I agree it looks like a toy and the build quality is meh. But the faceplate is metal and the knobs and sliders are solid. The shafts are plastic.
But if you can get over that and treat it like an instrument, you can bash it around like a Squier guitar and not think twice about it. A little bit like choosing a Honda Civic.
The man that sold me on the TR-8 and TR-8s is KiNK. After seeing how he could use one I realized I haven’t earned that Machinedrum yet.
You can change the slider colors to all a single color it that helps, but they are useful for keeping track of what is what
Honestly you can’t go wrong with dn2. It’s not analog, but there isn’t a sound you can’t make on it and it sounds amazing. You can also add little tricks like noise and lfo pitch drift to give it that “analog” vibe if you wish.
You said you don’t have much time, you can always save presets/sounds once you design them, into preset pool, and have it for later use.
Or buy few packs avaliable online to give you a nice start.
It has amazing elektron sequencer, arp, chords.
Allot of modulation possibilities…
Also it can be portable if you pair it with ripcord, battery and nice headphones.
If you really wanna push it, pairing it with ipad is also next level (then you can use midi and other ipad apps). Sky is the limit.
I see some mentioned Tonverk. Don’t own it so i can’t tell from personal experience, but what i see online also sounds like a great option.
Over the years I’ve owned, or at least spent time with, a lot of different drum machines. Maybe not all of them, but definitely quite a few.
These days I can’t really point to a single “best” drum machine. What I can say is that one manufacturer completely changed the way I look at them.
While many companies were trying to cram more and more features into drum machines, turning them into full-blown grooveboxes, I found myself getting more and more tired of that approach. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. It just wasn’t what I was looking for anymore.
For a long time I wished someone would make a drum machine that was simple, immediate and genuinely fun to play. Then Erica Synths released the Perkons.
It instantly clicked with me.
Is it perfect? Not at all. Is it limited? Absolutely. But once I realized how immediate it was, I couldn’t resist.
These days I actually own much less gear than I used to. When I sit down in front of it, I don’t have to think about hidden functions, complicated routing or remember endless button combinations. I can just make music.
Somehow I ended up owning two Perkons units, and honestly, I don’t regret it for a second.
Of course, everyone has their own path and their own idea of what makes an instrument inspiring. This just happens to be mine.
I’m not a pro, and I don’t even consider myself a musician =/
You’re absolutely right though, this setup was built purely for fun. I also got lucky that I don’t have any close neighbors, because the vroom vroom in here gets pretty serious =]
Don’t overpay on the Tanzbar, but don’t wait for a super deal either. I waited 4-5 years and the prices are now over 1k USD. If you see one priced around that, pounce when you can. There are still people asking 800-1000 over that, and I would not buy at that price. Just wait until you find someone who is not a gauger and buy from them.
My list from a little over 2 years ago has changed a bit. The LXR-02 has taken over the number one spot. There’s something magic about that little guy. I kinda wish Erika would base a large form factor flagship digital drum machine off of it. I said the same exact thing 2 years ago about the Volca Drum. The LXR is still usable in its current form factor. That’s just a pipe dream. But I hardly ever use the Volca Drum because it’s too fiddly. But even a fiddly Volca Drum still makes the list:
Erica Synths LXR-02 [they keep dying, I keep buying]
Moog DFAM [even though i mostly use it for bass. I love this thing]
Jomox Alpha Base MKII [I finally got one and turns out everything people say about it is true: sounds amazing, slightly shitty UX]
Roland TR-1000 [this takes the place of the venerable TR-8S on my favorites list]
Nord Drum 2 [replaced the Nord Drum 3. In this case i like the SMALL form factor, ha!]
ULT-SOUNDS DS-4M ProMuser [this thing is stupidly beautiful and does only one thing, but it does it well. And it comes in a cute little suitcase (see img)!]
Recodrum [Brazilian mad scientist’s homage to the 808]
Modor DR-2 [The Stormtrooper. It weighs 80 pounds and you can run over it with your car and it will still make sweet reverse wubs]
Korg Volca Drum [i can’t leave it off this list. It’s my first love]
Honorable mention: Elektron Digitakt. [Not strictly a drum machine but if we’re being real this beats all of the above]
