in need of a drum machine and seriously tempted by the MD at only £529, so is it the best beatmaker for that kind of moola or is it worth considering other options?
advise and opinions welcome please…
si
I considered the regular version but eventually settled on the UW. Having the ability to load in my favorite drum (and other) samples is glorious and def. worth the money.
well i am on a budget but obviously the UW is of interest although i dont use that many samples, it would be nice to have the option. what kind of size samples does the UW take, is it like one shots or can you load longer files like some dialogue or other field recordings?
It’s difficult for us to make any recommendations when you don’t tell us:
- what gear you have already?
- what made you think that you want a drum machine?
- what style(s) of music you want to make?
- whether you have preference for analogue drum sounds, digital drum sounds, samples etc?
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Get the UW. I didn’t at first thinking I didn’t want it - I don’t use many samples in my music, etc.
Then I got a UW.
The fact of the matter is, I don’t think of the UW bit as a sampler, it’s more of a general audio tool which just blows everything else out of the water. Honestly. It’s amazing. There are a few YouTube videos out there which begin to scratch the surface of UW’s complexity, but it’s very very very deep. RAM machines FTW.
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there is a used, elektron refurb’d UW on ebay, that’s probably the only way i could get one, if the price was low enough but i’d be surprised if it went for the same price as regular MD.
Peter, good questions, thanks!
Soundswise i have a MonoMachine, System 1m, TB3 and a Volca Keys.
I think i want a drum machine because the last few days playing with my MM and now that i have been using the MIDI Seq to control my other stuff has made me want to use ableton even less, a drum machine seems to be the next logical addition.
For the last 10 years i have been using VST’s to make deep house but the last year or so i have been drifting downtempo and trying to be a bit balearic. i don’t do glitchy minimal grimey sounds.
Drum sounds, i like all sorts from analogue to real sounds, again not glitchy and grainy
cheers
Depending on budget, you might consider Volca Beats and TR-8 (for (emulated) analogue sounds), Nord Drum 1 or 2 (that could be sequenced from your Monomachine), Korg Electribes (old or new models), and MFB machines (analogue), all probably below the MD in price.
The sampling Electribes would give you the chance to use the widest variety of drum sounds. The MD and Nord Drum 2 would give you widest variety of drum synthesis.
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Just get a RYTM … you aren’t actually spending most of the money as you can sell it again to get most of it back.(with negative interest rates in bank accounts, that’s how I justify my GAS).
While it doesn’t do midi-out, RYTM is very versatile as a do-everything box given you can load samples in of all your melodic and pad bits to one or two tracks of the 8/12 available.
Elektrons and other good hardware are like little bank deposit accounts, where you are really only paying a few hundred to use the unit for as many years as you want before reselling and getting a big chunk of the money back. 
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[quote=“mokomo, post:9, topic:27803”]
Elektrons and other good hardware are like little bank deposit accounts[/quote]
Thats what I keep telling my lass 
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after alot of thinking and watching and sleeping on it i reckon i’m going to wait and get a MD UW, the 3rd tutorial video from elektron kinda made my mind up… the way it real time samples is amazing.
in the meantime, i remembered my mate had given me an old ES-1 and after watching a few youtubes i think it sounds ok and could be used as a tempory sampler, so i’ve ordered a PSU and i’m going to pick up a SH Volca Beats to go along with it. so i kinda have a poor mans beats/sampler combo until i can get hold of a UW.
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MD UW is a beast! You’ve made a great choice. I would have also suggested an MPC, but if you’re not big on samples, it really wouldn’t be for you. The nice thing about an MPC over the MD is its ability to sequence the rest of your gear.
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well i wouldn’t rule anything out but i still have 4 free midi seq tracks to fill on my MM so i’m not desperate for more sequencing abilty just yet… depends how quickly i can acquire more gear i suppose 
the news from Elektron has put a cat among the pigeons n no mistake
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