Roland TR505

Very easy to figure out. I only had to refer to the easily downloadable manual for a couple things.

It's old tech so very limited. Very few sounds, not a lot of memory. You can only program 3 sets of 16 patterns, and a track for each.

No aftertouch, etc. Not realistic. In a good way, it has classic "retro" drum machine sounds, but not as classic and definitive as the (anologue)808 or 909, which heavily influenced House & Techno. By itself, it has a very dated (early 80's) sound, but (like anything) can be stretched far with effects. And, because it's sound is becoming more "classic" every year, it sounds great when combined with other drum machines or live drums.

Very dependable. And when I forgot to turn it off and had to replace the batteries, I was surprised to still find the patterns I had programed. That little machine has had a long life

It's cheap, easy, and old. If that sounds good, get it. If that sounds bad, get something more current.

Very simple.

I had an Early-90s Roland TR-505 ... sold it in 2000 and bought the BOSS DR-770 because of the many conga and bongo sounds -- I'm an acoustic Folk artist and the TR-505 is a popular unit for HipHop artists.

The sounds are not very realistic if you want to compare them to acoustic instruments, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I used this machine a lot ... never had a problem.

If you need a reference/operation manual, I have on on the web for you:
http://www.AlanHorvath.com/TR505

Easy, I picked it back up in a minute.
The sounds are 80's. When i bought it it was new and hooked up to some fancy board and (compared to the crap that passed for drum machines at the time) sounded OK.
Listening to it now... let's just say is a bit dated.
Only God knows where the manual is.

Very basic. But also very easy. Runs on batteries and it's easy to carry around the house (I use it as a metronome).
I have not used it as a MIDI controller yet, but I am working on it.

It sounds like a cheap GM soundcard midi, but with some effects can get interesting.

I bought this machine new when it came out. In the meantime I got married, moved 3 town and 5 homes, chenged careers 4 times, had a child and she is about to graduate high school, left the unit in a green plastic been outside for the past 10 years or so. The bin sprang a leak and fried my old Tascam cassette 4 track.
I put 6 batteries in this baby (God knows where the adaptor is) and it sprang to life the moment I turned the switch on.
This thing is amazing. I have decided to add it to my DAW because it deserves to be used for something!

That would be funny! Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and ask them if mine is still under warranty :)

If it was stolen or I lost it I would replace it for sentimental reasons only. I am not big on dance music and drum programming, but if I were I think it's worth some bucks and I reckon I can use it as a MIDI controller.

I am going to try to use the MIDI signals as on/off switches to control Sonar.

I couldn't work it without the manual but then seldom can. I struggle with the toilet sometimes. However, with the manual at hand I was making patterns in minutes and editing them soon after. It's a 'my first drum machine'.

There are virtually no features on the normal 505. However, I seem to be one of the lucky few who has a 505 with 5 outputs on the back. These group together Bass Drum / Toms / snare and timbale / Hi Hats and Cymbals / clap and (can't remember). So this is extremely useful as it can go through a desk and you can use effects, mix level and eq as you so desire. This makes for one of the loveliest 80's drum machine's I've ever come across.

Well if you just run this baby through a stereo out, you'll be very dissapointed. The bass drum sounds weak, the snare is too full and overpowering, the toms are just all round bad. However, when you seperate the sounds through a desk, eq and verb them up, sit back and enter 80's electro heaven. The sounds are really proper warm and vintage due to the low rate.

I've never taken it live because I run all my sounds that aren't live off a lap top. I tend to use it to loop up beats and record them. If I was using this live along with other stuff that ran off a tempo, I would have major problems in that the tempo is liable to budge a little bit, making the rest of the stuff sound out of time.

This unit is fine in the studio though. It's nearly 20 years old and I've never had a problem with it.

I would hunt for another with seperate outputs if mine broke. However, I'd not bother getting one with only a stereo out.

I've been playing / producing for 15 years. I've got more gear than I can list but at the moment I'm loving Pro Tools through a mac. Reliability personified in a little titanium box!!

Pretty Easy to get into, very nicely laid out ( as has been said many times its almost like a kids drum machine so fast to get good sounding stuff out of it!!

No fx, not control over actual sounds, etc.. but a breeze to sync up midi style in studio. Works best in my opinion as a slave to another device controling tempo, as it sometimes pushes itself into a different speed, the tempo wheel is too small for all the values allowed!

Cant believe how many people say the sounds are crap - its a 505!! you buy it for those sounds! Its damnd good for your cheesy beats, add a bassline and your pretty much gonna have the dancefloor smiling and rolling their eyes with 80's glee! it is a shame theres no controll over the individual hits or any sort of eq, but its a classic sound.

Use it with huge confidence live, never goes wrong at home... perfect.

Got mine used, but did get a manual, a little bit confusing at times just coz of layout.

I paid over the odds for mine, but you can pick them up dirt cheap now - saw one on ebay go for about 25 pounds - a crime!! If you see one, pick it up.

Hi,
I have always loved my tr-606, but always wished it could do midi out, so I could sequence a sampler. I decided to buy a tr-505, hoping that it might do the trick. Unfortunatly I have discovered that it will not do. The 505 is rather difficult to work with when editing the paterns. Generally you must go through a lot of crap to do anything
in the menues, and often you need to STOP THE SEQUENCE to make some changes. This is unacceptable. The 505's patern based sequencing PALES in comparison to the 606's abilities. Also there are no lights for the switches so you must look at the LCD to see which step is on and which is off. This is also rather annoying and can be confusing at times. Also unacceptable. I do live drum programming, where time counts and the pattern editing needs to be flowing.

Thumbs down on the 505 as a patern based sequencer.

Features suck. No fun editing features.

The sounds, as we know, are crap so there's no redeaming qualities here.

I would not replace this device if it were lost or stolen.

Very easy to use. You can throw patterns together in seconds, and the song mode is a dream. A complete song can be built in under a minute.

Well...its pretty feature poor...but then that's why its easy to use!

There is no way to change the sounds. This is very frustrating.

I have used the unit for over 15 years with out fail.

Since the unit never broke...I wouldn't know.

I bought this unit brand new in 1986 or 87. I made a lot of music with it. But by today's standards it is a dinosaur.

The 505 is so basic, after half an hour you can master all the functions, and the MIDI implementation is a doddle.

mmmmmm...... as a drum machine the 505 is more like a child's toy rather than an instrument, in fact Roland probably built it under lisence from Matel or Fisher-Price. It doesn't really do much, but when it comes to retro-style sequencing the MIDI functions come into their own. Hook it up to a synth and you've got the perfect acid-house sound, with adjustable accent. Apart from glide, there isn't much difference in the sound of the 505s sequencer and that of a TeeBee. Also, as each pad has independent routing for MIDI Notes and Channels, a multi-timbral synth or sound module can really come to life (in a 1985 kinda way.) Connected to a sampler with some decents drum loops in it and a sample cut function, the grid-edit screen makes programming suprising cool sounding brakbeats easy. The key to the real "features" of the 505 is to hook it up with anything in any way and keep experimenting until you find something you like. Just because its cheap and nasty doesn't mean it can't do all kinds of useful stuff, especially in a limited MIDI setup alongside another (decent) beatbox and a synth or sampler. Try runing it thru guitar fx pedals. With an analogue delay the timbale reeks of a Lee Perry production, and any type of filter fx (try an ehx bass microsynth) gets deep haunting booms out of the toms. A fuzz pedal is also useful for harsh techno beats. I'd love to hear what would happen if a 505 was used with a VL Tone....... And remember, limitations are what given instruments their character, so bad often means good if you've got the time to experiment.

No sensitivity, no aftertouch, no fx, not really suited to any specific genre. But the relative tunings of the dire 12-bit samples do have a certain laid back 80s type feel to them, and as you can only adjust the relative levels, this beatbox definitely has a twisted personality all of its own. If you want hypnotic, kitsch and generally cheesey beats then you can't really beat it.

No problems, but as i don't gig, how could there be?

dunno........ the production run was from 85 to 92, so i doubt it would be very good.

Ok, so i was ripped off for it and i rarely use it as a drum machine, but i've got to admit, i couldn't really contemplate making music without it. I couldn't afford a TB-303 in a million years, and to be perfectly honest, who wants to be a musical fashion victim and pay through the nose for something thats been masively overused and over valued anyway? I've got my 505 MIDIed up to a Casio CZ-1000, which in turn is run thru an ehx microsynth, and i can't really see myself buying anything to take its place. If it can do what you want it to do, then its what you need. If you want several meg of pattern and song memory and incredible sound quality get Cubase and #1000 drum module. Its not what you've got, its what you do with it.

Mine didn't even come with a manual, but I was up and running in 20min or so. All the buttons do just what you think they would, and the choices for programming patterns (real-time or not) are nice. Programming long sequences of patterns is tedious, however.

Polyphony is good - I've never had the desire to combine the few sounds you can't use simultaneously (low/hi cowbell, for example). I REALLY wish there were some sort of pitch or tone controls for the sounds, but as it is you're limited to the provided 12-bit samples. I know it has MIDI capabilities, but I've never had the desire to use them. In theory, you could use this as a 16-channel MIDI trigger device. No ability for expansion, but it does have the neat ability to back up and restore its memory to/from audio tape (mono 1/8" out).

The sounds are, well, they're 80s drum samples. There's not much more to say about them, because I already mentioned their inability to be malnipulated. I use it primarily to keep me in tempo for rock/pop music; I doubt I'd ever use it in a live situation. I should mention here, to the machine's credit, that the individual drums have adjustable volume levels from 1-5, but these levels are completely static and cannot be changed during a pattern or sequence.

Hah! It's a pretty cheap hunk of plastic, really, but you can't expect any more at the prices these go for today. My tempo knob, especially, is pretty flaky - without touching it, the tempo will wander +/-2 from where I set it. It's not enough to matter for playing along to a pattern, but it certainly means I wouldn't rely on it for tempo-critical applications like dance music.

Never bothered.

I wouldn't get this again - I think I'd spend a few more bucks and get a 626 at the least (basically this machine with individual outputs) or a 707. But it does what I bought it for, and that's what matters!

Takes ages to work out how to use if no manual supplied (like mine :)
Actual drum tracks take forever to make sound decent.

Not a lot of features, but mind you, its real old and budget :)

The sounds, well, suck pretty bad, though in saying that, its waaay better than making drum noises into a mic. :)

Its not running windows so you're sweet!

Its the best thing i have ever used!