I often hear people call the Digitakt “menu-divey”. I don’t get where this is coming from. It’s one button to switch to a parameter group and from there you have 90 percent of the controls. I have the TR-8S, and it has far more knobs to turn, yet i’m hitting the menu all the time. What is this unicorn knob-per-function drum machine for under $750 that i’m missing?
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I like menu diving.
Comes from when the only gear I had was a Wavestation. It felt exploratory at that time and still does to me.
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So… I’ve got it. What an ugly bulky machine. But I kinda made a not-so-shitty track (not a loop) on it already. You can’t copy/paste or rotate steps, right? Oh well. It is certainly not a thing to fall in love with and show to your friends. But it works! We’ll see.
OMG This screen is so bad!
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I guess they mean how if you’re on Track 1 but want to edit another one, you need to press Track and [Track Number], then hit Amp or whatever, change the parameter, then to edit Track 1 again, rinse and repeat over and over, hence the frustration. It never bothered me what I had one, but some people like things to be simpler, especially for live performance.
Edit: Also, to answer your latter question, Model:Samples is as close as it gets Elektron-wise
Maybe you should wait a few days, until Nick & Gaz’s Review is there:
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You can copy/paste and move steps. Check the latest update manual for the “how-to”
Found how to copy/paste, but still can’t find anything about moving. Thanks a lot anyway!
Edit: Found it!
The TR8S and DT work brilliantly well together! The new v2 TR8S software is a breath of air to this drum machine that is so nice for playing live. The TR8S as your DM will be a fraction of the cost of a 707 and the DT can be your sample buddy.
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A fraction? no.
local prices here:
€ 825 for 707
€ 599 for TR-8s
A fraction is at least half. Not 3/4 or more 
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It’s Nu Roland, which means the build quality is horrible.
Haven’t had a 707 though and maybe the quality is better, but I have owned a Digitakt and a 101 and the Digitakt feels like it’s been built to industrial standards, and the Roland to cheap toy standards.
Besides the cheap plastic feel of the 101, I also found the pads didn’t always trigger when live playing and the volume from the factory by default wasn’t loud enough and I had to menu dive every time to boast the volume from the eq settings, if memory serves me right…
I’m done with Nu Roland now after owning 4 Boutiques, the nasty keyboard for them, 2 MX-1’s and a few other things that didn’t last long. Keeping the VT-3 AND TB-3 and my vintage Roland gear.
You did ask to be talked out of it, before the fanboy attacks start.
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707 is actually not that bad. 101 look like it’s gonna break any moment. But elektrons are one of the best built devices i’ve seen. Even model:cycles feels nice and solid.
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went your way aswell, got an offer I couldnt refuse for an OT MK II.
Took it as a destiny message that DT had to go.
missed my Model Samples and its immediacy, so got an other one to feed OT some decent track ideas to sample to Flex and slice and mangle…also program change is great in between those two.
at this point if I wanted to stick to the topic I d say add a MC101 for its sounds to DT or OT workflow.
Even though I swapped my MC101 for a Dreadbox Typhon and couldnt be happier.
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After spending a couple more hours I must say I’m quite impressed with 707. Considering how many features it packs I think its design is very smart and intuitive. I think Nick Batt is right and they actually stole quite a lot from OT and elektron in general.
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Talk me out of a MC 707?
In just two words.
Synthstrom Deluge
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it might be a much better instrument than 707, but for my taste it’s got 112 too many flashy pads and a terrible screen. I would like to try it first, but it’s a bit problematic where I live.
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They offer a return Policy…Just saying…
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Don’t get a 707.
It’s a concept product they positioned as a finished one. Great on paper. Not bad in real life. But its execution is like a well-crafted proof of concept. Yeah, it’ll work. But its limitations make no sense. It’s not charmingly defined such as the Model-series or the Circuit. It’s just not a product Roland wrapped up properly. In time, you’ll feel it and grow tired of it and move on.
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loving my 707. it has certain drawbacks, but great things are rarely perfect.
since 1.30, it’s great in pair with external [especially analog] synths, can be a sequencer and FX processor for them at the same time.
very nice sequencer, lots of cool present sounds. it’s the only box except for venerable XL-7 that made me happy with preset sounds.
from Roland site:
The MC-707 GROOVEBOX has everything you need to create a song or perform a live set without a computer.
many people seem to ignore the fact that 707 is designed as live-oriented machine, that’s why certain things are what they are.
for instance, i’m super fine with 707 screen. i wonder how people transport gear with those fancy huge screens to gigs, but to speak about 707, i transport it in a regular DJ backpack with not much extra protection. i even don’t really get view angle complains — a position when one can’t see the screen well is already not convenient to operate physical controls. but hey, this box just made as plain as possible for transportability, so likely needs a stand of some kind – which is anyway better than angled boxes with a huge empty space inside.
same for „plastic build“ — that’s why it’s only 2.1 kg. my spine highly appreciates this.
i guess those people who don’t like 707 UI and build actually want a modern equivalent of MV8800, but that would be just a different kind of machine, i.e. studio-oriented.
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Get a Model:Samples instead
btw, for mostly-as-a-drum-machine use case you might consider 101.
i was seriously tempted by it for a long while due to its lovely form factor.
i typically use 3 tracks in a project for drums on 707, so with bass on 4th track it could be very nice rhythm machine.
after buying some analog synths i changed my mind, because analog synths certainly need FX, but with 707 and its 2 stereo/4 mono inputs i don’t need separate FX boxes.
anyway, for pairing with some other kinds of gear 101 might be very cool option.