Mr Acosta - Do larger Roland groovboxes have a future?
Posted: 15:20, 28 December 2006
With the MC-909 discontinued and the MV-8000 about to share it's fate, is there any future for high-end sampling workstations at Roland?
Admittedly the 909 was flawed and the 8000 never took off (sales wise) like the long-established MPC series (from you-know-who), but both machines had some pretty outrageous features and a combined 909/8000 (or just an 8000 with the 909's 'Turntable Emulation' tempo/pitch slider and buttons on it) would be my idea of a compostional and performance dream machine.
As a longtime MPC (2000, 2000XL and 4000) user I have to say the MV-8000 had it beat in most departments other than it's immediacy, so it would be a shame if Roland threw in the towel now, just when they seemed on the cusp of getting it right. The MC-808's replacement of the 909 (and no visible replacement for the MV-8000) fills my heart with sadness. I know that cost is a factor and that the sheer flexibilty of a laptop and some choice software can beat the pants off any groovebox/workstation, but reliability, not to mention connectivity, are still MAJOR issues with that route - and my MV has never let me down, not once, in the studio or on the road.
If Roland made a (relatively modestly spec'ed for these days) 128 note (64 synth-voice + 64 sample-voice) polyphonic, 16-track hard-disc recording, metal-cased, tabletop 909/8000 hybrid workstation, with 512Mb of sample RAM, an 80Gb drive, 8 audio outs and a SVGA monitor output (and mabye a V-Link for my VS-2480CD!), for less than $2500 - not only would I be first in the queue, I'd buy two.
Go on Mike, have a word!
Admittedly the 909 was flawed and the 8000 never took off (sales wise) like the long-established MPC series (from you-know-who), but both machines had some pretty outrageous features and a combined 909/8000 (or just an 8000 with the 909's 'Turntable Emulation' tempo/pitch slider and buttons on it) would be my idea of a compostional and performance dream machine.
As a longtime MPC (2000, 2000XL and 4000) user I have to say the MV-8000 had it beat in most departments other than it's immediacy, so it would be a shame if Roland threw in the towel now, just when they seemed on the cusp of getting it right. The MC-808's replacement of the 909 (and no visible replacement for the MV-8000) fills my heart with sadness. I know that cost is a factor and that the sheer flexibilty of a laptop and some choice software can beat the pants off any groovebox/workstation, but reliability, not to mention connectivity, are still MAJOR issues with that route - and my MV has never let me down, not once, in the studio or on the road.
If Roland made a (relatively modestly spec'ed for these days) 128 note (64 synth-voice + 64 sample-voice) polyphonic, 16-track hard-disc recording, metal-cased, tabletop 909/8000 hybrid workstation, with 512Mb of sample RAM, an 80Gb drive, 8 audio outs and a SVGA monitor output (and mabye a V-Link for my VS-2480CD!), for less than $2500 - not only would I be first in the queue, I'd buy two.
Go on Mike, have a word!
