has anyone here got, or used, the Roland EF-303?


http://www.rolandclan.info/en/model/ef-303/





i'm in need of a decent effects unit for my live rig, and the sync to tempo effects on this seem promising. the other option is one of the Kaoss Pads, but not only am i more familiar with the sound and function of Roland's effects (through the SP and my MC09), i quite enjoy their tones and would like some uniformity from my machine orchestra

if anyone has experience with this unit, what are your thoughts?

no-one's messed with this bad boy?

i'm interested in grabbing one, but they seem pretty uncommon...if anyone sees one advertised, please let me know

It looks dope, how much do they cost Drewzle?

they were US $599 when released, but that was 2001/2 i think. i'm guessing a second hand unit would be much cheaper

haven't seen any recent auction prices, doesn't seem like many are for sale

programming bass and drums with those sliders as a step sequencer seems like it would be awesome. also i read up a bit that it the effect syncing on this is real good. i want one

Oh, I thought it was new. That thing slipped right under my radar, but I guess the 303 has been handling my effects needs.

i just lost a sweet ebay auction for one of these at the last possible second, please tell me it was one of yous so i can feel better about it

^ wasn't me : (

i ended up scoring one on a buy it now for 130, they have em up on ebay if youre looking for one. thanks for the heads up on this machine ive been looking at getting some type of multi effects box but this one with the bass sequencer and the sliders pushed me over the edge, it seems cool. ill let you know when i get it

so i got this and so far ive been having alot of fun with it,
the sequencing of drums and bass is real cool as i had hoped.
the effects are awesome for making samples, i dont know how much it would rule live since theres a major cut out when you switch effects, and when you use the grab function it clicks, but you may not need to switch effects live, tweaking the knobs doesnt cut any sound out - which i read some people say
if you like slicer this machine rules because you can set the slice points but you cant sequence it like 1-5-6-7-3-4 or something you know what i mean - y ou can make it go forawards backwards or random which is neat for making a sample to be used.
so far ive gotten good results with it making some bass and hi hat loops. the voice mod is less like a vocoder and more like this automated synth line maker which could be cool plus, the effects that it shares with the 404 like filter, lofi, flanger, and ring mod are really different on this machine(imo) which i like.
also i dont really use midi cuz i dont understand it fully, but i do know that the sliders transmit midi data therefore it may be a real cool controller for something as well
thats all for my short review any questions ask, but overall its a cool, versatile machine since it makes noises and has effects and you can save the effects and phrases on the patch thing

there loox to be a lot of similarities between this and my SH-32.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/sh32.shtml

i'd never seen yr fx box before. pretty cool.

yeah, these guys look pretty fresh. i'm bummed, i saw one on craigslist in november for $75 OBO and at the time i was so broke i couldn't even swing that...I swear the only time i ever see crazy deals on there is when i have absolutely no money...

getting more into it i almost always use it for some drum loops, i cant say enough about the sliders for the drum programming, if you ever liked using a step sequencer like fruity loops or something for drums this is a real cool machine to pick up, the drums tone cutoff and res can be shaped and you can program in smooth transistions, rests and tie - which is like a hold note thing.. theres only 4 kits but if you run them through say the sp 404 or any other efx box can get some pretty different sounds. you can also set the "sync type" which is like the rhythm i guess it reminds me of the different quantizes on the 404 but theres a few extra dotted notes, anyway playing through them can tweak your beat to more uniquely fit a song or idea. the only thing you can really do or i havent figured out is anykind of flim flam or rollish effect. you can also adjust gate and velocity for each note

you do all this same programming the synth bass and bass with delay, but its just one sound controlled by the three knobs and you cant put any of the boxes efx on them so again something external helps for variety, but in that variety you can really get a bunch of different sounds by tweaking some knobs severe and other incrementally. i think you might be able to control other parameters of the syn bass with a midi hook up but the way i have it now its not set up to explore.

another thing i havent explored but fromt he man ual seems real nuts is the usage of the sliders knobs and buttons in midi sync with a program seems like everything down to the effect cue and the start/stop are assignable. shit thinking of it now it might be an awesome controller to use with a digital dj program

lastly you can store drum/bass or efx settings in a patch bank of 4 banks with 4 slots

if anyone else gets one lets hear about it, id recomend it for the price and the style of use if that suits you, the efx are also not to be overlooked, although to me the seem spread thinly across every efx category which is cool cuz it includes a range of featurs but i could have use a few more destructive effects ,

This would make a great unit to pair with any SP, and possibly even sequence them to. They're a bit rare, and going to be a classic I'm sure. I haven't really played with one myself, but they look pretty easy to use.