Haven’t found a way to send pgm chng. No idea if the device itself even listens to pgm chng…
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Yep Iv’e been on all day with no joy at all…lol should have just read the manual grrr…
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@tsutek FWIW you can delete/edit tone steps on the MC-101. After you’ve recorded some notes go to the seq page, hold shift + project + the step you want to delete.
personally i’d prefer a box, the size of the 101, that has no sequencer but better sound edit and sampling capabilities.
It would be a miniature native-memory/onboard rompler, updateable Roland cloud sound and IO FX box that works brilliantly with elektron/squarp etc with a comprehensive midi control implementation.
instead it seems a fun one-stop groove rompler. great for what it is, but if you already have other gear (eg a digitakt) it’s vying for replacing other machines rather than complementing them…
yes, but the realtime erase only erases the held note… When recording polyphonic stuff like pads, its not easy to realtime erase all notes.
I concur, my experiences largely match your own. It’s a confusing box in a lot of way, because there are some really well thought out features and it has relatively good and flexible physical controls for the size, and they have managed to make the requisite menu diving somewhat tolerable. Many of the built in tones seems to be quite nice sounding, if not super flexible. There are more high quality effects than I’ve generally seen on a box this size (although that is a bit of a mixed blessing, as it suffers from the “curse of plenty”). The sound quality is generally really high, and you can work fairly quickly on it… but there are some omissions that simply make no sense. It’s a lot of fun at first, but it seems like I keep hitting these hard walls where it just doesn’t do something - and I end up wasting a lot of time trying to see if it’s just buried away somewhere, or if it’s really just something it can’t do. I really really want to like this box, but it seems a bit unclear in its identity at times.
It’s possible that firmware updates could address some things, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that one. I haven’t seen much of that from Roland so far, although I’ll admit I’m not as familiar with them as many others here. Maybe the MC-101/707 will be an exception, simply because they are trying to do so much - but I think the right thing to do is to assume that the functionality in place now is as intended, and not to bank on any extra features being released via firmware. Treat them as a happy bonus if they come up, but don’t expect them.
Kind of where everything has trended, especially for larger companies. If it’s a product that can be updated later, then release it now, let the early adopters work out the issues and see what they will tolerate, fix only what you have to.
Welcome to Lean, Scrum and New Work.
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Yeah, I was thinking about throwing in an agile reference there, but words like “scrum” can really invoke PTSD for some people. 
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Jupp. Nothing more than tools for profit maximization based on employees self exploitation.
But “new work” definitely sounds better.
Now back to the topic… 
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Or for 1/4 of the price of the MC101 there is always the …
- Drum machine, sequencer, synthesizer, looper, clip launcher, and MIDI controller in one device
- Includes 468 drum/instrument sounds (“one-shot” sampled waveform sounds), 70 types of synthesizer sounds, and dozens of digital effects
- 96 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads and 160 programmable color LEDs
- Use up to 5 effects simultaneously, applied to overall drum kit or individual drum sounds
- Split mode allows one instrument to be assigned to multiple pads for ease of input
- Onboard mixer for setting volumes and muting/soloing parts
- Flexible precount, quantize, swing, and beat settings
- Audible and/or visual click
- Dual 1/4" inputs for phrase recording and loop creation
- Audio capture from patterns and songs, from SD card, or from incoming audio signal
- Create up to 96 mono or stereo loops, play up to 16 mono loops simultaneously
- Loop start and end points can be adjusted manually
- Loop tempo synchronization, pitch change, and reverse playback functions
- Programmable synthesizer engine
- 538 oscillator type subtractive sysnthesis and 16-voice polyphony
- Sound-shaping controls include effects, envelope generators, and stepped and smooth modulation
- Play sounds chromatically, or choose from dozens of preset scales in any key
- Dedicated tap tempo button for synchronization
- Dual 1/4" line outputs and separate 1/4" headphone output with dedicated volume control
- USB port and SD card slot
- Bluetooth LE for low power consumption and extended usage time
… Zoom ARQ96!
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considered it among other all-in-one solutions and even studied the manual.
was not impressed by synth engine capabilities. maybe this machine is good as looper, but i’m not interested in this particular function, so did not look at it close.
and that weird form factor. they managed to make a machine that fits all backpacks – and does it really bad 
also, it’s weird as input device. it seems to have nice input capabilities (at least on paper) — but they would require a lot of training, since all muscle memory trained on traditional rectangle button based gear would just give up.
so, i did not found any features that would be worth putting so much effort in training and transporting. but of course YMMV.
I see there’s an arq 48 also which lets you imports wavs as oscillator sources.
I’ve never seen anyone buy or use these though. They seem great value for what they offer at the price they’re selling for
Despite its freakish appearance (we arty freethinking musos paradoxically prefer conservative black & grey executive businesslike-looking tools !) at its bargain blowout bin pricing level the ARQ96 is well worth having around as a refreshing wheel shaped sequencer and a lot of functionality. The synth side is nicely represented graphically and getting samples in and out is easy whether as loops or synth oscs.
The synth gui reminds me of the vsynth.
No doubt it is missing things, is an odd awkward shape and has some failings, but at the €118 I got mine for new, it is fun to pair with a respectable ‘professional’ device like an OT or Op-Z for inspiration … just in case anyone sees you using the ARQ alone and thinks you aren’t a professional. 
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I was on the fence about keeping my MC707 or not, but I decided to keep it, here’s why
Positives:
- It’s a great standalone groovebox IMHO
- Sound quality is good with deep editing options and an easy to use sequencer
- Fun hands-on control and live features such such scatter and the 3 knobs which you can assign per clip (also using different sounds per clip is really nice)
- Multichannel audio over USB for easy DAW integration
- Project backup, everything is saved as one file on the SD card including user samples
Negatives:
- Sample loading from the SD card is slow and clumsy (no folder support)
- No song mode
I sent a support request to Roland asking to fix the sample loading workflow, in the meantime I will prepare sets of 16 samples at a time on my computer to build custom kits on the 707.
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I didn’t think about project files including the contained samples! That actually changes things in a good way. It means I can import a bunch of oneshot samples and loops, make kits etc and then just save the project and delete all imported samples from the SD card. This will keep the custom sample browser happy with the 210 files limit, but will still allow me to have a crap ton of custom PCM content stowed away inside some project files!
Now then… how many projects can you have on a single SD card?
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Yeah it seems using projects as libraries for preset sounds and custom samples is the way Roland intend it.
You can store 16 clips x 8 tracks = 128 presets or drumkits per project.
I think exchanging projects with other 707 users could be a cool way to collaborate!
Yes… and that’s where careful naming of kits/clips/tones will be necessary.
Good thing clips, kits and tones can all be named… now it’s up to users not to be lazy and come up with useful names 
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One thing I will say about the MC-101 is that despite its tonal limitations and some of my other gripes, it IS a ton of fun at the moment, and I can work relatively fast in it. It’s actually been an inspirational tool for me, as I’ve stepped outside of my normal sounds and workflow. Which I guess is a decent role for a groovebox to play - anything that can help get me unstuck from the rut I’ve been in for quite some time isn’t a bad thing.
I don’t know if the fun is going to stick, or if it’s just more novel at this point because I don’t know the box very well- maybe I’ll eventually get frustrated due to my many gripes.
And speaking of gripes - I already knew it wouldn’t be class compliant with regards to either USB MIDI or Audio because Roland, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning explicitly as it’s a hell of an opportunity that has been lost there. I can understand a BIT more for the larger devices, but it seems like this would be the sort of box that a lot of people would love to pair with a mobile device w/o needing to lug around a portable audio/midi interface as well.
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Yes, I think so too, a horrible trend that customers should not tolerate, but as long as they do these companies will continue to pull these moves.
My new policy is not to buy stuff that probably won’t work or be superseded in 5 years time, I won’t ever pay for a device which relies on a computer (other than a vintage computer) for its operation, and I won’t buy promises.
We work hard for our money, and specialist gear such as electronic musical instruments are comparatively very expensive. Complex instruments such as sequencers, grooveboxes, and so on need to have full functionality before I will buy them. I was quite interested in a few such instruments recently but decided against purchase because my faith in them being “finished” and properly supported was not strong enough.
Youtube synth demonstrators are I think part of the problem, so I often take most (but not all) of their opinions with a pinch of salt. Hopefully someone will come along and start doing critical reviews and make all the ”yes men” up their game or suffer the lost views and subs.
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