Yep, you took the words right out of my mouth…including the Analog Heat. OT for me with the right sample chain is pretty much instant funk. But, I still remember the TR-606 fondly. Not sure it would meet my current expectations, but whatever, I’m a hopeless romantic.
As for drum synth, the A4 is the deepest of dubby bass, and the noise hihats thru a lfo’d hp filter. I like that one.
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I’ve found that a great way to get some sparkle out of 606 samples/chains in OT, is use the filter effect, fully open, with resonance turned up about half way, and then put an LFO on the resonance. Without the LFO it’s almost like a Maag Air band EQ. With the LFO you get some magic and movement added to it.
And of course a little dirt/dist on the filter’s setup page.
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That’s where the real juice comes from isnt it?
Definitely helps give any drum machine a more finished sound, but I can also get by without it. But once you turn it on, it’s hard to turn it off.
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But why? 
The Modor makes my Tr8s sound whimpy. I LOVE the Tr8s. It’s not going anywhere. It has some definite advantages to the Modor. That said, I really want more people to hear and play the Modor! There’s not enough out there!
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As a MKII owner, I was just thinking this the other day. The button/pad combos I used to accomplish with one hand now sometimes require two since they’re more spaced out.
It was perhaps worth the upgrade for the sampling input, OLED display and general unity with the rest of my MKII Elektron setup, but I do miss the compressor metering as well!
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no, i don’t have Elektron, what i wrote is that i might like AR – but i don’t have it so far.
and yeah, E2 has many great drum/percussion sounds.
and allows to synthesize analog-style sounds as well.
i use E2 sequenced on its own for drum machine duties, paired with some other groovebox, mostly Circuit Tracks, and with two MAM MB-33 Retro for real analog acid lines.
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The Modor DR-2 is on my wish list to purchase later this year. I look forward to adding it to the studio.
I’m finding I prefer making drum sound on mono synths to ‘traditional’ drum machines.
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I’m a drum machine freak, and I really have trouble choosing one.
There’s a part of me that would say my modded TR-606(aka the TR666) but I don’t think that’s true.
In a weird way I love the volca beats, I modded mine to send midi out, and using it in conjuction with the Division Department 01/IV is really one of those joyful things in my life. Some people don’t like the snare, but i think its burnt-out brittleness is kind of cool.
Also weird, I really like the Monotribe a lot, the drum section is very limited but i love the way it sounds, and being able to play pseudo trap highhats on it very easily is very fun.
Using the digitakt to sample them along with the casio rz-1 and the yamaha psr-36 is also a pretty tight contender.
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Obviously everybody makes it’s way around it in this thread, but I really do like the drumbrute impact. You gotta tame the hats a bit, but if the general sound floats your boat, it’s a really really intuitive, assertive and nice sounding little machine. And it’s sooo quick to get your head around it. Didn’t like the sounds of the big drumbrute though. Wish they made an impact with the filter instead of the distortion. Insta-buy.
I am still dreaming of the sounds the vermona drm Mk III delivered. Such a shame that it was so big (looked and felt gorgeous though) and you needed an external sequencer.
Tanzbär 2 was a pita, but Tanzbär 1 was just on point. Didn’t like the build quality, but it was easy to use and sounded phenomenal. Tanzbär 2 was… Hmm… Quirky. Tried to be a groove ox but the work flow was just horrible for me.
Well, rytm is just a beast. But as already mentionned, you first select a track, then select the page, then select a parameter… Also it somehow bothered me way too often that it’s actually only 9 tracks and not 12. But yeah, synthesis and samples freely configurable was great.
Atm I’m super happy with the Erica synths techno system. Yes, expensive. Yes, big. Yes, patching. But the things you can do with it, everything in plain sight and directly accessible,… Just a breeze.
Would love to try the alpha base though.
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It was my first drum machine. I sold it to buy other stuff, but probably I’ll buy it again. I don’t know why but it’s dope, it has a good groove.
Currently I love my DT. Also I like to make drums with my eurorack system, mainly without a sequencer, using PAM or other trigs sources instead.
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As an early adopter of the drumbrute the impact has always interested me. I’ve never had the chance to listen to one in the flesh and I’d like to see how it stacks up the brute.
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I owned one briefly. I played a gig with it and I’ll tell you, you really haven’t heard that thing until you’ve heard it through a few thousand watts of subs!
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Any love here for the mpc drum synth?
Well, it was surprising, to say the least.
Especially when you consider the price tag. 200 EUR for a used unit that is basically ready for the stage.
But again, the hats are a bit harsh and soundwise you are more on the industrial side.
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Rytm Mk1 all day. I prefer the old form factor, there’s enough synthesis options to keep me busy but not overwhelm me, it has great performance options. The layering of analogue/digital (synth/sample) is spot on I think - truly innovative box on release.
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I’ve recently become fascinated with the era of General MIDI/PCM groovebox/sequencer so I now own a Yamaha QY70 and a Boss Dr. 5. The Roland R series units are also on my radar, especially since the R8 has trigger outs.
I’m fairly certain I’ll pick up a JD-Xi sooner rather than later, to compliment these units. Unless I just get a TR-6s. Decisions.
The Electro kit and the Heavy kit on the Dr. 5 (and other Dr. Rhythm units) are my current favorite drum machine sounds. Plus, I get an “808” and some “909” action in there, with a drum track and three other, polyphonic tracks for external sequencing (the chord function even sends full chord data, not just root note!).
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I remember old Boss drum machines are really fun, both analog and digital, analog dr55 and 110 are really cool, I believe cooler than 606 in some ways. Digital like Dr 5 and 770 and others are also funny for industrial / idm type of things… If one into lo-fi / experimental / old school idm etc they’re really gems…
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