I’m afraid I missed something, but you’ll have hard time doing a long liveset on it right?
Because one project is one song, and to load the next song you need to load an other project and stop the sound.
I think the pattern/kit from elektron works better.
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Well I guess there’s always something that disappoints with any new product. ROLAND WHY SO LITTLE PROJECT MEMORY?! It’s 2019, if there is room on the SD card there should be room in the project. Deluge is still the only groove box to address this.
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At this point, nothing could convince me to sell my digitakt. This might have a place at the table though. 128 step patterns is VERY appealing, and the mixer-style interface seems like it would be easier to navigate in a live context than the having to switch back and forth between filter and master page on the DT.
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they shoot themselves in the foot with those scatter and pitch loop fx - both lazy and instantly recognisable sounds which everyone will end up sounding the same with. Also someone mentioned build quality and design in general - the screen looks like it will fade around the edge in bright spots (maybe just the camera though) and the UI looks awful IMO. It has a lot of features and priced competitively so corners are cut somewhere else. Like others, I also don’t like the look and feel of the tr8s and this is even uglier with the various blinking lights and colorful pads.
I appreciate the stereo input, assignable outs, insert and master fx though. Elektron should take notes with EQ per track and I hope this products makes them answer with an update for the beloved Digitakt and and the much requested second filter / eq per track feature.
To me this product looks like a 5 year belated answer to Korg’s Electribe but without the innovation that is supposed to happen in those 5 years:)
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The scatter is different then it was on TR8 and System 1, though.
It’s actually got a ton of editable parameters.
It’s on page 39 of the reference manual.
There’s actually pretty deep editing possible on the MC-707. 
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I am surprised there are no ACB models in there at all. I understand there’s not enough power in there to run a full 16-sound kit of them, but it would have been nice to have been able to assign like a few TR models to individual tracks.
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Yeah noticed that as well. I originally thought they packaged up all the ACB TR drum kits and couldn’t believe they fit it all into the little 101, but realized that it’s just PCM samples and a bit of low power modeling going on. I read somewhere that USB audio might be routable back into the 101 from a DAW. That’s kind of interesting.
This is a very impressive groovebox. My first impression was that it could replace my TR-8S. But its lack of improvement in the interface and getting into all that deep editing make it not feel like a worthy jump.
I barely touch the somewhat-deep editing on my TR-8S just because it’s such a chore.
I think the main flaw of the 707 and TR-8(s) designs are the track/channel strips. Instead of repeating the same 3 knobs on every track, it’d be better to have a larger variety of individual parameter knobs on the panel and select the track you want to edit. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t need to be able to edit the same parameters across multiple tracks at once. I would only be able to grab 2 knobs at once anyway, so this duplication across all 8 tracks is just needless.
Still an improvement over the TR-8S in that you have the 4 control knobs under the screen. But according to reviews the menu diving is still an issue, and the panel space feels so poorly utilized to me.
The 101 is really cute though, and I’d be interested in getting one for the size factor alone if it were a bit cheaper.
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these have some pretty interesting features, tbh - the fact that you can have 16-sample tracks, synth engines, resampling, quite impressive polyphony, per-track fx/eq… among other things
the UI doesn’t seem all that much appealing/inviting, but time will tell…
seems like a good option for those going up from Volcas or Electribes, into a more professional territory - sound and featurewise… a nice all-in-one groovebox.
this machine made me realize (once again) how demanding I am (and probably most of us) now that I’ve grown accustomed to Elektron’s workflow and depth.
first time I saw the MC 101 I thought it was kinda ridiculous and toyish - only 4 tracks?
but know that I know that you can have up to 16 samples in a single track, and that they share the same engine (same polyphony?)… might not be so bad as a Digitakt companion.
hell, if the sound engine is deep enough (although I don’t know how you’re supposed to go deep with that limited screen), it would function as a multi timbral synth + stereo sample player (+ internal resampling) for $500…
again, editing seems quite painful but if an external editor comes up (like it happened with Novation’s Circuit) it might be interesting…
EDIT: oh, and also: beeing class compliant, would you be able to transfer files via iOS? (you would probably need to be on the new iPad OS) but if that’s the case… that could be really interesting as well!
For sound editing, using CTRL SELECT + CTRL pot removes a lot of menu diving.
Akai Force has the edge
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You’re another person who’s blackbox videos/thoughts I really appreciate. Do you think the mc-101 is something that could replace your blackbox? Do you see yourself keeping your blackbox regardless?
Since the 101 can only load samples and not record from input, that’s a definite no. But even if it could, I like the BB’s screen and focused workflow too much to replace it with the 16x2 char screen.
My way-too-early take: Get the 101 if you want a small affordable groovebox that can do a lot on its own and you like the workflow. Get the BB if you not only want a device that can record samples, but want a more “purist” approach to sampling.
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I think ACB has been a bit of a double edged sword for Roland. The type of modelling they’ve gone for is too resource intensive to provide their boxes with a decent voicecount at a low price. And now when they’re forced to use a different engine on these new grooveboxes it kinda seems like a cop-out, even though they don’t sound bad at all.
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It’ll be interesting to see novations new circuit groovebox compete with these.
… I’m assuming there will be one as it’s been a success , circuit with some improvements could compete well with the 101
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As someone who’s never used a tr 8s I’m curious why you think the deep editing is a chore? How does it compare to an average elektron box?
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Just watched the sonic state vid, and the synth engine is based off the Roland AX-Edge keytar.
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Unfortunately I’ve never used an Elektron box (I’m a fraud invader here) but most of the things you can edit for a kit or sound are accessed by scrolling through dozens of parameters which, to its credit, are organized by section. You can map one of the sound edit params to the Ctrl knob per track which is nice. It’s not the worst possible way to offer a lot of editable parameters, but it’s obfuscated enough that I, personally, haven’t gone in much. The things that are immediate and perform-able on the unit are why I keep it though.
I feel the same. The immediate things are really great on the tr-8s. But some things that take menu diving are kind of a chore. That’s how it is with the jd-xi too. I love this Roland stuff and also love my Elektron boxes (I’ve had them all). I find those a lot easier for editing while also being pretty immediate and fun. I’m just a big fan of stuff in general lol.
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These look fun!