So, I've spotted some youtube vids, and I've done a bit of research on it's pros and cons, but I'd like to hear it from this site what people liked/disliked about the MC909 besides how big it was. I mean, yes, it's huge, but surely you've got a killer sequencer or sampler in one unit?

That being said, what did people think of it's sampler? It's kinda weird how you could expand it's memory to 256MB, but they screwed you in a way, because the only thing you can do is use 128MB smart media cards to back up data. No USB or SCSI either. So, what was good about the sampler compared to any SP? The same? Or different? Better effects? LFO's? Filters? Or a messy workflow??

Onto the sequencer....Seems like it's very similar to the electribes I already own, but with a rompler based synth engine, and I can add a single synth card in it to get more pianos, drums, synths, etc.....Shame you can only use one, but whatever. Did any of you enjoy beat making on the MC909? Or was it just easier to use a sp?

The only thing I dont like about the MC 909 is that i sold it like a fuckin moron to buy an mpc. The sequencer is rock solid, the efx are insane, on board mastering, 32 mb internal memory, thousands of stock sounds.

1)The 909 is a complex machine when you save samples.
2) the workflow is different from the sps:basically you create patches to use them into the sequencer; patches could be samples or internal sounds
2)you have realtime, step and sampling while pattern playing
3)you have chop and combine (a sample composed by different samples)
4)you have microediting like on sp505/606 but more more detailed, sort of piano roll like in fruity loops thanks to the big screen; you have a "general" editing too
5)there is a way to extend 128 to 256 with xd cards
6) there is a software to use filters combined to SMG (sampler machine gun=sort of 404 looper fx) or othrr sort of things.
7) 2 dbeams and the rest of faders/knobs etc in fron of you
8 ) cool mixer section
9) 2fx simultaneously + compressor + reverb + mastering section
10) usb to import/export
11) different outs
12) if you want to bang beats you have to chop samples, if not you have a sample with pitcges, so it's up to you
13) sensibles pads and a big pitch fader

I don't know much about the mc 909, but it always reminded me of fruity
loops, when i was first rocking fruity I always fantisized about how
awsome it would be to have a 909, even before I knew about the 202.
My homie had a 202 way back then, but I didnt reckognize them myself
untill way later untill the 303 was in stores for 800 bucks, I almost
got a 303 then on a payment plan, but I was a broke ass kid and they
wouldnt give it to me. I almost got a 307 though because I didnt know
the difference, but ended up gettin a 505 from the pawn shop later that
year because the guy at the music store said the mc505 is better than
the 307. So i got the mc 505 and learned how to make beats on hardware,
then got the 303 and 202 right after and found a dx 7 for 50 bucks.

It would be awesome if used the style of seamless workflow of the 909 in
any of the sp samplers, the 808 is pretty close but still sounds low budget
compared to the mc 909. I think the mc 909 is way ahead of it's time,
and how they wanted to rub in our noses that SP's are of a completly
different workflow nature, than the MC's.

I had the chance to rock a mint mc 808 for a few months. it is a decent
box, with the same seamless work environment. however to really rock
her properly will take some more time to solve the complexities of
saving patches, I would imagine the mc 909 and mc 808 are very similar
in terms of workflow, tone and features.

The mc808 and the 909 are the same machine.
The differences are that the 808 has more memory and compact flash instead of smartmedia, and it's smaller than the 909....the cons are that since on the 909 you have many things in front of your face (pitch/filters/lfo/amp/sampling editing, the 4tones, the mastering section, the matrix control, the turntable fader etc), on the 808 you have a smaller screen and many sub menus: in many cases is more comfortable to use it with a pc for editing/screen (and for using also the cool midi/usb function). The fact that roland has incorporated many functions to the mixer faders in the 808 is not a cool thing i believe. I think that this machine is more in the groovebox vein than the 909, while this one is more nearer to the MV (you can autochop+one shot+mute group on the 909 so it can be easely trasformed on a mpc stryle machine, plus it has more functions on editing samples).
Now i'm writing some sysex commands on my 909: i want to go deep on the machine.

Yes, I can definitely agree there. I had the MC-808 myself for a while and while it is a very capable machine, it's many sub-menues made it quite a hassle to work with. The MC-909 is much more hands-on, what you see is what you get when it comes to the work-flow, which honestly is the strongest point of any SP, MV or MPC. The MC-808 has more of a software-style approach, something I never could get used to.

I must say that the FX on the MC-808 were pretty awesome though. Just didn't like the sampler part in particular. After the MC-808 I bought the MV-8800 and a few months back I bought the Maschine Mikro MKII and both are better than the MC-808 imho. The Maschine Mikro MKII is very much software-based when it comes to it's work-flow though, so it might not be for the old-school sample heavy producers that come from the SP series. With Maschine the sampling capabilities are acceptable, but not as smooth or self-explanatory as on the MV8800 or MPCs. There's too much mouse control involved, but that's a different discussion I guess.

The MC-909 is one of those underrated classics, just like the SP-606.

For a little more (maybe even less, they go crazy cheap) you could get an MV8800 - I can't even begin to describe the amount of features it has.

Above and beyond, the best sequence/sampler I've ever used. Coming from the SP its absolutely mindblowing how much more you can do...the only shortcoming being it is not as 'performance' oriented due to the effects being a little different to apply/switch between...and it's the size of a small car.

3 years late is better than never.

Here is my worthless opinion.

I just picked a Roland MC909 off Ebay on a fluke low bid and won unexpected. It came to me broken, so I fixed it, I kind of enjoy fixing these classic music beasts. And I played around with it, it was not my intention to keep it, I had my eyes set on the Korg Electribe 2. So I bought the Korg expecting to sell off the 909. But so far I am not too impressed with the Korg sequencer.
And here is a comparison.

Muting parts : on the 909 the parts are right there for instant muting on the Korg you have to make a couple of selections before muting a part depending how you are playing the Korg. You can instant mute parts on the Korg but then that is all you can do if your composition requires muting.

MIDI: The Korg I hooked up to an SP 808 to it and got it to play all pads 1-16 on the 808, I did have to go in and change the scale to chromatic on the Korg. On the 909 I hooked up the 808 and I could get it to play all the pads but I could not get the pads to correspond to the 808 pads. In other words when I pressed pad 2 on the 909 it would play pad 1 on the 808 and I couldn't figure out why hopefully someone will chime in. I also want to point out that there is an extensive midi menu on the 909 compared to the korgs no existent midi menu

Playing leads: Here is where the Korg sounds better playing leads but the 909 performs better and I will tell you why. On the Korg if you are playing a lead and lets say you need to mute a bass drum well either you program the mute in the sequence or stop in the middle of the lead and mute it and somehow still make it sound musical and there are probably some Korg users that could pull it off. On the 909 of course your part mute button is right there.

Sound: When I first got the 909 it of course sounded like the MC505 which had awful sounds in fact most of Rolands sounds I have never really liked. The Korg on the other hand just sounded dreamy and crisp. BUT while I was waiting for the Electribe 2 be shipped I played around with 909 and started to fall in love with it. It will make some very nice sounds especially when you mess around with the filter and the dj fader you can get some really deep sounds out of this machine. And when I listen to my old mixes that I did with the 505 you just can't beat Roland when comes to that dirty raw filter sound they have and the 909 has that same filter that the 505 had.

Conclusion: Korg I had bought to be my main sequencer and the 909 was bought as a fluke, but it has the sequencer I want. I am still working on the Korg, I really want it to be my main sequencer however the MC909 has touched me with its hooks. If the Korg can win me over in the new few weeks then I will probably regrettably sell off the 909 along with 808's only because I want my set up to be light however If the Korg fails to be the main sequencer than I have no problem or choice but to keep the 909. Its really a hard decision.

tweaking the 909 (a book for the roland Phantom synths could help) gave me more power than i expected from this machine, as you can create some interesting Patches.
saying this, techincally the 505 and the 909 have not the same sound engine, while the 505 descents from the roland JV line (wich excels on bass) the 909 come frome the XV line (better in mid-hi range)


one thing you could do is to sell the 909 and buy a 505, except for the screen...another option:roland MV

yeah my problem now is incorporating the 909 into my studio desk. I will have to make some custom brackets.

I also wanted to point out that the minor problem with the 909 pads not lining up with the 808 pads was fixed by going into the 808 menu and changing the starting key for pad 1.

Ok so I had my midi chain(Korg E2>MC909>sp808>KorgKaos) going when I realize that the clock signal was stopping at the 909, it would not let midi clock go past at all. The work around was to buy Midi solutions Quadra thru. And now everything is just dandy. The Korgs and Rolands are now getting along. The Rolands were being lil midi brats and not cooperating but I have managed get everything almost running smoothly. Still need to grab some Zip disks off Ebay and start reorganizing my samples on the 808

Good to hear. I love Electribes, but I've been on the fence about the latest units. Maybe I'm just used to the workflow of my Er-1 mk2, EMX, and any day now Ea-1. (Scored one for $80 from GC online). The E2/Sampler units are more menu diving than I prefer. I don't like the fact they complicated it by shrinking it from the EMX/ESX, but I do like the fact you can sync Volcas to them. However, I hate the fact that the Midi port was connected to a small part, and if you lost it, or bought it used without one, you'd have to find a new one.

But, I'm thinking of maybe getting a 909 as a master sequencer for controlling the Electribes. And I'd look to include a patch card on the bottom of it to expand its sounds. But at the moment, I'm just trying to bring back my Moogerfooger MF-104M, EMX, and MC-09 back from the pawn shop before I start saving up for it. I'd rather use it for its synths, and possibly for its Sampler, and just use my SP505 to process the extra outputs to my Mackie. But I want to invest in a 909 someday as a mother brain of my setup.

Man I tell ya, I was really hoping for a good sequencer out of the Electribe 2 but its really just ok, theres stuff i don't like.

And with the mc909, its sequencer looks great but my issue with it is that its huge and I don't trust it in a live set up. Ia m worried about its sound board as one sound and its weird only one sound program on it has some weird artifacts in the sound. So it makes me think maybe it might end up with reliability problems. Where they both shine is as sound modules believe it or not. The E2 just when I thought maybe I would put it up for sale, I end up finding some sweet sound and I am like no way can I sell this and the same with the mc909 except the sound ain't sweet its dirty I mean dirty in your face rawness which also I love.

I am now leaning more to sampling and loops as a way for live performance.

Maybe with E2 as the clock master and using my sp808's for loops and my Korg Karma for leads, and the mc909 and E2 will also serve as sound modules. I still have a lort of tinkering to get down, not to mention I need a revamp of my music set list.

Just filed my taxes a couple days ago, and I’ve got $2700 on the way. I’ve decided to get one. Guitar Center sells them used for $600, so it’s big & bulky, but fuck it. It can be my old school 2003 DAW. I think I can find a smart media card adapter for the sampler. Hopefully they send one to me without issues.

Anyway, I’ve got to wait & see when the cash drops, but it’s the first thing I’m ordering when I see one. If not, could go for a MC707 & wait for another 909 later.

cool
i think the mc707 is a more advanced 909 but i have to see if its screen is worth it
let me know
ps
i took an mc101 the other day to use it as a sort of portable mc909, the whole synth engine part is to be done on a pc (i knew that before) but the seq is very cool; i hve to check better its sampling side