Roland TR8S

[spagbol]

Thoughts? Good complimentary hardware to Push 2? Waste of time? Worth the money? Just buy a TR8 instead???

Im interested, feed me your thoughts on the subject please.

[login]

After getting some hardware and using Live for many years:

If you are familiar writing music in Live hardware which has its own sequencer can slow you down: saving, recording, recalling, all that is a PITA.

Nevertheless, I use some hw synths with external instruments, sequenced from live and I print to audio as soon as possible.

HW with sequencers is excellent for jamming without computer, that is where I found I were more comfortable with it: 3 pieces of hardware with their own sequencer, good UI, allows for a good jam without worrying to much about arrangement, sound design etc.

[Tarekith]

Looks like an amazing update to the TR8 to me, it's better in pretty much every way. I'm very interested in one, and I was just about to pull the trigger on an Elektron AR MKII.

[spagbol]

Thanks.
If one has Push 2 already, is the TR8s then just overkill, i mean would the TR8 suffice, is what i guess I'm trying to find out, taking into consideration the TR8 is not that old still and is now almost less than half the price of the TR8S.

[lowshelf]

What's the deal with polyphony? Is each voice monophonic? Any concept of choke groups? The manuals were written in Twitter.

Oh can you really not delete the factory samples? Pretty sure I'm sorted for dog barks.

[spagbol]

hehe, thats why i was thinking the TR8 would be a better fit if u got Live n Push 2.....?!?!?

[Stromkraft]

hehe, thats why i was thinking the TR8 would be a better fit if u got Live n Push 2.....?!?!?

I don't understand this logic. I got Live and Push 1. These facts have no bearing on whether I want a TR8 or TR8s or a drum brute. As I use Heartbeat, the lure of a separate drum machine is somewhat diminished even as I have access to multiple.

The best reason for getting any instrument is if you like it and think you will use it.

[spagbol]

hehe, thats why i was thinking the TR8 would be a better fit if u got Live n Push 2.....?!?!?

The best reason for getting any instrument is if you like it and think you will use it.

Well yea, i was hoping my logic stretches at least that far.

[Stromkraft]

Well yea, i was hoping my logic stretches at least that far.

So isn't the best way forward to try one and see what you think? At worst buy one and send it back if you don't like it.

[spagbol]

Is there ever a best way forward?

Im trying to find out the things that bring a certain quality to my workflow, thats how i measure it anyway.

[Stromkraft]

Is there ever a best way forward?

Im trying to find out the things that bring a certain quality to my workflow, thats how i measure it anyway.

Well, it does seem Roland have done their homework with the TR-8S; it has an amazing set of features. If you're interested in their VA machines then how can you go wrong with this one? I note the separate analog outputs as very interesting.

Stylewise, I personally lean more towards any of the Elektron drum machines, but if you're a fan of Roland, then this should be one of the best devices to use.

Integrating any drum machine into your work flow can be a bit of a boggle. I believe you cannot think yourself into knowledge with this kind of instrument. Better to just make the plunge and learn from experience. It can never hurt to read the manual though. Roland manuals these days are somewhat cryptic, but at least you'd be able to get some hints.

[spagbol]

Very helpful, thanks.
I don't mind messing about with stuff to be able to understand and use it.

But my questions remains.......would the TR8 suffice (im looking at the cost you see), do i really need the sampler on the TR8S??? See my thinking is i don't.
I don't think i would be using it as a standalone instrument you see.

[Tarekith]

If you’re just going to sequence it from Live and use samples in Live, there are a ton of 808 and 909 sample libraries and VSTs that would probably make more sense. The whole appeal of the TR8S is largely the hands on performance aspects I would think.

Btw, Sonicstate.com just posted a good overview of it too if you want to see and learn more.

[login]

IMHO any drum machine won't add anything significant to Live+Push, for sound design you can use any synth or dedicated drum plugin or the M4L drum synths, or samples, layer, add effects, etc.

The Push sequencer is good and it has per step automation.

SO when it comes down to workflow within Live I don't see any advantage and many more problems integrating it: how to get individual outs into live? do you have an audio interface with enough Ins? or if you use the USB interface in the TR8S are you aware that you can't use your main audio interface?

The strong points of drum machines is using them for jamming without computer.

[Stromkraft]

if you use the USB interface in the TR8S are you aware that you can't use your main audio interface?

Well, on Macs you can use the TR-8(s) as input audio interface and keep your main audio interface for output. You can even aggregate audio interfaces.