ROLAND TR-808

[GOT MILK?]

a) How much can you expect to pay for this classic in good condition?

b) Are there any great 808 synths to bypass buying a 20+ year old synthesizer?

[verb1]

I can answer question A: about $800. That's what they're commonly going for on eBay. There's tons of 808 files that you can buy on CD - ie. Akai, which are pretty good - and I'm sure nearly every decent synth or drum machine has at least a few 808 sounds, but I'm not sure about quality.

[EYE]

As for the sounds, there are a lot of alternatives (as stated before).

Most people I come across who swear by the original hardware do not talk so much about the sound, but they (almost religiously) love/need/can't do without, the timing of the machine.

This is all hear say, so don't pin me down on this one.....

[GOT MILK?]

$800 doesn't seem too bad for a classic.. I'm all VST right now..just looking to branch out a little.

[Tibbon]

Yea bout 800 bucks or a little more if it's in great condition.

If money is no object, then a Machinedrum UW is a pretty nice step in and past that direction. You can load samples onto it (and there's the new Turbomidi interface you get for free, which makes it much faster). It's about what... 1600 for one? Amazing sounds. You can get it to do anything.

Here's a little clip of something that I just did a few minutes ago on it (all internal to the MD... no effects, external processing, etc)

[PhonoquO]

cop an 808 if you have the money. Record loops into your computer and you;'re good. timing on that thing is beautiful. If you get tired of it, at least it looks nice and holds it's value

[verb1]

Originally Posted by PhonoquO

cop an 808 if you have the money. Record loops into your computer and you;'re good. timing on that thing is beautiful. If you get tired of it, at least it looks nice and holds it's value

Better yet, cop the 808 and record all the kicks with varying pitches and decays and upload them for us!

[Cojo]

Although 800 seems in the upper region I can only agree with the other posters - it feels good to know you are tweeking the real thing. As an alternative I would spend my money on a secondhand Machinedrum. Very nice!

/Cojo

[ShaneFontane]

the 808 kills it! it's like, um... insta-beat! the 909 is pretty sick to, but mostly used for house/techno/trance etc... but the 808 is classic miami bass, southern, and electro sounds... mmm yum! it's a fun drm machine to lay beats live with.

buy it buy it buy it....

[The Dark Matters]

It's money well spent on an original TR808...

being able to tune the original kick and the decay is Amazing!

plus not to mention all the other sounds...

Also the timing is as tight as a nats arse..

Boom BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PhonoquO]

supposedly there is some hot 808 sample kit floating around that is used by alot of big name producers that has been tracked to 2" for that nice warmth. Would love if someone posted that up! The tape is crucial. 808>Compression>Tape

[GOT MILK?]

Originally Posted by PhonoquO

supposedly there is some hot 808 sample kit floating around that is used by alot of big name producers that has been tracked to 2" for that nice warmth. Would love if someone posted that up! The tape is crucial. 808>Compression>Tape

I am curious about this too..

I'm assuming it's not the one all over e-bay for $15 (the only thing I even find when I search for an 808).

[illynoise]

Yeah, a producer that I've known for a minute brought in a kit on MPC that he said he got from another "Big" producer at a studio, Zac's I think, in ATL. It is like an instant dirty south kit. It's sounds are severely overly compressed, but it sounds pretty good straight out of the box.

I'll try to get it for ya'll. Maybe this is, maybe it's not!

BaseJase
Illynoise

[PhonoquO]

If it's been saturated to tape (sounds like it has by you saying heavily compressed), i'm definitely down!

[DeathGripProd.]

Dont say Poppa Pill Never did anything for you. If you guys would like to do me a favor in return Please go to my myspace pages and listen to my tunes/friend me

myspace.com/poppapill

or go to my website

www.deathgripproductions.com

and check it out.

Most of all ENJOY!

http://www.deathgripproductions.com/...umMachines.rar


.DOWNLOAD FROM ABOVE SITE.

Attatched are some beats I made in reason using some 808 samples. new808 used mostly 808 sounds for the drum kit.

Poppa Pill

[lynn ness]

Peace Milk. If you can find a clean 808 in a used shop, it should be priced around $650/700. You may want to contact a couple respectable shops that see them fairly often, put your name on a "wish list" and just hold tight.

They do pop up on eBay consistently enough, but fools are trippin' on what they're willing to pay for an 808 these days -- last one I saw which was a week ago went for $1,100 and that's bananas to me. Wait until hyphy and dirty south loses some steam and you'll probably be able to cop one on eBay for about 5 yards.

I would also highly recommend looking into getting E-mu's Planet Phatt sound module (even in addition to getting the Roland). This is a classic piece of gear from the mid '90s (now discontinued) with ******** 808s and basses -- can't tell you how often I use this in my work. Chances are good that your favorite producers use it as well... People definitely know about this one...

And on a sidenote, if you can get a 909 for cheap, there's a mod you can do that makes it thump EXTRA HARD. Anyway, just a few things to keep in mind.

Peace and good luck.

[ignatius]

the prices for 808's have spiked lately. i've seen them going for $1100-$1300!!!! on ebay and at dealer shops on line. kind of a bummer. a $600 808 would be a score.

[PhonoquO]

even $ 1200 for an 8 is worth it man. There aren't that many around anymore. You're buying the best drummachine ever made, and the most recorded and sampled electronic machine period!

[verb1]

Originally Posted by DeathGripProd.

http://www.deathgripproductions.com/...umMachines.rar

Thanks homey. Always on the lookout for bigger and better 808's.

[KingUgly]

If you get one in good shape for $1000, I'd say you got a fair deal. Not a great deal, but a fair one.

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by PhonoquO

even $ 1200 for an 8 is worth it man. There aren't that many around anymore. You're buying the best drummachine ever made, and the most recorded and sampled electronic machine period!

I don't know about the best drum machine ever. The TR909 I'd say was just as heavily used, if not moreso. Also still the Machinedrum is a pretty sick and twisted drum machine, which I'd say is the best drum machine being made.

[dtheone]

You can download Rebirth 2.01 ISO (made by propellerheads who made recycle and Reason) for free; this is the ABSOLUTE digital model of the Tb303, 808 and 909 and it's FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I owned both the tr808 and tr 909; believe me when I tell you this is accurately modeled to the very last T.

I would suggest re-wiring it to Nuendo/Cubase, use Magneto (simulates 2 inch tape) a nice pultec eq plug-in (your choice) and a compressor, limiter (again your choice)
and you will definitley have that Boom Tick you are searching for.

Oh; the website for the free .iso of rebirth (this used to cost 399.00) is:

http://www.rebirthmuseum.com/

PS

This wont' run on Mac OSX; it will run on Windows 98, 2000, ME, Xp, Xp Pro

PS Again

You can also create your own drum kitts wav or aif from this program.

[dtheone]

Originally Posted by lynn ness

And on a sidenote, if you can get a 909 for cheap, there's a mod you can do that makes it thump EXTRA HARD. Anyway, just a few things to keep in mind.

Peace and good luck.

No mod needed for the 909; all you had to do was use accent on any given sound and turn the level 3/4 clockwise. Roland admitted a defect on the Stereo outs which were noisy. This became the main reason people bought the machine; it was because of the harsh sound output defect; accent/level that allowed you to achieve a distorted sound.

Propellerheads Rebirth Program emulates the defect; you can't get any better than that!

[dtheone]

Taken from www.rebirthmuseum.com



The Roland Seal of Approval (1997)


Of the thousands of people who downloaded the alpha versions of ReBirth from the Propellerhead's website, access logs revealed that many originated in Japan, specifically from internet addresses at Roland. There were undisputable copyright concerns with the development of software that capitalized on the phenomenon established by Roland. Sample library companies had taken liberties with their own recordings of 303, 808, and 909 sounds, but Propellerhead was the first to push the envelope and add visual references of the TB and TR devices.

Representatives from the Roland Corporation initiated fax correspondence with the Propellerhead office, and ultimately, Roland stipulated that the following phrase be added (in fine print) to the packaging and application splash screen:

"Rebirth RB-338 was inspired by the TR-808 and TB-303 originally created by Roland Corporation. Their unique sounds and visual images have been re-born through digital simulation by propellerhead software"


Propellerhead Software regarded this as a blessing from Roland, as it was considered an "unofficial thumbs-up" and their acknowledgment provided strong marketing leverage. In a sense, Roland's stamp of approval legitimized ReBirth as something that met the standards of Roland quality. Since their initial correspondence, Propellerhead Software has cultivated a strong relationship with Roland and Mr. Kakehashi.

[dtheone]

And lastly:

As soon as version 2.0 was released in 1998, development began on "Project X," later revealed as the virtual studio software to succeed ReBirth - Reason. Due to the massive undertaking, Propellerhead dedicated their entire development resources to the endeavor, and didn't look back. A surge of interest followed Reason's introduction in 1999, and when the software was finally released, the popularity of the company skyrocketed. The phenomenon of ReBirth was eclipsed by the dawn of Reason.

While there have been plans to resurrect the 338, far too much time has passed, and realistically, the economics of software development prompted the decision to terminate ReBirth. Even after a decade of operation, Propellerhead Software is a relatively small company, and must focus their efforts on future technologies. The company contemplated outsourcing ReBirth, but quickly determined that those plans would consume valuable time and energy best spent on priority projects. Finally, ReBirth was discontinued with the parting gesture of making it publicly available. Ernst Nathorst-Böös stated the following:

"We think we serve the community better by concentrating the small development efforts we have on creating new exciting stuff than keeping what we feel is essentially a stale concept alive. ReBirth was a great achievement in its day and we're very proud of it."


So Reason killed rebirth. I'd say that the propellerhead rebirth software is much like the sought after hardware tb303, tr-808 and 909; it is rare; I have both the original 1.0 software, 1.5 and 2.01.

My hats off to propellerhead; Recycle, Rebirth and Reason have impacted the music industry more significantly than any other program I know. What would we all do without re-wire technology and vst instruments (which propellerhead is also responsible for)

Peace

[joemad]

I paid 500 for an 808 about 5 years ago. I don't see them for less than 800 these days. The best 808 collection around is "the 808 Collection". Just go to google and type in "the 808 Collection". It's updated now and then with new samples and you get some cool analog synths too.

[gsilbers]

weird no one mentioned this baby; http://www.d16.pl/index.php?menu=153

thier 303 and 909 are really dead on replicas but havent tried out the 808

[Kestral]

How about the Novation Drum Station??

[nynofi]

Originally Posted by gsilbers

weird no one mentioned this baby; http://www.d16.pl/index.php?menu=153

When is this coming out?

[carllock]

and no one mentioned the Zoom Streetboxx, the best $150 one could ever spend on a studio