Yeah the sampling and sample editing is a bit of a joke, as a sample player I think it is ok, but the actual sampling and sample editing feels like it was implemented by someone working their last week at Roland and leaving on bad terms 
I mostly use mine as a MC-101 project player, with tracks 5-8 as 4 mixer channels for external gear, it works quite nicely like that and is the main reason why I don’t sell it
I know this feeling from the DT, which I take out of the box for some weeks after every update, only to find that the restriction to 64 steps and especially the impossibility to overlap notes does not suit my way of working at all. All this works with the MCs without any problems. In contrast, sampling at the MCs just sucks.
All in all: The DT is not a machine for improvising with melodies and chords and the MC is not a sampler. After I have come to accept this, I can live with it.
The MC(707, and 101 via USB) are samplers, it’s just that sampling is an afterthought on these devices.
Your review pretty much sums up my thoughts on it. The sequencer workflow is clunky, but in theory it’s very capable. I’d say the sound has a character: Roland. 
I would say that sound design on it isn’t that bad once you get used to it. The four knobs per page arrangement is, ironically, one of the most well-thought-out interfaces on it and once you remember which page a certain group is at, it becomes quick to dial in what you want. Clearly not as immediate as, say, a Syntakt, but it’s not bad.
I agree it’s a bit too clunky/large to carry with you anywhere. I keep it at home.
The answer is, possibly, the Polyend Tracker Mini or the M8.
How are you getting 4 audio inputs for external gear. Can you utilize the ext return as audio inputs?
Yes; ext return as audio inputs.
Yes 4 mono inputs (or 2 stereo) via ext in and Ret in.
Yeah maybe it is, or maybe I should reconsider needing a specific piece of gear to capture the few ideas I might have while traveling. They are not that important. And when they seem they are, I can always whistle in my recorder app and forget them until, one day, I get to listen back to them and realize I was wrong!
That’s actually my favorite method when coming up with an idea while traveling: I just sing/hum/talk through the idea and the layers. I find that it works surprisingly well and it’s saved me from losing a couple of great song ideas. Honestly, any form of portable device would probably slow me down compared to just humming during those faint seconds before the idea fades away again.
For me, it’s less about travel but more about having something to focus my music sketching ideas on while not in the studio. So, less for capturing a quick idea, and more for the deliberate sessions in an environment that isn’t in the home studio.
I just remembered that before I put it away again I want to check out the new drum machine mode. That’s made me wish for a good old-fashioned alternate firmware that would turn the 707 into an SP-1200 clone. It’d be perfect. But firmwares seem to have gone out of fashion lately, even assuming it was possible.
I will add, as I always do, that Roland did an excellent job with the filters on this. Value ranges aside, it’s Sweet Spot City.
Took both the 101 and the TR-6S for my trip to Hawaii last year. Lots of hours on the plane each way.
Spent most of the time tweaking the FM drum sounds on the TR-6S - at least when I wasn’t watching movies on the plane or sleeping. Never got around to working on the 101. Once I set foot on Hawaii, the family kept me busy with too many other activities.
Thanks for the suggestion! @bibenu
I know how lenses work and probably own an unhealthy number of ultrawide primes, but damn.
which sequencer do you use? the one from the mc 101 or from the keystep?
Both actually. Depends on the situation. More steps on the 101, but easier time to program on the KSP.
Sorry too lazy to scroll the whole thread. how does the mc101 stack up against older Roland JV soundwise? Can you store user patches? Got a jv1010 laying around which i like but opening sounddiver makes my eyes bleed.
It’s got all the old JV and XV patches and their associated PCMs. You can save user patches as a part of a project, but you cannot create custom banks, so there’s no way to add your sounds to, say, the list of presets. You have to select the project and load them out of it, which is a pain.
Most of the SRX/SR-JV80 expansions are available as “EXZ” sound packs on Roland Cloud. EDIT: The EXZ sets are not sound packs but rather “wave expansions”. As such, they cannot be used on the 101/707. Please forgive the error.
To my ears, it sounds every bit as good as my JV-2080. But others disagree, so ¯\(ツ)/¯
Thanks!
Does it mean that EXZ006 World Instruments in rolandcloud provides the same presets/sounds/patches (sorry I’m lost with Roland naming) as ones provided with SRX-09 world collection card?
If yes, does it mean I can finally have these sounds in my MC101?
Would be amazing!
