Alesis HR-16

VERY EASY. Anyone can operate one of these. No problems.

Has a lot of cool features. Tuneable drum sounds, four outs, and of course EASE of USE!! This unit works great with an ALESIS MMT-8. Wow a marriage made in heaven!! Very nice together!! I have the Black model --the HR-16B. Thats the ONE to get cuz it has twice the sounds of the original HR-16, better OS version, better all the way. The black on is the latest of the HR drum machines. Well worth the extra search.

The black HR-16B has better sounds than the regular grey HR-16. More sounds, and better suited to techno as well. Nice cymbals!! Hi-hats and Rides are really fine!! I wish it had even more sounds, but the 90 or so that are in there are killer.

If you get the HR-16B (black-faced) you wont have any trouble with the buttons or anything else. These are well-built. Mine is made in 89 and still cranking at full force.

Alesis is a very cool company. I like their style. They will talk to you even about their older machines and will not laugh at you either.
:-))

I gotta give this a 9 overall since most of them out there are GREY HR-16 units. But if you get a black one--the HR-16B--you will know its really a 10!! These drum boxes are very cool creative tools used by many many pros on stage --Moby, 808 State, Leftfield, Sunscreen, Konsume Human, etc, just to name but a few. Theres a reason. Its sound is GREAT and its EASY to use. Just like the MMT-8 these are classics!! Some of the best values in the history of MIDI.

After reading reviews of DR-XX0s and the SR-16, I can't believe the HR-16 has no reviews. This is STILL the easiest and most versatile drum machine out there. The sounds are out dated, but the thing is just awesome in its features and programmability.

Here's where other drum machines fail. The HR-16 had FOUR outputs, not two, not one. It also gives you the drum sounds UNADULTERATED. No reverb has been added, no crappy ass effects. YOU decide how much reverb to add to your stuff. THAT is where they screwed up the SR-16. I would have upgraded years ago, but I can't stand the reverb that's been forced on me. So, instead, I continue to use the HR-16, where *I* am the producer, not some 80's bastard.

Expressiveness = 10, sounds = 5. That's the case with this machine that came out over 10 years ago. I'm still happy with the sounds but they're definitely dated. WHY OH WHY didn't Alesis put out another HR-16, where the sounds weren't soaked in reverb? I HATE that.

nonetheless, back to THIS box. The pressure sensitive pads can also be configured to any of 16 volume levels... WAAAAAAY more than BOSS's crappy ass 'expression' or 'accent' volume control. What a JOKE. I've owned both... I ended up using the HR16 to master the DR-550, since the DR-550's pattern programming was USELESS.

Which brings up another critical difference. ALESIS allows pattern programming BEAUTIFULLY. That's why I've kept this one around. BOSS drum machines have this hideous slot-based programming - it's the same ever since their FIRST dr rhythm (I bought one way back then) and it's unflexible, limited, hideous. ALESIS, on the other hand, doesn't limit the number of beats in a pattern, doesn't limit the quantizaion, the SWING - I could go on and on forever about this. I've convinced dozens of people to go back and get one of these units - they go up on EBAY for $75 ALL the time.

I've owned THREE. NONE ever had a problem.

I have YET to find a replacement for this unit. NO other drum machine gives me FOUR outputs. No other unit gives the sounds WITHOUT the effects. Combine that with the ease of use, and incredible ease of song programming, especially for ODD time signatures, this baby gets a TEN.