Roland MC-505

this is my second unit purchased 5 days ago, the reason is to control a yamaha sampler (A4000) for live and to have those powerful sounds too with the other unit.
very easy to use, just read the manual again if you cannot find any function. the presets are so so crapy, but that's why a 4 layer synth is implemented on the box wich means that you can create a very good sounds in a moment.
the editor that I have tried is harder than the own machine, it takes short time to make a new patch, easier than a soft editor (mc505ed)
manual is ok, I have it on spanich and english and both are enough

polyphony (64) is enough for me even with a complex pattern. the keyboard is bad as nothing and has no velocity, the 3 FX units do its job... but I would like to have 3 different fx units with all the presets included in the FX (instead reverb, delay and FX) the FX are simple and easy to use.
MIDI capabilities are so great and you can control other hard/soft with the 505, not like novation that sends different MIDI controls instead the standard numbers.
expansions...mmmm just the smartmedia card (5 VOLTS!!!) so, the old ones... I bought two when I purchase my first 505 and now here in spain is so difficult to find it...
secuencer is quite nice...but I had a yamaha RM1x too and kicks roland in sequencer capabilities.

presets are crapy crapy, but the engine is enough to edit a new patches and to create a very good sounds.
the rythm kits are not so good... but the hits are not so bad....no percussions like congas or bongos doing well but you can create your own DR kits very easy way.

I depend on it.... it is the center of my studio and of course in live performance it makes it very very good.
both 505 plus the yamaha sampler is the best way for a live.

no idea but I have asked sometimes to those guys in barcelone and they look friendly

I'm not gonna sell them for the moment... I bought this second unit to improve the live sets and if I have to find it any negative is about the sequencer...so so basic... I had the RM1x and really thats the machine in easy to use and sequencing...but it has no the sound of roland of course.

This thing is quite easy to use.
Editing the patches can be quite time consuming, especially when using some of the different modulation maps for the (potentially) 4 different tones.

I would like to have more knobs and levers on the front panel.
So I am building a midi controller box to do that.
EVERYTHING is controllable by MIDI controller messages , or SYSEX
The 'Pad' keyboard is not velocity sensitive, so buy a controller keyboard if that's what you want.
I use this thing as the nerve center of my setup. I have an Akai Sampler that I use to beef up the drums, and give me some flexibility. I use a JP-8000 as a controller keyboard, and for leads.
For Live work, I couldn't think of anything better.
I think the MegaMix function is really good. This is missing in the 909 I hear, so I will stick with the 505.
The Builtin effects are OK, but I also use a Pioneer EFX performance Effector, cause it gives me a lot more control over the groovebox.
the 2 extra outputs seem to de-muddy the main output, especially if you route Drums and lead (or Bass) to them.

A Lot of people seem to find this thing has no good sounds. They either haven't read the manual, or havent spent more than 15 minutes trying . (mabye they got kicked out of the shop!)
Sure, lots of the presets sound average, but the synthesis possibilities are really huge, and I am sure that a lot of these people have never really dug deep. I have, and I have got lots of nice things out of this machine. Its not gonna be all things to all people, though. Onboard Reverb is OK, but syncable Delays are great!

I am having some problems with the LCD screen at the moment. This will mean a trip to the repair shop.
I have heard of problems with corruption, but haven't experienced this yet.

If lost or stolen I would be quite annoyed.
I would probably buy this thing again, not the 909, cause of the lack of delay, and megamix in the 909.
Also, I like the way it all hangs together, and the fact that I don't need a PC to make music. (Although I do need a PC to setup the samples on the AKAI) I have found that using a PC with a setup like this to be quite counterproductive and bug-prone.
I like all of the levers, buttons and knobs, though.

It's easy to use. You can play with presets few minutes after the firts turn on.

How do the presets sound?
It's a personnal opinion. I just use a pattern preset without change (one of the Jazz ones). I use some part of others as a start point for making my own patterns.
Most sounds are good. Bassdrums could be more punchy. There's a large choice of sounds and some are very good (like pianos).
I'm not completly satisfied by bass sound presets. Had to make my own sounds.
How hard is editing patches? Does a patch editor make a big difference?
I didn't use the patch editor (easy to find free on the net). I had no time to make many sounds. Basic editing is much more than easy. More editing seems to be a little harder, but can give very personal sounds.

How is the manual (if there is one)?
Though I hade my 505 used, I'd no manual. I downloaded one on the net and it seam unperfect (table of content is strange !)
Some things seams not to be in the manual. But it's a huge thing and many thing can be found when taking time to read it carefully.

For me the bat point is midi connection. Only one in is not enough. I'd like to plug several small master keybords in and so I need a midi merger which is now had to find (except big and expensive ones).

Smartmedia card are quite easy to use, but it's now hard and expensive to find available ones. I know someone who sell several 2 Mb. Mail me.
The sequencer is quite easy to use. The only bad point is that you can't copy a part of a bar. You must copy the whole bar and handly delate / replace the part you wanna change.

Are some instruments very realistic? Bad? Easy to use?
I think sound are good. That a matter of personnal taste. The little bad point is about bassdrums.

What types of music does it work well for? Rock? Classical? Dance?
I don't think that anybody could use a Groovebox for classical music. It's available for most other styles though it's made for electronic music.

Are the onboard effects good? Very bad?Does it react to your playing, or is it static?How does it react to velocity and aftertouch?
Some are good, some are more weak. they are easy to control in realtime with tree knobs that have four fonctions.

Mine has just a matter with the pitch knob that, when turned out of zero point, acts has if I was rotating it very few and very fast.

My stop button beggin to be a little hard.
All the rest works quite good, though it's very used, mostly on stage.
It has fallen once from 1 metter hight (a drunk man dancing in a pub where I was playing !) but had no damage.

If it were lost or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else?
I don't know because I've not tried competing products.

Is it worth what you paid?
More than this. But I paid it a tiny good price !

How long have you been playing?
I use it for a year. And vary much.

what do you love about it? What do you hate?
It's made for live playing. That's realy great.
I don't realy hate something.
Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?Anything you wish it had?Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?Anything else you'd like to share?

Presets sound Terrible (still do)

lots of features - that will be made obsolete with the next one that is coming in January 2003, Hey! everybody who's got an MC505 just get rid of it - get the new MC909 instead, it looks set to be one hot box, 16-part sequencer, sampler (SP-202) onboard, twin D-Beams, expandable via SRX boards, USB link to PC, see MC-909.com

Sounds are CRAP, CRAP, CRAP

Crash, Crash, Crash, dammit!!!!

As friendly as a cockroach ;-)

Yeah! Just go and buy the new MC-909 when it arrives in Jan 2003 here in the UK that is....

Take your time, read the manual and about 12 hours of use you pritty much mastered this thing

I like the sequening... pritty easy to use 8 parts + drum parts +RPS, your covered to do your songs... the sequencer is much better than the MMT8. The effects department... You can recreate all your effects using the sequencer or creative patch mod, you dont really need effects....
Phasor for instance, make patch 1/2 3/4 Identical and set Pitch eg delpth to +1 with an alternative attack time between 1-15, map velocity to pitch attack time and you can go from 0 Degrees out of phase = 0 velocity to 180 degrees out of phase Velo= 90 back to 360/0 degrees out of phase Velo = 127 just wortk with depth of the seperate patch and you get your phasor, Change negative/posative depth on alternative tones
Tone 1 = 0 Depth Tone 2 = +10 depth Tone 3 = -9 depth Tone 4 = -15 depth, and alternative Attack taime between 1-15 on each... and allpy LFO1 Tri to Tone 1 Pitch +/- 3 to have a rotary phasor effect. This phasor effect will only work on patches that eather appeggiated /sequenced fast or with a leignthy releace time....
You cant recreate flange because the sum of the tone outputs to feedback into itself

You can recreate deley by mapping velocity to AMP = 100% and you use the same notes on the sequencer at any given interval equil to the delay time, Liek 1:1.0 C-3 127 1:1.48 C-3 70 1:2.00 C-3 45 will give you the C-3 is delayed by 1/8 intervals.... you know....
You can do psudo reverb by doing the same delay trick above but you gotta play with CC#72 Releice time and stack it togeather, But I dont really recomend this procesure as your quickly overload the MC 505 sequencer or evein Cakewalk...

You can do Slicer By input CC#72 from 0 - 127 like so for example
1:1.00 CC72:127 1:1.24 CC72:0 1:1.48 CC72:127 1:1.72 CC72:0 1:2.0 CC72:100 ... and so on... This will give you a Stuttering effect at 1/16 note intervals.. This is an excelent effect for Global Drums or Pads/Strings/ Sustained effects

You can do lots of other effects without waisting your effects block, so dont waiste that space!

The preset suck, It doesnt mean you have to though. You can come up with some wicked as noises , you have 4x7 LFO wavforms witch can be routed to Pitch, Cutoff, Level, or Pan, you have about 200 syclic/pitched waveforms and 200 drum/unpitched waveforms.

You can customize each drumsoundz with EG waceform and you can make the most excelent drumsets....
The synth section is just as good as any other VA/PCM/Analog synth, of couse it has its weakness /streaths but other than that, if your good at programmig Analogs then you can make some very nice sounds on the MC505.

Key track/ Velo/ Aftertoutch/ Pch Bent/ Mod wheel can modulate LFO Rate/LFO Pch, Cut, Rez, Lev, Pan depth/ Cutoff, Rezo, Level, Pitch, Pan/ Pitch, Filter, Amp Eg Attack, Decay, Releace Times/ LFO Releace Depth X4 X4

You have the following Modulators
FM x4
LFO1 x4
LFO2 x4
Ring Mod (AM) x2Pitch EG x4
Filter EGx4
Amp EG x4
Velocity 1x16
Key Track 1x16
Pitch Bend 1x16
Mod Wheel 1x16

You have the following destinations
Filter Attack, Decay, Releace Time x4
Filter Cutoff Depth x4
Filter Rezo x4
Filter LFO 1/2 Depth x4
Pitch Attack, Decay, Releace Time x4
Pitch Depth x4
Pitch LFO 1/2 Depth x4
Amp Attack, Decay, Releace Time x4
Amp Level Depth x4
Amp LFO 1/2 Depth x4
Pan Depth x4
Pan LFO 1/2 Depth x4
LFO 1/2 Rate x4
LFO 1/2 Attack Time (fade in) x4
LFO 1/2 Releace Time(fade out) x4


You have 11 Modulators and 82 Desinations (Lots of witch you can Modulate the Modulator)
So dont believe the shit when people tell you the sounds suck... put your progrimming skills to use... and it shouldnt take that long to learn, the MC 505 is an excelent learning took for Subtractive synthesis/ Psudo FM/AM synthesis also...

Try working with a sawtooth -> sine - > sawtooth - > sine sample first
then change waveform graduly... shit you can do allot of things quickly on the MC 505 you just have to learn, takes onlyt a couple hours to learn the interface, it aint that hard, and you have 384 patch locations for you creations.

You can make some badass SnH Patches that squeel and screm...
You can make simple melodies by patching LFO1 Tri/Saw to pitch and Square to AMP at max, you can sample random melodies with slow moderate SnH to pitch. You can patch cutoff and layer Ahh - Eee - Oww - Uuu format wavforms to Velo and pitch bent +36 semitones and you will have a synth that talks/ psudo vocoder and put a slow snh low depth on the Pitch +/- 12 to create those detune singing you heard from Cher - Madonna - and that one Latino dude in his songs too, you can make detuning singing sounds liek that...
You can patch random LFO to filter1 with another ring modulated waveform to create scary circus noises

And they all sound badass WTF happened to creativity?!?
So for sounds I give it a 10 the raw waves are awesome, you just hav to use them correctly...

Say Mr 'Anonymous' (see 3 messages below this one) who got the MC505's for 600pounds... How do you modify your MC-505 with filter mod?

The filters are dsp based so I recon you eather
1) patched analog filter to some of the MC-505 multi outputs (witch is not a mod)

2) You work for Roland Tech or your a 'special' customer and you got an extra dsp and/or a rerofited/reprogramed dsp

3) Your pritty damn good at reroffiting and programing roland JV dsp chips

4) You just reroute your patch tone 1/2 + 3/4 in series/parrallel/spectral setups to combine up to 4 seperate filters, thus creating super filtermodes, creating eather a comb filter/psudo bandpass/superstacked LPF,HPF,BPF/series/psydo phaser or evin EQ filter types via EG offset (not a mod)...

I am intreseted if what you say is true....
Thanks

-- Miek

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!

Well, if the question was "how easy is it to make this thing sound like a toy, and playback cliche techno phrases from 4 years ago?", it would get a ten. If it were "How easy is it to do anything moderately useful or creative with this machine?" i doubt it would even rate....so i settled on a 4, somewhere between the two.

These things are for sale all over now, with the announcement of superior competition from Emu and Yamaha. It accepts smart media, but not for importing new sounds or samples. Nope, if you are the kind of person who cant live within a tiny ROM block and thirsts for new sounds, go elsewhere..these sounds are pretty lame, but those are just the presets...problem is, the samples are going on 4 years old now...if you are making dance music, this is a problem. how many DJs do you know that play records that are 4 years old? thats what i thought...the new Yamaha machine samples, and the new Emu at least you can expand the ROM periodically if you want more sounds.

I suppose in 1998 when it came out, this *might* have been a techno hit making machine. Maybe I have a jaded opinion, and remember kids, I have all the gear this thing tried to replace (909, 303, juno, etc), but I dont like it at all. I bought it over the net on a friends recomendation, and needless to say, I was not happy when it arrived. Maybe its my fault for not hearing for myself before i laid out a couple hundred bucks, but I guess i cant rely on reviews in Keyboard Magazine alone!

hmmmm...my 909 is holding up well after 15 years, so I guess Roland stuff is in for the long haul.

Lets not even go there. between their tech support never returning a single email, the sketchy hours they hold, and the way a man claiming to be a sales representative for the company physically pulled me away from other products in the store to show me roland products (what
was he even doing in the store anyways?!? he didnt work there!), I have an extremely low opinion of their company (and the sleazoid that took it upon himself to bother me). I love my 909, my 303, and my juno, but they just dont make anything useful right now.

I didnt own this for very long...why bother answering this question anyways? If you cant tell my opinion of this piece from the rest of this review, you need help. But dont take my opinion, check it out for yourself...when the new Emu and Yamaha pieces ship soon, theres gonna be a TON of these things looking for a new home!

If you have ever used a software synth like Fruity Loops you should have next to no trouble using this machine. Even if you have no experience you should have no problem using this machine. I don't know why people put down the Roland manuals so much but I found that the quick start manual got me going in about 30 minutes.I have been working with keyboards for about 2 years now, and it took me about
1 week to master pretty much everything. Editing patches is simple all you do is hit the "wave select" button on a preset and choose some more tones or take some out, and set the parameters like LFO and filters on each tone. By the way, like most machines the presets are absolute garbage, they were entertaining for about 30 minutes. If you ever want this machine to live up to it's "built for the profesional market" reputation then you will have to make all your own patches.
I don't see much use in a patch editor here it is simple and does not take much time to edit a patch. If you're a beginer and you need something that has some professional sound than this the machine for you. I would not reccomend the MC-303 because it's sounds are far too simple for professinal use. Besides, I don't know how the MC-307 and the MC-303 users can do without a parts mixer, It's a very useful tool.

64 voice which is more than enough for this machine. It has 16 little sequencer keys which can serve as a keyboard, but if you're looking for velocity and after touch get a MIDI controller and plug it in.
The effects are good but the truth is the real good sounds lie in the effects(reverb, and delay are almost a must). Without effects this machines sounds would really be plain. Although, I feel the biggest downfall of this machine is the fact that you can only use one special effect like phaser once in a pattern and that is the only special effect you can ues . You cannot add more effects to a pattern
than one with the exception of delay and reverb. Delay and Reverb can be put in and out of a part via the part mixer and are the only 2 affects that are really versitile in this machine. If you pick a phaser for your bass line and adjust the settings for it then if you want to use a effect for your strings you are forced to use a phaser with the same settings that you used for the bass line. Anyway, it can accept smart media for extra memory but I have not used it yet.
I briefly tried the MIDI with cakewalk and the timing seems to be there but I don't have much use for MIDI in that way. The sequencer is the standard 16 steps step sequncer very similar to that of fruity loops. The cool thing is you can record in 3 different ways,real time,step sequencing, and RPS. You can acatually play a chord in real time and the machine will input your notes and duration of those notes into the sequencer and play it back. You can use RPS to just hit notes on keys playing them like a keyboard and it will play them back. Also, you have the standard step sequencing that everyone uses.
Roland could of done a better job in the features category but it's not too bad. If you gain experience with this machine then you can really use it to it's potential for example technically the machine is only 8 track but realisticly it is 17 track but even more realisticaly I could fit 30-35 tracks into this machine. I wont say how cause I don't want to type for the next 2 hours.

If you need more info on things like this or if you want to hear this thing in action and have ICQ just add me 65603107.

The piano sounds like a toy, but who cares it's a techno box.
The presets stink as always,YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN PATCHES.
I would only reccomend this machine to the techno head, no other genre's would work well with this machine. If you want to read about the effects read the features category. But know this, the key to good sounds is effects even if they are limited like in this machine.
If you get a MIDI controller the machine has velocity and after touch
so it's not a bad investment. The filters are OK just like the LFO, but what were you expecting you're paying $600US for a machine that can do almost all.

For some reason I had it freeze on me once, but I'm pretty sure this is rare. It's a reliable machine, I would do a gig with it. Now we come to the D-Beam, it was fun for about 1 week I haven't touched it since. It has no real music application but it's fun once in a while.
I would not use it live though, sometimes if you're lowering the tempo with the D-Beam it can get stuck at a tempo and not let go and you have to correct it manually, same goes for the other D-beam effects like resolution.

I e-mailed Roland Canada once with some questions and they did not get back to me until I wrote a mail saying I would never buy another Roland machine because I don't have the info I need. They always answer my mail's now. Other than that I have not had to deal with them.

It's a nice machine but don't expect to get huge overnight with it.
You can get good sounds out of it but in my opinion you need other gear to go with it to make a song sound real good. It's a good all around machine but those damm effects(or lack of them) just kill some of the sounds.
I definately think this the best "groovebox" out there.
Although, I have never tried it I think it could beat the RM1x hands down. Maybe when I buy more gear I'll sell this guy, but maybe not.
The cool thing is that it has basically a 909 a 808 a 606 and 707
drum machine in it, so there is thousands of dollars there. If you're on a budget this is a awesome choice, paired with the SP808 this thing is kick a%#. Anyway I want my gear list to be MC-505, SP808, JP-8080, Korg MS 2000R, and Yamaha EX-5, I think this would be a awesome setup.

If anyone wants to hear my newest song made entirely on the MC-505
get in touch with me via ICQ# 65603107

The MC-505 is the first piece of electronic music gear that I ever had, I couldn?t be happier. The MC-505?s biggest triumph, in my opinion, is the way that Roland has developed an instrument that is so easy to understand even when is so fully featured. Depending on who you are, you?ll think of it as a great pad for sketching ideas, or as the main sequencer of your set-up (as I do) both for playing live and in your little home studio. I bought it used, and I?m not sure of what OS am I using, and I?m not aware of any improvement? no that it needs a better OS, by the way.

When you first power on this ?groovebox?, you may be amazed by the hard sounds of the presets. I don?t like the presets much? I think they don?t push this machine to its limit, as they should. Same with the sounds? some of them are cool, and the drum kits are stunning, but there are plenty of cheese sounds and EFX that I guess I?ll never find a good use for. Preset patterns and patches (sounds) are not erasable. There?s a lot of user memory even if you don?t own a SmartMedia card, but it could have been nice to have the possibility of erasing them (so you don?t have to hear ?Psy Trance 1? once again). As I said, I bought it second hand and it didn?t came with the Quick Start guide? I found it later on, in the Internet, and it?s neat and easy to follow. The Owner Manual is? confusing. The Spanish translation is a pain in the neck, and some important things are hidden, but I managed to find nearly everything about this machine on it, so I have no important complaints about it.

An impressive number of features. A very good sequencer, a lot of sounds and ways of editing them (kind of stripped down JV1080 synthesis), usable effects (though they?re not as spectacular as I think they should), a lot of real time edition (lot of knobs, faders and buttons), arpeggiator, etc? I love ?grooveboxes?, and I love knobs and the tweaking that goes with it. The keyboard is? well, it?s hard to call it a keyboard. Better buy a controller keyboard, but you can use the on-board keyboard without any problem (tough is not velocity sensitive) if you need to. I sometimes do. Polyphony is 64, and I never need more, but I tend to be minimalistic? For the same reason, I have never needed more than the 8 parts that the MC-505 is capable to sequence (7 + 1 Drum Kit). If you really concern about this issue, you must know that you can trigger Real Phrase Sequences live, increasing the layering of sounds (up to 16 RPSs can be triggered, so in practice you can sequence up to 24 parts?). Some people gravity towards the Yamaha RM1X because of its 16 parts sequencer, but I don?t like its sounds? too cheese, too clean? You can like them or not, but the sounds in the MC-505 are hard, phat and noisy. The arpeggiator is very catchy, and easy to use? great for Moroder-like stuff, you know.

The sequencer is great. It can send and receive any kind of MIDI message, and though I sometimes have had problems driving other gear from the MC-505, it works Ok most of the time. If you?re new to MIDI sequencing, you may be lost at first, but you?ll end getting round to it. This machine is perfect for chaining patterns on the fly. You can mute and unmute parts (and drum parts), and go from a pattern to the next at ease. Megamix mode allows you to mix parts from a pattern with parts from another. Great for jamming. Song mode is more limited than it should. You can chain up to 50 patterns to form a song, and it works good but could have been nice to have some kind of linear recording. Anyway, patterns can be up to 36 measures, so you can fake linear recording working with very long patterns. It works perfect.

You can back-up and have extra user memory for patches and patterns with SmartMedia cards? Sadly, it only accepts 2 and 4Mb 5v. Cards, and they?re expensive and hard to find. You can always dump data to an external sequencer, but it would have been nice to use standard 3,3v. SmartMedia cards. Also, the MC-505 is not expansible? you are stuck with the waveforms that it stores.

Well, the sounds. They?re polemic, aren?t they? The presets are so so? Some lead synths and basses are really good. Pianos are awful, as a lot of ?real instruments? here. Edit them a lot and, with practice, you?ll get where you wanted. As I said before, there?s a limited number of waveforms for you to play with, but edition is so complete that you can make a lot of cool sounds. It?s kind of a challenge to make this unit sound the way you want to, so tweak a lot, work the envelopes a lot, play with the effects. If you?re not a purist, you?ll be happy with the analog feel that you can get out of this machine. The sounds respond to modulation, pitch-bend, velocity and any tweaking, so you can program very expressive music with this machine. Also, I love the lo-fi character of its sounds, but... well, maybe you don't.

The drum kits are great. Very cool sounds from the Roland TR series, and more.

Very reliable? Never had any problem with it. One of the Part buttons is a bit deaf and dumb, and sometimes it don?t light up when I press it, but that?s my problem I guess. I have heard of people having problems with the LCD screen, but I never had any. I could play live with it, yes.

When I bought it, user memory was corrupted, and I guessed that maybe that was why the previous owner had sold it so fast. Called Roland Spain, and they were nice, and fixed it for a little charge. My only contact since then? I always get into mailing lists for information. Check groups.yahoo.com/group/mc505. Also, Roland web pages are nice? at www.rolandgroove.com you can get some useful documents. Sadly, Roland Spain is probably the worst web page that I?ve ever surfed into?

I love this machine. I think it?s a modern classic, and I recommend it for the unpretentious and for the creative. I would be desperate in the event of losing this machine, because I?m still paying to my bank for it. I guess it?s too expensive to buy it first hand, so if you?re not sure you can check the also fantastic Electribes from Korg, or the classic MC-303. Anyway, when I try another ?groovebox?, I always miss a lot of things from the MC-505? even the ones that I never use! What I like about this MC-505 is its concept, and the way that everything works so great together. As I said, I don?t miss much in it, except for maybe some sampling, but I understand why it?s not featured (it?s expensive enough the way it is!).

The MC-505 will help you develop you composition skill whatever music you make. I was amazed to read in a review below that you must ?never use this machine for a music style apart from the ones it was intended for?? hell, what? Use it for anything that please you, maan. I write electronic glam pop with this machine, kind of Brian Eno jamming with The Glitter Band at Korea, and I can?t see why I shouldn?t. If you want to know how this machine sounds, and how creative you can be with it, buy Grand Royal?s ?At Home With Groovebox?, a Lp with tracks from Beck, John McEntrie, Cibo Matto, Pavement, etc?, using just the MC-505 and little more. Also, check ?Will Save Us All? from Chicks On Speed (a B-52?s influenced German combo), whose hit record ?Glamour Girl? is in fact presets ?House Garage 1? and ?House Garage 2? from this box.

Groove On!

After reading through the previous reviews, i must say that most people who reviewed this unit either a) are newbies and dont know what the hell they're talking about b) are people who have fooled around with the unit in a shop but got nowhere because they don't know how to use it properly, c) people who own beginners eqipment and have played the mc 505 and are jealous coz they can afford it, and finally d) people who own analog equipment and think that that gives them a right to put anything 'not analog' down, even though analog sounds are emulated perfectly.
My introduction out of the way, for ease of use, i'll give this a 3 for when u first buy the unit, because even though the manuals go into great detail about most things, its still easy to get confused, and it will take you a few weeks to learn all the controls and remember where the hell they are. As for ease of use after u've owned the unit for a few months i'd have to give it an 8, because all of this machines features can be accessed by a maximum of 3 'menus'. That means.. everything is a maximum 3 button pushes away. Thats not a lot is it, considering how much stuff you can achieve with this thing.

I use this unit to make make all different kinds of trance. That means melodic trance, hard trance, tech trance, and so on and so on. I dont use it for any other style of music making so i cant comment on how efficient it is if u want to use it for, lets say r 'n b. Trance tends to be a style of music that relies heavily on effects. This unit has all the effects that you need to make a song of yours sound PROFESSIONAL, and sound just as good, if not better than music u may have bought on CD. A lot of people put the d-beam controller down by saying that its lame. I fully understand why they say that, though they miss the point entirely. The purpose of the d beam on this thing is to achieve sounds or effects that you wouldn't have a chance programming into this thing. The dbeam simply saves time, and is useful for creating wacky sounds or sound effects, that would take quite a while to program. Having said that, lets move onto the next topic.

The sounds and expressiveness of this unit vary a great deal. As much as i love this thing, I must admid that most of the preset sounds sound terrible. They sound very... bad. They lack expressiveness or any great depth, and when u compare them to the sounds in today's songs, they sound incredibly outdated. (as an example, a friend of mine owns a 'hard house/rave' album that came out in 1996. I was listening to it the other day and instantly recognised the sounds on it, they sounded like mc 505 presets. I guess that will give u some sort of an idea. The 505 was designed in 1996/97 and i guess that makes sense. I'd also like to comment on other presets such as preset patterns, and preset songs. They are all terrible. The people who wrote these songs may be known in japan as djs but the stuff they programmed on this thing is absolutely horrific. If you got into electronic music 2 days ago, u might find them entertaining for a while (a few minutes) but if you are into decent music and labels (ie. Perfecto, Globalunderground, Sasha/Digweed, Oakenfold, etc. you will know what i mean. The people who wrote the preset patterns on this thing should be killed. They used none of the effects/features of this thing, and the ones they did use they stuffed up big time. They didnt tweak anything right, the sounds they used suck too. So, if you listen to any presets, they will put you right off buying this thing.
On the other hand if you have an ear for music and you are talented, you can achieve ANYTHING. I have had this unit for about 6 months, and in that time i made my own sounds, drums, patterns and songs. I tweaked things and i tweaked them right. I used effects the right way, and paid attention to all sound settings and every miniscule detail. What did i end up with? - Songs that sound BETTER than the albums i have bought on cd. As an example, my tracks sound identical to those you'd hear on the global undergroud series. I am not talking out of my arse by the way. It took me a few months to get it sound this good, but i got there. When u think about it, u can compete with artists who have 10+ instruments in their lineup, and here i am, achieving the same sound with a single mc505. The bottom line is, if you are not good enough (u may be good, but you have to be GOOD ENOUGH) if you are not good enough, this unit will frustrate you, and you will brag on about how much this thing sucks and how all your songs 'sound the same' - as one previous reviewer has stated. Its all up to you. This unit has all the features you want and need to make professional songs. Its up to you to tweak things right, and put time and effort into whatever you are doing. As the saying goes... what you put in, is what you get out! Then i read all these reviews and people complaining about how this thing is not analog. I DONT CARE IF ITS ANALOG OR NOT, WHEN I CAN MAKE IT SOUND BETTER than MAURO PICOTTO, OR TIMO MAAS, OR SASHA, OR ANYONE ELSE. I DONT CARE IF ITS NOT ANALOG WHEN I CAN GET FAT BASSES AND FAT SYNTHS AND FAT, PUNCHY DRUMS HAPPENING, JUST LIKE THE ONES I KEEP HEARING IN SONGS ON THE GLOBALUNDERGROUND SERIES. (by the way, if you know about globalunderground, you will know that those cds shit all over anything else out therer as far as trance or progressive music is concerned) This machine can give u the basslines u want, the drums u want, the synths u want, and whatever u want. You just have to tweak it right (Otherwise it will sound like shit) So anyone who has complained about the sounds, can go and stick a carrot up their arse. As for people who complain about the realism of the sounds, for example how the piano soundds dont sound like a real piano, etc. Hello its not meant to sound like a real piano, its meant to sound like the piano sound that you keep hearring on cds, and etc. the same goes for any other instruments that they complained about; ie guitar. That sort of complaining is so immature and narrow minded

Never had any problems. Very sturdy. If you drop it thats your fault.

Never had to use customer support coz i have common sense. Whenever i needed help with something, i thought about it before i started asking other people.

Overall its an excellent machine. I manage to make professional songs with it. If you cant, (like most reviewers before me) then u suck. So go hit something, or better still, kill yourrself instead of embarrassing yourself by complaining about something you dont know how to use properly. In conclusion i will sum up this machine in a single sentence. It is excellent for trance, and you can make it sound professional, but only if you put time and effort into it, and only if you are truly talented, otherwise, it will sound very amateur indeed plainly because it was designed like.. 4 years ago, by people who werent really talented to begin with. I dont know wether to blame that on the japanese in general (how many famous japanese artists/DJs do u know of???) or Roland themselves, for hiring lamers as patch/pattern/song producers. Either way, you have to be very good to make this machine sound pro, and that really is all i'm saying :) If you need any help with anything, or just want some advice, or want to have a further discussion, drop me a line at squarepusher60@hotmail.com

The presets are ok, but the real fun to be had is when you start morphing them into your own style. Editing the sounds are easy once you realize how many ways there are to change them. It comes with 2 manuals. The quick start one tells you some of the basics and then there is a thick one which explains every parameter in detail.

It has some good built in effects that are all able to be edited. It has an onboard sequencer that lets you record up to 32 measures of music with 8 different tracks. My only complaint is that you have to be dead on with your timing. If you aren't what you record will not be what you hear when it's played back.

It's a digital instrument so a lot of the sounds that are listed do not sound just like their real counterparts, but this is to be expected. It would work well for any electronic based music.

I have owned it for 1 1/2 years and have never had a problem with it. I would definitely play live with it.

If it was stolen I would get something else just because the sounds are quite dated now. I also own a Nord Lead 2, Roland SP 808, Yamaha PSR6, and used to own a Novation bass station.

Very easy if you study the manual carefully. Its not as easy as the MC-303, but it has more features too.

The features are wonderful. This baby will do almost anything. I am still learning more and more features on this unit every day.
Very impressive.

The sound quality is remarkable! There is so much to work with and each sound is so tweakable. Also there are many many sonic flavors that you wont expect in a unit like this.

Solid Solid Solid

Roland is really one of the best companies out there.

This MC-505 is one of my favorite pieces of gear. It does so many functions that its become indespensible for me. Its a very creative and inspirational device.

HA HA HA HA!!!!! this thing is like layers upon layers of different functions for all the same knobs. you need to be a rocket scientist to comfortably be able to tweak anything that isnt in the top layer (eg. changing the rate on an LFO - the knob to do it will change the depth unless you change the function of the knob which is annoying to do all the time), which is real unfortunate because if you have an idea it taskes like ten minutes to figure out how to do it. not like the mc 303 where all its features had a corresponding knob, thats what it did and it did nothing else. nice and easy and fun to tweak.

It does have many many features, almost TOO MANY. One really crappy feature is whenever you save a pattern it saves over all the patches you used in the pattern. So, for example, if you make a little tune and change the organ sound or something, instead of just saving the pattern you have to individually save every patch (sound) you changed. so it is very very very easy to save over patches that you already used nad therefore the chance of screwing up all your other patterns is a possiblilty everytime you make a new pattern.

For the longest time, I really hated the sounds on this. recently i have made a handful of cool sounds, but it is hard because when you scroll througgh the sounds you are only scrolling through the sound patches, it is a little difficult to find the actual waveforms - which in my opinion you need to start from when making a patch because every patch on this thing is like copyright free sounding cheeseball stuff, the patches seriously sound like something on one of those commercials for local business's that are recorded on camcorders , you know what im talking about.

oh yeah, we've dropped it and kicked it and stuff. It hasnt erased patterns because of a glitch or anything.

N/A

This was supposed to be an MC 303 replacement, but i want my old mc 303 back more than anything. It is like a pile of features all poured randomly into a very confusing design, and its sounds are weak. Sure with enough tweaking you can get almost anything to sound cool, but there is some weird quality about these sounds that is almost unsavable. With all its features and everything it has become nothing more than a slave driver for other synths for me.

Most of the presets suck. The manual is very in depth. I feel the need to take music classes to understand some of it. I have to read one thing over and over. And you can't just find a section you need to know about and read it you have to read the whole thing. I hate the manual. I am going to order the video manul and see if that helps. Editing preset patches is easy but I have loads of problems editing my own.

good features, I guess.

I wish they had put in more strings and voice-like sounds. This box needs softer sounds!!!

I never had problems

I tried searching roland's site and cannot find where to e-mail them.

The more I find out how to do different stuff on it the more problems I have. I wouldn't buy another if it got stolen. I would find the person who took it and hand him the manuals. I would have punched the sh t out of it already but it cost too much.

********** I NEED HELP WITH THIS THING!!! ************ If anyone thinks they can help me with my millions of questions PLEASE e-mail me

*** justinbaloun@hotmail.com ***

First of all, when you get the unit, you'll be way too excited to start reading the manual without touching the thing. So you find yourself trying to make sense of what is in front of you, namely a lot of buttons and knobs which seem very overwhelming at first. I found myself starting to refer to the manuals when i got frustrated by not knowing what i was doing. The quick start manual is okay, but its easy to be mislead while reading it. It goes into considerable detail, but its easy to take a 'wrong turn' while following its instructions, so i found myself going back and forth, having to read and try the same instructions over and over again. Once you have all the basics covered, give yourself about a week to remember them. The second manual is great, nice and big, the only problem with it is that it goes into extreme detail about things you don't really need to know. And the things you DO NEED TO KNOW, are mysteriously NOT mentioned in the INDEX. So, with not much help from the index, i had to go through the contents pages to find what i was looking for. (Major pain in the ass) Other than that, you'll be OK after about a month. Give yourself a month with this thing, and you'll know it inside and out!

U know the drill. A million people have talked about its features, I wont bother repeating them. One thing it lacks is a sampler. If Roland wanted to make an ALL IN ONE PRODUCTION BOX then they should have included a SAMPLER instead of the DBEAM controller. Speaking of DBEAM, its one of those features that you think will be fun to play with, and it is, but only for about 10 minutes. What it is good for is making experimental music. Thats the only decent purpose i can think for it.

Some instruments sound like absolutely shit, while others sound better than the CDs you have. It pisses me off how people in reviews slag off the sounds, with comments like, "the piano sounds cheesy" or that the "guitar sounds sound cheesy", and all that. My comment to those people; If you want a piano, then BUY A FRICKIN PIANO, if you want a guitar, BUY A GUITAR. These complaints are not justified at all. I mean, any sane person would conclude that a metal box is not going to sound like a guitar, and therefore not have any realistic expectations. Having said that, there are about 512 sounds (patches) in the unit, and i must say about half of those are utter crap. (Crap in a sense that you can't really use them for anything, because they sound too bizarre and just dont really have a pleasant sound to them that you hear in trance songs) The other half are good, but basically, the whole techno/trance music scene is reliant on just a handful of signature trademark sounds. By that I mean, a nice bass, a nice lead, some nice strings, the tr 909, and basically u got yourself a nice sounding song as good as any you'll hear on CDs. So, in essence 512 sounds is a lot, considering you'll only ever use about 10-15 of them to get the sound that you're after. Some of the patches (instruments)may sound a little bland at first, so what you do is tweak them to your liking, then save them, and you will find that they sound absolutely fantastic. This unit can sound unbelievable with the right tweaking.

It works best for dance/trance production. Onboard effects are good, but u can only ever use one effect at the time (plus delay and reverb + cutoff + resonance). It reacts well to tweaking most of the time. Sometimes the machine can slow down a little, and also, give it about 5 or so seconds when you are saving a pattern. It has no velocity and you dont need it coz it was MADE FOR ELECTRONICA, not a concerto.

I can depend on it. The only thing that is annoying, is that this unit makes it very easy for new users to accidently 'save over' their previously saved stuff. I wouldnt use it on a gig coz i just use it at home. I've never had any problems with it.

Never dealt with Roland.

If it was lost or stolen i'd buy it again, or just go for a roland jp-8000. This thing should have a sampler dammit.

Don't know what OS is running.
Most presets sound allright, but some are really horrible (see Expresiveness/Sounds).
Editing is easy as f*&k especially thanks to the nice 'n retro buttons just inviting you to turn them.
The manual is written as though the reader is an idiot, which is probably a good thing...

Polyphony is great; sure, add another tone, it won't hurt!
The keyboard might be considered crappy, but is great for recording drums live or step time. Complaints? Just buy a midi keyboard for $ 150 and shut up about it will ya?
Expansion sucks BIGTIME, all of it !Luckily, the box is pretty complete as it is, so I'm not really bothered.
Sequencer is very simple but DOPE for dance and hip-hop. It is EZ to use and a good thing. Stop bothering it with your criticism.

Once you tweak the sounds they are P-H-A-T. Before you start whining, just try and fuck with the ADSR envelope for the filter OK ?
Dance is its natural habitat. Hip-hop elements can easily be incorporated due to the great drum samples (808-909 etc.)
Effects are OK no more no less.
It just sequences what you play people, so it won't make your crappy playing sound like Mozarts produced it.

It fucked my memory up for no apparent reason ! I was pissed of and wanted to break the silver motherfucker into bits.
It is, however, sturdy and I would haul it anywhere.

When the memory was fucked, I returned it to my dealer, who sent it to Roland, who did nothing about it but leave the memory card they probably used for testing in the machine :-) so it saved me a lot of money.
Transferred the songs to the card, formatted the machine and trucked on.

I would buy it again under any circumstance.