Only partially. Half the 909 sounds are samples.
Also note, a lot of this is subjective. The RD9 doesn’t sound good to me.
As for punch, I have found the TR8S to hit harder than any drum machine I’ve ever owned. Took some time and effort to get there, but any thing worth doing, takes time and effort.
Anyway lets not derail a thread. If you dont get on with the machine, flog it and get something else.
As pointed out by @MurkyFreddery there is an auto-save option and I’d like to add that you can set it to load up the last played pattern when you switch it on.
You may call this Elektron-Mode 
the sounds are great. you have to learn to process them in the machine. they get big once you figure them out. i have the rd9 as well. the sounds are really just a starting point, just like the og machines were.
Saturator Instrument FX works wonders and makes this thing hit really hard and much better than a RD-9 ! Here is a jam where I used only the 909 ACB kit
It’s not an autosave like Elektrons though since you still have to power it down by itself. I had my setup on a power conditioner so I could turn everything on and off at the same time, but doing so won’t let the TR8S go through it’s “auto-save”.
I played with it some more last night and got some good sounds and loaded my own samples and that was fun to sequence in that fashion. Run through the Analog Heat it sounds really good. I do find the workflow a bit clunky, and am a little upset i can not get a consistent latency going into Ableton with it. The Elektron sequencer, for me, has really set the bar high for what I want a sequencer to do. Throw in OB and it really raised the bar. But going to keep her another couple days and see if we bond more.
Anyone here successfully got the TR-8S to sync tightly with Live/DAW with USB audio and midi?
Yeah. Use a sync clock like an ERM.
E-RM Mulitclock
no problem to sync it via usb with my M1 14" MacBook. Made a template with all individual Tracks and ext. Input and everything just running fine
Interesting sync solution, I can not multitrack this way, but I ran midi from Rytm to TR-8S, and the output of TR-8S into inputs on Analog Four and then started them through OB in Ableton and now it records the TR-8S audio through the external input channel on A4 and is spot on in sync, just like the other OB devices. Not sure what Elektron did to make OB work so damn good but this is a solution. Yes, been wanting an ERM just pricey and OB has solved a lot of the issues for me
Elektron added about 30 ms of latency to have a high buffer to compensate for midi jitter. So yeah, you gain midi accuracy but also get a significant amount of latency
This is hot stuff!!
Note for those that maybe haven’t found it:
You can increase kit gain from unity to +10db …
That alone into the soft clipper sounds amazing. All those ACB models!
Now add fx per track and master fx. Lack of punch? I think not.
(Edit: Default setting for the 808 kit is -4db)
Since V2.50, I ’ve noticed that when increasing / decreasing master probability (hold TR-REC whilst turning Accent) it also changes accent strength at the same time, Seems like a bug to me….
Anyone else noticed this?
Nope. But I’m still using V2. Does sound like a bug though. Youd want master accent to stay where it is right!
I’ll raise a big with Roland….should be fixed in the next couple of years 
I reported this to Roland and they said this doesn’t happen on their demo machine, so most likely a hardware issue with mine (although I’m skeptical of that), before I send my TR8s in for inspection/repair…can anyone/someone on here with V2.50/2.51 test it on their TR8s too?
I’ve got to get some soldering done after work but if I get through with that before I pass out due to general oldness I’ll give this a go and report back. If I can’t git 'er done tonight I definitely can on Thursday.
I know that feeling all too well.
Appreciate that man, thanks. No worries if not, it’s not urgent and can wait…