Roland CE 301 (Chorus Echo)

Incredibly easy to figure out from the get go. Has unbelievable real-time controls. It's an instrument in itself and can add unbelievable warmth to anything put through it. I've routed mics through it, drum machines, and even AM radio; all of which are given spectacular depth. Dub sounds and effects are easy to produce. The manual is great and easy to understand.

I use this with any sound source I can manage to put through it! I find it to be rather quiet; I don't notice any tape hiss. You can definitely make it noisy and distorted with a twist of a knob. Delays can regenerate to become louder and louder so its great for dub effects. I find the Chorus feature to be subtle, but still pretty good; you can manage to make it sound a bit like a slow sweeping flanger if you adjust it correctly. The spring reverb is great...if you hit the 301 while the reverb is on, you can hear the spring rattle in the output which is a great effect. Overall, the nuances of the effect could never be reproduced digitally in my opinion. Great warmth in the sound without compromising clarity.

The housing is that heavy textured particle board (like the stuff used on guitar amps)...built like a tank. I suppose you wouldn't want it rattling around in the trunk of a car since it's got lots of moving parts and a potentially delicate spring reverb. Knobs are of great quality. I would gig with this thing without thinking twice.

Never had to deal.

I produce ambient and dubby house and this is the thing I have been looking for to give me that great dub sound. It really adds warmth to what ever is being put through it. To hear it in action on vocals, go to www.mp3.com/gys and listen to "imprint 02". I had a cassette player routed into the 301 and I was manipulating the controls. Very cool. I paid a good bit of money for my unit, but I feel it was definitely worth every penny. I'll never let it go!

Easy to use.

Moderately noisy, but in my opinion this is a good thing. the actual chorus effect is kind of lame, but the tape delay and reverb more than make up for it.

It's reliable, but i wouldn't take it to a show without a backup tape cartridge.

I'm not sure...

I love the chorus echo with all my heart... i bring it into the studio to get a nice analog tape delay on vocals. the sound isn't pretty, but it rocks. for guitar you can get some great "the edge" sounds out of it... i also saw the guitarist for portishead using one. it sounded great!