Roland MC-303 Groovebox

Got to give the MC-303 a 7 for ease of use simply because it will take a new user a good while to get used to the somewhat odd and awkward way the machine is planned out when you want to start sequencing. But once you get past the initial stage it's a breeze to use.

It's packed full of features for a little box but it is somewhat of a jack of all trades master of none. The filter doesn't actually work that well as a filter but it can be used as a cool effect anyway. The step style of the knobs means you will never be able to get a clean sweep of anything which will some what restrict you if you are that way inclined with your music. The Delay, Reverb, Flanger & Chorus are quite effective but they are universal effects so you can't have a nice heavy reverb and chorus synth with snappy drums on top. Arpeggio is a little bit glitchy but if you treat it nicely you ill get cool results.

The Sequencer is very simple but at the same time very effective, you have 8 channels to sequence in the first for drums and the other 7 for any synth (or further drum sounds) that you require. The Part & Rhythm mute buttons are in my opinion the best feature of the machine, they make jamming an absolute joy and give you a great deal of flexibility.

The built in keyboard is OK if you don't mind step sequencing everything but it's tiny keys and 16 key range make putting anything together very awkward, I got a cheap USB/MIDI 2 octave controller and it gave a new lease of life to the little MC-303.

MIDI is all round pretty good, there are a lot of complaints about the fact that effects can not be controlled via MIDI but honestly thats a minor problem, I use the MC-303 to sequence a Novation Nova that was lent to me and it does a good job of it.

A major complaint I have of the MC-303 is the fact that individual drum parts volumes can not be adjusted, although the levels are OK for your average House track you will never get any subtlety out of it because of this flaw. Also it would have been nice to have a couple of individual outs, Perhaps a mono drum out and a couple of stereo outs for a couple of the 7 syth parts, but that would make this into a much more expensive item so I can understand why they didn't.

You can only do various types of dance on this, Good selection of preset sounds for a machine of this low cost but you will find yourself using the same patches over and over if you use it for very long. The synths sound very thin and weak compared to the Novation Nova and Juno 60 i have siting here but for ??100 you don't expect it to be a killer synth. Having said that I still find myself now using some of the Bass patches in the 303 for my bass lines (with a little external fattening up)

As previously discussed the effects are pretty erratic but if you are willing to put the time in fine tuning you can get the sound your after.

My guess would be that at least 50% of people bought this back in the day as a Drum machine and the other features were a bonus. You have your TR-909, TR-808, TR-606, TR-727 & CR-78 well represented on here, Of course these are all sampled sounds with no ability to adjust but you do have multiples of each sound, for example there are 4 different 909 closed hats, 2 different 909 open hats offering slightly different tunings and decays. As a big fan of the 707 i was slightly disappointed that it wasn't featured at all in the MC-303 considering it would only take up 15 samples but I guess by 96 the 707 was out of fashion.

The MC-303 is made out of metal and is very sturdy compared to the plastic TR-707, 727 & 626 I have sitting here. I would trust the MC-303 at a gig as well if i was ever in that situation.

One problem I did face with my MC-303 was that the power supply jack in the back of the 303 is not mounted to the casing but only to the PCB by the solder that connects it to the circuit, After a couple of months of moving it about from place to place and plugging it in and out the solder eventually gave way, forcing me to open it up and solder it back down. But this was a simple procedure and ever since fixing it I have had no problems.

I haven't had to deal with Roland because of this 303 but I have phoned them about getting a 727 serviced and they were very helpful.

From what I can gather Roland UK has a decent customer service team where as Roland USA don't care about any machine no longer in production. I'm giving a 10 based on my experience with Roland but if your not in the UK you might not fare so well.

In conclusion, the MC-303 isn't as straight forward to learn as it could be but once you do learn it you will love it's simple if slightly awkward control method.

This baby is packed full of features but none of them give you enough control. A MIDI Keyboard will make this into a different machine entirely.

I love this little Roland as it was my first venture into the world of hardware and i am eternally grateful for it spurring me on to get dedicated drum machines, samplers and synths.

If it were stolen I would probably just buy a couple of old sequencers such as Alesis MMT-8, Roland MC-500 or an Akai ASQ-10 instead because I don't use the sounds on it much anymore but i rely on it for sequencing.

IT REALLY EASY TO USE ONCE U KNOW UR WAY AROUND THE MACHINE. MAKING UR OWN PATTERNS IN QUITE TIME CONSUMING, BUT OTHER THAN THAT ITS A REALLY GREAT MACHINE TO WORK WITH.
IT ALSO HAS LOTS OF REALLY COOL SOUNDS THAT ARE PRESET, PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING U COULD EVER REALLY WANT IN A DRUM MACHINE & MORE!!

ITS GOT A LITTLE BIT OF BUILT IN EFFECTS LIKE REVERB & DELAY/ PORTAMENTO/ ARPEGGIO. IT IS A POLYPHONY SYNTH TOO, WITH MAKES THIS MACHINE REALLY COOL!! THE MIDI IS A PLUS ALWAYS, I USE IT TO SYNC UP TO 5 MACHINES

SOUND ARE QUITE REAL & SOME ARE NOT WORTH PLAYING. I WOULD SAY THIS MACHINE IS BEST FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC & OTHER STYLES ALIKE

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM!!

NEVER CALLED!!!

BUY ONE!!!!!!!!!

very good

very good little unit

I love the sounds, very ROLAND......

so far, its behaved itself

no need yet....

It got me back into music and its very fun to use, they actually go for 100 to 150 GBP on ebay, but worth every penny.

This was my first standalone sequencer. Very easy to use, sequencing is quite enjoyable. I found the manual to be pretty easy to understand also.

The machine is essentially a synth, a drum machine and a sequencer aimed at the dance music market. It has a fixed velocity mini keyboard with LEDs on each key. It's a multi-purpose keyboard, as it can be used to play notes in real or step time (simlilar to roland's classic drum machines of the 80's). The sequncer offers eight part- including and rhythm track with individual mutes for kick, hi-hat, snare, cymbals, toms/percussion, hit and other. Sequencing can be done in real-time and step-time. The Rhythm track can be sequenced in another way similar to that of classic roland drum machines. It also offers a simple effects section with reverbs, delays, flanger..etc. There are loads of preset patterns available and 50 user patterns. In song mode mode, patterns can be combined with variation patterns( variations of patterns ie mute groups) to compose full songs. There are plenty preset patches covering everything from acoustic and electronic drum sounds to synths, FX and acoustic instruments. Patches can be edited via the real-time controllers but cannot be saved and drumkits cannot be edited. The RPS feature is great, it allows the user to assign patterns to individual keys on the keyboard, great for improvising! The midi implimentation is quite limited. The unit itself features MIDI IN and MIDI OUT sockets. Each 'part' of your pattern can set to internal (using on board sounds) or external (sounds from other midi devices), but if you attempt to connect more than two devices the machine will probably freak out. There are also some realtime controllers for controlling the likes of: filter cutoff and resonance, lfo rate and depth, portamento(which is a bit unreliable)..etc. It also features grid , groove and shuffle quantization which do the job nicely. The bass boost knob on the back of the unit is quality. It will beef up a somewhat weak bass drum!! The appegiator is decent enough, with lots preset pattern types and control over octaves- good for trance type patterns and the like.

As mentioned previously, the 303 features a wide range of dance oriented digtal sounds (acid bass, blips, beeps, fx, 909s, 808s, pads, stacks and leads) , although there are plenty of other sounds available(strings, acoustic and electric bass, acoustic and electric piano, wind and brass instruments, bells and chimes, acoustic drums). But, with the exception of some decent drums and bass patches, most sounds are thin and lack depth. The acoustic instruments are quite corny, basses lack heavy bottom end (which is essential for dance music!). As far as sound editing goes, there is not much variety. You can control portamento(which is a bit glitchy), envelope attack and release( decay and sustain would be nice!), lfo with variable waveshape, rate and depth - which can control pitch, filter and amp (which okay I suppose!) and filter cutoff and resonance( digital filter is quite weak). It would be good if they had included a 'proper' synth section with control over osscilators and full control over envelope- but I guess you get what you pay for! The keyboard is not velocity sensitive so theres not much expression to be had, but this machine is much better suited to fixed velocity dance music! The effects section offers the usual variety of reverbs , delays and flanger/chorus with variable rate and depth and thats about it! Effects again are pretty average... some distortion would be nice for big industrial kicks!

Although I do enjoy sequencing on this little machine it can be very unreliable. When connecting multiple MIDI devices the machine encounters problems, and I know many people who have encountered the same faults. The machines internal clock seems to drift very slightly when I connect multiple devices or use all of the parts available within the pattern. This can be most annoying as dance music relies on rock solid timing. There also some less predictable faults. The MC-303 has the nasty habit of randomly erasing notes from my sequence. It seems to delete one 16th note from every part of the pattern and the same time instance. This has had me pulling my hair out on several occaisions as the only way around it is to manually replace each note! There are ways of coping with this though: try not change quantize value whilst the song is playing, always make a copy of your pattern (bear in mind you only have 50 user slots). The machine itself is rock solid though, all knobs and LEDs still functioning, casing is very durable!!

Most problems are easily repaired and replacement power supplies are readily available. Roland customer support has always been pretty good from my experience. The manual is available at the Roland US website.

Despite its faults this is still a decent machine ideal for the computer-shy among us looking to get into making electronic music. It is a great idea pad as you can make patterns very easily. It is also very affordable with most units selling on ebay for around 50 Brittish pounds! Which is what I just sold mine for...it will be sadly missed..sob..

it,s pretty ease to use if you read the manual, i use all of the 8 sequence tracks,and the 16 pads,midi up with a external drum pad by akai.the presets are old school, and some of it is cool because you can always change your sounds in the sequence.editing sounds not to be bad for the 1996 groovebox.

i like the fact of plenty of reverbs units for me,appergio to alternate your sounds,lfo units,cutoff execellent if you want some of those old school synthesisers.that,s why i got it for the oldschool of it.midi is ok i have used it with another drum machine,good if your into making funky mixes.

this is not a mpc sounding drum machine,it,s of if you know how to work it i have had it for 7 years,roland makes good stuff,for this being a old machine,i,m still useing it on some of my songs.i make and play electronic music execellent for 808 sounds.

7 years and still rockin,some buttons have came off that,s ok because i also midi the drum machine up to a midi drum pad ,no problem.able to use drum sticks on drum pad.beautiful have used live all the time.

sucks very little info,never can find what i,m looking for,but thanks to the internet, i have found home.

if my stuff was to be lost are stolen , i proabably would upgrade to next level. i have been playing since 1979, i grew up with these drum machines. song making part i hate,short memory in song makings,no way of adding extra sounds.overall i love this machine even though it,s old i still would use it sometimes,but i prefer newer drum machines,this was cheap. you can make it work if you work it.

Well...I think the manual is terrible and it;s easy to use if you just want to hear the dumb built in patterns which I hate.

The sounds rescue this for me. No it's not a TB 303..but there are some nice sounds. Used with FX..the kinda weak digalogue filters can sound pretty darn cool. The MIDI horrified me. I am pro and like to sequence out some real songs. The other guy in the band bought it. What we did was..buy a MIDI filter box by MIDI Solutions...only allowed channels 5 and 10 through to it...don't tell it it's not in modual mode,,,and..you can sequnce it as a modual AND use the front panel editing. OK man...now it's ok.

Overall the sounds are pretty cool. Lots of good stuff for the electronica/dance world which is all about cool sounds so it can be a winner in that regard. The sounds cut through in the mix. Never used the onboard FX.

It's a good gig unit ..we just played a gig with it...I would never use it's internal sequencer or beats myself though. Firing off some sounds and tweeking them or just playing the goofy keyboard on it in a dark corner can work out ok. Chicks like it a lot and think you're sexy. You got yer tight pants on..the break comes..and you say..."Hey everybody!! That weird noise came from a MC303!!!!"

Lame...we called them a few times to complain about the insulting MIDI implentation on it. They hung up on us. A video tape came with ours..the most boring thing I have ever seen. Every single time we have watched we have fallen asleep..I mean everytime.

Hated it at first. Now I love it. As long as we have our MIDI filter hooked up to it. If i ever catch it trying to play those cheesy cheesy cheesy built in beats without my MIDI filter hooked up to it...it better behave....it better know that being a big dumb violent bully is trendy these days and shape up! Will always use it now.
Rather have a TB 303 though.

I have v1.03 software.

Hey, it's a Roland so if you have used Roland gear before the dense manual and multifunction buttons will be no problem. If you have never used Roland gear before, you will be frustrated at first. Patches are good for a 1996 era sample based synth engine, editing them is simple but limited. If used as a sound module all front panel controls are disabled so without a computer based patch editor you can only use the presets as is.

Seems there is some confusion about polyphony in other reviews. It's 28 voices max, since some synth sounds use 2 voices per note it plays 14-28 NOTES max depending on what presets you use. Not a lot by 2006 standards but it was decent in 1996.

There are two FX processors, one does chorus/flange the other reverb/delay.

No expansion of any kind.

The sequencer is the heart of the unit. If you don't plan on using the sequencer don't buy this. It is optimized for loop based sequencing where you chain patterns to create songs. There are indeed only 50 user patterns but there are 300 user "variations". Variations point to other patterns (user or preset) but allow you to vary the part mutes (each instrument in the drum part can be independently muted), when cahined together parts drop in and out of the mix...if you've heard modern electronic dance music or dub reggae you've heard this technique used. When programming songs you break them first into user patterns (each having up to 8 parts) then make variations of each user pattern with the appropriate combinations of parts un-muted. Finally chain the variations together to create the song. Since the variations contain no musical or timbral information, changes to the master pattern affect all the variations...a nice touch since you can continue to refine the nain pattern (including assigning parts to external MIDI devices) even after you have completed programming the order of the variations in the song. Keep pencil and paper nearby to keep track of everyuthing, though...with pattern names like U01 and Q29 it's easy to get confused. The total storage across all patterns is 14,000 events (notes, controller changes, etc.) so the complaints in other reviews are perfectly valid, it's easy to run out of memory before programming all 50 user patterns or all 10 songs.

For live "jamming" you can chain patterns on the fly or trigger a pattern as a one-shot "phrase" while another pattern is already playing.

The sequencer is relatively flexible, you can use step or real time entry and can run in a loop overdubbing or erasing as it loops. There is microscopic editing where you can further fine-tune things but the display makes this pretty unappealing to use very much. Notably absent is an undo feature...I strongly recommend copying patterns before making destructive edits like quantizing. Yes, despite what is reported below in one review not only can you quantize but there are three types of quantizing available. You also can transpose, cut and paste parts, thin controller data, overdub knob motions, slide clock timing, etc. No compound time signatures, only 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 are supported.

There is an arpeggiator with 34 pattern types plus you can control the octave range and "accent rate" in real time. Arpeggiator output can be recorded into the sequencer and sequencer output can be arpeggiated, very flexible.

The sound module mode is very much an afterthought, it basically turns the unit into a GM module (except it lacks a true GM compliant patch set). I would recommend avoiding this mode entirely.

It obviously works best for music that uses repetitive patterns, like modern dance music.

The sounds are pretty good for a 1996 machine. By 2006 standards, it's a little thin and the low pass filter is harsh. I really don't like the flanger effects but the chorus, delay and reverb are usable. The main sonic limitation is the inability to deep edit the sound engine, you can only tweak presets. This is a not the machine for someone into sound design!

I bought mine used in pretty rough shape. The volume control pot was physically broken into pieces...I opened it up, unsoldered the volume pot and jumpered the circuit board to be always at max volume. Closed it up, turned it on and it worked perfectly. It's been through the wringer for 10 years and is still ticking so yeah, I'd depend on it.

Roland has finally started to offer decent inetrnet support for old products, so manuals are easily available. As far as repair, I have had no experience with that.

I think some of the negative reviews are a bit excessive. It sounds like some folks never read the manual as they complained about the unit lacking features that are in fact present! I also think some folks bought it without understanding it's strengths and weaknesses. Hey, it says "groovebox" right on top, expecting it to be a general purpose unit is just naive. On the other hand, the ability to tweak the sequence patterns as well as the sounds while the unit is looping is something many workstations still can't do. So use the right tool for the job rather than complain that a hammer is a lousy screwdriver.

For the price I paid, if lost I would only buy it again if I could find one as cheap or cheaper. It's fun to mess around with but it's not essential for me to make music.

I would recommend it only to someone wanted to get into hardware for making pattern-based music at very low cost.

its rough at first, but once you read the manual for the 30438th time, its okay.

pish. why does it even have portamento? It sounds awful. And, oh, there are 50 user patters for you to edit and save, but if each of your songs uses all 8 parts, youll be getting errors by the time you reach u11.

Many have also mentioned how it randomly decides on its own whether or not to accept your knob movements during recording.

This one is going in the garbage

meh. nothing fantastic. i am not fooled into thinking its analog, thats for sure. no amount of 'groove' is happening.

its my 4th backup behind my laptop, ipod, and discman.

it will surely glitch up during a live performance.

they arent magicians, so they are no help to me.

this was my first drum machine. now that i know what to look for and how to operate one, i know that this is a pile of crap machine meant for schoolgirls.

I bought this used off Ebay and have no complaints, considering what I paid for this. I received it and couldn't put it down. Helps to have a manual :)

It's somewhat easy to understand assuming you know your musical terms and it's instant fun.

Well, it has pads and a few built in effects. The sounds are typical Roland. It does not have expansion or smartmedia, but more than enough user banks to save your tunes. I haven't tried out the midi as of yet, but do plan to use this along with a couple Korg Electribes.

Again, the sounds are typical Roland and can be tweaked. It's a groovebox!

Well, I got this used and have had no problems at all. I'm generally happy with this unit. Maybe in the near future an MC-909 :)

Don't have to deal with Roland, but I have had no problems searching online for forums and support regarding the unit.

If it were lost, I'd prolly buy a later model MC. The price is definitely worth what I paid. I've been playing for over 20 years and have gone through many synths. These days, with a family, i just kick back and go through used synths. I do plan on keeping the MC-303. I have korg electribes, and this mc-303 fits nicely for my groovebox setup. I still do want to get a Quasimid 309 or Rm1x, then I'll be cool!

This synth contains a plethora of Roland synth and sound module type sounds. There really is something for everyone here and I suspect anyone who finds the range of sounds lacking is not choosing presets with the aid of the manual. You MUST use the manual at all stages of composition, and the manual isn't the best out there, being quite difficult to read and use. The sometimes impenetrable display, along with the various levels of "SHIFT" functionality make remembering how to work the thing a nightmare and I had to consult the manual everytime I returned from a break in using it.

The polyphony is adequate, but whenever I've placed any strain on the unit, whether it be with that, or effects and complex arrangements, glitches surface; pauses and slowdowns - also the drums change pitch of their own accord, which is mighty annoying. The effects are adequate, but ultimately limited and any adventurous use tends to result in glitching.
The problem with the sequencer, is the lack of what the unit actually remembers when you record a pattern. You play it back and it sounds fine, but when you switch to another pattern, you'll find it hasn't remembered everything you recorded, because you neglected some arcane procedure of button pressing or data thinning and the recording is lost. There is far too much time spent "Dotting the I's and crossing the T's" when trying to create a serious composition, which detracts from creativity and can be a hair-pulling nightmare..

As stated above, there is something for everyone here in the way of sounds, and I didn't find them lacking in any way. The fact is that they are samples, well recorded, faithful ones at that. A "Phat" sound is easy to make. With some of the later sounds in the library, any kind of music can be made, to a degree.

There is no velocity sensitivity on the keyboard, but with a few hours to spare, you can edit these, or even plug a controller keyboard in if you must. You can record knob movements, but actually getting them to stay in place is disappointingly (Infuriatingly?) difficult. These are satisfyingly effective though, and hours of "Cutoff/Resonance" fun can be had.

I would *never* depend on this device in a live situation. It is flaky in so many ways. It may produce an entirely different sound each time you use it and there are timing and pitch stability issues. However, it has never ceased to function entirely.

Well, it's a great toy for passing a few hours, but completely useless for any serious application. I've lent it to a mate and he got bored of it after a week. He had the same problems of recording etc. that I experienced. Very portable, with a loud headphone socket, but in this age of laptops and Reason, I can't see a single reason for parting with any money. Until I sell mine, of course, when my opinion will change dramatically. ;)