Awesome features and annoying limitations

[ducker69]

I love this product and so i thought id create a thread for us to highlight some awesome features and annoying limitations ( that we can hassle Roland to fix)..

Features:

Synth engine is awesome almost all sounds from FA / integra ( but not supernatural sounds)
Sampling is supported inside synth engine
True OSC sync capable!
True Cross modulation options ( not just FXM)
Mod matrix on all sounds!

Limitations:

Cant send ccs yet
Cant record external ccs?
No sysex support
Pads wont send externally in realtime only from playback
Drums good for electronica but lacking for a acoustic kits ( but has some)

[thatguysmitty87]

I love mine. Other than the few things I’ve mentioned in a previous post...the ONE main issue for me is the file system for storing and loading user samples! As is, everything has to be loaded into the root sample folder. It doesn’t read sub-folders at all, which makes scrolling through samples a nightmare, and takes forever!

It would also be nice to be able to sample directly to the drum pads...or at least the SD card.

[Modena]

Whilst I do not own an MC707 I am considering it. What I most dislike is that you can't bounce your live mix
to a stereo master unless you add a recorder/DAW. Also whilst clips can be up to 128 steps this wouldn't allow a
vocalist to sing a whole track over your musical back track. I appreciate it can't be all things to everyone
but as a unit to escape the monitor and mouse it falls short. Also I believe that when you sample from the
input it doesn't have a count in and doesn't loop until you have your best take. I.e. It records once and you have to delete if you make a mistake and start again. These are are simple fixes I would imagine if a little more thought had gone into it. Otherwise it seems very tempting.

[sovietsynth]

My points for consideration I'm finding important:

- to have the ability to chop up loops and assign the chops to the pads;
- would be nice to be able to loop certain sections from the imported loop and play with it on the keyboard as notes;
- an arpeggiator;
- all TR8s samples and kits as an expansion.

[Andrie]

on the mc-101


1. most annoying up till now is that every new project, also has empty tracks: ini tone: so u have to click x-amount of time before there is that preset tone again. why not just have either define in setup or just the 1st preset

2nd: No metronome
3rd: No count-in
4th the led glow on the record button, makes it unclear if it is recording or not (if ur in intuitive recording flow)
5th: no saving of preset sounds outside of projectsave

[Fourfiftyfour]

Whilst I do not own an MC707 I am considering it. What I most dislike is that you can't bounce your live mix
to a stereo master unless you add a recorder/DAW. Also whilst clips can be up to 128 steps this wouldn't allow a
vocalist to sing a whole track over your musical back track. I appreciate it can't be all things to everyone
but as a unit to escape the monitor and mouse it falls short. Also I believe that when you sample from the
input it doesn't have a count in and doesn't loop until you have your best take. I.e. It records once and you have to delete if you make a mistake and start again. These are are simple fixes I would imagine if a little more thought had gone into it. Otherwise it seems very tempting.

To be fair the MPC-X is geared more towards being an all in one box with recording capabilities you have full on XLR mic inputs. I think the MC-707 is designated to be a beat machine as the "Groove" name intends but the MV-8800 that actually could record vocals. Ironically the MPC-X is more like a next gen MV-8800. It would be ground breaking if Roland did make a MV-9900 for the modern era that could support vocal recording even better.

[modenadavid]

After much thought I decided to buy an MC101. I didn't really need the ( limited ) sampling and as it would
be for studio use and the additional tracks and control not needed either. Of course it's half the price also!
I am impressed with sound quality of the patches and the amount, limitations on sound design can be overcome
a little with external processing once recorded to audio. Now...here's my gripe, the USB interface on the MC101 which can record the audio makes a ton of noise..it's really bad. If you read other Aira forums this problem crops up all the time. I get round it by NOT using the Mac as a power source ( using either battery or phone plug ) and recording the audio through the line outs and my Presonus desk/interface. I can't believe that this issue has not been addressed and it means I'm using Midi din also with an external midi interface. Such a shame
really, and for the money it should be a professional piece of gear.

[Andrie]

totally annoying that after selecting a preset. the next time (not sure after save / turn off on..) u wanna change the preset it doesnt take the current selected preset or show it s number: clicking one, clicking twice, clicking 3rd time.. current preset lost

[Marina Lecomber]

Hi guys!
Nice to meet you all and thank you for your time and knowledge.
I am considering to get myself MC 101 for my live gigging with my guitarist and have a very clear understnading what i need from it.
So few questions:
1 How long it takes to with between songs?
Meaning I would have prepared set up for each song on the gig and how long it would take for this device to change from one to another

2 How many songs can be saved in total on it?

3 What is clip limitation time wise? If I have complicated for wise peace to perform. I would like to have the main “canvas” preserved and played One-time whole length while I am adding extra samples and loops on it.

4 does it give clock to other (slave) devises? i guess it’s midi out I am looking to, right?
Like my tc helicon processor I want to be synced with my sampler in case I want to loop[ my vocals on vocal processor or synch delays etc.

5 are there any limits of size of SD card I can use inside this sampler? I am having big plane and will do loads of custom/samples/backing tracks for live performances.


Thanks a lot!
Marina

[Joline]

Hi Marina,

The loading between projects (or songs in your case) are, depending on what is saved, somewhere between 10 and 30 seconds. That's quite long if you're on stage, unless you can talk your way through it. In that case I would say, use two MC101. So you can switch fast. But you somewhere need to have the time to load a different project.

How many songs can be saved? I don't know yet. It also depends on how big a project is. Up til now I can save about 20 songs, and stil have plenty of room. (but I don't use a lot of samples). Maybe somebody else can answer that question.

I don't understand your third question.

You can slave your TC helicon through midi.

The limits on the SD card is 8GB, so if you are planning on having a lot of samples you might consider a bigger SD card. I have heard that everything bigger than 16GB wil slow the MC down (saving and loading).

[A23P]

First off, highly agree that sample slicing only being possible with samples taken by the MC-707 itself is highly odd and limiting. To equal end, it's rather nonsensical to me that loop tracks can't be sequenced in spite of the fact that they can be both manually retriggered and pitched! (if such can be done manually, why not also via sequence programming?)
Also, time stretching only being applicable to "looper" tracks almost seems like a step backwards to me given that the past XV/Fantom S engines supported time stretching! Thus, both the more than decade old MC-909 and 808 literally carry a standard Oscillator ability that the new MC's, for whatever reason, now lack. Given this past I'd literally just assumed such time stretching capability would exist for the MC-707 only to be shocked no such thing existed when I received mine.
(to equal end, is it just me, but seems the time stretching (algo) capabilities of the older MC's were considerably more efficient than what's now featured in the "looper" tracks).

Such all said, would be VERY nice, even if not entirely expected to see:
1. Note Mute Probability made standard on all sequencing tracks (as opposed to just drums tracks)
2. An arpeggiator added
3. An ability to transpose via key/pad press
4. The ability to have External Ins as an Oscillator selection type for Tones

[A23P]

Also, just realizing, it'd be REALLY nice if changes done in the "Sound Edit" mode could be recorded into motion sequences. Not only would this alleviate much of the 3 knob limitation issue, but it'd greatly expand on what could be entered into motion sequences. (and if this is Sysex Data, SO BE IT!)

Equally would be nice if the FX knob not only had it's own independent MIDI CC assignment, but if it also transmitted independent data for whatever parameter it had been dealing with at any given time.
Basically, a means by which the FX knob could be used shift through placing numerous parameters into a motion sequence rather than just dealing with only whatever individual parameter was assigned to the FX knob at the time.

Admittedly, both of the above limitations may currently be a result of a more full MIDI spec coverage on the synth engine(s) having to yet be implemented.

[A23P]

There's also no "Forward AND Back" or "Back AND Forward" playback cycling option for samples loaded into the tonal engine. (ugggh, such a basic sampled waveform playback feature since seems like forever, yet it's missing)

[jicamasalad]

I have always loved my 707, and am just really happy that Roland keep supporting us with additional features and improvements. The recent Arpeggiator was a request from a long time ago that seemed like it would not happen, and now - voila!

Thank you so much Roland for this great support (I know the company sometimes browse these boards).

To my mind the last major limitation of the 707 is the looper time limit and lack of overdubbing.
It would be amazing if we could grab phrases longer than 62 seconds and reverse them, edit them, overdub on top of them and generally treat them like workable raw material. That's my biggest and most requested addition to the 707, and would make the machine a 100% home run for me - it's already a legend!

Second most important: the ability to save User Patches for Tones in a User Bank outside of Projects, so that user-created tones are not tied to clips, but are available the same as the Preset tones.

Beyond that, pie-in-the-sky additions would be:

1) the ability to internally bounce down to a stereo mix saved on the SD card within the box.
2) ability to play clips in order down the rows from top to bottom, for musicians who like to organize clips into song structure that way.
3) ability to use much larger size SD cards to store more samples and loops (and the dreamed-of mix bounces)
4) the ability to export the project tracks (where applicable) as MIDI tracks to bring into a DAW

I'm sure I could sit around and dream up more requests, but the looper time is the only one that still make me sad - anything else would be great great sprinkles on top of an already delicious frosted cupcake!

Thank you Roland for a great instrument!

[A23P]

Would like to add a correction to former statement on "slicing" only being possible on samples created directly on the 707. Any sample can be sliced, BUT it must be in the edit buffer and not yet loaded/imported on to a track in any way.

Such said concerning the now added appregiator, would be nice if the appregiator could be triggered from an external keyboard rather than having to use the pads.

And I'll remention.... SAMPLE TIME STRETCHING FOR AT LEAST TONAL, if not also drum, TRACKS!
I'm still perplexed by the XR/FantomS engine being capable of this but the ability now being lost in with the Zen-Core engine.

And the ability to sequence looper tracks....
if looper tracks can be manually start/stopped and pitched, can't say I see any reason for them not to be able to be sequenced as well.

Patch Storage

More comprehensive MIDI spec for the synth engine (and instrument in general) to be fully addressed

The ability for the 3 knobs on each channel/track to have their own independent MIDI assignment rather than having to all globally share the same assignment. Notably as this leads to control redundancies when tracks/channels are assigned to the same MIDI channel (when such redundancies could instead actually be granting larger UI access to the synth engine) AND it just generally adds more flexibility to the MC-707 as a hardware UI MIDI controller.

The ability for mute probability to be used on all track types (as opposed to just drum tracks)