Questions about MC-909

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I got a chance to use a Roland MC-909 at a music store the other day and I really really like it a lot. But after reading on these posts I've read nothing but bad things. What I have right now is a DR-202 and a SU700. I like everythign about the DR-202 except I wish it had pressure sensetive buttons and I wish it had some mroe realistic soundign drum sounds. I like the SU 700 except that the sample stretching totally sounds like **** and the idea of chancing the pitches of the samples it way to complicated and furstrating. I was lookign for a replacemnet for these two thigns and the MC-909 seems to do everything better than both my machines do. Plus I played wtih it and made some really awsome sounding stuff in about 30 minutes of using it fr teh frist time. The sounds are very good and the pressure sensitive buttons and interface are really easy. I haven't gotten to play with the sampling yet because I didnt' have anythign to source from at the store but the guy there tells me very impressive sounding things. After reading the bad things about this I have a question though. it has no "multi sampling". could someone explain to me what this is? Also, what alternatives are there and what makes them better than the MC-909? Or perhaps any other paths I can take to get the same results as what teh MC-909 can do for me. I totally loved what I used so far and I really like the fact that it's all in one machine too. I just dont' want to makea dumb decision on equipment.
 
The sampler section is supposed to be it's strong point.
Don't read into reviews from people who don't actually own the piece.People who don't own something cannot possibly know enough to give a solid review.
 
Contenders? the Yamaha RS7000 I suppose... might be worthwhile to compare those two before making a decision.
But since you already have been using the SU700, I guess you're experienced enough to make sound choices.
 
mc 909

I'm considering the 909 also. I have been using and ASR 10 since they first came out. Before that I was used to using drum machines(pads). I've used roland gear before and understand the interface pretty well. I don't see anything wrong with the RS 7000 either. I feel that it's up to the individual. One thing is for sure. If you are looking for an all in one box the RS and the 909 are the only drum machine based boxes to consider. I think sometimes people get too caught up in the technical specs instead of creating and mastering their equipment. Some of my best material was made with an old Korg DDD-1 with about 2 seconds of sample time.
 
One after 909!!

I have a 909 & it's the S##T!!! I highly recommend this unit! They've listened to what the people want & have given it to them!!
Check with my boy at rs7000@doramail.com & he'll shoot you a stellar deal on ALL the goods....Supreme Dance card...Sample Ram....Smartmedia Card. He's got the best prices.

Do it,
Bobbyo
 
Hi

I bought the 909 2 weeks ago - it sounds great and is very easy to handle due to the big Display - the rest can be found & handled on the surface.
I guess up until nowI owned about every Roland and Boss Rhythmmachine - the last (after the 505) was the 307. DR202 and DR770 are still running along...sort of like a hardware-Reason..synced to Logic.
The first signifiing difference to me is: the MC909 can play rhythm patches on all 16 Midichannels - the former Groovboxes only had one part to play Drumkits, where as the drumkits where spread over several octaves which you had to scroll/look through to edit a single drumsound. The MC909 Rhythmpatches only cover the 16 notes that are accessable on the keyboardpads in the+-0 setting. This of course means that the factory placings of the drumsounds are not compatible to those of recent Grooveboxes (they are more like: 3 bassdrums, 3 snares etc). Of course you can use the same Drumpatch (Program) on different Midichannels (factorypatterns have the BD on CH10, the snare on CH11, Cymbales on CH12). This makes it a lot easier to controll single drumsounds. Plus: you can f.i. apply a different groovetemplate on every of the 16 tracks (parts/channels)!
Of course all of the features - synthesizer, effects, drums are much more powerfull than those of the predecessors, the used drumsamples for instance not as datareduced, the loops longer - which you can hear - even the 707/808 hihats sound "stronger".
The MC909 has 2 multieffects, one reverb- and one compressorunit. Each of the 16 parts can be routed seperately, for instance via the compressor to the first, then to the second multieffect. The multieffects are packed with all kinds of algorythms from hi-end to total-distortion, the significant controllers can be directly accessed by 3 controllerknobs. MFX1 has 38, MFX2 47 algorythms – the same as MFX1 + Delays.
As I mentioned, my MC is connected to Logic – "connected" is maybe a little understated...due to the digital (SPDIF) input/output (also makes it easy to create professional drumsamples for ext. use), the USB contacts (alows filetransfer: samples, all kinds of settings/programmings (no more bulkdumping!), standard midifiles...an icon of the MC apears on the Computer desktop, no driver is needed)...when you consider, that you can record a whole session into the MC via resampling (and master it within the MC!), eather beam (parts of) the session and/or the midinotes of the grooves into the Logic whilst the MC is running in midisync. These features let the MC apear as a big fat hardware-plugin and makes working a lot faster.
As I said, the MC is very easy to handle, some things are so obvious, that it sometimes took (me) a while to find a function which was placed directly under my nose. The big display shows samplecurves, pianorolleditor, patchlists (also by cathegories (keyboards, basses, synths etc...), effectroutingdiagrams, complete patchsettingsoverview... "visualized" I got to understand some features of older Rolands better,.
What more can I say ...yes Yamaha has an interesting machine...it’s got more to play around, as I heard...but no SPDIF, no USB as far as I know. The Roland is in a way ugly, because fat, which one of course quickly forgets when playing & programming. .. I think I’m loosing a few friends.... still: good buy! You get a very good synthesizer and very usable sampler (even if you own a seperate one – its worth it! ) on top, a bunch of inspiring drumsounds, basses – even the presetpatterns can be of some use, they are overloaded but have useful figures that can be (ab)used. As far as I informed, the Yamaha has a better ability of combing "figures" of different styles "on the fly" – which again I don’t need, because of the environment I mentioned above (+Reason+Live).
:cheers:
 
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anyone can tell me about the 909's filters ? how many types, how do they sound, etc.
 
i wont even give this hunk of **** the respect of listing its bad points in detail.

ive used it at length to "know the enemy" so to speak and i hate it.

for the price you can get a K-Station (synth) nd MPC (sampler/sequencer) and still hve money left over for mic and compressor!

roland is clutching at straws and "grooveboxes" are toys nd not to be taken seriously. the more they have tried to make the grooveboxes serious instruments the more overpriced and crap they are

YOU COULD make good music with one of course

BUT for the price you can get BETTER and more INSPIRING gear. thats my reason for the harsh words here guys. as a full time muso now i take my ger a little too seriously perhaps and roland keep offering nothing but unpromising toys.

K-Station synth at an awesome price, it has vocoder and audio in-line filters, wicked sounds.... and an MPC next to it.... youde blow the roof off
 
I HAVE OWNED MY MC-909 FOR ABOUT 5 MONTHS NOW AND I HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED 5 ALBUMS WITH IT THREE OF WHICH MY OWN BUT DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH THIS MACHINE THE POSIBILITIES ARE LIMIT-LESS PERSONALLY I DID NOT LIKE THE FACTORY DRUMS SO I WENT IN AND TWEAKED THEM THEN I RESAMPLED THE SAME SOUND AND HAVE THE BADDEST KITS YOU COULD THINK OF SAMPLING IS OFF THE CHAIN ALSO YOU CAN SWING THE WHOLE BEAT OR CERTAIN PARTS TO REALLY GET YOUR BEATS ROCKING I THINK I PRETTY MUCH MASTERED THIS MACHINE AND WILL NEVER GET RID OF IT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE THE MPC YOU REALLY CANT COMPARE THEM BECAUSE ONE IS A GROVE BOX AND THE OTHER IS A SEQUENCE/DRUM MACHINE SURE THEY DO PRACTICALLY THE SAME BUT THE FEEL OF EACH IS DIFFERENT AND THEY BOTH REIN CHAMPIONS IN THEIR LEAGUE ALSO THE MC-909 HAS A USER INTERFACE SOFTWARE FOR THE PC OR MAC THAT IS DOPE WHICH I USE TO MAKE UNIQUE CUSTOM ONE-OF-A-KIND PATCHES WHICH I SOLD A COUPLE IN A NUTSHELL YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THE 909 MOST PEOPLE PROBALLY ONLY PLAYED WITH THE BASIC FUNCTIONS AND COME UP WITH ALL SORTS OF OPINIONS BUT ONCE YOU LEARN THE MACHINE THERES NOTHING YOU CAN SAY BAD ABOUT THE MACHINE OR AT LEAST I CANT
 
I wanted a "box" style (as opposed to a keyboard style) workstation for some time. I took home manuals of the RS7000, MV8000, MC909, as well as MPC stuff. I've used the MPC series for years, and greatly respect it.

But...

In the end, after several months of deliberation, I decided to get an MC909. It works excellently for what I need it to do.

Unlike the MPC, it's got a built-in synth engine (not just included sounds), and a superior user interface for using that synth engine. The synth engine beats the RS7000 and the MPC series hands-down (with the exception of the MPC4000, which has a truly comprehensive synth/sampling section.)

The sampling engine is easy to use and powerful. I can record external or internal sounds, while listening to the internal sequencer or not, and recording the internal sequencer along with my samples or not, as I choose.

I can use USB to dump samples and sequences to and from my Mac and my PC without requiring any driver discs at all; it just works.

Of course it's nice, as domeki said, to have a Virtual Analog synth to go along with your 909 (if not Real Analog), but the 909's filters don't stairstep, and realtime controls respond quite smoothly.

The workflow isn't as smooth as the workflow on an MPC, and the instrument layout isn't so cut'n dried. But, the sampling facilities are more comprehensive, and you also have the option of using full multisampled instruments as sound sources. Also, the 909's effects are better.

The MPC is more sturdily constructed. (You'll want to take care programming the 909, as many of its controls are located physically on the front panel, immediately adjustable, as opposed to needing to dive through menus to find these functions. But, also, they're less immune to shocks, bumps, and hamfists.)

All in all, this is just my opinion.

-Hoax
 
And to MusickMan:

The 909 has the typical highpass, lowpass, bandpass filters, as well as the Roland "peaking" filter (which is basically a band-boost filter) as part of every synth voice (4 separate voices for every patch). There're the "alternate" lowpass filters 2 and 3, which seem to be basically shallower slopes on the filters, so as to leave more high-frequency energy present. Also, the Super Filter (assignable from 12dB/oct to 24dB/oct to 36dB/oct) is available as one (or both) of the multi-effects.

No audible stepping in filter cutoff, whereas my Radium controller keyboard steps audibly when controlling the 909's filter cutoff.

Hope this helps.

-Hoax
 
rs7k..?
i own one.. i think it will beat mc909's just "ok" sequencing(rs can do 10SECs over 16chs)n maybe that you can change your sampling rate will beat mc909's sampling on some points, specially if you do HIPhop n use lot's sampling, this will be big point rs7k has lots of knobs so u can easily twik the sound but MC also has knobs and i admit, built in sound of rs7k need some twicking B4 actually you can use them for trks, and it's not usb COMP. eighter.
when first mc909 came out rs7k users were saying that MC just copied the Idea of rs7k n upgrade to max..
oh well..
it's cool as box..
 
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Yep, RanCIDmilk is right: the Rs7k's sequencer really does rule. You can mix'n match different patterns on each track, which makes it really fast to get a groove up and happening. You can approximate this with the 909's RPS function (in which different instrument patterns are assigned to each pad, and you play them live), but that requires a bit of planning, and RPS performances aren't recorded into the sequencer - they're strictly for live use.

Yes, you can change sampling rate on the RS7k, which is nice. It's not so important for space conservation on the 909 as it is on the RS: a fully-expanded RS7k has 64 Mb of memory, while a fully-expanded 909 has 272 Mb. But the different lo-fi tones you can get by sampling at a lower rate are cool to experiment with. Of course, you could always resample the 909's sample-rate-reduction effect, but that'll require more memory. Which you do have to spare with the 909.

They're both cool boxes, and I've considered getting an RS to complement the 909, if only for the kick-ass sequencer and Master effect to resample with.

-Hoax
 
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The MC-909 will always be apart of my studio because you really dont need anything else to make hit songs except vocals. My first 3 albums were made with the 909 so now it has sentimental value. Any sound i can think of or humm can be created with the 909. I havn't put a sound card in it yet because there is really no need due to the fact you can come up with countless combinations of tones. You can tweak the 909 to any style of music. Even my rasta buddy does some amazing regae songs with the 909. I do R&B/ Hip Hop/ & Go-Go(Its a Washington DC thing). I just got an mpc1000 and I cant wait to MIDI it with the 909 but first I have to play with the mpc more but i can tell when i bring them both back into my studio together along with my Motif Rack, Triton Rack, ProCussion module, and the MoPhat module, You cant tell me anything. Im running all outputs into an Alesis Studio 32 (thats right 32 inputs and 16 outs) for that analog eq (no mouse can compare to the tweaking with knobs) then direct all 16 outs into a Roland VS-2480, mix it again then add vocals, master it right in the board, burn it, then...Church!!! Roland is the s#!t..
 
Cruel Hoax said:


They're both cool boxes, and I've considered getting an RS to complement the 909
-Hoax
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same here dude.. i m thinking of getting mc909 for same reasons... i can use mc with rs n play have fun..
as module, sampler, and cool usb comp.
it's only around 1000 on ebay now... wow..
hey hoax, since u have that, let me ask you.. why some EX-mc users dissing that..? i think that's why proce went doen so much on 909
 
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hey hoax, since u have that, let me ask you.. why some EX-mc users dissing that..? i think that's why proce went doen so much on 909
Click to expand...

Mainly, I think that it has to do with workflow. It's not as simplistic as an MPC. I mean, with an MPC, you pick a pad, put a sample on it, and hit it. The 909 has a deeper synthesis engine, so what you have to do is build a patch out of waves and/or samples, then play the patch. Also, there's no "Save all samples and Sequences" command as there is on the MPC. As mentioned before, samples are saved as part of a patch (which can contain 16 diffrerent samples as a Rhythm Set, or chromatic waves/samples as a Patch), and the sequence references the Patch.

Also, I think many people just dove in expecting the 909 to be no more complicated than an MPC, yet somehow add the "extras" (complex effect routing, deeper synth engine, more sample-editing capabilities, etc.) all by itself. Just as if somebody walked up to the RS7k and said "okay, I wanna push record and then record my 16 pads." Well, you can kinda do that, but the thing about the RS7k is its independent sequences of different lengths on 16 different tracks, then being able to lay out different arrangements under your fingers for muting and mixing. If you don't know that and just treat the RS as an MPC, you're missing out on all the good and unique stuff it can do. Kinda the same with the 909. Gotta read the manual.

Oh, and also it's fashionable to bash it as "another Roland piece-o'-crap groovebox". People don't realize that the word "groovebox" is a marketing term thought up by dorks to describe a drum machine with a built-in synth engine. It doesn't actually limit a piece to performing certain duties. It only specifies that these jobs must be able to be performed in realtime. If you like your workstation to be in keyboard form, you could legitimitely slam a box workstation for its interface. Likewise, if you like a pads 'n knobs interface, you could slam, say, a Motif for its tiny screen, lack of drum pads, and excessive size due to all those keys. Equally riduculous to do that. It's all about what you can make music with. Me, I like to slam the Triton, kinda as a joke, because I've worked so many sessions where truly awful, derivative, and uncreative music was made on it. But if I was to say that it's "just another stupid Korg workstation that relies too much on effects and hasn't really changed since 1999" would be stupid. Creative people can make good music with anything. Anything. ROMpler workstations, grooveboxes, softsynths, CV analog synths, drum machines, drums, hollow logs, hands... How can I possibly say what the right tool is for somebody else?

Me, I don't care what anybody thinks. It's a good tool for me, doing what I do, and that's all that counts in my world.

-Hoax
 
Did you know........

I just figured out how to put up to 4 samples on one pad and each one is triggered by different velocities so if you hit the key soft it plays one sample but if you hit the same key hard it plays a whole different sample, like the triton. Cool trick but dont know if i will actually use it making a beat but definitely to show off my 909. If im late on figuring this out...So what.. If you want to know how its done holla back.... Church!!
 
I do the same thing, only with 4 different samples of the same note or drum from an analog synth. Then I set up the 909 to switch between them randomly. Gives it more of that analog feel, rather than every-note-sampled feel.

I posted this over in the "909 tips and tricks" thread.

-Hoax
 
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