If the toaster had sheer fonk like that, I would buy it too.
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To bad it didnāt have an input so l could use it with my mc 101 without a mixer
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Afternoon all. Can anyone confirm if this thing can stream all 6 tracks as audio over USB? If it can then that would be amazing. I can noodle on my sofa and make a few patterns and then āperformā whilst recording into my DAW and then edit and whatnot to make a full track.
It seems like a good candidate for a cheap, self-contained techno box (my endless journey). Perhaps even more so than the mc-101 as this feels like it has much better synthesis and tweakability. Iād take 6 tracks of FM fun over 1 track of Sampled drums and 3 tracks for synths any day.
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mc101 has much better synthesis if we are talking about melodic stuff. For drums certainly the TR.
The mc101 is also much better suited for playing/sequencing melodies if you need that
Iām pretty sure it can send all tracks individually over USB, the TR8s, MC707 and 101 can
Thanks for the quick response @Unifono. Iāve watched a fair few videos and I can certainly see the appeal of both boxes but Iām not sure about being stuck with sample d one-shots on the 101. I fully appreciate that the zen core engine on the 101 and 707 is very deep but I feel like the tr-6s would be more fun to jam and experiment with. I have an Elektron model samples so I know that 6 mono tracks can go a long way for some minimal fun.
yeah sure for minimal and rather percussion related sounds it might be better suited.
I know the TR8s and itās very jam oriented
The manual says yes, you can record individual instruments over USB (as the TR-8S does, though the TR-8S also has options for tracking the assignable output busses instead, which I assume arenāt available in the 6S). You need to use the Roland driver.
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Thanks, thatās great news. I couldnāt find the manual online when I tried the other day. I think this is a great feature for such a cheap box, I can have fun without the computer when I want to but also record and work towards a full track if I feel inclined.
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Edit: Iāll answer my own questions, like usual.
Did Roland ever add chromatic play in a firmware update?
Nope.
How deep are the FM options? Is it just 1 parameter?
Yup. FM Morph. FM Course is Only for FM tones of the FX/HITāOTHERS categories
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I was curious about this because Iām very tempted by the TR-6S as a little self-contained techno box. Iāve dug out the manual online and it looks like (as far as I can tell) you can parameter lock parameters on each step much like Elektron boxes, but perhaps not actual different sounds on each step. Iām wondering if you can do sample start if you wanted to use sample chains like on Elektron devices.
Look at the manual here (page 15) - https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/TR-6S_Manual_eng01_W.pdf
Iām also super-impressed that it can (theoretically) stream every track individually over USB. Thatās a killer feature and I could just set my DAW to record and jam for a bit and then pick out the best bits. I think it looks like a lot of fun for Ā£350.
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I use my 101 this way, streaming all 4 channels (you can also stream the Main Mix) and it has worked great for me in Bitwig and Ableton. It has even behaved well as part of an Aggregate Device on MacOS.
The biggest drawback is that you cannot āturn offā/disable the internal audio tracks on the 101, so if you run it through a DAW and just want to hear one track through a reverb, for example, you canāt. You either have to record the audio and play it back (and pull the volume for that particular track down on the device itself), add FX later, or suck it up and listen to a doubled signal.
Nevertheless, someone needs to buy one of these and report back!
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Yep, I specifically meant sound locks. For some uses parameter locking is good enough, e.g. you could use an open hihat sample and adjust its decay to create a closed hat for certain steps; but if you want to use the exact original x0x open and closed hat sounds, you have to sacrifice two tracks for them.
On the Model:Cycles, sound locks really help to expand the machine beyond the limit of six tracks.
Iām probably going to get the TR-6S anyway, I just wonāt expect to be able to use it without support from other gear.
Itās weird they donāt say how many channels you can get over USB so Iām assuming itās just a stereo pair and nothing more.
You can get all the separate instrument channels over USB, as you can with the TR-8S.
Oh sweet, found the details on the Roland support now.
You can choose to set the usb audio to INDIV and get 6 mono tracks.
So using stereo samples it might be best to keep using the stereo pair.
I pre-ordered one with Sweetwater. They are saying that it will be December when they get the units. This will be part of my mobile setup that will also include the tracker.
Hi @tallrobphilp I can confirm that it does record each individual track via USB. It allows 8 outputs:
the stereo master and 6 individual sounds.
I just picked this up on the weekend and was testing to make sure it works similarly to how the TR-8S (I had and sold) functioned. So far this thing is a mini-beast of a drum machine. Huge sound small package 
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Thanks for helping to confirm this. Iām very tempted and also tempted by the big brother TR-8S as itās only about Ā£200 more. Only issue is lack of battery/USB power so not so portable for sofa or kitchen table or whatever. Maybe Iāll just have to take the power cable with me, not such a massive deal I guess. More hands on control for each track as well.
I might be going mad but the sequencer buttons on the little one look nicer to me as well. They look like rubber buttons whereas the TR-8S looks like it has clear plastic āclackyā buttons.
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Thatās very similar to why I purchased this over the TR-8S. I have RYTM, Octatrack, and Ableton live + push2 for drums in my studio. I really like the sounds from TR-8S but I felt it was too much overlap with the other machines I have and I try not to have too many pieces of gear at once (for $$ and space reasons).
The TR-6S filled three needs for me:
- has the same huge ACB drum sounds that TR-8S has and I can record jams into ableton or sample the drums for RYTM/Octatrack.
- I wanted something portable and battery powered I could jam on the go and hook up via usb to record
- I was looking for a small portable midi controller with pads for drumming and knobs for recording live automation. TR-6S nails both of those (tested this weekend) and fills needs #1 and 2 !!!
No brainer.
