RM1x vs MC-303

S

Sherloq

New member
Hi all, last time I was here about 2 years ago I was asking people about getting a good sequencer to use with my SP-303 sampler.
The RM1x came out as the winner, and for the affordable price I went for it. I do not regret it one bit, in fact I am very attached to it and although I think I know it well I discover things on it everyday.
Back then I wanted to make hip hop and sequence songs properly, but the RM1x made me discover whole new genres of music, namely Techno which is what I focus on at the moment.
So why am I even considering changing my RM1x for a silly MC-303?
Well first of all the 303 has so many things I just do not use. Secondly it is big and bulky and thirdly it is not aesthetically pleasent next to my SP-303.:o
The RM1x is a good live machine, but from what I understand so is the MC-303, and all my songs are currently recorded live. This will also be useful given that I want to perform with it and it does seem quite portable.
Also the sounds on the RM1x are not the best, athough they are not as bad as some reviewers make them out to be. They can be tweaked quite easily but they are just not those Roland TB and TR sounds which I expect to find replicated to some extent on an MC-303, and those are the frequencies my ears require!!!
And I do like the look of it and the layout does look a lot more hands on the the cheap buttons and knobs on the RM1x. In terms of the display which is really good on the RM1x, I am not bothered as I have an SP-303 so I can work with those Roland 2 digit displays.
Well I just want an opinion from people who have used one or both of these, as most people seem to favour the RM1x and I dont want to regret swapping it for an MC-303.
 
Sherloq said:
but they are just not those Roland TB and TR sounds which I expect to find replicated to some extent on an MC-303, and those are the frequencies my ears require!!!
Click to expand...



You are very wrong in that expectation.

The MC is in no way whatsoever related to those other machines (aside from the fact that they share the "Roland" name.)


At most, it can only have samples of those instruments... no different than having those samples anywhere else.
 
The Rm1x rapes the 303. Both have ****ty PCM sounds that are almost useless in pro grade compositions, but the Rm1x is an AMAZING hardware sequencer that can grow with you set-up. Forget the 303 and pick-up an Rm1x.
 
The RM1x and the 303 are a generation apart. If you want to make a better comparison, start by looking at the MC-505. The E-mu XL-7 is also a contender.

...or you could replace both bits of kit with an MC-909/808
 
Yeah I've heard lots of good things about the rm1x for it's sequencing.
I believe the rs7000 is basicly an updated rm1x with a few extra sequencing bells, and whistles plus a pretty good onboard sampler.
So if you like the rm1x's sequencer, but need sampling the rs7000 might be your ticket.
 
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Yep. The friend I originally bought my RM1X off only sold it because he moved to the RS7K. I've sold off the RM1X to another friend - because all my sequencing's moved to software - but he's still using it for a lot of things (in an all-hardware setup).
 
i owned an rm1x for 10 years and it´s a horrible piece of hardware.
the sounds are not good,
it´s big and heavy,
and it´s, like the rest of the groove machines and workstations of that time, full of menus and submenus that makes the thing very slow and annoying.

i used the rm1x a lot some years ago till i got rid of it and started using just analog machinery, hoping not to come back to this type of gear never again.

but recently i got a mc 303 and it´s great.
it´s a worse machine than the rm1x,
and it has less sounds, less possibilities, less features ...
it´s also very annoying to use,
and it´s very limited.

but when i play it, it sounds very good between my analogs, it fits.
it has thick raw old synthesized sound although it´s actually rompler.
you enjoy listening to it.

the rm1x sounds just bland, you don´t care if it´s a good machine or not,
i just love my crapy mc 303 with all it´s limitations..
 
The RM1X is not really much of an improvement on the QY700 but it's alright for what it does, which is pattern based sequencing, there are some issues such as trying to sequence hardware while the phrase bank is selected will reset patch banks depending on the OS version of the RM1X, grid mode (actually step sequencing) only allows you to audition the part you are working on so you can't hear how it fits the other parts.

The menu system isn't too bad and most complaints I hear about hardware editing are due to people not learning how to navigate more efficiently, for example if you don't know which button changes the resolution of the encoders you are going to find changing values to be more tedious than it should be, learning hardware is more like memorizing keyboard shortcuts as opposed to using a mouse.

Most of the sounds in the RM1X are nothing to write home about and in my opinion it makes a better drum machine than synth because some of the drum sounds (such as that Amen Break sounding shit) are quite useable, there are quite a few parameters for tweaking the sounds but it's the effects section that has the most......these sounds are sufficient for sketching out a beat without the latency and jitter issues of a modern computer's MIDI in out ports but the main strength of the RM1X is sequencing hardware that doesn't sound like shit.
 
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