My Alphabase was gathering dust until I added Hapax as my main sequencer and controller. Now that Hapax is controlling the AB, it sits as my favorite drum machine. 
I love the TR8S. For snares as well.
The one caveat is that you miss out on microtiming. So the Syntakt beats that. But truthfully, light quantizing and tasteful swing beats out any aspersions I have at being a finger drummer.
1 Like
I’ve gone back and forth on the TR-8S a number of times, as I could never really get the right kick and snares out of it, but in the end grew really found of the use of its various hihat, shakers and other percussion.
With 1.70 I got back into the Rytm, but even with the new machines and making better use of the the utility machines, a was still missing some of the sounds from the TR-8S, and the comparable ease of dialing them in.
So before going travelling last week I got myself a used TR-6S which appears to be the almost perfect form factor for a small hats/shaker/perc sub module to the Rytm.
Being battery powered it’s also very convenient to carry around with me, now that I am overseas for a few weeks, to explore and make patterns to use once I get back to the studio.
Also a good source for sampling into the Rytm, using the digital filters on the TR-6S to shape the various ACB sounds at the source, in the absence of a Rytm sample base width filter.
6 Likes
If you’re sampling the TR6 S into the Rytm, try live turning the morph knob while recording the sample. You will get some crazy sounds that way.
1 Like
That’s a really good tip. Thank you 
1 Like
Just to clarify. The morph function needs to be assigned to that bottom knob.
The way I use it is just have the TR8S run a kick or bass or whatever and just loop a full 4 beat loop, and I just hit record and just play the knobs. (I usually will also twist the decay)
Then I just pick the hits that transition well together. But I’m on a 404, not a Rytm. So I chop the loop after.
1 Like
totally missed this, a new HH machine in 2024?
3 Likes
Have you looked at the Synth Secrets article on synthesizing cymbals? Bit of 909 tech info there (which I’d guess will be close to/the same as the 707)
2 Likes
I forgot about this thread, but I actually did some testing of Synplant a long while ago and came to the conclusion that my natural intelligence is better 
What Synplant does for these is to create some random FM noisy thing and then all the matching is done with the peaks of the two filters and/or the metallic reverb (which is similar to the MnM’s chorus … but that’s another story).
As I briefly mentioned above somewhere, applying the frequency spectrum of one sound to another (noisy sound) is some kind of reverse additive synthesis, and that’s what is done in this case. Thus, yet another way to create better cymbals is to have multiple filters with peaks.
Here I got - for my taste - close to the vibe of the 909 cymbals (especially ride): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cJhtDiNgY just with the Digitone.
And the Digitone II has now indeed peak filters and FM Drum offers easier access to FM (3 OP with Wavefolder).
Either way, as time passes on, and also one’s tastes change, my favourite hihats I have now on Rytm, Analog Four, Syntakt (the analog ones, but also pc carbon and sy bits do good ones) and Digitone II.
3 Likes
I like the boss de 220a CH/OH, adds some sync microshifting push pull also as a bonus. (CCY and RCY a little loud)
I need to do a deep dive on all sorts of drum synthesis this year. Especially hats.
4 Likes
Linndrum hihats. Just love them. Other than that 909. not going to buy the RD9 for that. Use samples most of the time.
5 Likes
Vermona DRM1 mk4 (not just for hats)
AVP SD-6. Lovely analog hats which blend and overlap very well, lots of range with knobs for pitch, decay, filter and metal.
2 Likes
Abelton sampler, send fx to a short valhalla room, with compression and saturation.
1 Like
What kits do you rely on there?
My own 
had a 909, sold it because I needed the money and hate myself for it.
Also samples from mars. And Ableton drum racks both 909 and Linn
2 Likes
Frequency modulate looped white noise, set your modulator to suitably high pitch, layer with a normal white noise hit with appropriate envelopes throughout, that’ll get you started anyway
Also, to answer OP: I really like the groove of the TE KO2, I put some 909 hats with the resonances smoothed out in there and it just kinda jacks.
1 Like
As for older drum machines, like many others, I think the TR-606 has the most versatile bread-and-butter hats. I also really love the CR-78 hat sound.
Glad to see A4 in this thread, you can make just about any hat sound you want with it. But that applies to all drum sounds - with time and experience, you can make whatever your heart desires on Analog Four. It can sound pretty close to a 606 if you want (or 909, or…)
I’m not so picky about my drums as long as they feel right. For Syntakt, I’m often happy with tweaking Cy Ride, but having the HH Lab option opens up a lot of interesting funky sounding options. I think you can get close to a couple Rolandy hats with it.
1 Like