If you had the money to buy either the MV-8800 or MC-808, which one would you buy? Or in other words, which one would you buy first?

Obviously I'm assuming here that I will have enough money to buy either the MV-8800 or the MC-808, but not enough money to buy both.

It's all pure theoretical at the moment as I'm pretty much broke, but in a month or two I could probably buy a (used) MC-808. Now I'm wondering if it would be smarter to save some more money some longer and buy a MV-8800 first instead. I guess feature-wise there's really no comparing the two, but musically I'm pretty sure they will both be very useful. (Buying either of the two will probably mean I won't be able to buy the other device any time soon, as we're talking about a lot of money either way. Hence the difficult choice. )

I would appreciate some thoughts on this...

Well, that is a difficult choice but I think I would TRY (Im bad with $) to save for the mv 8800. Get the more expensive thing outta the way and maybe you can find a deal on the 808 later. That is without knowing what other gear you run, anyway. But Im guessing the mv might help you get MORE outta the stuff you use now. I dont know .

The MV all day-

I believe the MC has motorized faders- which although are impressive at first play, are a gear liability. They will not work so smooth after a couple years for sure- especially if you use it often.
Moving parts=machines break down

The MV is modeled after a better machine (The 1990s MPC), where the MC is modeled after the old 1980's TR boxes, which are great nostalgic pieces, but look better in a museum than a 2008 production lab.

My only gripe about the MV (I do not own one) is that the thing is so damn big. Once you have it set up you'd be less likely to bring it into other rooms, etc... depending on your production habits.

I would love to see Roland release an MV-4400 or something- ditching the CD drive alone (CDs are so last century) would make the unit smaller- the hell with hard disk recording.. basically stuff that we use other things to do, just make it more portable for the on-the-go producer!

i agree with you about the motorized faders on the mc. kinda turned me off it tbh.

but i think you are a bit mistaken when you say the TR boxes don't have a place in a modern production lab.

everybody has 808 and 909 samples but believe me if you have heard the analog bass of the 808, 909 or 303 then you will KNOW that those sounds cannot be replicated with digital.

id take a 808, 909 and 303 triforce combo over most ish being sold today. that stuff is dope and nothing bumps like it.


back to the original question.

id say save up for an MV man. better yet maybe wait a while for something like the linndrum. i think they might be in the same price bracket.

Thanks for the comments guys. I think it's smartest to save for the MV-8800 first then.

I heard the faders on the MC-808 are quite durable, but it's definitely something to take into account.

My other gear that I'd use together with the MV-8800 or MC-808 at the moment would be; SP-606, Korg Kaoss Pad 3 and MicroKorg and then some recording gear. No turntable yet, but I'm able to get one used for free from a friend soon, when he buys a new one (it's a cheap, but nice turntable, don't know the brand).

make em "MV!" 8000 or 8800 will do. the MC-808 is aight, those motorized faders have loud clicks when movin up & down, 8800 & mc-808 are 2 different beast though...

Yeah, basically I'm asking this because the MV-8800 is only twice as much as the MC-808. This is of course still a lot of money, but picture this; normally they cost 2000€ here. I can however buy them in a US store for 2000$, that's about 1400€ or so. Which is a mad deal compared to a 800€ MC-808.

Still, it seems the 2000$ deal may only be temporary as they are cleaning out their warehouse or something.

i would honestly go wit a used mv 8000 instead of 8800 only difference is da 8800 has a color screen and 300mb of stock sounds which most don't use ne way. save u about a 1k n bring it closer to da mc-808 price range

Yeah, I have been thinking about doing that, but I've decided to buy a new one. It may seem like a strange thing to do, but for a device this expensive I rather 'walk the full mile' and get a brand new one.

Apart from that and that's probably different in the states, the second-hand MV-8000s I've seen so far here were all fully upgraded and therefore cost more than a new MV-8800 would cost me. Second-hand MV-8800s are about as expensive as the deal I was talking about, so yeah, I might as well get me a new one then.

Personally I definitely agree with you that the difference between the MV-8000 and MV-8800 is extremely minimal and not worth spending a lot more bucks on. However, I haven't been able to find 'cheaper' second-hand MV-8000s at all here. Unfortunately, I might say.

i feel ya on dat homie, personally i've got a pet peeve about trusting used equipment unless i personally know the seller. of course being this way doesn't help when i myself am tryin to make gear decisions too lol. hope all goes well for ya phemox. you'll rock it with whatever u decide

if thats the case then 8800 would be better, i've seen some mv's around here go from $700-$1200... but $700 is the lowest i've seen, probably without the upgrades... i think why some used 8000 go for a lot is because they've barely been used by the user like they don't know how to use it...but i dunno i just had me a racer5 & a blunt

Yeah, you are right. I think people selling an MV-8800 for 700$ already earned their investment in it back for sure.

Cheapest offer so far has been an offer of 1400€ for a used MV-8800 and I'm seriously considering it. However, if I buy a new one from a store in the US it would cost me exactly that.

If you get the MV, keep your SP around... the Mv makes things sound a little too clean.

Word! I'm not going to make the same mistake I made with selling my SP-555.

Yeah, I sold my Technics cd turntable only to be feeling the same way.