I just *know* you're already salivating at that new Roland synth they announced yesterday. It's amazing that they finally created a good modern groovebox in the MC-707 and they immediately went back to 2000's SH-32 tier throwaway cheese. I still love them though.
@@sawtooth808 It looks like a very powerful sound module. That i would be better off using a laptop instead of. It doesn't seem to bring much character to the table, or much in the way of UI
I literally can’t wait for every new video you share ! Best counter reviews on youtube ♥️ I have a question for you, you said :”some of its better competitors” which ones would they be ? I’m finding it hard to find any better value for the package Roland offers. Unless it’s way pricier Many thanks !
I had a TR-6S, I liked it! I think it was marketed very badly by Roland, but for a box not much bigger than a Volca you get all the classic Roland sounds via ACB, and more besides. Although the 2-line display sucks, the workflow choices are very clever, it's a well designed piece of kit. Ultimately I sold it to buy a TR-8S for more hands on control and direct access to certain parameters
Roland's gonna Roland indeed. I had a MC-101 and of course it wasn't enough for my needs so I got an MC-707. But the MC-707, while have a lot more features than the MC-101, also misses a few the MC-101 has (e.g. 3 knobs per track vs 4 vs being able to manipulate all tracks at the same time vs 1). And the 101 was upgraded to allow full access to ZenCore, and it's portable. So now I'm looking at the MC-101 again while my wife is looking for divorce. :P (j/k about that last bit, she's amazing :D)
One of my favorite Yt channels for sure. I own this for a few weeks now (with the help of this video ) and was wondering why on startup it does default to Pattern 1 and not the last Pattern-Project i was working on
@@AudioPilz from what I remember and understand , you can save which project should be the default one, but not make the machine remember which project was the last one and start there. Unless I misinterpreted the Roland answer when I googled this question. Need to double check when I am home again
I genuinely got a 'Roland Lifestyle' email notification while watching this video on my phone. *No I never asked for it. They just started spamming me (ironically) after I registered my TR8s.
That's the thing. Roland sucks and they make horribly crippled stuff but if you learn it and use it a lot you can do amazing things with it.. and their stuff doesn't really break. Takes a beating the way professional equipment should. Just a very frustrating brand overall. Great build quality, even when it's plastic with horrible limitations that actually help you get stuff done. It's a paradox
Don’t be put off there old stuff is gold. And not just the unobtainable 808 and 303 there’s been a lot of gems between there and these new miniature gubbins. Can thoroughly recommend the mc808 not sure what eBay prices are nowadays but a helluva lot cheaper than the original 808!
The ancient wisdom that 'Everybody Needs a 303' has been passed down through the ages since it was brought to us by the holey Norman Cook in the time before remembering (1996).
We’ve bought the last 2 demo units in Canada, the tr-8 or 8s is required to perform with it if you don’t have a beatstep pro, the scatter going to midi on the tr-8 is it’s most defining characteristic.
Dude you're doing this all by yourself right? HOW in the world are you able to do this much output every few days? In this quality? Like hooooow? Great video production and memes, exceptional jams, exceptional gear knowledge and all the forum posts you put in there... Das ist doch Wahnsinn!!
@@AudioPilz machst du das ganze hauptberuflich mit Patreon und evtl Streams? Find ich schon wirklich sick. Das nimmt doch soo viel Zeit in Anspruch. Kann nur sagen, dass du die unterhaltsamsten und am besten produziertesten Videos zu Synthies hier auf YT machst, die ich kenne :) Props!
Looks like I am not the only one who watched a ton of reviews for the SH-4D and had the same thought. That this thing is a job for our favorite critic. 🤣
@@AudioPilz I am extremely eager to hear what you have to say about it. I have it as a total nyub and I am eager to see what an aficionado's eyes can inform me that I am missing the most so I can consider add ons that complement it best, speed me up, and save frustration. The audio and loop 12 minute mono (total) limitation is not great but live-with-able and the sampling process is ROUGH, but it DOES SO MUCH jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none-ing, that paired with Zenbeats for effects control (especially if they add vocal tracks aka sampling) it is hard to see how it is not a slightly less convenient/immediate version of many other pieces of gear combined. Especially if your mini keys has CC knobs and sliders. So I want to know what isn't just inconvenient but TRULY missing for synth-pragmatists (Rompler will do) who HATE daw complexity but still want the power of a daw. Like a Baby's First (and only) Daw.
@@AudioPilz And besides. Nearly EVERYONE hates it except for 5 regulars on the MV-1 thread. I saw a poll on Reddit between MV-1 and SP404 MK2 and you'd have though the MV-1 was dysentery.
@@mycosys Maschine is 600. MPC One is 660. Push 2 is 800. I bought MV-1 for 425. So it is great deal if it does what I need enough. Vocal effects were my main target and though Maschine and MPC One have vocal processing but the parameters are FAR more limiting almost definitely resulting in some degree of robotic vocals no matter how talented the singer. For parameters MPC One has key/scale, sensitivity, and range. Maschine has key/scale, note limit and correction speed. MV-1 has formant (One's range), stability (One's sensitivity), speed (Mashine's speed), type (this is smoothness outside of speed - neither have this), a straight shift control, and the biggest one is the ability to set to a specific key versus chromatic (that's huge). Also the harmonizer is SO customizable that you make it a second form of correction if you turn it mild enough. Again, this is all live effects. Not post. More brutish autotunes like One and Maschine are for people who can't sing AT ALL and need a lot of correction. More nuanced correction like on the MV-1 is for a real vocalist who only needs slight correction only. You need parameters for that to turn things to where it isn't hardly doing anything at all. MV-1 is the only autotune hardware that I found (that isn't a fortune) that can do that. All the hubs you mentioned are WAY more feature rich than the MV-1 but they don't have the main feature I need and simplicity. Push controls a daw (not simple). Maschine and One are basically daws in a box but complex ones. MV-1 is more like a hardware daw. A super simple one but it is. It holds your hand (as long as sampling isn't a big thing for you) and gets it simply done. Everything I truly need and nothing I truly don't. WITH THAT SAID, I would like to know good compliments for certain features that I am not realizing are slowing me down. Mr. Pilz might do that. I already know I didn't make a mistake with the MV-1 in making it my centerpiece. But I would like to see someone with knowledge complain about certain features and point out how it should be instead, so I can see exactly where I am encumbered-unaware.
I lose track of all the Roland drum box-a-likes, TR6s/TR8s/T8/MC101/etc. It seems on a chart of cost vs. capability they've just thrown darts and hung a product label off each. I think I'll just stick with the samples provided for no extra cost with Ableton.
Look up dy reck wha had happened was, if you do a video in that format copying his exact vocal affectations I'll hop on the Patreon even though im homeless
Brilliant episode as usual. I was torn between getting this and the MC-101. Went for the 101 and love it (would love to get a video on it too!) but the TR-6S is till on my list for the future. As a complete beginner/n00b these Roland boxes are actually great - limiting your options isn't always a bad thing when you're still learning the basics!
You definitely get more bang for your buck with the MC-101, the TR-6S is a lot of fun though and the drum machine sounds are better (ACB rather than samples). Although, the MC-101 has CR-78 kits, which is awesome!
@@sawtooth808 go wash your mouth out with soap. It’s only a matter of time before the SH-4d makes its appearance on Bad Gear. Stick with pre-2000 Roland gear, and you may do ok, anything after that, and it’s probably going to appear here.
I would love a Tr ....7.5s? Something between the tr6s and tr8s size wise and with 8 sounds-channels and 8 individual outputs for the channels. I love my tr6s but many times wish for a slightly bigger version ,,,but,,,,,, not quite as big as the tr8s . Go figure...
It's funny how the knobs on the 606 and faders on the 707 are noticeably smaller than the knobs/faders on the TR-6S, but people only complain about the TR-6S. I guess compared to the TR-8S they're cramped, but the TR-8S has the form factor of a shitty mixer, and who wants that? I kinda do but I kinda don't! I just love that I can get the 808 and CR-78 ACB sounds in a little box that doesn't have a Micro-B power connector. And I love that the TR-6S is on Roland's secret list of legitimate studio gear which actually gets supported with a working app and gets significant updates years after release. Because it's running the same OS as their flagship drum machine. My big complaint with the TR-6S is that - like most of Roland's USB-powered devices - it needs to be on an isolated power supply or it has a hum, which means there are all kinds of shenanigans involved with actually trying to use USB MIDI. Maybe I can mod mine and install a DC jack just wired into the battery terminals or something. It's funny how the TB-3 is the opposite. It uses USB power, and it also has a barrel jack, but it doesn't have class-compliant USB.
I guess we'll see MC101 soon...lol I personally enjoy the MC101 quite a lot except that making a 'song' in it is just as frustrating as using it live and it wasn't even designed to do songs, it was added way later in a function called "Scene Chain". Also the 101's pads REALLY suck. I'm constantly getting failed triggers because you have to hit the pads dead center. I'll be hammering out a bassline while recording and stop and restart cause one of the pads just decided my aim isn't perfect enough and punished me with silence. That said, it's probably the most powerful little battery powered mini workstation you can buy (at least in dedicated hardware form...obviously you can get a handheld computer and run a full DAW if you wanted)...The TR6S would be fun as a 'how far can we push this without multitracking' machine, but I've already got a 101 for that...at least I can play chords on it. :P
@@artisans8521 There's also Korg Gadget for Switch. Tons of 'use this other thing as music gear' options these days, but dedicated is rare and my opinion still stands. I think the only thing that might compare is Deluge.
cool - again a "bad" gear that i can sell now for more ;) - D-Beam or now D-Motion ... waiting for a Modal Cobalt review ... than i can sell that as well and get a the new Roland SH4d which will than be on your show in 6-12month ;) But that said well done and cool jams (evil?)
@@TheSciHi Sure it does 😁. Ticking all the boxes. More Shortcuts than knobs, Tiny but useful Display, Filter knob with no heft, Midi CC Assignment for less inititate ones, Sound is thin like a (insert a cool meme with Thin toilet paper) ... Come-on totally bad gear treatment worthy.
@@kaikiefer8303 Sure it doesn't. For a such feature packed synth that also has enormous mod matrix, shortcuts are necessary, unless you want something Prophet-worthy, with adequate price tag. To add insult to injury all top reviewers from Nick Batt to Benn Jordan are praising it's sound, especially in bottom end area, which is suprisingly massive for a VA synth. Yes, it's got some quirks (which many od had been adressed in 2.0 firmware upgrade) and one could (meanly) joke about Cobalt being no more than VST in a box. But capabilities- and sound design- wisely? Please.
@@TheSciHi 😁 no mercy ! It has to happen. Florian 📢 - ok let me try it differently, my 8m(V2) here in my setup - gets always puts up a fight. When his neighbors( blofeld, TR6S, JdXi) bragging about their Bad Gear Experiences. 😊
that initial "i have no idea what im doing" phase is my favorite part of buying any new box. always seem to make the coolest and most creative (and listenable) stuff before i actually learn how to use the thing
I knew the TR-6S was coming to your great show and now here it is. I actually own one and generally like it. The biggest advantages for me are the wide variety of kits, patterns and samples stuffed into this little box that I can throw in my backpack for gigging. It sounds pretty good, too. However, it is a PITA to menu dive in deep and conjure up everything that it can do. This is made especially complicated with that tiny, '90s-vintage LED screen. The front panel labeling (grey letters over black plastic) barely hint at very important SHIFT functions. I had to work out these as memory items and use muscle memory to reliably access these functions. In an ideal world for me the TR-8S would be my next drum machine, but in the meantime I labor on with the compromise of my little TR-6S. Again, Great video!
If you want to really stretch the definition of "synthesis" you could do the Kopf Toekicker. It's a piece of wood with a piezo transducer and basic preamp that's marketed to acoustic guitarists as an electric kick drum, and sells for about $200. It would be really fiun to see what you were able to squeeze out of something that basic by using outboard processing and multitracking. The basic idea has been around since at least the late 80s and some variants are even more expensive, that's just the first one I found when I Googled it to remember the actual name. I also see a "digital" one from a different manufacturer that costs $300. It's a block of wood with a piezo trigger that can play one of 5 built in sounds, and it has 5 preset beats. $300. For $40 or $50 sure, but as a guitarist I can say only a guitarist would spend over $100 for something that you could build in an afternoon with $20 of off-the-shelf parts, a handful of common tools, and almost no experience with electronics or woodworking. EDIT: let's say $35 assuming you buy expensive, pre-cut "hobby wood" from your local Home Depot equivalent.
I feel like the MC-101 is only a few episodes away now. (I love mine, and it’s strangely a sense of validation when some of your gear makes it onto BG)
At least they didn't use an OLED display, so if nothing else it should still be usable in 20 years when stuff like the current generation Elektron gear has more burn-in than an old CRT from an airport schedule display.
2:28 LAFORGE: "If we expose the Borg to FM synthesis, it should cause a cascade failure of the hivemind." PICARD: "But humans have been exposed to FM synthesis for centuries and it didn't cause genocide." DATA: "Captain, I feel I should inform you that there has never been a single human who understands FM synthesis."
I don't think it's bad at all, just a bit small and limited! I have my SD card filled with tons of rare vintage analog machines, not just Roland ones! It is my extended sample library machine of my favorites! Works like a charm with my keystep, and various synth modules. Very easy to make great EBM and Minimal jams! Nice that you can tune and filter the drum sounds! Keeping my TR-6S, much better than the thin sounding Volca Beat, which i soon sold!
Vsynth GT, KORG Z1 but I actually do not assume them as hated. However what about Alesis Andromeda that replaces a moog quite well but never shines as bright as an OB (X)8 or what about creamware/soniccore ASB desktop synths? Especially Prodyssey ASB aliases like nothing ever heard before when using hard sync. PRO-12 ASB aliases also but not that violent as ithe digital ARP clone.
ohhhhh come on! The TR6-S is as about as much drum machine goodness as it's possible to get for £300, I think it punches above it's weight and never fails to sound good in a mix. I bought one unsure if I'd keep it, and the wee thing has remained in my setup ever since
As much as "half-zenonesque, half-dark hardpsybient goatrance" is more aligned with my music tastes, I was kinda hoping for the trap remix of Pink's "let's get the party started" just for the pure "WTF?" factor.
I have and really love the TR6s big brother the TR8s. This point you make on chromatic note entry is *spot on*. It's a criminal amount of purposeful limitation that stops the TR8s from being one of the greatest all around machines Roland's ever made. That said, I workaround this problem with an RK002 cable with the TR8s note program installed and an Arturia Keystep to melodic note entry. It works but it feels so clunky! Come on ROLAND! Give us the last piece of the puzzle!
Holy shit, coincidentally just left a hate comment about the TR-6S on Amazona. The shitty save-workflow made me sell this thing immediately. And guess what: they bring this abomination of patch/pattern management back in the SH-4D (a guaranteed future bad gear episode)
Another one of my devices makes its way on to Bad Gear... I might have suggested this one at some point. It was ticking all the boxes when I first fired it up. I am starting to think I am a slut for the bad stuff. I have used my TR6S to bolster my TR8 and because I found a second hand one very cheap. Also, I couldn't find a TR8S within in my impulse purchase budget that week. I think I'd happily own all three in one set up, TR6S, TR8, and TR8S. I just cannot part with the TR8... I think my pair of TB3s would miss it.
The 6S is awesome, super good value for the money (if you get it cheap, and it's easy to pick this one up for cheap) and the ACB drums are fantastic. Only missing feature that drives me crazy is no sidechain, though no multi-outs will bother others (but then, no multi-out gives no external sidechain workarounds). The faders alone add an absolute ton of live-play options.
No sidechain? I have a TR-8S and there's a few different sidechain types to choose from, can be applied to any instrument. Just needs a bit of menu diving. But I already forget which menu it's in!
@@alexwestconsulting maybe its a thing they forgot to delete from the stripped-down tr-8s firmware. or maybe they will fix this in upcoming firmware by adding in menu the instruments to be sidechained.
@@alexsicko I hope they add it but I’m not holding my breath. If Roland actually came through on this, I would recommend the tr6s to no end. As it is, I end up using the novation circuit rhythm the most because of its sidechaining. I mean, when I’m dawless and not using the akai. Without sidechain, it’s just not something I can use live, or even jamming really. When I do use it, I have to not use bass drum on it so I can sidechain the rest of the tracks to an external bass drum.
with my tr8s you can use the sidechain on incoming signals, pretty cool if youre using it with a bass synth. so without an input jack, thats difficult on the tr6s haha
I wanted a DX200 so much back in the day, I still dream about it occasionally. It certainly has its bugs & quirks but it doesn’t make me want one any less. In other news…. I believe Roland just released a new Bad Gear product this week. Looking forward to this future show!
Thanx as always Florian. I don't think I have any patience left for those 2 line lcd screens Roland insists on using. My MC 101 is frustrating enough to use. Can't wait to see if the SH 4d Is bad gear material. B.
Big question maybe but was checking this and the TR8S for a drum machine. Dont really like them much now....what is an actual drum machine that's actually good nowadays??
I really liked my TR-6s before I sold it to continue the never-ending gear merry-go-round. It was particularly great for super quickly generating ideas by randomly scrolling through preset sounds to existing patterns
"the never-ending gear merry-go-round". That is perfect. Total sums it up. Although I fell off the merry-go-round approximately 30 days ago (I still have 60 days of the Logic Pro X trial left) and I've not looked back 🤫
You can see Roland has lost their marbles when they're charging more for a shitbox. Both the Elektron Model Samples and Model Cycles are 50 bucks cheaper and have more functionality than this.
Do you have a code of ethics that you adhere to when considering how long a piece of gear has been out in the marketplace before you feature it? I'm just curious because Roland is all queued up with the SH-4d which already seems primed for the Bad Gear treatment. Do you have a rule: one year, two years...? LOL. I guess it needs to be in the hands of consumers for awhile so you can gather all the complaints. You can always count on good ol' Roland to keep supplying the ammo.
these videos are so good! I think this might be the best yet. Love the little bits of music you make with these but I would love to hear like an hour's worth lol especially with the visuals
I have a picture of the note values for this saved on my phone. I love this wee box, but that is the most frustrating bollocks ever. They patched in probability, fingers crossed we get proper note tuning in another patch (never gonna happen, but I'll still buy Roland gear like a fool🤡💀).
Your review of the sh-4d needs to be titled, “Yet another Roland groovebox....or is it? No one really knows!” According to Roland it is...and also according to Roland it is not 😂🙄
Honestly I was interested in this but ended up with an MC101 and don't see much reason to switch. Having 6 Sliders is definitely better for a dedicated Drum Machine, but AFAIK you can do mutes on the drum patterns which is probably more useful in the long run. Having full tweakability of an 808 or the likes is probably overrated given how many iconic uses are actually samples to begin with. I'll stick with my Volca Drum for on the fly tweaking & portability. It's a shame, it's so close to being awesome.
