A Supposedly Fun Thing for TR-909 Enthusiasts : Comparing the RE-909 to the TR-09. 

Something subtle that one might miss unless you've obsessed about it when recording and mixing is transients. The RE sounds so much sharper to me. Something that blew my mind was borrowing a friend's old JoMoX XBase 09. It's like an analog copy of 4 of the 909 voices - a bit different. But the point was that when sampling it at home, it sounded so much thinner and smaller than all the samples and plugins I'm used to in the digital realm... But when I ran that thing through an analog mixer, straight into a sound system (OHM In Berlin) it sounded insane! There are, to my mind, two obscure reasons. First is the transients, they're sharp, and LOUD. They CUT. Could never fake it with samples I think... It's the limited headroom, the compression, the D/A... The transients of the analog drum sounds that sound thin at home can be cranked up so loud that the transients of the drums sit way above the volume of the rest. It doesn't sound like the drums are too loud, but the drums cut through. They're focussed, razor sharp. (Had a similar experience one time when a friend played an ambient-ish live set from Ableton Live, but played a real MS-20 over the top, it just soared above everything else, so crisp, not necessarily louder.) The second reason is voodoo... There's ultrasonic energy all the way up to 60KHz if you look at high sample-rate JoMoX drum recordings. You can't "hear" this, but I believe, and perhaps it's superstition, that you somehow feel it. If we presume that an elite high-end club system has some ultrasonic capability, then it's energy in the room whether the cells in your inner ear can translate them to brainwaves or not. Your samples or you digital recreation of an old drum machine will very likely never have this X-factor. It's technically possible, but the technicians who build these things aren't shamans (only Vlad from Soma). Now, even if I took the well recorded samples of the JoMoX, and used them in a 96KHz sampler, into an analog mixer, straight into an analog amplifier in the club, it would never occur to me or anybody else that you shouldn't compress or limit them in anyway to make them big enough to sit in the mix... To make it work you'd need to make the "thin weak drums" just WAY louder than the rest of the mix, without compression or limiting, and then crank the master on the analog mixer instead. This way your transients would shoot up above the "0" level of the actual mix below. Idk how to explain this any better. Imagine you set a vritual speed limit at -12db as the "0" for all sounds, except the drums.

Thanks for the vid! This is the kind of video I didn't know I needed until I watched it :)

Portability is the key here. I have the original and same concerns about moving it. My option is the good old novation drumstation rack 1U with individual outs. Great video as always.

Great vid, very interesting how different they are.

It’s funny how all 909s are different. My RE has pretty quiet kick and open hat while the rim shot and ride kill the monitors at the first quarter of their throw. Totally feel you on your thoughts about the RE btw, it’s really amazing and has such a vibe, sweetspot machine! I’ve paired mine with a Perkons and they really complement each other, a match made in heaven, basically. The one gripe I have with the RE is the wobbly knobs. Not sure if your unit suffers from that but yeh.. apart from that it’s just perfect.

Definitley fun 😎 My general theory on the subject is that no two original 909 - or even analog clones - sound exactly the same. Especially after decades, old capacitors, many variables that might affect how they operate. So a clone of a 909 might be based on one particuluar variation of the original. And then different clones could even sound varied amongst themselves for the same reasons. My former 909, purchased in the early 90's, had very sharp clean transients, more like the TR-09 now. But I've heard other original machines that were more like your RE-909. Of course now the TR-09's digital emulation of the real thing, they can all sound identical. Makes sense that the hi-hats were phasing, they are samples to begin with. Also I noticed I heard less of a click from on the kick with the RE, playing double 16th notes - so more smooth and consistent compared to the 09 which had more snap.

Many thanks! ❤

Very interesting video! They really do sound completley different, cant say i prefer one over the other. A video of this quality would be interesting with a "real" 909 even tho they all sound different too.

oh snare in the re909 are so appealing! never been a fan of them but those sound great

909 with Overstayer! Amazing

Thanks for the test, can’t pay for a jomox yet so maybe I get this little guy now.

:D well... it is what it is :P Portability hits us all... i went 2x Digitakt and sacrifice what ever old components do to generate that organic sound and grit. Btw you can put bigger, easier to use knobs on the TR-09, which makes it more comfy to use, especially on live. I think i'm gonna build a box with a magnet to put it on top, and a cable through cartridge hole to have a few more options on the 909... Hats pitch, kick envelope, without destroying it :D Good one Lucas!

Hey! Do you connect every individual sounds from Tr 909 to mixer? There are 8 channels , if i’m not mistaken.

Просто играй на них! Мы все очень любим как они звучат!💥💫✌

I need to build one of those RE-909 asap. Already built a couple Nava 909 clone...but sold them to fund other gear. The sound was ok, but not nearly as good the RE. Thanks for great the video Lucas!

@Malle825 same though...How does the RE 909 compare to the Jomox you had ?

Bloody lovely

I met the guy who makes RE series, his name is Paul B, from UK, but lives in Sweden. RE stands for replica and i do the same thing he does but on a lower level. I can tell you this, i tried the RE-303 in a case of a TR-606 on this Berlin synth happening (can't remember that name sooperboth? yhe prolly, he nails it!!!!!!!

I was thinking to get the tr09 but what taken me off it was the fact that There is no individual outputs on it,, So in that case, may I ask you how u pan the sounds on it?

Thoughts on the RE-909 vs the Jomox Alphabase?

I think the re 909 would sound like a brand new tr 909

Love your vids and your music! Thanks! Just letting you know, the instagram link in your bio here leads to a dead account.

What happened to the jomox?

can't you push down the Sequencer Button Caps and the Rotary Knobs on the RE-909 a little further inwards? there are visible gaps. on my Steda SR-909, those Caps sit a little deeper and there are no such big gaps. so far i remember, the RE-909 uses the same Cherry Switches as the SR-909. But i must say, i like the milky Takt Switch Caps of the RE much more. it looks not only more like the original. on the Steda, the caps look a little like "wine gum" how i call it and they do not break the red light not enough. the red LEDs can almost blind you in a specific angle, because they are so dam bright. maybe i can get hands on the RE caps some time, if available again and see if they fit. anyways, your RE sounds good to me. great built.

I actually prefer the snare on the 09. the clap is soooo much better on the RE tho, thats crazy overall I also prefer the Dinsync

The Alpha Base smokes both of them tbh. I actually miss my Tanzmaus a lot too, aside from its convoluted interface.

😂

re909 toms sounds like proper basketballs

It sounds like the tr-09 is very compressed

Someone maybe can let Roland borrow an original TR-909 and they can sample it and put out a proper machine for like $899, these boutiques are just toys, or just buy Lucas's sample pack.

wow, thought the tr-09 sounded realllly good when you got to the full beat. might derail my plans to build an re-909 🥹