Does the 3P have a sequencer?
No.
Did you ever make a digital drum machine decision @hotdoglothario ? I am in the same boat and want a digital drum machine to go along with my analogs (drm1 and pulsar 23 (I guess this is more of a hybrid)), but am trying to decide between the Perkons, modor dr-2, and lxr-02. What do you like about the lxr-02 compared to the Perkons?
It does but it’s super analog and organic.
I got a great deal on a Nord Drum 3P on ebay a few years ago and I couldn’t be happier with it. Perkons sounds incredible though, I must say. And I really want an LXR-02. I sequence my 3P with my Model Samples and sometimes stack samples on the MS so that it’s basically a ghetto RYTM. It’s been ace so far but Perkons is everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a drum machine and more. Ugh.
I did, @HBIII, I finally got my hands on a Modor. So far I am really liking it. I’ve studied the manual thoroughly and have a pretty good handle on everything. It’s a very well-designed drum machine with excellent performance features. There are so many things I come across that seem like brilliant touches and I wonder why other manufacturers don’t do the same thing. For example, there are timing settings for flams and tuplets, and there is a delay setting for reversed notes, so you can time exactly when you want the apex to happen. I LOVE stuff like that. The sequencer goes up to 4 bars, but if you use less you can use the unused bars for breaks or alternative patterns that you can jump to on the fly. There’re nice randomization options, parameter locks on everything, and a built in euclidean sequencer.
In comparing it to the Perkons, I would say the Modor is easier to tame. It’s very easy to make it sound like a traditional drum machine if you want it to, like an 808 or 909, but you can still get very experimental with it. It includes a LOT of drum engines with a lot of sound design possibilities. To my mind, the only thing the Perkons has on it sound design-wise is the karplus strong voices. Otherwise I think the Modor has a wider percussive variety. The Perkons has probability features that the Modor doesn’t have. I would say the Perkons is stronger in hands-on manipulation with the sequencer while jamming (but not by much). Both machines have outstanding build quality. I think the Modor is more of a finished product than the Perkons.
The LXR-02, in my opinion, is way more wide open with regard to sound design, but takes a lot more work to coax good sounds out of. It seems less comparable to the Modor than I’d thought it’d be. It’s kind of its own thing. I still love it and am keeping it.
The nice thing about drum machines is that you can never have too many. I am gassing right now for the Vermona DRM1, just for another flavor. I love the kicks I can get out of my Perfourmer, so I imagine the DRM1 kicks are even better.
Another cool thing on the Modor is if you deselect a trig it keeps its parameter lock values when you press the trig again. It also complements the pulsar really well, I wonder if the perkons and pulsar would fight for the same space a bit.
This project is Modor and Pulsar, cropped from an extended improvisation and a single stereo file. I thinking gives a decent account of the sonic qualities of each. Running a fucked clock from pulsar into Modor is fun if you don’t hanker for control….
Lovely! Must be fun to have those two behemoth drum machines hooked up and performing together.
Thanks so much, this is the most helpful thing I have read as far as comparisons of these machines!
Watching demos of the modor I noticed that it seemed very easy to get analog-ish sounds from it, it’s good to hear you confirm that. As far as perkons vs lxr-02 from what I can tell watching demos the perkons seems more restricted to a darker industrial sound while the lxr-02 has more range but a slightly thinner sound (which is fine, every drum sound doesn’t need to be huuuuge). I think the analog filters must be a big part of the more organic sound of the perkons. The perkons seems to overlap the pulsar on some sounds and strangely enough the modor seems to overlap the Vermona drm1 on some of its sounds.
Being as the lxr-02 is 1/4 the price (and size) of the other two and I am not mainly looking for live playability I decided to try out the lxr-02… I hope I like it since gear has become pretty much impossible to sell lately lol. I tried some drum synth vsts, but they were just no fun to use. I don’t mind itb for effects but for actual sound generation I guess I really prefer hardware.