soulbirth Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I'm doing some recording at home and I'm looking for a nice, affordable, realistic sounding drum machine. I'm hoping someone can give me a crash course in what's hot/what's not in the drum machine world. thanks---kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben One Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I am familiar only with the Alesis drum modules/machines, so here are my thoughts. If realistic is what you want, I can vouch for the Alesis DMPro. It has tons of high-quality sounds and you should be able to find it for just under $500. If affordable and easy to use is what you want, I recommend the SR-16. It has a great programming interface and the drum sounds are highly acceptable for many applications. You can find it for under $200. In between is the Alesis DM5, which is about $350 and has more realistic sounds than the SR-16. Hope this helps! Ben Eddie Jobson Tribute Projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daBowsa Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Yep, the SR-16 is a quality, easy to use device. Make sure you check out the Boss ones - they might surpass the Alesis stuff in features and sounds. I know a guy who recorded an entire hip hop album using a Dr. Rhythm - I was blown away when he told me. The $300 DR stuff can play bass parts, chords, etc. on top of the drum tracks if you want. It may not seem like you need/want that now, but at that price its worth it in the future to have a never-tiring rhythm section to practice soloing over certain progressions, or bass lines. Current Dr. Rhythm lineup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I don't know anything about Alesis drum machines, I've always used Roland. Check out the Boss (Roland) DR-880, which was introduced at Summer NAMM. Roland's web site has a video demo on this new machine. I was impressed with how easy it is to program compared to previous machines. Lists for 549.00. Intro price of 499.00 at Sweetwater, which includes free shippiing. Shipping in October from what I've read on-line. Cheers, Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Yes, the DR-880 looks very nice and the Roland machines have evolved a lot over the years. I had a DR-660 for a few years and finally sold it a few weeks ago. It was replaced by my Emu command station in hardware and Battery on software. I wonder if the DR-880 has the samples from the SRX Drum ROM? Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Hey Robert...According to the NAMM Video, the DR-880 does come with the SRX drum sounds. It's a lot easier to program than my R70, but then I learned a lot about drums learning how to program it. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fiala Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 If you have an emu machine / command station, then check out the "protean drum" rom. Pretty darn good for acoustic drums...and pick it up cheap on e-bay. Tom F. "It is what it is." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bat63 Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 I too,second the SR-16,especially since they're giving it away at Sweetwater for $150.An improvement over the HR-16,it has a feature called "Dynamic Articulation" which allows a drum to mimic velocity changes,rather than just upping the volume on the sample.It has basic stuff like tuning,panning and volume control(for each individual sound)and you can even stack sounds.Also sounds are assignable to any pad that you wish.And a good deal of these samples have their own reverb as well. I still demo out with this unit because it has good,timeless drum sounds that are still solid. Of course they are much more "modern" machines out there,all with different price points,features and whatnot.Go check them out,but,if you just want something that's a steal for the money(and not a big footprint) get an SR-16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Peasley Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 A slightly older, but big favorite with a lot of folks is the Yamaha RY-30. Good pads, good sounds, cards available (on Ebay mostly) with additional sound sets, even a mod wheel that can be switched between a filter, pan, pitch, decay. Why glory be, I seem to have one right here that I'm going to list on Ebay next week! Well, I'll give you first shot if you're interested PM me. Of course, don't just take my word for it, ask around about this unit. And on Ebay, check out the "completed" sales to see what it's actually been selling for on Ebay. That way you won't bid yourself out of the normal price range. M Peasley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulbirth Posted August 14, 2004 Author Share Posted August 14, 2004 thanks for the info. I think I'm leaning towards the boss 770. seems pretty affordable for all the rave reviews i've read about it. well, I'm off to ebay. kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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