Ace. Top notch. Easy and fun. Very controllable and it sounds great. Glassy highs, punchy mids, booming lows.
It is a great machine designed for performance.
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I’d say the AK/A4 is the best drum machine out there. Especially the AK with the split keyboard and perf macros. With all the sequencer bells and whistles it’s an absolute beast of a drum machine. Plus it has a wide pallet of drum sounds that seem to sit perfectly in the mix. Freaking thing BANGS, and with time spent setting it up, it’s a performance powerhouse.
The Perkons is another absolutely incredible performance drum machine with plenty of updates to come. Incredible sequencer layout with plenty of tricks to make for fun performances.
The RYTM is another powerhouse with the electron sequencer giving you the ability to turn simple 1 bar patterns into evolving complexity. It has the Dual VCOS which are insanely powerful. It takes samples and adds a special sauce that’s unique and sounds incredible. The RYTM can also be ones in unconventional ways turning it into a lush pseudo poly synth with tuned filters. The Performance pads are an elegant way to spice things up and really feel like your playing the thing. Scenes are another fabulous way to switch up patterns on the fly making things even more interesting.
It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and once you get used to it, it’s FAST to operate.
The Tempest is a very unique drum machine that doubles as a gorgeous polysynth. The voice stealing and arp/scale modes are VERY fun to play on the pads. The pads are superior to all the rest of the options.
The Tempest demand your attention though to get the most out of it. It’s VERY playable, and almost demands you constantly tend to it to really make it shine. It steals attention from other devices because I’m of this.
The global parameter adjustments, pads and sliders, reverse and roll are fun, but demand your hands on it all the time.
The major downside to the Tempest is there’s no banks, very limited project ability within a set. The midi capability is extremely limited, the sliders are more finicky than fun and don’t work well with things you with they would, like the HP filter.
Nevertheless it’s a soundesigners dream.
Definitely not the kind of thing you’d want as a brain. When you sequence it from an external device like the OT you loose a lot of the features like roll/reverse etc.
it’s a quirky beast with lots of flaws that sounds incredible. The stock samples suck in my opinion, and it’s hella over priced. But if you like extra quirky gear it’s a win.
My vote is hands down the Analog Keys. It’s fucking perfect!
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I quite like the Drumbrute Impact. Cheap and very playable. And the build quality makes no sense at all.
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Perkons - seriously!
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He did say under $1000.
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Uuh - „grand“ - ok.
Was irritated due to many A4 // AR replies.
RD9, though!
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+1
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… or Analog Four MK1 with Launchkey Mini to safe money …
(My drum machine is an A4 MK2 with Launchkey Mini 
)
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Almost the only one with 5-pin MIDI dongle. I had one before, nice controller.
Another vote for the 8s. Some of the setup stuff is a little tedious, but it is definitely playable. One of my favourite machines, and they just keep making it better.
and this, you’ll find, is the main gripe, @Nuss1Suss. But really? If youre handling Octatrack, then the setup stuff for the 8S is really nothing. Yes, its a tiny little window of a screen, but the UI is not as bad as folks make it out to be. It has really great effects too.
This too. The last two updates really made the machine better, almost as if Roland is out there listening to user feedback.
Best bang for the buck, particularly if you can grab a used one.
Each pattern can have 8 chainable variations, and you can write a new variation while the old one is playing. Elektron cant do that…
TR8S.
Most performable drum machine within your budget. And “more” or “as performable” as some of the other suggestions that are nearly double your budget 
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I would actually suggest the tr8 over the tr8s, less options = more emmediate playing
I was going to mention the impact as well. The pads were actually surprisingly playable, it was loads of fun to drum on. it’s kind of amazing that almost no one ever talks about it.
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Yeah? And those are pretty inexpensive these days too. I saw one under $300 the other day.
Can you load samples into the TR-8?
No. No samples.
I couldn’t sell mine for $200 after the 8S came out, it was a glorified metronome for a while before I gave it away.
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Wow, so I guess those $300 used units aren’t that great of a deal after all. Did you dislike it, or were you just done with it after having it a while? I don’t really know the instrument that well. I think I vaguely remember that Roland was charging for kit downloads, like maybe it was the 606 kit? Sounds like the 8S is far superior
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I have the battery powered TR08 boutique Roland reissue and it’s easy to jam on. OP-1 is good as well in finger drum mode.
No samples on the tr8, and certainly way lower resale value than the tr8s, but if you want somthin that can sample, there are far better options than tr8s
Jomox Alpha Base, straight and to the point.
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