Hey Hexdrum owners --does the Hexdrum transmit it’s sequence data through MIDI out?
From the manual it seems like the only MIDI out settings are “OFF” and “THRU”.
I was hoping it might be able to be used for double duty though, both as it’s own drum machine but also as a sequencer for other bits of gear.
The manual states: “MIDI Out outputs trigger and MIDI clock messages”
I assume this means that they will output the MIDI notes assigned to each of the drum sounds.
I wish you could record rolls in to the sequencer as it’s playing.
I finally had a play on hexdrums at gear expo today … it’s very good … I’d be making much more 4/4 rumbly techno if I had one . Easy to use and ‘perform’ with
Gear expo was fine , lot of high end stuff I don’t understand , synth city had nice stuff to play on …
If you’re going for rumble techno, I’d actually recommend either the elektron boxes or the Perkons due to the ability to adjust attack on non-kick low-end and use effects as needed.
That being said, the hexdrums is probably my favorite drum machine I own right now. It absolutely destroys when it comes to playing in the ballpark of the x0x’s or any other drum machine used for classic techno groove, and the compressor is the best I have ever heard on a drum machine and it’s not even close. The whole box is a sweet spot and a lot more versatile than the overdriven demos you hear online.
Fucksake Joey.
By your comment do you mean it can produce similar sounds to 606 and 808? My concern is that it would sound like lxr drum machine from Erica synths where everything has that bit reduced crunchy chip tune sound going on
I have (and love) both, and they couldn’t be more different. LXR-02 is digital, and yes, it does lend itself to chippy sounding stuff easily. Hexdrums was built more as an ES envisioning of 808 and 909 circuits, all analog and very warm sounding. On the master channel, you’re looking at a master analog overdrive instead of the bitrate reduction on the LXR-02. It also has a really, really, really good compressor - I don’t really use the compressor on the LXR-02 as I don’t think it’s anything special, but the Hexdrums is easily the best I have ever heard in a drum machine. Also, the demos all show overdrive cranked, but I find it works equally as well for the deep cuts with overdrive turned down/off. I doubt it will ever leave my studio. My favorite drum machines now are Hexdrums and Digitone II depending on whether I’m shooting for raw or hypnotic techno, which I I currently complement with Perkons, Digitakt II, Syntakt, and LXR-02 all going into a Pioneer V10 LF for live performance.
thanks i’ve liked a lot of the demos ive heard. Seems like a great machine to have in the studio or live sets. I have a DSI tempest at the moment though so can’t really justify the hexdrum even though i know it’s much more immediate to work with. Biggest issue with the tempest is that it takes a long time to get all your sounds designed and set up.
nonetheless might pick one up. ive been eyeing a tr-06 boutique from roland which is much cheaper but also pretty versatile little machine. I just want a drum machine thats fast to pick up and lay a beat down quickly. No sample management or browsing, no infinite synthesis design options etc.
Also love the canadian heritage with the hexdrums as it looks like the sound modules mostly came from hexinverter and erica synths saved them during the pandemic. super cool part of this machines history
a nice touch (not shown in that video from what i saw) … you can multi select steps when setting probability and other parameters … you dont need to do them one at a time.
it can do noise, but i much prefered the compressed/overdriven sound , when the kick drum/bass kicks in and everything ducks a little and rumbles… it sounded nice … but i just used it for half an hour…
i had the OG Lxr drum machine , i liked that too but very digital and that version was quite DIY …
KMR did a 10% off at the show via a QR code…
My humble opinion of course, but the Hexdrums blows anything Roland has out of the water for what you’re describing, save for maybe an original 909. Plus you aren’t dealing with a tiny UX, and everything is labeled on the front panel minus some config items that are set-and-forget. Also, Erica is pretty engaged with user feedback and feature requests - I’ve had prompt confirmation that a few workflow requests I submitted are being added to a future update. I would have a TR-1000 in my studio if Roland hadn’t released a device with so many issues, but I ended up regretting my order there and now have the HD instead. I may revisit the TR-1000 if they can iron out the bugs, but even then, Hexdrums is staying.
I think this sounds really good from all the demos I’ve seen. But I would love if it had audio in so you could mix stuff through the master stage. That way you could send individual stuff out for some processing and back again.
Man, i caved in and ordered one!
@J3RK : Did you get one? And as you are into making and designing circuits, do you think it would be possible to mod it so you could get audio through the master section? Would be cool to have a couple of the outputs to accept TRS send/return. hehe.
I’m very tempted by the Hexdrums but in almost all demos I hear all sort of noises, I don’t mean distortion/saturation, but buzzing and noises like ground hums, statics… Even when the master distortion and compressor are not active and the channles are set at conservative output levels.
Can anyone confirm that it’s possible to make it also sound clean?
I only tried one in store but it was very clean sounding when you turn down distortion and whatnot. Most demos online are people doing wild shit but it can also be tame
I only played around for 20 minutes in a store though
I got mine last week and it is possible to get clean sounds. Things get loud very fast and that can introduce distortion and noise. So having gainstaging under control is important.
I feel with the volume knobs at around 12 for kicks, with the compressor and drive off the output signal is still pretty hot. Not far off syntakt for example. When you see all the videoes on youtube they usually have track volumes at max for kicks, and some compression gain and drive.
I havent had that much time to play with this, but can anybody confirm how the accent is supposed to work on the cymbal tracks?
The sample is playing at the exact same volume, but accent introduces a click. Similar to mixing in a gate or dc offset into a vca on modular.
Nice, thanks for your feedback
Ok, thanks