(I have a 909 for sale in BST for the very reasonable price of $2500) 
Do what I do. MAKE FRIENDS with a 909 owner!!! You’re in Atlanta, there’s got to be someone with a 909. In my circle of friends, there’s (4) 303’s and (2) 909’s, i can pick up the phone any day and go over thier house and use them any time as if my own (for short spurts, we’re all older with families and stuff)
This way you ain’t sampling. Take your macbook to their house, record an hour session of house beats, give your friend a 12-pack. Save 1000’s and buy the Analog Keys for your house productions:)
plus like any Roland classics from the 80’s they tend to go bad. 1 of the 2 in the group has noise problems. You wanna get one for $3200 to risk having to repair it later for who knows how much more in parts and service?
Cut a record suing your MD, sale a ton, and with the profits, buy the 909.
Hate to say it but I think if it is a 909 you want, then a 909 is the way to go, sure it is part true that with a good ear you can make other things sound like a 909 would on a record BUT that is only half the story isn’t it?
Jomox machines can get quite close in sound to a 909, so can a Novation Drumstation or decent samples in a MPC/Octa/MDUW etc but where they can’t get close is in the user experience. The whole overpriced argument is played out, its a classic, so just exactly like a classic car it is a desirable item that is in demand, so the price they fetch is reflected in that. You can buy a modern car that will do everything the classic car would, and it will cost less, have more features etc, but it won’t be the same driving it, will it?
I sold my 909 a few years back, they are good machines, fun to use, and you will always get at least your money back if you decide to sell it. Most of them have dodgy midi clock the best version is v4, you can get the chip and have it fitted or fit it yourself, but it is a pig of a job, the board is a bit fragile and you have to cut the old chip out very carefully, so it is much better if you get one that has already been done. Also later revisions have additional capacitors added to the outputs which reduce the noise.
I don’t regret selling my 909, but I do regret selling my 808.
That’s exactly it.
I bought my 909 way way before the internet went double platinum. No way I would sell it or any other vintage gear I have, simply because of the unique qualities these machines posses which go beyond just their sound set.
Who cares if your software can replicate a 909/808/707/303/202 perfectly or not… it’s the context of those sounds that matters.
As someone said previously, there’s lots of great music where you wouldn’t be able to tell where each sound originated from. Me, I’m an old cunt that’s had these machines for 20+ years, I like the simplicity/complexity of the hardware workflow (hence why I love the Elektron boxes) to compose. These days we are rich for choice, which sometimes can be a double edged sword (bought an OT, still trying to get my head around).
Yes there’s lots of ways to sample and assemble the 909 sound, but it’s only one part of your track/work.
Elektron boxes are great at incorporating and extending vintage workflows/sounds to a greater extend. Try the MD/OT route for 909 emulation.
May peace be with you.
The people who will notice and/or care about a “real 909” vs something like a Jomox Xbase are;
- A very small group of people.
- A dwindling group of people.
- Criticizing a completely irrelevant aspect of you music.
The prices are insane and not worth it unless you are getting some big advance from a record label. Who get’s those anymore? If the piece of kit isn’t going to “pay for itself,” as it were, there’s no reason to pay that kind of cash.
Having one nowadays is more about bragging rights and ego than what comes out of it.
Worry less about mojo and more about making killer tunes. That’s where the ultimate mojo lies. Ask anybody losing their mind on a dance floor.
the prices are dumb. i wouldn’t pay more than $1100.
or you can get a 707/727 + jomox Mbase 01 and save yourself a ton of cash.
i’ve used one a lot and made an Acid EP w/it. it’s a nice real time jamming box but i could murder the hi hats/ride/cymbals. i hate them. especially the hats.
it’s funky and yeah limitations can be cute for a while but i like the 606 better anyways… and it got old to me. w/processing and in the right context it’s great but it’s also fucking stale.
the one i used was sold for $1600 like 6 months later… this was maybe 4-5 years ago?
here ya go… 707 for $400
Just get a Sonic Potions LXR … blows that 909 out of the water.
sage advice apart from the first bit. japanese manufacture from this time was at the peak of over-engineering design philosophy long lost art of longevity for consumer goods. you are wrong! components age and fail but we are talking about 30 year old handmade electronics designed for performing musicians by perfectionists.
or perhaps anyone who has owned and used said machines… also a dying breed. clearly they are the only ones that care enough to notice the many sonic and operational differences.
not to critisise the musicians that use either machines but if you cant hear the difference between a tr-909 and an x-base 09 you shouldn’t be making electronic music.
They are in completely different playing fields and the sounds do not compare a single bit. Again, it’s not so much about a more capable machine, it’s the sound combined with the sequencer groove which defined a genre. I’ve already have a MDUW for P-locking craziness and beyond. I also had a OT when they first came out but sold it since the OS was still very primitive.
You guys are right. I just CAN NOT justify the current prices these machines command. I’m a musician, not a collector. I’d love to have one and would certainly use it every day if I had one. Just too far out of reach now. I’m working on my downpayment for a house and just can;t be set back with the current prices.
So that said, I’m looking into the Jomox Airbase 99. This seems to get me close to the sweet 909 sound. Does the swing with the MD come close to the swing on the 909?
Hey Daren, I know you are handy with the Fe … the Yocto dude fixed the clap according to his YT. Problem solved.
They are in completely different playing fields and the sounds do not compare a single bit. Again, it’s not so much about a more capable machine, it’s the sound combined with the sequencer groove which defined a genre. I’ve already have a MDUW for P-locking craziness and beyond. I also had a OT when they first came out but sold it since the OS was still very primitive.
You guys are right. I just CAN NOT justify the current prices these machines command. I’m a musician, not a collector. I’d love to have one and would certainly use it every day if I had one. Just too far out of reach now. I’m working on my downpayment for a house and just can;t be set back with the current prices.
So that said, I’m looking into the Jomox Airbase 99. This seems to get me close to the sweet 909 sound. Does the swing with the MD come close to the swing on the 909? [/quote]
you will get a lot from an airbase. and with processing and filtering can come very close to the sound of a tr909. thing is, the 909 sound has changed over the decades as components degrade the sound gets more soft & wooly even muddy. i have A/B listen tested two 909s, one standard original and the other one freshly re-capped and the difference in sound clarity is astounding. similar to the x-base or airbase vs standard tr909.
whether you are after the clean sound or 909 smudge sound is up to you. the main differences are in the actual original samples loaded into the x-base.
another way to go is to look for an x-rom xbase 09 (user sample upgrade kit) and load it with the raw 909 hat samples, which i have done to a few x-base 09s. you would be very happy with any of those drum machines. no doubt!
Anybody know how tight the Airbase responds over MIDI? I think I’ve been convinced to go for one and have added it to my eBay saved searches. If I can score one for under $600, I’m totally game. Also owning Max for Live, this looks very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRaTCWGtAnE
Thanks again for everyone’s input. It’s really helped me out a lot!
Even 707’s are going up and up now. I got mine for 100 bucks three years ago.
I’m now seeing them for 4-500. Has a lot to do with the popular low fi jacking retro thing that’s been popular for the last two years. But also bc the other Roland machines are totally out of reach.
Also probably because a good amount of them have been circuit bent within an inch of their lives and not mint.
It’s also very effective sound wise. Just works, but different than a 909 of course. But can be jammed live in a similar manner w the faders.
pretty tight. ive sequenced it with the OT and in my daw although i remember someone telling me there’s wasn’t so good because it was an old OS. i dont even know what OS mine is. i just know it sounds amazing.
I just don’t want another Emax MIDI timing affair. Love the sound of my Emax, I have the entire library of sounds and then some for it, but it’s a slouch when trying to get tight drums from it. Too bad because it’s nearly the SP1200 in sound if not better because it’s more flexible.
Airbase needs to be tight with timing. Some gear just lacks in the MIDI timing department. Just another reason to own these machines with integrated sequencers… as far as the nay-sayers are concerned.
or perhaps anyone who has owned and used said machines… also a dying breed. clearly they are the only ones that care enough to notice the many sonic and operational differences.
not to critisise the musicians that use either machines but if you cant hear the difference between a tr-909 and an x-base 09 you shouldn’t be making electronic music.[/quote]
There is more to electronic music than the difference between a 909 and an x-base.
The “authenticity” of a “real 909” is nothing but an appeal to antiquity.
emax is one of the first midi samplers! all the midi stuff from that era is suspect. the jomox airbaseis designed as a sound module, the midi response is as good as midi gets! save for turbomidi of course 
the x-base internal seq is above and beyond midi spec, but only when used as master clock. in this mode the dinsync 24 out timing is corrupted. this is the issue with that machine.