looks like a fun piece of equipment...

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM08 ... /XR20.html

MSRP $499 for non sampling drum machine? Fuck it, yo, I better add additional 100 bucks and get the mpc500 that I can use for real sample steez. Akai is just jackin' our money away.

That thing does look cool but it should be like 2 bills and the mpc 500 should be 5 bills.

indeed.

it seems cruel that they offer you a Line In for a mic, yet no onboard sampling - wtf?

this could be a good companion for an SP though, you could sample hits out of it using the effects of both machines to tweak the sounds. or you could MIDI sync the two boxes and uses the Akai for your drums and bass (or even just record the drums and bassline into the 404 from the Akai without MIDI syncing)

still, far too expensive

yeah and alesis are coming out with a new drum machine too and alesis=numark=akai. it would be interesting to see how these machines will compare.

Yeah, that got me all confused too... doesn't make much sense...

akai is retarded, please dont bang on their helmets

Yeah, akai is retarded for that. But all you have to do is lay down a pattern sequence in the 404 and then run it through the xr20 mic in and run your beat at the same bpm and run the audio out from the xr20 into audacity and record it all and booyah. I'll find a solution for any limitation but that thing is still way overpriced.

That looks like it would be fresh if it sampled.

i think it looks pretty dope! but 499 is way to mutch for a non-sampling machine. it schould have been like 350 or something. its a cool piece of gear though!

i would love to use it togheter with a microkorg, qy70 and 404!

street price is $299 according to Novamusik.

looks like the mpc5000 is going to be $2499.00 street.

IMHO that xr20 is crap. none of the sounds can even be altered. yeah it looks nice but all classic quality drum machines let you alter the kits through some fx's. this is the 21st century and their gonna try and sell me some fisher-price toy. come on wakai. i mean the alesis sr-18 lets you do it and it's a bill cheaper(msrp).

This is an interesting read, especially the part where one dude noticed that the SR-18 manual refers to the akai XR20 on the bottom of page 8. Oh, nukailesis when will stop be so silly.

http://livepa.blogspot.com/2008/01/akai-xr-20-and-alesis-sr-18-same.html

ok but i still thought that the xr20 was not user changable sounds. i'll look for the manual. i still know the price is different.

edit: same machine inside!