Roland TR-6S

Maybe a yearly trip to buy gear then home in case I get sick. Cheap holiday insurance for while I’m away

Or just accept I can never beat the system :frowning:

I was going to use my Opsix for FM drums, but when the price dropped (in the US - sorry non-US peeps) it just made too much sense to get a TR-6S and update it to 1.50.

I’ll use the ACB drums too since they’re included.

The Roland video manual says “don’t buy this if you want off-grid/unquantized sequencing - buy one of our Roland MC grooveboxes instead!” Thanks, bro - got the MCs covered. It’s been educational learning how to set up velocity switch/fade between drum samples, but for lively response to varying velocity values, I much prefer FM drums.

For playing out, I could power both this and the MC-101 from my Anker USB charger - that’s convenient.

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I need to try sequencing it externally but I suspect you can get more off-grid with an Octatrack sequencer…etc.

For me, it’s just too easy to go ahead and use my MC boxes for off-grid, with one of them literally sitting right next to the TR-6S on the desk.

I just thought what he said in the video was funny, is all.

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if i want off-grid sequencing, i just sequence TR-6s from MC-101.
because TR-6s drums are light years away.

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Has anyone successfully managed to slave the 6S to an Elektron box, with pattern switching happening at the correct time?

Always changes early for me due to the Elektron sending PC just before the pattern switch.

I don’t see many people complaining about this so I’m thinking maybe there’s a way to make it work.

The TR-8S always goes out of sync when it receives a pattern change from my Syntakt or Digitakt. Im pretty sure it’s a TR-8S problem as the new Roland T-8 changes patterns perfectly in sync with the Elektrons. I’m actually thinking of selling my TR-8S for this reason.

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I do like the TR-6S drums a lot more than the MC Drum track drums, which are just sample-playback. I guess this is one way resources are saved on a cheap ZenCore machine like the the 101 - don’t include ACB or FM drums, or any other drum synthesis for the Drum tracks.

I found some ZenCore (synthesized) drums available for MC Tone tracks on the MC. But you use to use up a Tone Track obviously, and you don’t get a full kit.

I might end up recreating the MC drum patterns that I created for the song I’ve been working on… on the TR-6S. Pattern creation looks pretty fast on the TR-6S. I just have to get used to converting my 128-step drum patterns on the MC-707 to a 16-step TR-6S pattern with variations.

Of course if I do this, this means I have to learn how to set up the MC-101 to trigger pattern changes on the TR-6S, in time with its own Scene changes.

That’s a shame, I already put in a feature request for patterns to be ‘queued’ when receiving PC. There are separate merits for both workflows so it really ought to be an option in the settings. Also, it’s a head scratcher because when you change patterns internally it does queue them.

I have. But I change patterns by the bar. Nothing longer than 16 steps. TR8S changes by the bar.

So they sync up perfectly for me

TR6S with the free editor is so awesome. Really helped me wrap my head around the routing and FX. I added an SD card so I can save kits after getting the sound I want in the editor.

Love that this is battery powered too. So many rad setup possibilities with this one. Thinking about getting an Oxi One to sequence it, plus some other small synths and running everything into OT tru tracks.

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They’ve known about the issue for years and have never fixed it, so I wouldn’t expect a fix at this point.

Thanks for the input, it took a while to even get the sync from mc101 to work (PC sent with scenes also seems to be broken, have to use the clip method). I guess it is what it is, the sounds are amazing for a battery powered box.

I installed the USB driver, and installed TR Editor using Roland Cloud Manager.

I can’t get TR Editor to run. I just see an Installed button in Roland Cloud Manager. Sent an support request.

Does the TR-6S sounds like the TR-8S? Or is there any difference?

From what I understand, the sound of the two should be the same. At least that is what all the reviewers who reviewed both are saying.

I was just confused and looking for TR Editor in Roland Cloud Manager itself. The app is actually in Applications folder on my Mac

No difference in sound, I have owned both. I prefer the 6S for it’s size. Plus I didn’t really use 11-12 tracks of Roland drums on my productions.

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I tried to import a pattern from the free TR-8S Kits and Patterns Vol. 1 (on Roland Cloud Manager) into the TR-6S. I got a Not Found error.

Yes it was a silly experiment and waste of time, but I guess I had one beer too many.

Oh boy. This is the scenario I was hoping to explore.

  1. MC-101 chaining scenes for the song
  2. When MC-101 changes scenes, sends Program Change to TR-6S to change pattern/variation.

I guess I’ll stick to MC sequencing only for the current song project and use the TR-6S on something else.

I presume you have both MC-101 and TR-6S on their respective latest firmware?