Members Kaux Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 this new drum machine looks great... have you got one? how do you like it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members llamastorm Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 I've been pondering this also... would love to hear some info but it sounds like there aren't too many shipping yet. I'm wondering how easy they are to program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 I played one at NAMM with headphones. Seemed pretty easy to navigate and sounded nice. I still think the SR16 is perfectly respectable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Binkeys Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 I'm interested too. Looking at the pics, I see that they've relocated the volume control to the back, which is a pain. I use my SR-16 live sometimes and like the ability to adjust the volume from the front. I keep it on the top tier of my Apex stand. It'll be harder to quickly grab the volume knob in the back while playing keys. I also wonder if the SR-18 will fit as well there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I'm interested too. Looking at the pics, I see that they've relocated the volume control to the back, which is a pain. I use my SR-16 live sometimes and like the ability to adjust the volume from the front. I keep it on the top tier of my Apex stand. It'll be harder to quickly grab the volume knob in the back while playing keys. I also wonder if the SR-18 will fit as well there. Yes - I also use my SR-16 live sometimes, those are my sentiments exactly: what kind of dingus engineer put the volume knob of the new SR-18 on the back?!?! But then again - the SR-18 does have a sweet-looking display, looks like an LED, much better lighted than the dark, dingy LCD of the SR-16! Click here to see Alesis SR-16 Click below to see Alesis SR18: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I played one at NAMM with headphones. Seemed pretty easy to navigate and sounded nice. I still think the SR16 is perfectly respectable. SR16 is definitely still respectable... even though it's been on the market since late 80's?! But the LCD display sucks ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kaux Posted April 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 dont you guys think the 18 is much better than the 16? I havent played any "in person", but for the demos i think the 18 is much more real sounding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 I'm recording with a Zoom RT-223 and I'm very happy with the programming capabilities and the sounds are very good - though there's only one bass drum I can really use for the most part. From the demos, I think I might check it out before I do my next recording... so I'll be following this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Audacity Works Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 dont you guys think the 18 is much better than the 16?I should certainly hope so. Turn on the SR-16 and the screen says " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members r33k Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 A reminder of just how little innovation there's been in nearly 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 dont you guys think the 18 is much better than the 16? I havent played any "in person", but for the demos i think the 18 is much more real sounding... The SR16 sounds damn good, esp. for 1990 technoogy... so the 18 must be frikkin' AWESOME!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lord Toranaga Posted April 3, 2008 Members Share Posted April 3, 2008 A reminder of just how little innovation there's been in nearly 20 years. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members noizyb Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 A reminder of just how little innovation there's been in nearly 20 years. Remember, the SR-16's mainstay is acoustic drum kits....and how much innovation (or change) has there been with drum kits? Thus...., it's sustained success. What other piece of midi gear from 1990 (besides a midi cable) is still sold new at music retailers ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members r33k Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Yea, except it doesn't actually sound like acoustic drums. Didn't then, doesn't now. Given two decades of technological advances in memory, inexpensive microprocessors and sampling technique, couldn't we have a drum machine that actually sounds like a live drummer? With all sorts of articulation and nuance built in to the sounds? With interesting feel templates that vary the programmed pattern in random and musical ways? Sure, we could have all of these things, but drum programming disappeared into the computer and the workstation, and innovation stopped. And besides, if your argument were actually true, we wouldn't need any new workstation keyboards either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members llamastorm Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 I just decided to say heck with it and bought the SR-16. It was cheap enough. It sounding "too 80's" was kind of a selling point, even. Who knows if all the 80's stuff is now removed and it now sounds like 90's nu-metal bands. That would be horrible Actually it's just drums, so I'm not sure that's possible. Definitely didn't need/want the bass though. "With all sorts of articulation and nuance built in to the sounds?" ... I think this is where pain-to-use software comes in. Would be nice in an /easy to use and program/ box though, wouldn't it? The failing of most apps I've seen so far is they don't do A->B->Fill stuff easily at all and involve dragging around MIDI tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Yea, except it doesn't actually sound like acoustic drums. Didn't then, doesn't now. It certainly does, to me... I guess I'm just not that picky. And as far as all the subtle nuances, etc... - c'mon! You're now asking that machines completely replace humans? I thought that was at least a decade or two away... The SR16 (& I guess the 18 as well) has the unique ability to pick up within any part of the Fill measure (by foot pedal, conveniently enough - another feature that is rare) and then come into Pattern B... and then you can do the same when coming into Fill B then back into Pattern A - so if you vary the exact point at which you kick in the fills each time it actually does sound quite life-like. I call that a "unique" ability because I've not seen it on any other drum machine & like it was pointed out in earlier posts, the software programs are just way too complicated - they don't seem to let you just do Pattern A/Fill/Pattern B/Fill etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lord Toranaga Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 they worked the a/b/fill system into the new akai xr 20 also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members llamastorm Posted April 4, 2008 Members Share Posted April 4, 2008 Not suprising as it's the same hardware unit (check out the back diagrams -- not just the LCD). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members noizyb Posted April 5, 2008 Members Share Posted April 5, 2008 Yea, except it doesn't actually sound like acoustic drums. Didn't then, doesn't now. Given two decades of technological advances in memory, inexpensive microprocessors and sampling technique, couldn't we have a drum machine that actually sounds like a live drummer? With all sorts of articulation and nuance built in to the sounds? With interesting feel templates that vary the programmed pattern in random and musical ways? Sure, we could have all of these things, but drum programming disappeared into the computer and the workstation, and innovation stopped. And besides, if your argument were actually true, we wouldn't need any new workstation keyboards either! Not so much an arguement....really the fact this guy just bought one because it does the job well, proves the point. And what "new" has happened in workstations? They've been repackaging the same board from Korg, Roland, & Yamaha for years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VanZea Posted April 11, 2008 Members Share Posted April 11, 2008 I just received mine. First impressions: Preset-patterns suck. Why are there so much 'Rock' patterns? They did something with an EQ on this thing, a certain kind of bass-boost. All kick drums sound big, a bit too big if you ask me. Some presets are beautifull and show the potention of this thing. The effects don't have any parameters. The greatest feature (and the reason I bought it) is the way it uses footswitches (like on the SR16). So I can jam on my Rhodes with the SR-18. In total the thing sounds a lot like plastic (but maybe I'm spoiled with the drumsounds in my Motif XS). At this moment I'm not sure if I should be disappointed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members r33k Posted April 11, 2008 Members Share Posted April 11, 2008 Not so much an arguement....really the fact this guy just bought one because it does the job well, proves the point. And what "new" has happened in workstations? They've been repackaging the same board from Korg, Roland, & Yamaha for years... You guys aren't getting the point. The SR-16 came out in 1990. In 1990, your choices for workstation keyboards looked like this: Korg 01/w, Yamaha SY-77, Ensoniq EPS 16+, and their ilk. Now in 2008 we have, for example, the Roland Fantom-G. Go read the feature list for that thing. It's absolutely mind boggling the capability that has been included in that product. Same thing for the Motif and Korg workstation stuff. Now compare the feature list of the SR-18, a "modern, state-of-the-art" drum machine with the venerable SR-16. Gee, call me crazy, but I'm not really seeing 20 years of product development and advancement there. And it's not as though the SR-16 was so far ahead of it's time, either. Pretty disappointing, if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kaux Posted April 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 13, 2008 Now compare the feature list of the SR-18, a "modern, state-of-the-art" drum machine with the venerable SR-16. Gee, call me crazy, but I'm not really seeing 20 years of product development and advancement there. And it's not as though the SR-16 was so far ahead of it's time, either. Pretty disappointing, if you ask me. I just read in the manual that the pads only respond to 8 velocity levels, you must drive the thing from external midi to have the 127 levels of midi.... What a shame... big deal breaker for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members noizyb Posted April 14, 2008 Members Share Posted April 14, 2008 You guys aren't getting the point. The SR-16 came out in 1990. In 1990, your choices for workstation keyboards looked like this: Korg 01/w, Yamaha SY-77, Ensoniq EPS 16+, and their ilk.Now in 2008 we have, for example, the Roland Fantom-G. Go read the feature list for that thing. It's absolutely mind boggling the capability that has been included in that product. Same thing for the Motif and Korg workstation stuff.. How can you compare the capabilties and function of these workstations to what a $200.00 drum machine does ? The last meat and potato drum machine to be introduced was probably the Boss DR-880. (probably around 2002 ?) Over ten years after the SR-16 ,what innovations were in that unit?, -a bass track and a guitar processor. My point is that what most guys are buying the SR-16 and SR-18 for it delivers, and no amount of embellished feature list is going to impact what folks look for in a drum machine. Speaking of missing the point, all of the new workstations you mentioned at least $ 2000.00 and more. Come on, what are you looking for in a $ 200.00 box ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GigMan Posted April 14, 2008 Members Share Posted April 14, 2008 How can you compare the capabilties and function of these workstations to what a $200.00 drum machine does ? The last meat and potato drum machine to be introduced was probably the Boss DR-880. (probably around 2002 ?) Over ten years after the SR-16 ,what innovations were in that unit?, -a bass track and a guitar processor. My point is that what most guys are buying the SR-16 and SR-18 for it delivers, and no amount of embellished feature list is going to impact what folks look for in a drum machine. Speaking of missing the point, all of the new workstations you mentioned at least $ 2000.00 and more. Come on, what are you looking for in a $ 200.00 box ? Check and mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kaux Posted August 11, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2008 Hey guys, can anybody speak for the sr18's pads response? is it that obvious the 8 velocity levels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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