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get a novation drumstation, it is an analog rack which includes a tr-909 and tr-808, and it fairly easy to use, just midi control it with a daw.
other than that, affordable drum machines are the tr-505, tr-707, boss dr-55, 670, and 880,.
don't get sampler, you can't tune and shape the sounds properly, so your drums will sound boring and shite.
There is a chiptune drum machine in development at the moment, due for release in the next couple of months.
All sounds are digitally synthesized with a mix of traditional electronic and chip instruments, step sequencer for sound trigger and parameter adjust, clipping and DAC bit reduction, and MIDI control.
taht looks really cool!! keep us posted on it!
Looks like something in sammich style dual boards? with a ponoko case?
don't get sampler, you can't tune and shape the sounds properly, so your drums will sound boring and shite.
Umm.. why not tune the drums on your computer THEN sample them? Garbage in. garbage out.
I've made a test using lsdj (GB) + lgpt (PSP) and the result is kinda good.
http://twaud.io/qr2P (shitty mixing, laking of bassline, boring samples, hand-sync)
Yeah, but i'm pretty happy for this first result. I should totally invest my money on a gp2x and some sync-box. (any suggestion about this?)
Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread!!
Last edited by arottenbit (Nov 14, 2010 6:26 am)
Akai MPC500 => nice portable drum sampler / MIDI sequencer.
MFB 502 => Very small analog drum machine with unique sound, a little 606ish (MIDI-In only, so you need a clock master). I just grabbed one for 120€.
MFB 522 => Same size as the 502, sounds much better, has more 808-like sound (same MIDI issue as 502).
MFB 503 => Same size as the 502 and 522, but sounds more 909 (same MIDI issue as 502).
Last edited by motone (Nov 14, 2010 11:15 am)
Depending on the kind of sound you are after, my favourite ones:
Elektron Machine Drum: New generation machine, excellent sequencer, good variety of sound (plus sampler module).. but rather expensive.
Roland R8 : Bloody good and still rather cheap - you also have to find the expansion rom libraries
All the small Alesis and boss boxes from the 90's are quite cool and cheap.
As Motone said , the MFB boxes are limited in their sound palette but rather fun to use.
All the Sampling grooveboxes can make a good drum machine (especially the Akai ones).
For more "chippy" sound, get a C64 and Prophet 64 Cartridge which has a really nice drum part.
I use a RM1x. Not a drum machine par-se, it's a groove box. But it does have plenty of kits including a 909, 808 and some phat d&b kits. There's a decent FX bank, filters etc, so you can mess with the sounds quite alot. There are 16 tracks which you can mute/unmute at will, you can save mute presets too which is useful. Each style has 16 sections, which can concist of as many bars as you like. The real joy is that you can take a song straight form your sequencer, export to MIDI, then import it straight into the RM1x, then you can chop it up into sections. Makes the journey from studio to live much easier!
You can see mine in action on my recent video http://chipmusic.org/forums/post/46189 
EDIT : Oh, and mine only cost me £30 
Last edited by BitPop (Nov 14, 2010 3:39 pm)
Roland MC-303 is also a cheap but rock solid groovebox. Sounds are quite cheesy, but the drum sounds are more than okay. But not much live tweaking possible (except for part mutes and filter).
I don't think the MC-303 can trigger external sounds either. I think they only added that with the 505 or 808. 303 was pretty poor outing really. I think alot of people bought it thinking it was like ReBirth in a box 
I don't think the MC-303 can trigger external sounds either.
What do you mean? Of course the MC-303 can trigger external MIDI stuff. Or did you mean sampling?
BitPop wrote:I don't think the MC-303 can trigger external sounds either.
What do you mean? Of course the MC-303 can trigger external MIDI stuff. Or did you mean sampling?
Technically, maybe it can. But it's not very flexible. There's only 8 channels for starters and it doesn't transmit knob data >_<
Which kinds of drum machines are used to pump out heavy beats? Sub-bass and the like? I've looked into the ER-1, sp404 and TR707.
Any suggestions?
Roland TR 808 Master of the subs
There's teh Acidlab Miami bass which is probably cheaper than the original and based on the original circuitry (http://www.acidlab.de/)...
Actually, there's a VST which is very capable (Nepheton from D16) but I suppose you are more after real hardware.
Last edited by goonzy (Jan 3, 2011 9:18 pm)
That's very helpful! I'm definitely after real hardware, but something I can sync with lsdj (as a slave) using arduinoboy tech, so the syncing features on that are stellar. Now I just need to come into a pile of money!
So any 808 would probably work, right? As long as it's midi.