind, im surprised the mpc hasn’t implemented most of this stuff yet. UTILIZATION I cant say its really easy to understand all of the functions of it, it will take some time jus to get familiar with everything but Roland has made the MV 8800 about as simple as it possible could. So when using the MV 8800 for the first week or maybe more depending on your ability to learn fast you will need the manual. You will need to keep the manual close by too because has you keep moving forwared with your project you will hit a few bumpbs in the road that will keep you from moving forwared so you will need to look these things up fast. SOUNDS The sounds are realistic and the pads are great, not as good as a feel on the MPC line though but very close. Its as close as you will get to an MPC but you really cant compare it to the Akai MPC because this just does a lot more. So it will really come down to what you need out of a sampler? OVERALL OPINION Overall, I love it. Its pretty expensive though but its worth every penny. Plus I think they have a new model out for it or are working on one that is suppose to blow this one out of the water. It could be my next big purchase.

The Roland PMA-5 (Personal Music Assistant) is a unique portable MIDI device. I don't know exactly for what years this was made, but it has to be at least twenty years old. It's a Palm style device that sits right in your hand and contains a variety of MIDI sounds, a sequencer, rhythm patterns, and an arranger. Of course something like this is a bit outdated, but it's still a cool thing. The PMA-5 needs power from a nine volt power supply and consists of both a MIDI input and output jack, and a 1/8" headphones output. I believe it can run on batteries, but I'm not sure what kind since when I've tried it it has been with a power supply. UTILIZATION The Roland PMA-5 isn't the easiest device to use, but it was pretty forward thinking and is probably a little strange to use just because it's older. It's still not incredibly hard to use, it's just going to take a little messing around with. The screen is a touchscreen, which is pretty cool for such an older device. I haven't looked at a manual, but if you wanted to learn everything about the PMA-5, I'd say it's going to be required reading. SOUNDS Most of the sounds on the Roland PMA-5 are general MIDI, which is in general pretty cheesy. Having said this, I don't know what more you'd expect from something like this that is of it's age. They do make portable sound modules today and I'm sure there are some devices out there like this one, but this is the only one of it's type that I've really seen. It definitely does have a nice collection of general MIDI sounds and otherwise, as well as a ton of patterns to choose from which is cool. It would definitely be possible to conjure up a little all in one track here, which is the point after all. OVERALL OPINION I don't know how easy it would be to get your hands on a Roland PMA-5 nowadays, but I would think there would be some of them floating around out there. The studio I work at has one of them floating about, but it certainly doesn't get used, or at least I haven't seen it used by any client. I've really only messed around with it just to see what it was all about, but haven't used it for any serious musical purposes. If you're after some cheesy sounding general MIDI stuff only, there are easier ways to achieve it than this. I would really recommend seeking out a Roland PMA-5 as in general it's not going to be worth much. If you can get one cheaply or just happen to stumble upon one, it's fun to play with but I don't think it's going to be a viable music making tool in the modern world.

(Originally written by Libreesprit/translated from Audiofanzine FR) See Roland's website UTILIZATION Comprehensive and clear user's manual. It includes a quick start guide explaining all main functions. With lots of references to other chapters. So you'll need to make a lot of copies if you want to have everything you need without having to look it up in the user's manual. Easy configuration if you understand Roland's concept. Many button combinations (Shift + ...) but all basic functions are easily accessible from the front panel. SOUNDS The factory presets sound "modern" but I'm still looking for more authentic sounds (for Latin instruments for example). Until now I haven't found a sound bank for the 808, except for the sounds of the included and VERY intuitive software. The effects are good enough to color the sound, but if you want more accurate effects you'll have to use an external multi-effects processor. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for six months (about 2-3 hours a day). Great product if you take the time to understand it, but it will still remain complex if you don't know music theory because it's a music instrument! I don't know much about music theory so I had to work really hard to learn how to use all functions. It's a great product that allows you to produce good music. Value for money is ok. The SD card offers enough storing capacity and the sample memory can be extended (see Roland's website). Would I buy it again? Yes because its versatility allows me to spare the use of any additional synths. The motorized faders and additional functions are a delight. If you want an easy and ready-to-use device, don't buy it! But if you like sound tweaking and creation, buy it!

The D2 Groovebox has some very nice features. The MEGAMIX button allows you to replace part of a pattern with that of another one, and SONG mode lets you enter patterns in a specific order, so that you dont have to always be selecting patterns all night. $250 UTILIZATION Very easy to use, once you read the manual, which makes perfect sense. the only part of the interface i dont like is the multifunction jog wheel. if you want to jump back and forth between lots of patterns, better use the song mode. When i first got it, there was a stability issue (i.e. freezing up occaisionally). i called up tech support and a very helpful fellow told me how to fix it. easy as pie! SOUNDS I would have to say that this thing sounds great. The sounds are definately focused on techno and hip hop. The low frequencies in the presets could be a tad bassier though. OVERALL OPINION I love this thing so much. youd have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers:-D Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 1-, 2003)