Product: Roland DR-670
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
03/21/2006
at
07:09am
by
CJ
Ease of Use
:
3
I'm no stranger to drum machines (or indeed fan, but needs must for the home recording buff!) and the ease of use is my main problem with this unit. I only use it occasionally coz i'm normally playing guitar, keyboards, etc. and its just so damned tricky to remember how to use it, so I'm constantly looking at the manual which makes everything take an age. I've used older Dr. Rhythm units and they seemed a lot simpler - hell, my Roland 16 track studio seems easier to use.
Features
:
6
There's pretty much eveything that you're ever gonna want from a drum machine here:
- Good drum sounds (256 sounds)
- Plays bass notes (16 sounds)
- Dynamic response key pads
- MIDI
- Fill function (I never got to grips with this - see 'ease of use' above)
- 200 preset rhythms, 200 user rhythms
- 100 song memory
Unfortunately with low usability I'm never going to make the most of its capabilities.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
6
The sample are all pretty high quality, and certainly as good as any other drum machine I've used. With these sounds together with the fill function the unti is designed to allow you to emulate a proper drummer, but this is difficult to acheive as its quite fiddly to program.
Reliability
:
8
Absolutely no problems, I wish it would break then I could justify buying a newer drum machine that's maybe easier to use! I've never gigged with it.
Customer Support
:
5
I've never had to deal with customer support, but Roland's website (my only exposure to their support offering) isn't the best.
Overall Rating
:
5
I'd replace it with something else it ever got lost, its just so hard to use, and hard = no fun. I find it a bit of a hindrence in making music, to be honest.
Great sounds and features though, so long as you've got plenty of time and enthusiasm to learn the manual.
