I find my MC-707 totally uninspiring… I agree with the comment comparing it to the TR8s too… 
I use the blackbox for slicing and playing samples and it’s synced via midi to the 707. Very dope combination. So i have more control of the drums, synths and bass for a song with the 707’s sequencer. And then some heavy scattering. Really fun. I have the 707 for 2 hours now and i’m suprised how much i like it.
The combination of the blackbox and 707 is really nice because the samplework on the lovely blackbox is just so fast.
But slicing on the MC is definitely a must have for a firmware update.
I mostly do boombap/jazzy hiphop stuff, and the 707 got is groove on with some tweaks. I’ll do a video next week, just finishing the first joint.
Have a nice weekend everybody.
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I’d be super interested! I’m into boombap / jazzy hiphop as well, and I’ve been lusting after the 707 hard.
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Performance decay is not absolute but relative to the values in the kit.
I agree the 707 is not as immediate as the TR-8S, it’s a much deeper machine though.
The real joy comes after you have a dozen of projects and start to mash’em up by importing clips from them to the current project… endless fun of clips combinations.
All in all, the 707 requires more “work” while the TR-8S is all “play”.
It’s all presets, once your own samples are on board, there’s little to no difference in sound quality (excellent on both).
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Can multiple samples be loaded at the same time or do you have to load them one at a time?
Thanks,
Adonis
I think gelling with a box is a very personal thing… either you do or you don’t… sometimes it takes a while… but in the end it’s really important. The features on paper are one thing, but the bonding with a box makes all the difference, it’s like a relationship… whether there is passion or not…
I have a fruitful relationship with my MPC Live and MC-707… also with my Machinedrum and Push but not so much with my 2 Digitakts, I might need to let them go at some point if it doesn’t change…
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one at a time…
I agree it steers in other directions… my TR-8S is all techno too, very simple things, while I tend to do ambient/electronica stuff with all the crazy modulations in the 707 (the step LFO is fantastic !). It’s a great pad machine too.
reagrding pairing 707 with other gear — i pair mine with Squarp Pyramid and DSI Tetra (the latter is in 1x duophonic + 2x monophonic mode). absolutely killer combination.
using it for goa/acid trance/breaks.
707 responds to some twenty CCs, so using Pyramid capabilities for modulating them is a lot of fun.
We need program change over midi. 
What’s the workflow everyone is using to integrate it with other gear for live sets?
well… something like this.
sound generating boxes are 707(on the right) and DSI Tetra paired with Boss VF-1 multiFX unit (on the left).
Tetra and VF-1 are rather brainless devices, so completely controlled by Pyramid.
they listen to MIDI channels 11 — 15.
707 is the brain on its own, but it responds to some CC messages, and it does not have arpeggiator. so, Pyramid is used for that, and euclidean patterns (i love euclidean patterns!)
707 occupies MIDI channels 1—8.
next, the manual input section (at the bottom).
for playing notes and drumming, i use Launchpad Pro. and for manually tweaking performance parameters, i use Beatstep with templates for my gear. Beatstep has very important feature — MIDI channel can be assigned per physical control (unlike the majority of controllers, where all controls inherit MIDI channel from global settings).
layouts for Launcpad are provided by Axoloti. another Axoloti task is MIDI aggregation, it forwards messages from Launchpad and Beatstep to Pyramid, and Pyramid forwards them together with its own messages to sound generating gear.
audio connections are not shown in the flowchart.
what is still to invent is how 707 can notify Pyramid that some clip on some track is changed.
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Anyone found a count-in? To start recording on the 1
And what’s up with no Auto Channel?
only on th e707 not the 101 (
I updated and read the update manual, but can’t find how to do it. Can you help me figure it out? Thanks!!!
after a week with the 101…
sure the workflow isnt the most intuitive, but what workflow is ?
I owned a mpc 1000 / tempest / mpc touch / octatrack / sp 404 sx, etc.
everything takes time, even making beats on the couch with a tiny device like the 101.
after ingesting the quick start guide and watching a couple badly filmed videos on youtube I was mostly on my way.
then, it turns out that it is actually a nice versatile unit. tons of sounds arent appealing at all, but with the added fx they all sound so much better.
It is what I hoped the Circuit would be, a nice battery powered sketch pad that you can sample at will (in my case with the Blackbox).
The usb sampling is a cool feature too. sure it would have been better to have aux / audio in. but I guess they didnt want to cannibalize 707 sales (other companies do that too 
)
Overall there is way more control that expected. This is fun.
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sorry, but seems like i misinformed you about count-in. 
it’s indeed not there. i remembered using Pyramid count-in as its availability in 707.
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Played around with the MC-101 a bit last week.
Quite a powerful little polyphonic machine with a massive amount of sounds/presets to work with if you ask me. Perhaps not a lot of parameters available to change the basic sound, but with the amount of (insert) effects available you can change a lot of the basic sound to make it your own anyway… It’s just a different way of working I suppose.
There is an insert effect per track, EQ/filter per track and also per Pad on a drum track, 2 (insert) effects on the scatter bus and a global master insert effect, delay and reverb… So one big FX Galore 
The sequencer is also fine I think, but perhaps in comparison with the Elektron sequencers something to get used to.
I did encounter some bugs regarding sample and memory management on the 101 so I hope Roland will bring an update soon… Some additional things like at least a possibility to loop a sample on the drum/synth track would be very welcome!
Anyway, I think it’s a very nice addition to the groovebox market and it contains some great Rolandish sounds!
A couple of sketches I made on the MC-101 which I hope some of you will enjoy:
Also one in combination with the A4 & Digitone.
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Please don’t laugh but I’m learning the MC707. It’s pretty fun and little bit of what I wanted the OT to be. I’m not that creative of a person so I like to keep things as simple as possible.
I wish the MC had count-in, a better file system, and other tweaks. Such as keeping you on the sample load page when building kits (versus kicking you back to the clip screen)…but yea - here’s a quick loop from the main outs. Just for fun
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Found some perfect stands for my MC-707 today in a store I bought 2 of these and they are an absolute perfect fit, see pics. They cost £3 each. If your in the UK hit B&M
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That stand looks perfect. What is it? A laptop stand? Any particular brand or kind?
Thanks!