Members samal50 Posted November 27, 2008 Members Share Posted November 27, 2008 any point in getting this even if i have the BOSS DR 770, KORG Electribe EM1, MicroKorg, Roland SP-404... Does the Akai XR20 have the sounds/features not found in other beat/synth boxes that should make me want to go out and buy this? Or should I just simply forget about it considering the kind of gears I already have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 I have a XR20 and five or six other drum machines. The XR20 has samples by Loopmasters and some of the sounds could of easily came from some of there sample cds. If you want a drum machine with unique sounds get a Zoom SB-246. The sounds where created by some guys in Tennessee and are really nice. I usually just sample drum machines and use there sounds inside a MPC. I feel this is what you should do also. A used MPC1000 would give you dedicated sequencer and sampler in one box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stikygum Posted November 29, 2008 Members Share Posted November 29, 2008 An alternative is the ALesis SR-18, which I heard is pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nillerbabs Posted November 29, 2008 Members Share Posted November 29, 2008 I usually just sample drum machines and use there sounds inside a MPC. I feel this is what you should do also. A used MPC1000 would give you dedicated sequencer and sampler in one box. I am reaaally missing out on a hardware product that can do some very good-sounding drums in the genres just mentioned + of course all that electronic stuff, a product which would also be a MIDI sequencer. Hmm... Never thought about having an MPC sampling a drum-machine, but might be interesting. Does it work?? One thing that has also really bothered me: does any of the drum-machines mentioned here provide beats in other times than 4/4? Like e.g. 5/4, 6/4, 6/8, 7/8 or such? I kinda need that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 One thing that has also really bothered me: does any of the drum-machines mentioned here provide beats in other times than 4/4? Like e.g. 5/4, 6/4, 6/8, 7/8 or such? I kinda need that. Here is a video for the 4000 showing how to set different time signatures per bar. This feature is also available with other MPCs. http://www.expertvillage.com/video/59247_sound-mpc-time.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nillerbabs Posted November 29, 2008 Members Share Posted November 29, 2008 OK - still, I have one question that remains. What's your opinion on the MPCs as MIDI seiquencers? I've heard lots of people complaining about them being MIDI Bitches. If that's so, it's not really for me... I'd like to layer some synth sequences on it. And well, use the sampler function to loop some EP and clav samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted November 29, 2008 Members Share Posted November 29, 2008 There's your Akai in the first video and the second one is a little something extra. I like seeing girls creatively get down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xmlguy Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 I bought an Akai XR20 during the summer and then returned it. All of the built-in beats are hip hop, R&B, and rap. The kits did sound very good, but it wasn't my thing, and without sampling I didn't have much motivation to get to do different styles. Plus it had an unusable mic input with NO GAIN CONTROL and ultra noisy signal when ANYTHING was plugged into it. Even though I wasn't planning to use a mic with it, I was quite shocked at such a major design defect. It wasn't worth finding out what else was wrong with it. I got a used SP-404 instead, along with a 606 and EMX-1, a combination that works a lot better for me than the XR20. The only features I liked on the XR20 was the ability to individual mute the drums, one-shot, and synth parts separately, so that you can build and tear down layers easily while using it live. I also liked the blue lighted pads. But the EMX has multiple parts, lighted pads, and xox step sequencing, with good live synth effects on everything, not just samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drxcm Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 I've heard lots of people complaining about them being MIDI Bitches. Never heard that before! What do you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samal50 Posted December 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 does the bass lines (not bass drum) sound good? how many bass line sounds are there? my Boss DR. 770 has a few bass sounds but only 1 that is useful for hip-hop and or electronic type of genres, which was the synth bass sound. how many different bass tones/sounds does the XR20 have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samal50 Posted December 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 Hmmm. The Zoom SB-246 does look like it has great features. I am looking for a beat machine specifically for hip-hop, R&B, and other types of Urban music. As for the Alesis SR-18, which would also cover hip-hop and electronic beats, but also jazz, blues, funk, etc. (as one of the poster on this thread has mentioned), I already have the BOSS Dr. 770 which covers ALL these genres as well. I guess what I really need is a beat machine that is made for the Urban genres I mentioned. The Zoom SB-246 seem like it's the perfect choice, and the price is right too compared to the other listed machines. I've always seen the Zoom SB-246 on advertisements and catalogs, but almost always ignored it due to its "cheap" plastic look (and cheap price), but I guess looks are deceiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 xr 20 is really nice just have a google search for more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Jump on the Zoom SB-246. It's full of exclusive Hip-Hop/Urban sounds produced by the Beat Kangz. :thu: http://www.samash.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_SB246%20StreetBoxx%20Drum%20Machine%20with%20AC%20Adapter%20and%20Headphones_-1_10052_10002_-49972903 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.