hey,
it’s a back and forth with the drum sounds for me. In the end, I always want to have the beautiful old sound of the TR series, either way, i.e. 808, 909, 707, etc. Since I can’t afford any of the original ones at the moment, I’ve decided to either get the TR8S, MC 707 or the Get Digitakt. All are pretty easy to get on Ebay.
So if you had the choice, which of the three machines would you prefer and why!?
TR8S is the easiest/fastest way to get those sounds, is not outlandish expensive and has all those sweet faders. But doing deeper sound design is a chore on the hardware. The new(ish) TR Editor software looks fantastic but I haven’t used it yet.
The Digitakt is a breeze to use and can of course run all the vintage samples you fancy but costs a bit more.
Never used an MC 707 so I can’t say much there.
I have a TR8S and am familiar with Digitakt. Between the two I chose TR8S
I think it depends on what else you’re working with.
If it’s Syntakt or Digitone, then Digitakt would be ideal par for workflow reasons. Or if you have a synth that would benefit from Digitakt’s MIDI sequencing capabilties. The portability is also nice, I’d that’s a consideration.
Regarding the others, TR-8S has more pattern memory from a single project than MC-707, and the ACB sounds are more faithful than the Zencore sounds on the MC-707. And it is quite knobby.
So it really depends on other factors.
Some folks hate the plastic step buttons of the TR.
Rolands R8, R8mk2, R70
@Adam Jay a very good point, “Regarding the others, TR-8S has more pattern memory from a single project than MC-707, and the ACB sounds are more faithful than the Zencore sounds on the MC-707. And it is quite knobby.”. thanks, then it won’t be the MC 707, the sound really has to be right here.
so i just organized it so that i’m looking for a suitable drum machine for the waldorf m. and i would also like to use the new syntakt but i’m not sure if i can get that kind of drums out of it. 909 and 808 are actually enough for me, they just have to sound really good.
you already said in your video that the metallic alla 909 may be missing in the syntakt and that you could compensate for that with the DAW. i know the elektron devices inside out - what do you think would be better there, also in terms of the sound - digitakt or tr8s? or again the rytm… the point that i can control a synth from the digitakt is also another mega feature, since the m is quadruple multitimbral. but in the end it’s all about the sound and i like the pressure from the digitakt, but i’m not sure if the sound from the roland is better because it’s designed for that and there are probably no samples, i didn’t have this machine yet.
I think TR-8s or TR-6s might be your best bet, MC-707 does not have very good kits of these sounds IMHO, they are certainly usable but I prefer my own samples of them.
I have not used the 8s or 6s, I nave used DT and MC-707, and the ACB Boutiques, which I believe have similar sounds to the 6s/8s.
I own the TR-8S and personally love it. Very different beast IMO. The TR-8S is very performance oriented, has the new Roland circuit models for all the drum machines you mentioned, and the layout is the most similar to those. The TR-8S also has limited sampling abilities, so it expands your sound pallet a bit more.
Here is the thing that I think would make the difference tho. Are you going to use this mostly for studio work or for live stuff? For me my Digitakt is great either in the studio or live. I dont mind using samples, and I have always felt that Electron stuff plays nicer with other gear compared to Roland stuff. I also have to point out that the Digitakt is probably a bit more capable in general overall. I personally have always felt the TR-8S is a bit clumsy in the studio.
Studio workflow and flexibility: Digitakt
Live sets and jam-ability with modeled (not sampled) Roland sounds: TR-8S
or be dumb like me and buy both 
Not what you really asked for but I was in the same spot.
Ended up buying a TR-09. Really like the not so crazy amount of possibilties and the some what limited workflow. At least compared to other boxes. Twist and play!
thank you! would you say that you don’t hear any big differences in quality when you play the TR sounds from the two devices? the possibility to use the whole life would of course be good, but in this case the sound has to come first.
With that in mind I suggest the Digitakt. You can find a million TR samples out there easy and free and if you want to pay a couple bucks, Samples From Mars has some really nice TR packs. I don’t honestly know how capable TR8S is with midi because even attempting it seems like a time wasting challenge with that tiny screen. It’s great at what it does but I just wouldn’t put “controlling other stuff” on that list.
folks, if my english comes across as a bit strange, sry - it’s not my mother tongue 
Your English is great!
I can the say the TR-8S is NOT great to use as a MIDI controller. It receives sync data just fine, but to use it to control other stuff is a meme. Digitakt wins this category hands down!
Digitakt plus a used TR-6S for tweaking, sampling from, and quick infill.
I have never noticed any huge difference in the overall sound quality between the two. For the actual classic Roland sounds (808, 909, etc) the ACB in the TR-8S is probably the more convincing, but for me this is the thing: I always mess around with the sound in any case (make it my own so to speak), so by the time im done on either its something completely different that is hard to compare!
If you dont have either, but if you need a solid drum machine that also control synths, has Hughe flexibility and plays nice in the studio, the Digitakt is the clear winner
If you want an awesomely fun jam box that has great Roland sounds out the box than the TR-8S is perfect.
Just based on your posts tho, I believe that the Digitakt checks off more of your boxes and will make you the happiest
I’ve had my 8S and MC-707 out this week to see if I can find a place for them in my all-new, all-now streamlined setup, and for the classic drum task I’d definitely choose the 8S - you can hear the results of ACB when you trigger certain sounds in fast succession, for example, which you’re not going to get on the 707. I also ran some A/B tests with the drum synths on the Force, which is what I’m using as the centrepiece, and flexible though the Force is, the 8S produced by far the best 808 kick, with a minimum of effort.
What I don’t like about the 8S is the limited hardware editing - it’d be significantly better if you could assign all three channel knobs to any parameter, like you can on the 707. As it stands. if you want to add a filter knob on a channel, that’s your hardware control used up, aside from the fixed pitch and delay controls - and this also applies to parameter locks. Coming from something like the Rytm, that’s a huge step down - as is the single LFO per kit. FX slots per sound is great, but again if you want to live-tweak or record any parameters, your options are limited
So I’d say the 8S has the basics really well covered - it sounds great, has a ton of sounds onboard as well as sample playback, and the classic sequencing is there, but it suffers when it comes to extras. In terms of adding some variation, subtle or otherwise - bringing a pattern to life - the Digitakt with a good sample set blows it out of the water. The exception would be if you’re into performing live, where 8S featues like the faders and being able to reset a sound or kit would be more valuable than being able to micromanage parameters.
For my part, I find it hard to deal with sequencers that aren’t up to Elektron standards - it’s never long before I wish I could do X or Y, even if it’s something as simple as temporarily lowering cutoff and raising a delay send - a couple of seconds’ work on the Digitakt, virtually impossible on the 8S.
The 707 is a little better on the control / sequencing front because you can assign all three knobs freely (plus one virtual extra). You also have the opton of using a synthesized kick, for example, alongside samples. The I/O options make it a nice little hub, and it’s generally a great jack-of-all-trades device. But for all the extra features it brings over the Digitakt, once again, it’s that Elektron sequencer that makes the most difference. With the 8S and 707, you will occasionally feel like you’re pedalling uphll. On the Digitakt, it’s downhill all the way (in the best sense).
As I mentioned, I’m using the Force as my main device, mainly for its disk streaming and arranger features, but even there I’m regularly frustrated when my Elektron muscle memory doesn’t pay off.
tl;dr: Digitakt + samples beats ACB + limited sequencing.
I owned the TR8S and the Digitakt and I own that “once a year, the price is so low, that you buy way too many samples”-package from Samples from Mars.
That said: the only feature that I liked on the TR8S better, then on the Digitakt was the faders. Everything else: Digitakt. “Sound-Design” is a pain on the TR8S, I don’t understand, why Roland still thinks, that kind of Display is a good Idea and working with Samples on it is a big pain! Finding the right sample to build upon is so damn fast and then manipulate it with the DT wins (for me) over the TR8S definitively.
As soon as you want more, then just sequencing the same sound over and over again, I think it’s unfair to compare that TR8S Sequencer (with very limited modulation and/or parameter lock possibilities) with the Elektron one.
Yea, Digitakt is going to take your further. More memory for samples. More to do with those samples, LFOs, dual filters, etc. More sequencer capabilities. And a great sequencer for your multi-timbral Waldorf M…
Digitakt is also known for its hi-fidelity sound. It needs very little processing to sound great.
A model:samples is also an idea. Someone already mentioned Samples from Mars. They do a 1gb sample pack with everything they have in it (from 808 to mpc60 and modular drums) which is perfect for the digitakt/m:s. They usually have a sale once or twice a year where you can het everything for around 50 euros.
Are you in Germany or the EU by any chance ? Second hand prices for jomox and mfb and small manufacturers are also not that high of you get them 2nd hand.
The TR-8S can play back stereo samples, if that is important to you (the Digitakt cannot).