Gear Advice

Well my mc-909 is getting worn out. I use it as my main sequencer so i need to find an inexpensive workstation to replace it. Anyone have any ideas and why. And do you know how to mix on a roland product like a 909.

Well this is a disappointment. Thought you might want moment by moment advice as you drive through unpredictable terrain.

  On 5/22/2011 at 1:53 AM, Rambo said:

Well this is a disappointment. Thought you might want moment by moment advice as you drive through unpredictable terrain.

I want to be able to play my music live and remix on the fly the same way i do with my 909

generally we banter about knob twiddling in a different forum

with a computer your possabilities are endless

get like an mpc and a kaospad

dont take any of these peoples advice cuz u wont be truly original youll just be stealing someone elses ideas.

take sup's advice

The Roland MC series are shite DJ toys mainly designed to wow you in the shop and slap your Visa on the desk. I was duped into buying and MC-303 and thought the MC-505 would be an improvement but these machines are essentially shallow toys with a horrid workflow.

If you want real time arranging similar to the MC's RPS function but with far more depth and easier editing the the MPC 1000/2500 with the third party JJOS2XL software is the way to go. 64 tracks + 64 sample mutes over 4x16 velocity/aftertouch pad banks is very powerful. You can overdub each track in real time and the note repeat function is quite awesome to use on the fly for intricate work however you need to get the newer BK model to get the nicer pads although the original blues and older black models go for a lot cheaper 2nd hand and the pad upgrade (which are getting rare) will set you back around £100 although for a little extra cash the MPC 2500 is essentially the same machine but in a nicer bigger package.

I'm not sure how the laptop + Ableton + Launchpad or APC combo compares but I'm sure someone else can fill you in.

The cheapest replacement for an mc909 would be a used laptop and a midi controller/launchpad. The mc909 isn't all that great, but there aren't a whole lot of other affordable all-in-one workstations that are any better. Everything is going the way of computers these days anyway. All-in-one workstations are a dying breed, since a computer essentially fills that role better.

  On 5/22/2011 at 1:14 AM, Object505 said:

Well my mc-909 is getting worn out. I use it as my main sequencer so i need to find an inexpensive workstation to replace it. Anyone have any ideas and why. And do you know how to mix on a roland product like a 909.

why should i give you my hard-earned knowledge Object505? have you even read the board rules???

  On 5/23/2011 at 6:12 AM, MrSparkle666 said:

The cheapest replacement for an mc909 would be a used laptop and a midi controller/launchpad. The mc909 isn't all that great, but there aren't a whole lot of other affordable all-in-one workstations that are any better. Everything is going the way of computers these days anyway. All-in-one workstations are a dying breed, since a computer essentially fills that role better.

i think you mean all in one grooveboxes...there's plenty of workstations out there, korg just released a new one (kronos) plus all the roland and yamaha workstations etc

but yeah, grooveboxes are like, well nineties. superceded by computers as you say, just no real need for them. but if you really must have a groovebox type thing to work on - as has been said already, for live performance, general ease of use and all round fun you should go with an akai MPC (pic is mid-range MPC1000 - £499 new):

failing that you might like the native instruments maschine (£400 new):

or, my personal favourite groovebox that is still made, the elektron monomachine (£1005 new):

LOL rambo

i just bought an rm1x (groovebox). i've decided i'm going to sketch out ideas with it and then multi track in (sony)acid..

^ a use for a groovebox