Roland MC-505

It's very simple to use !
Isn't hard to modify patches...but the software editor is difficult!
Manual isn't clear!

it have 64 voice polyphony
Usually you aren't going to use its effect...but are very simple to use.
It have full midi implementation and is a good!
It have a step sequencer...simple to use

Sounds are bad. They are not realistic...tb303 is similar a "beurp"
Mc 505 is good for live esibitions
It's very static....:?

U can't depend on it...

Here in italy is unfriendly!

No....I think it is a good instruments for live performance...but in studio's work...isn't the best instruments!
But...I think is a good instrument for beginner!!
Ciao!

The presets are awful! It's easy to edit patches, and you can make good sounds yourself if you try really hard :^)
The manual's ok.

The features would be good IF IT WORKED PROPERLY! See below.

Because it's a straight ROM playback synth the tones are static and boring. You have to have the filter changing all the time in order to give it life. Get a real synth. Great drum sounds on it, though. Below average sound overall. If you have to work this hard at getting a good sound, it's not worth it. The effects are good on it mostly. Reverb kinda sucks though.

This is a piece of garbage. I bought one 4 years ago or something. When you fill up the memory, you start having glitch problems. I signed up on the Roland 505 mailing list and everyone wanted to know why their 505 was crashing! It's totally unreliable. It will change your sounds around on you randomly (!), crash without warning, and corrupt its own memory during writes so badly that you have to erase everything in memory, and you lose all your work. It's not reliable at all. I have heard many horror stories about it. I was so surprised to see only a couple of people on this page had any trouble. I must have got one of the many bad units that went out...

They were totally unfriendly. They offered no help. They stonewalled me.

If it were stolen I would laugh. I have considered kicking it down the stairs just to watch it shatter many times, but I occasionally still trigger drum sounds from it, so I haven't done it. Plus it cost me $1000 bucks new. It worked great in the store, but it's a piece of junk. Buy a real synthesizer and a sampler, save your money.

I have two 505's, one is modified (extra filters added) to sharpen the sounds up more. Both of my 505's have the latest current version, roland sent me a disc with the new V1.07 operating system)
Editing patches are a breeze, although knowledge of synthesis is required, I don't use a patch editor, just use your ears and fingers instead. The presets are crap, they still were when Roland released the thing anyway (they knew that), money matters more to them than they're customers now. I bought both of mine together for #600 uk pounds, both second-hand, but in mint-condition. The manuals I don't bother with, because I prefer to experiment and learn instead, and you lot should do the same, it makes more sense, you will see.

I use a remote keyboard controller for mine, the effects are okay, I just use the delays and that's it, all other effects are done using an external fx processor. It's very sad you can't expand the machine, like the jv-modules with an expansion card. I only bought them for the onboatd sequencer and part-mixer, because there is lots of control here (and hey everybody likes knobd and sliders, it's all part of the fun, tweaking here and there).

The presets are old and crap, but with some fine crafting of the sounds (waveforms) you can create some interesting stuff, both of my machines have been reprogrammed entirely, and they do not sound the same, i've had them for 4-years now, and they now spit out more realistic sounds, I think i'm the only person with a 505, that sounds like a proper TB303, because I spend a lot more time re-programming them. And I have never touched any of the presets on them, they're just not relevant, and I hate dance-music anyway. If you want to get better sounds, get programming, i mean very deep into it. Velocity and aftertouch are fine, responds quite well enough.

Well I've had both for 4-years, one crashes every now and again, but that's because, I have processing more information than it can handle at the same time (here is a tip for you 505ers out there, use it slowly and carefully), and it will give you no trouble at all. the 505 is a sturdy reliable beast of a box, providing you give the love and attention you would any other piece of your gear. I don't gig my 505's. Backup is done using smartmedia cards, I get mine cheap from a camera supplier, and he cahrges only #11 per 5v 4mb card (how about that, so I bought quite a few of them)

Roland, well what could you say, they are arses really, more personality than a japanese robot i would guess, but Roland do build good quality stuff, but now a lot of their gear is boring nowadays, a lot the new gear is just re-hashed now, they've learn't nothing new, they get a lot of famous music people and bands to advertise their sorry new ahem! products, if you want quality roland gear, skip the new stuff and buy the older analog gear instead, now that's quality.
Yes both of my machines are upgraded, and one modified, never needed any repairs, still going strong after 4-years, but... they are beginning to exhibit a life of their own (weird), sometimes they tend to do their own thing, I even get a slight drift when the sequencers are running at full-tilt for a length of time (freaky), like they are behaving like old-analog machines

No, I wouldn't buy it again, because they a new one wouldn't sound the same as mine do. I love them, hate no! I compared it with the RM1X, but that sounds rather dull, nice sequencer though. I wish you could put expansion boards in them (Roland still haven't learned anything from their other products, they need to implement some expansion capabilities into all of their products now). It does help me make music 4-years worth in fact. Yes, if you have a 505 take good care of it, explore it, delve deeper into it and it will teach you new tricks, use it more than just a dance machine

The last review hates the sounds. That's fine. But realize this. The synthesis engine, 4 layers with full subtractive synthesis editing on each layer, is the SAME engine and type used in the acclaimmed Roland 2080 sound modules! You use a sample in each layer and tweak it out. Other than true analog and virtual analog, such is the same synthesis used in Rolands top synths, Korgs top synths, Yamaha's top synths and E-mus top synths. The E-mu XL1 and other modules use the identical 4 layer sample and synthesis approach.

Now one can complain about the uderlying samples used, but the reality is that if you *want* to program the sounds in the MC-505 then you have a very powerful synthesiser at your disposal. Most of the preset sounds use only one or two layers. Feel free to use 3 or 4 in different combinations and layer then and have them crossfade based on key velocity or keyrange or aftertouch. The sky's the limit. All synths sound different than each other and it's a matter of taste. The MC-505 may not sound great to everyone. Many believe it is better sounding than the RM1X.

Don't forget the drums. Great samples of great machines. That's what we wanted right? Other than boutique machines like the JOMOX or the Machinedrum and old samplers (which are really something different than we are comparing here) what's a better sounding overall drum machine?

When percieved as a big huge, easily tweakable and programmagle drum machine, that also has a pretty powerful synth inside as well as an 8 track step seqencer (with 8 separate drum tracks too) that you can play live with a band (via the tap tempo button, (it's best live feature BTW) then you see the power of the unit. nitpicking on each element is to ignore that the total package, and the way it is nicely put together is the beauty of the intstument. Later, sure add a synth module. Sounds great! As a writing tool and performance tool all in one box, it excels.

Very Reliable! I use it live all the time for 4 years now.

Roland is fine.

I might get the XL-7 or MP-7 by Emu. If the could serve my live needs. The megamix sliders are very handy. Sure one could gang a regular sequencer with a couple of synth modules and kenton control freak but the cost would be higher. Even if money is no object, there is something to be said, (especially playing live where setting up and setting down and transportation take a great toll on instruments) for a singe box instead of three connected with midi cables and their own power supplys and . . . . too many wires to break or lose!

I've had this thing for about a year and a half. I was sick of it after 6 months. If you are new to music production, then this machine is great. I was a newbie when i started with it, and basically i have learned everything about effects/sounds/patches/rythm and everything from this machine. BUt the mistake i made is that i kept the machine, instead of getting rid of it. In fact i still have it. This is one of those machines that you have to get rid of as soon as you 'conquer' it. In other words, get rid of it once you've fully exploited all of its features, when u have 'grown out' of using it. I've grown out of it long ago, but i still have it, as i have no money to buy other equipment. Everytime i have a good idea i sit down and start playing it, then think that wow, i just made this song sound awesome, then realise that, no.. i did not get anywhere i havent before. THIS MACHINE WILL ALWAYS SOUND THE SAME no matter what you do. NO EXPANSION, NO NEW SOUNDS, NO NOTHING. All you have is about 500 sounds, ranging from synth, to bass, to drums, and atmospherics, etc. but out of that 500, there are about 10 that you'd ever use, simply because the others sound so bad.

This machine is great for the drum sounds, the 909 and 808 are spot on, however, they sound bland without any decent effects. The obvious thing to do in this case? - Apply some compression... but the porblem is the compressor on the 505 is unbelievably baaaaad. It mutates the sounds yet gives none of the "punch" that you want!

Some bass sounds are ok... BUT
THE BIGGEST, BIGGEST PROBLEM OF ALL... is that you will not find a decent sound in the 505 that you could use for a lead. for example, for a lead synth. This machine has about 10 presets for lead synth, but they all suck. So you tweak them, for hours and hours. Then you think 'oh cool.. that sounds great' .. ok so u save the fucker, and u are happy for a while. Then a couple of days later, when u boot up the machine again, you realise, what was i thinking.. that sounds like a 505, like it always did.

In dance music production, it is ESSENTIAL to have NEW sounds. That is exactly what the 505 will never have. It's stuck with a few hundred sounds that were programmed into it almost 5 years. But the sounds are so bad, that even 5 years ago they sounded like shit. So you can imagine what they sound like today!

With this amount of money u can buy analog gear. With analog, it doesnt matter if it's 20 years old. You'll still be able to be original with it.

the pro/con-machine
working with the latest OS; no troubles.
presets are totally crap but editing patches is very simple.
but i dont't like this wannabe-synthesis cos you only can put 4 different waveforms together and tweak it with filters and lfo stuff- but that's the price one has to pay ? if there was a real synthie, it would be even more expensive.
the manual is o.k. but due to the internal structure of da machine working is sometimes very complex, especially the first few weeks.

when i bought it, i didn't know much about electronic music production, so i thought i could use more than only ONE effect at a time and i was pretty disappointed, when i found out the truth...
so if you want to get your sounds processed fine then effect boxes are recommended.
xpansion possibility is there, but only for storing patches and patterns, not for new sounds or even samples.
don't understand, why the roland cards have to be that tiny (max 4MB) and that expensive.
the sequencer is a nice xox-mod sequencer with a 96 resolution, wich is quite o.k. but no world champion.

bad presets, very few possibilities to change the sounds the way, that you wouldn't think it's a 505. the sounds work mainly for techno and maybe for house and a little bit d&b or even industrial, but it's never the big deal.
the effect section seems to be nice, but on the second look it's very limited IMHO

had some crashes when i was working to fast with too much data in the U-temp and didn't save for a time, especially in the microscope mode while editing musical data.
i never would work without backups? on any machine!

after i had explained my troubles and that i have the machine for several years, i was asked if i was saving the patterns and patches i create...they must be thinking there're only idiots out there, cos this wasn't even part of my question.
i had to write tons of emails to get no right answer and always beeing referred to the FAQ? very annoying. the guy just kept telling me pure basics almost like i had never read the manual? i nearly went crazy. didn't get any right answers until i wrote an email to roland uk and complained about the naff support...

if it was lost or stolen, i would go for an MC80(EX) and get an virus access indigo to compliment my korg babies (MS2K+ES-1) and to get them sequenced properly.

it's not a bad tool if you are a beginner and as a scratch pad, but it depends always on what you're doing.
i own it right from the release and i had very much fun with it and did some live-stuff, but if you know the machine that good, you know where it lacks...

I just traded my E-MU XL-7 for the MC-505 plus cash. Obviously my first impression was just how bad the preset patches were in comparison to the E-MU. But I knew this before I made the deal. I don't think any dedicated synth guy would buy for presets, just like most of us don't buy a particular car because it has nice bumpers.
Editing patches is easy. Four waveform set-up is more or less self-explanatory. ASDR sliders as patch-makers is nice. Synth engine is not as deep as the XL-7's, but what the hell. I got the 505 because it crunches.
Manual is at the same time incredibly helpful and very obfusicatory. Sometimes it's almost funny 'Let's make a bass sound!,' etc, and overall it gets the job done. Would be nice to have one written in English...not translated.
I have not checked the OS yet.
As for actual ease of use, it's hard to beat. Knobs and buttons seem self-explanatory, and each knob and button has multiple uses from the same location. I'm still stuck on writing patterns and just getting the overall feel of the unit, so I haven't really delved into the sequencing aspect of the box. Can't really comment except to say that the timing isn't as tight as the newer E-MU boxes, or even the Rm1x (it seems...maybe I was drunk).

No expansion...and this is what pisses me off. My next module will probably be the Proteus 2500, which is exandable like Catherine Zeta-Jones is hot. Anyway, I'd think that Roland would at least let themselves grab more of the market by selling $280 ROMS for the 505, 'ala E-MU with their expansion cards. At least the 505 has memory for patches and patterns via SmartMedia, but I've heard that the 505 is using some sort of dated version of the SmartMedia that may or may not be easy to find in the coming years (is this true?)
Polyphony is a usable 68. Again, other 'beatbox' competitors are pumping out 128, but who cares? If you really need 128 voices simultaneously, you need a computer.
Lack of MIDI Thru sorta pissed me off. No biggie though.
You can only use 1 effect per song, but when people bitch about that it seems that they are forgetting about the dedicated reverb and delay knobs. If you're like me, reverb and delay are two of your most-used FX, and being able to use them without taking up most sequencer / modules two FX processors is nice. Other effects are nice, particularly the exciter. It really nasties up the hats and kicks.
Kyboard is a joke. I've been playing piano / keyboards for 15 years now and there was no way in hell I was ever going to be able to play even the simplest chords on that cheesy, non velo-sensitive pad. A lot of your other boxes have the sharps and flats placed slightly above the major keys, instead of right nest to each other as they are on the 505. It's confusing on the fly. Solution? No sane person would ever want to use the 505 without an external controller. I use a Korg N364 that's too beat up to sell and too weak to actually use for sounds.
I LOVE the part mixer, which is assignable to other sound-modelling duties besides part levels. Drum muting is a necessary touch. Probably the best real-time groovebox-type instrument around when considering both the part mixer and the assignable knobs. Which reminds me...the filter really sucks on this thing. Totally step digital.

Dance-oriented sounds are excellent. Even the cheesiest factory patch can be beefed with a little 'verb and some attention to other tweaks. Basses are incredible....DRUMS ARE AMONG THE BEST I HAVE EVER HEARD. EVEN THE PRESET DRUM PATTERNS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD. the unit isn't a dedicated drum module but it shames all the other drum machines on the market today.
As for 'realisitic' instrument sounds, who cares? You didn't buy it for acoustic modelling. If you must have a real piano, I'll give you my Korg P3 piano module. I don't think Roland is at fault for putting shitty acoustic instruments in the 505. The R&D went into the percussion, leads (must be tweaked) and basses.

I'd say it appears to be reliable, but I haven't owned it long enough to really approach that question. It seems to be built to last. I would never, EVER gig any kind of fussy electro equipment without a back-up, though. Roland or otherwise.

New dealt with Roland, but I've heard horror stories. I can't rate this category based upon what a bunch of jaded, drunken musicians say online, but I'm pretty sure that Roland still sucks at consumer relations.

If lost I'd have to get another one, unless a mc-606 or 707 came out. I love this box and use it with several Korg synths, a Boss dr-202 drum machine and Cakewalk SonarXL. Of all the gear it is hands-down my favorite because it is so intuitive and fun to dick around with on the sofa when you're tired of being holed up in a room full of empty beer cans and pizza boxes, trying to get the whole set-up running smoothly. The 505 does everything reasonably well (a renaissance box)...all in ONE metal case. I carry it with me often...sometimes I even keep it at work on slow nights.

Like everyone else, I wish it had a sampler like the Ensoniq and Yamaha all-in-one modules.

Allright, I'm going to compare this thing to the RM1-x because we have both. Compared to following instrucions on a BIG lcd screen (rm1-x) and learning numerous key combinations (mc505) the rm1-x takes the price. No doubt about that. The sequencer on the rm1-x is unbelievable, the 505 sequencer is OK. Let's just say you REALLY have know your mc-505 before you're going to use is it the way it was meant to be used. That meens reading the manual which I find sometimes a little puzzling. But it's ok.

A reasonable amount of tweakability. Better than the rm1-x is, definetly but again, harder to get it right. Of course when you get it right an angel gets it wings. Maybe.

This is a dance machine, don't use it for rock. Don't use it for ambient either, the rm1-x far exeeds it for ambient sounds. However there are some very nice rythm sets in the paterns. The sound is rather good actually, better than the rm1-x too, which I think sounds too dull. This one sounds a little more crisp and clear, I think. Whatever. The basslines definetly sound a lot better.

No troubles so far. Let's hope it stays that way, for the MC-505's sake that is.

See above. No troubles yet encountered.

Yes I'd buy it again. No, you shouldn't use it on your own. Get a decent sequencer with it. The sound is ok untill you can afford a sound module. However it is after all a pretty neat package. It's a nice music toy, don't count on it for recording though. You need some additional equipment for adding the finishing touch. That is if you want to become a techno god. Keep on dreaming.

I have always found Roland's grooveboxes extremely easy to use, although in saying that I preferred some aspects of the 303's sequencer as opposed to the 505, grooveboxes have and in probability always will a piece of cake to use.

Good Polyphony, limited multi-timbrality but I guess with the RPS feature u can get more parts playing simultaneously, good effects just make sure u tweak the limited parameters, especially on the reverb, good on-board sequencer, although it could offer a features which would make life considerably easier!

This is the area where people are either for or against the old groovebox, 1st things 1st if you are looking for stunningly realistic instrument emulations forgetaboutit! IMHO this is a drum and bass box primarily, to get it to do more be prepared to get into patch editing. In saying that I have actually managed to create some lovely natural sounds with it, the elec piano, rhodes, organs and other 'real instrument' waveforms are good but they are limited in no. and require a lot of programming, remember that most of the patches in the 505 use only 1 of the 4 tone layers available to them, lazy programming on Rolands part I guess, but seriously the ingredients are there 2 get great sound out of this thing but you'll have to do it yourself. I give it 7 because a synth module should have more stand-out sounds as standard than this has get some good sounds, maybe I should start selling some of my own patches!!

Solid as rock, did crash from time to time until I updated the OS, since then not a murmer!!

N/A

If it were lost would I but it again, probably not, the best sounds in my 505 are the ones I created if I could retain these somehow and transfer into a new 505 then maybe. I would definitely go out and buy a similar product, the market in 'grooveboxes' is growing and both yamaha and Emu's new models looki very tempting and I know the default soundsets are of a higher quality. I like these machine, I own Emu P2k, Trinity Rack, Triton Rack, Yamaha A5000, Emu Esi-32, X5DR, Yamaha Sw1000xg, Sounblaster Platinum and the MC 505. Within the contaxt of that setup the 505 is actually very important to me which is why I probably will never sell it, it does phatt as f@ck when programmed right, but why Roland shipped with such a weak set of patches i'll never know! I o.k when it comes to patch programming but I'm know the Roland guys are leagues better ( listen to the JV/XV series modules )and as the synth shares the JV patch architecture the possibilities where almost limitless. I've got a feeling that the 707 whenever it appears will be the groovebox to beat!!! Till then.......

I first saw this machine in the store, and it was hooked up, but I never succeeded in getting any sounds out of it, until one day someone had the 30 minutes it took to tell me. Now, I find it relatively easy to use, but when you get really technical, like editing patches or patterns, you're better off using a software sequencer like cubase. I now use it as a sound module. But when you're a beginner, or if you find programming your video-player is impossible, don't use this machine.

Roland is really proud of the D-Beam controller but it's not all that. It's functioning is not reliable, and I actually have been laughed at using it, and you probably will too. The mixer, used for controlling volume, pan, effect level and more for each channel is a good and compact solution, I like it. The standard arpeggio's are uninspired. (maybe the slap-bass) The sequencer is adequate. Touching the filters most of the time means doing damage to the sounds that can not be repared. It's most usefull with your home-made patches, I guess. Ah! That's another story. You can never really make your own patches from scratch, just alter existing sounds till they sound cool. But editing the patches feels innatural. You don't turn knobs, like it should be, but you work your way through menu's on the 2-line LCD screen. But hey, it's a groovebox, not an analog synth. There is software for the computer to help you alter the sounds, and even though computers feel even more unnatural, it's the best way to get the most out of the 505. And don't get me wrong. There's a lot in it. Everything is changeable, and if you're good with midi, it can be good to have as centre of your setup.
Oh yeah, and keep a list of which slots you've used to save your songs. There's no way to tell if you're overwriting your potential breakthrough hit.

It's true, the sounds aren't really useable. It seems! It depends. My friend borroughed my Groovebox and made some funky salsa and relaxing drum&bass-based loungemusic. My favorites are the Acou.Piano 2 and the Jungle drum kit. But I have to say; the sounds could have been a lot better. 'Modern'-sounding strings have not been included, neither have the real freaky acid analog sounds. Best way to descibe it is that the sounds are quite extreme but there's not much in between. Use it as a musical notepad, a toy if you like, something to try ideas on. Sure, you can hook it up to a keyboard and play it in your band, it's good fun. The effects are good, but not all of them sound... astounding. And you can only use one effect per song. Reverb and Delay can do weird things, but are fully adjustable, just as the rest of this machine.

My groovebox crashes, doesn't start up properly sometimes, can't keep it's pace, and, as of lately, evokes a high pitched scream (after a while of 'normal' functioning) which only stops when you stop playing (I use cubase as sequencer). Further, it can't communicate with computers properly and it even randomly changes patches sometimes, spontaniously. It sucks, it doesn't allow me to really get into making serious music. You might think it's my PC, but I don't have reason to believe that. I recently had to 'reboot' my groovebox because (take a deep breath, this is extremely weird) the drumkit-volume was suprisingly low, from startup. The drums would sound normal again after letting the sequencer go from one pattern to an other: the transition between patterns while playing would turn the drums loud again. Insane.
Doing a gig with it could make you instantly famous: but it doesn't have to mean in a positive way. I wouldn't try it.
That's all software; the machine itself is indeed sturdy, the knobs feel sturdy, the buttons even more so. It won't start falling apart from the outside.

Strangely, even with my problematic relationship with my groovebox, I haven't contacted Roland yet. I have been looking for a customer-support email-adress once and I couldn't find it. Maybe look better next time.

I wouldn't get it again if I lost it. I'd go for one of the analog modeling synths: Novation Supernova II, Roland JP-8080, maybe even an Access Virus or a Waldorf. I don't need the sequencer, just good sounds and reliability, that's why. A friend of mine recently bought a Korg MS2000: I wish he would trade it with me.
I paid half of the price it costs now in the store 2 years ago, I shouldn't complain. Maybe it's haunted or something. Sadly, it's my only piece of gear. I like the ease with which I can get to my favorite instruments, and the mixer. I hate: see above. I chose this machine because I fell in love with the amount of buttons (should have waited for the Andromeda...). Oh, I wished it had an external input, but sadly, it hasn't.
You CAN have a musically good and fulfilling relationship with it. Be careful with what you want.
finally: if you recognize any of the problems I've had and dealt with them: please contact me!