Berhinger RD 9 or Roland TR8S ?

[perpetual3]

Yeah, I think the second hand market has them real cheap.

8s also make a great 11 fader and 44 knob (?) midi controller which you can use simultaneously with the on board sounds if you wish. Faders and knobs are great.

Giving me GAS big time.

[Constructed Identity]

These are both GAS items you don't need for your style. They will probably just slow you down TBH.
If you like phat, get the RD 9 and a mixer for the individual outs. But RD 9 is really for House/Techno.

[Trancer]

Thank you for your answers.

Concerning the Mpc, I hesitated to take the Live 2 and was really very interested in the X SE.

Then looked a little on the internet and saw a lot of problems with the touch screen, the screen which freezes and bugs during the update, I revised my purchase choice.

I hope I won't have any problems with the screen on my Force.

What is missing on both the Force and the Mpc is an HDMI connection to output to a larger screen.

So the Mpc solution not my choice.

I had a Jomox at the time, from a machine point of view, excellent sound, very punchy, fat.

On the other hand, bugs and product tracking not great.

As already said, it is essential for me to have an efficient, reliable, functional machine with an inspiring workflow.

Thanks for the video link.

The TR8S recently received an update.

Roland has a certain follow-up on the TR8S, which is not the specialty of this manufacturer.

The TR8S is a sort of best of Roland.

If Elektron could make a machine using the Analog Rythm MK2 / Analog Four MK2 (with more voices) and the latest Syntakt machines and with a more simplified workflow (more front panel control) it would truly be an ultimate machine.

I even thought about taking a Vermona drm1 mk4 at one point and sequencing it with a BeatStep Pro.

Vermona has character and excellent possibilities.

But like all pure analog, no saving of presets.

On the other hand, Vermona is simple and effective to use.

[Trancer]

Since a Studiolive 32sx, I could very well use my mic inputs (with an adapter) and connect the RD 9 outputs to it.

Indeed, very typical Techno.

Not really a Trance type machine, apart from using samples.

Now, any machine can certainly be hijacked to achieve a certain result adapted to its needs.

[mothra]

What is missing on both the Force and the Mpc is an HDMI connection to output to a larger screen.

Come on now, this is inMusic we're talking about. The SoC inside the entire MPC/Force lineup has an HDMI output, but they probably didn't want to pay the royalties to use it. After 4.5 years with my Live, I'm about ready to toss it for good with the way inMusic has ignored the sampling features (and MIDI bugs) and begun concentrating on selling plugins for it..

[DrGonzo]

The TR8S can do way more things, such as playback your own samples, has digital effects, and so on. But I never did like the Roland workflow so I hardly use it. I plan on sampling it and using the various drums that way.

Yeah, the same story here. I owned a TR8S for a brief time but I sold it. Excellent specs looks fantastic on paper, but the workflow wasn't for me. The RD9 is great because it's basically just a 909 and the workflow is just amazing.

[egbert101]

Wow, I just noticed they added CR-78 ACB versions for TR-8S in the latest update. Nice!

[Trancer]

Thank you for your answers.

The Roland workflow is special, but a little easier to learn than at Elektron, but it's still Roland.

Really complicated apparently to have a good machine with an intuitive, inspiring workflow without going through lots of menus.

It really destroys spontaneity and creativity.

It is clear that the RD 9 is in a way an improved TR 909, therefore more direct access and therefore it must be much more pleasant to use than a TR8S which certainly offers many more functions and possibilities, but to the detriment of the workflow.

Except that the RD 9 mono output.

Version 3 of the TR8S.

[sin night]

The mono output is not really an issue (you just set the pan in the middle), I’m more concerned about the chance of needing a lot of additional processing (but maybe I’m biased because of my experience with the Drumbrute that arguably requires more fx than any 909-like drum machine). If you need to add a bunch of pedals and use individual channels, it quickly adds up to the cost and the complexity of the setup.

Speaking of the TR-8S, the workflow is not bad. You have to go through menus (or use the app, which I installed but I never use) to set up the kits (it’s an unavoidable consequence of having a lot of sonic territory), but then programming patterns is quick and easy. A big limitation is the pattern length: unless I’m missing something, you’re limited to 16 steps only; if you need more, you need to chain multiple variations (you have 8 - A to H). It’s acceptable as a performance instrument, but not ideal. And also worth mentioning, I’m not aware of any way to select the variations through midi (you can control other sound parameters, you can select the pattern, but not the variations as far as I know). But, as said, pattern programming is easy…

As far as pattern programming goes, the Drumbrute and the Beatstep Pro are the quickest and easiest to use in my experience and they go up to 64 steps (I’m not suggesting getting a Drumbrute for trance, though!).

[sin night]

I forgot to say that pattern variations chaining on the TR-8S is rudimental at best. You can choose multiple variations (live), A through H, and the machine will play each of them once, in alphabetical order. You can’t have something like “play variation A three times, then B once” (compare that to the 64 steps length of the Arturia products…)

[egbert101]

I think it's rather obvious that real analog = mono output, so no problem, especially if you are concerned over the bass drum where you want it mono anyway. Also, if you're into techno genres, then a distortion effects pedal can be added to the chain.

Once again, if you want built in effects and stereo, then TR-8S does it for you, including distortion.