Like many others, the new price drops on the MDs has me quite intrigued. I’m leaning towards the non UW version but I’m curious to know the difference between the UW and the RYTM in terms of sample manipulation. I know the UW can actually sample from external sources and the RYTM cannot but that’s not a concern for me.
I just want to know if I bought the non UW version and own the RYTM, what would I be missing in terms of sample manipulation?
Also, does the UW allow stereo samples per slot or just Mono like the RYTM.
the MDUW sounds quite different… if you don’t care about actual sampling, it probably depends on what you want to do with the samples…
they’re both fun, and both are super-duper limited (one could say designed).
so just for playback:
MDUW has these things over the Rytm:
stutters/glitchy things sound very unique (Rytm is great there too, but MDUW has the edge imo)
it has the AM thing,
it has sample-rate reduction which is fun for metallic harmonics
the retrig works differently and has its own charm.
It also has a simple one-band eq per track.
Soundwise the Rytm leaves it in the dust and has a few things which you can’t do on the MDUW:
choose a sample per sequencer step (p-lock or LFO)
longer samples
higher fidelity
sounds really great when squashed with the compressor
more space for samples in general
easier chromatic playback with fine tuning
short samples as oscillators works really well & sounds great
has nifty 3rd party apps which make working with samples more fun ;D
What it does is modify the playback volume of a sound or sample in a repeating way at a very quick rate. AM uses an LFO to automatically turn the volume up and down–with the speed and effect depth controllable by you (p-lockable as well). Once the speed of the LFO increases and reaches “audio rate” you begin to clearly recognize your original sound or sample, but strange sonic overtones emerge, sounding reminiscent of tuning a radio. Things get can get very wonky sounding, in a good way.
One thing I like to do is put it on a drum sound and adjust the speed so that the overtone generated is very deep and low-pitched, like a pseudo kick-drum effect.
Damn, that sounds pretty cool. I guess it’s not enough to justify the extra $400 bucks though. Oh well, I think the MD non UW and the RYTM will be great together.
400 bucks are 400 bucks…
in my opinion worth it, but mostly for actual sampling / resampling with the RAM machines, because it’s a lot of fun… If you have no use for that, and you have the Rytm as sample player already, yeah, probably skip the UW…
the AM is cool, this is actually a regular track effect, so the synths have this too, same as the track EQ and the sample-rate reduction…
You can btw use these track effects on the inputs also, so you could route 2 tracks from your Rytm into the MD inputs and mess with stuff. I think you could actually use the MD as an insert effect this way - patch some MD outputs back into the Rytm and you get to have the Rytm’s compressor on Rytm tracks effected by the MD…
Hot damn, the MD is sounding better and better with each post. I can definitely see that the AR would have better sound quality but the MD seems to be the master for options.
I can only hope that after several years (well, hopefully sooner) the AR will catch up in terms of tricks and such…
“better sound quality” is not the right term here, these two machines sound very different. I have both and if the MD (synthesized) sounds are your cup of tea, don’t hesitate and get one.
If you like both, get both but don’t expect the AR to become a MD anytime soon (or ever).
@void: nice summary, forgot to add such a summary to my “mini review” in the Machine Drum section of this forum
If I may add: the MD also has an adjustable bandpass filter width, i.e. you can EQ the lows AND the highs of your tracks. Super useful!
For samples, the AR clearly wins (way more flexible playback options and better sample management).
Working with samples on the AR is (or at least: can be) very different to working with samples on a digital synth (like the MD, or a soft synth).
The AR can make them sound very lively.
For example, triggering a bassdrum in consecutive steps actually changes the amp response, something the TR-8 devs totally forgot about (the original does that).
You can also get all kinds of interesting analog textures, even when you are just using samples. They go through an analog filter, an analog amp, and an analog distortion, per track.
