Boss DR-660 vs Roland TR-505

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Member Since: Apr 14, 2009

hi.
i'm a musician making a lo-budget album & i'm in need of a drum machine.
i don't have much money and so was looking on ebay.
i'm a big fan of that vintage roland sound, but can't afford it.
what i can afford is a used boss dr-660 or roland tr-505 (they tend to go for around the same price on ebay - and they both come up frequently).
i'm thinking the 505 is a budget roland & the 660 is a higher-end boss product (relatively). but a proper roland with a zero in the middle of it's name? mmmm. yes please.
i have a sample library of almost every drum sound ever on my pc, but, for me, you can't beat the feel of a real machine - i always seem to come up with better beats when i'm using one.
i'm currently borrowing a friend's boss dr-3 and, while i'm impressed with some of the sounds (the 808 toms & side stick especially), i find the whole thing over-complicated & fussy and dare i say it, cheap-feeling.
so what's better the boss dr-660 ot the roland tr-505?
only one way to find out . . .
FIGHT!

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Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Apr 29, 2009 06:37 pm

To be honest the 505 was the very low end budget machine from Roland. It was loaded with 16 sounds that found a home on many records for the quirky sound. Not really for the great sound.

The 660 is a newer, bigger and a bit more durable machine. It is loaded with a good deal more sounds and has a good deal more options as well.

One thing I might suggest is taking a look at what has been the industry standard battle ready drum machine. The Alesis SR-16. It has been around longer then any other drum machine on the planet. And just last year was finally given an update, or more like a big brother. There are tons of samples of its sound out there. But it was the first drum machine to use high end true drum sample's.

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