i love this thing, it is so immediate, it uses less desk space, it sounds better then the big one and it has distortion! the intuitive design is what makes it work for me.
Great little machine for the money. It also doesnt suffer from that maracas white noise low volune issue on that the original had.forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=90659.0 I picked up one of the originals used and it had that ussue.. Fortunately i was able to return it. I then I bought an impact. PS, I like the orange S××× 😏
"here's a quick comparison of all the sounds the machines share. I programmed identical sequences into both and tried to match their settings as closely as possible" Thanks for that obvious thing to do that nobody else did for some reason... wish I'd stumbled upon this a long time ago. Same conclusion as when I compared them in the store and the original was more for me. Reasons: especially liked bass drum 2 on the original and that more instruments give you more leeway for unconventional uses (including playing one of the bass drums melodically as a bass) and workarounds. Also positively hated the FM drum. Re workarounds (for any readers of this), as pointed out by Enrique Martinez you can use the hats backwards so the closed doesn't choke the open, and another good trick is to use the accents so you enter softer hits rather than harder ones (these tricks apply to both machines)
You got a good ear for the sweet spot when it comes to distortion on this thing. Others tend to over do it & it sounds terrible! .. and this is coming from someone who someone who enjoys distortion. When it's applied I prefer it having more substance than noise ( ratio wise ) otherwise it sounds like clipping really badly (especially the hi hats & snares) if you know what I mean . Great review! I'm considering getting a Drumbrute Impact after viewing this . Arturia are making some wicked gear. I also was greatful to hear they sound really different in the comparison as I was concerned at first glance that it was going to be a scaled back version with exactly the same sounds the original Drumbrute. Really nice to hear it's a fresh kit.
Cool review. I have a Drumbrute and was wondering about the differences and you pretty much answered all my questions. I hope Arturia will update the original Drumbrute firmware with the new features.
"They're like an 808 style drumkit where the bass drum is moving around, maybe you have a sample on top, and like.. drake. and that's like a whole song" - andrew "AND THATS LIKE A WHOLE SONG" - andrew's brain
Very late to the party. Thanks for this. Very comprehensive. I bought a used original but I think I may get the impact in due course and sync the two together. I liked your suggestion of other programmable features. I think if Arturia ever get round to impact 2, we might get those animations.
I was critical until I heard it get transformed into a 909 thing then suddenly I was sold it's an analog drum machine that can give you aspects of both the 808 and 909 plus randomization pretty insanely sweet for $300
@Suture Sound: good summary! When you compared the machines your kick on the original was too weak. I use to combine kick 1 and 2. Also you can get much better sounds using a mixer and suck out 200 Hz from kick1, which puts the org. Drumbrute into another league.
Why on Earth did they not allow you to change the pitch on the COWBELL? First, the give us the worthless ZAP on the original Drumbrute instead of a cowbell. Now they don’t give us a pitch control? What’s up with that?
The original is the best and I love the wood on sides looks very retro and elegant I have it and even if I bought a tr8s from Roland i will keep it because is analog is totally different unique I love it the sounds for techno or electrónic music id perfect drum machine
Great review. You really put the Impact through it's paces. It's cheap, it's complimentary to the original and it's very capable. I'm interested in the Behringer 808 and the MFB Tanzbar 2 which are supposed to be coming but in the meantime this is the right price and functions to make it a worthwhile purchase
I'm kinda shocked you haven't done a video on the Korg Volca series yet (or the Minilogue/Monologue for that matter), especially the Volca Modular and Sample. I'd love to see one. They're gonna be my first full live setup, especially with the free Volca Mix special they've got going. They'll go great with my first ever piece of hardware, the Korg Minilogue
A great lack of the impact is the missing ability recording "encoder-rides". This is neither definately not possible to the machine itself, nor via Midi to a sequencer.
so....pitch sequencing - Andrew finally answered my main question! I'm assuming the other knob functions are non-savable in the sequencer. -------- if I want that "Drake" baseline then I'll guess I'll just have to record out and use it as is?
Thank you very much nice review. love how you say "some orange shit" on the side of the impact., had me Laughing big there. I agree the wood finish is way better. Drumbute it is. :)
I have both machines, the original and Impact, and I love them both in different way, but I tend to use Impact more (I would say, all the time). It has much heftier sounds, great playability, and FM drum is brilliant unit that can make dozens of sounds, zaps, basses, rimshots of sorts and with conjunction with long decayed Kick drum and distortion they sound terrific. The OG, on the other hand, is just big gorgeous beauty and is unparalleled in making complex beats and rhythms. Sounds a bit dull and boring (classic, ahem), but when you give it time, it can sound fantastic. Too much work for me, and the OG craves for a big mixing desk with a lot of pedals to manipulate individual outputs, but I don't have space and money for it. It's a studio gear, not some drum toy)
I like the kick on the impact. How would you say it compares to the kick on the original? Would I still be able to get that hard hitting kick that could function as a bass?
If you want to get into modular, go with the upcoming Behringer Neutron, if not, go with the Behringer Model D. Both are amazing synths that cost around $300 USD.
J. H. If you are picking one up for like 200 the micro is great, otherwise I would save up and get something in the 400-450 new range. The micro is cool, but it lacks a lot of vital tone shaping features for being just a mono. I'd look for a used Ms20 or something but that's just me.
Bass Station 2 is 50 dollars more and it's much better. Velocity, aftertouch, sound sculpting is way more advanced and it has pattern chaining on the sequencer. There's even FM for super fat basses. I have both and while I love the microbrute, for me I'd take the BS 2 over it any day.
The microbrute was my first analog synth, so this is totally biased, but it's great. The simi-modular functionality is brilliant, and when I got my second synth (a Korg Minilogue), I truly was shocked at how much i relied on it (since the Minilogue has no such ease-of-use functionality). Its simple, yet complex, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
thx much for the great info, was wondering if you would recommend this one over the original as far as using it in the studio, triggering sounds from my drum pads? thx
How is it possible to learn how to use these devices? Really this is so complex where do you start? All the knobs, every device is different,,,, endless menus, where do you start?
Nice review! Does it actually do polyrhythms though? A lot of people complained when they announced the BSP update would make polyrhythms possible, but then it didn't... Turned out they actually meant polymeters. I think their argument was that people are more familiar with the term "polyrhythm", but imo that doesn't justify calling a feature something that it's not. At least with the BSP it's sort of a bonus feature (i.e. not labeled on the machine/box and not available at release), but now it's says it on the box. It would be a pretty big selling point, at least for me, but I have a feeling they're just doing the same thing all over again. If I'm correct, that's just misleading, and they even know they're doing it, not a very nice move. I might be wrong though.
My 11 year old is becoming interested in synths and drum machines. He’s been using some of my software, mainly Reason, and I’m considering getting him and I something for Christmas. Would you consider this to be a good beginner drum machine as far as bang for your buck?
I prefer a more relistic sound over distorted synthetic sounds when it comes to drums. Real acoustic drums with a little tape saturation sounds much better than synthetic crap.
Hey dude! I own a pretty powerful PC Laptop. Was wondering if you could make a video or two on this channel about how to start getting into what you do with music production in a practical way. What are some good softwares for beginners? What are some good synth modules for beginners? How does connecting synth mods to your software on your PC even work?
SirCopperBullet FL studio is good for beginners, it's fairly cheap and comes with a lot. Or there's reason, which comes with tons in the intro version, but is limited to 16 tracks, then Ableton intro, which I don't think has much. If you're doing recording or using lots of cats, reaper is also a cheap daw.
Blazertron I was watching an FL Studio for beginners vid as you commented. FL Studio looks amazing. It's as simple or as complex as you make it. The $200 price tag is well worth it. Just gotta come up with $200.
Hi, I just bought a new Arturia Drumbrute Impact and upon startup, I immediately noticed that a single tap on the pad produces multiple sound hits, double or triple. This happens with every pad. Is this normal? Or is there something wrong with my unit?
To me the drumbrute has an annoying metallic tone which is prob good for techno or cerebral electronic but I prefer the filtered down and less noisy sounds for the genre of house I tend to make
No. However, the distortion is only applied to the main mix. If you use the individual outputs (kick, snares, hats, fm) then they will be removed from the main out. Could be helpful to add distortion only to a few sounds while leaving others clean. Also, the "color" version of the Kick is the kick with distortion.
From what I understand; you would need an external distortion pedal if you wanted distortion only on certain sounds individually; hooking the effect pedal up via your preferred individual output(s).
For me the OG-DB is the better one of the two. The 12 individual outs makes it stand out. The sound is there to be sculpted into what you require. They say only bad tradesmen blame their tool. I think that puts the haters on the OG-DB into perspective
Good way of looking at it! :D I like the impact, no doubt. But not more than the OG, partly because of what you said and also the sounds itself. They're two different machines, they each have their place. Plus, if you run the OG into the brute filter of a mini, it will rip your face off. Try it.
