Been looking for some hardware inspiration recently and see this groovebox, which sound appealing as can be used without computer, i.e. no distractions!

Anyone got one and making techno or house styles of music with it? Any good?

 

Be careful : there is no "song mode" on MC 707 as far as i know
So YOU need to change scenes by hands ... and use a computer at the end.

i don't understand this choice, because previous older MC got "song mode".

Get an older MC to get "song mode" and not using a computer at all.

 

Last edited: Feb 27, 2023

Just thinking that for exactly the same price you could get a MPC Live 2 and it's a no brainer.

 

See if the MPC song mode suit you :

 

This MC-707 is pretty cool since you get all the different Roland ZEN emulations of rhythm machines and synths. I can bet it's also easier to use than Akai MPC. True that you can't make whole songs with MC-707, but if you prefer to jam and finish songs on the computer it's great. It would be even cooler if it had more than 8 tracks. At least 16. 8 is really not enough. OK for jamming. It wouldn't be hard to implement more tracks. Why they chose only 8 in this day and age is beyond me.

If one prefers to make whole songs on external hardware then MPC is the best there is. However, it's not as much fun as MC. And is very rudimentary when it comes to synthesis. I'd take ZEN any day over MPC synths, but AKAI is very nice for playing with samples, surely better than MC. I guess it depends on what you prefer. Sample-head or Synth-head, Bunford?

Tough choice!

p.s. I'm on a lookout for Roland MC-80 sequencer since I have some samplers and synths to play with it. It would be nice to just turn off computer and do it oldschool like that.

 

Last edited: Feb 27, 2023

@SineWave
Nice points

Even the MPC "song mode" is not what i expected ... don't know why.
That's why i posted a video about this point.

You can always record 707 scenes "on the fly" ... on tape
Look mom ! No computer !
Next step : no electricity

 

I'll take the other position then, and tell you why this is a bad usage of nearly 1000$. It will not free you of a computer, for one. They have been sampled extensively. When you buy a groovebox, the price of a sequencer is baked in; but that does not mean it is free. It affects the price of the machine. Meaning, to hit such target price points; manufacturers will take that $300 in value out of the synthesizer modules quality and featuresets. For a pattern sequencer that you probably will get sick of using; because they all have their own little idiosyncracies.

You will lose a few hundred dollars in value the minute you open the box, if you purchase new. Very few pieces of hardware hold their value consistently, as well as an Akai MPC. The modern Rolands are not the same, in that regard.

You can already find any drums sample or plugin in the world, and the 707 does not eliminate the need for computer/daw. There are lots of people who post dawless jams on reddit. I'd watch a bunch of them before I'd spend 707 style money; you can do a lot with a grand.