I'm wondering if anyone has had experience using the ZR76 as a drum machine, specifically for recording as opposed to just demos. I'm very interested in getting a ZR76, but I'd like to upgrade from the drum sound quality of the Alesis SR-16. Will the ZR76 be an adequate replacement/upgrade?

Thanks.

Scott

Well, i'll tell you this. I have an MR-76, which is essentially exactly like the ZR76 except the MR is 16 bit and has large easy to manipulate knobs and the ZR itty bitty knobs, but it's 24 bit.. whoa. Anyway, the sounds are all the same, everything is identical for all i can tell, and my MR is great for drums... if you use a seperate sequencer, because while you can manage with the ZR's sequencer, unless it has changed from the MR's then it will be a royal pain in the arse to make drum sequences. however, the MR and ZR have a stupifying amount of drum sounds to work with, so with the help of an external sequencer (a good cheap one that i like to use for making drum sequencer is SEQ-808 by techno toys). The velocity of drum hits can be controlled from the sequencer which is what you want to do, because the you have to manually go into all those crazy ZR menus to turn down the touch sensitivity of the keys to adequetly make drum sequences in my experience. So my verdict is this.. unless the ZR has changed from the MR in ways that i have not seen, the ZR will be a poor drum sequencer, but then again, not many drum machines are good for that anyway. However, i'm sure you'll be happy with all the drum sounds there are! I know i am.. i pray that you don't have as many problems with your machine as i do with mine though, this is the 2nd time in a year and a half that it's been severely broken! Arrrrggggg!

Well, i'll tell you this. I have an MR-76, which is essentially exactly like the ZR76 except the MR is 16 bit and has large easy to manipulate knobs and the ZR itty bitty knobs, but it's 24 bit.. whoa. Anyway, the sounds are all the same, everything is identical for all i can tell, and my MR is great for drums... if you use a seperate sequencer, because while you can manage with the ZR's sequencer, unless it has changed from the MR's then it will be a royal pain in the arse to make drum sequences. however, the MR and ZR have a stupifying amount of drum sounds to work with, so with the help of an external sequencer (a good cheap one that i like to use for making drum sequencer is SEQ-808 by techno toys). The velocity of drum hits can be controlled from the sequencer which is what you want to do, because the you have to manually go into all those crazy ZR menus to turn down the touch sensitivity of the keys to adequetly make drum sequences in my experience. So my verdict is this.. unless the ZR has changed from the MR in ways that i have not seen, the ZR will be a poor drum sequencer, but then again, not many drum machines are good for that anyway. However, i'm sure you'll be happy with all the drum sounds there are! I know i am.. i pray that you don't have as many problems with your machine as i do with mine though, this is the 2nd time in a year and a half that it's been severely broken! Arrrrggggg!

Thanks for the response. I just found this from Ensoniq's web site, advertising a computer program as an accessory to the ZR76. I had hoped these features would be built into the on-board sequencer. Problem now: I really don't want to buy a notebook computer just for this reason. And what about live performances? Do I have to have a computer with me and look like a geek?

The long-awaited ZR/MR Rhythm Builder is here!!!
Now you can create your own drum rhythms for
our ZR/MR-series keyboards and save them on
disk as a complete rhythm with fills and variations.
Available for PC only.

One more thing. I do have an old Alesis MMT-8 sequencer that I could probably use. But I can't control the velocity from the sequencer. And how would I save the different drum sets I want to use for different songs? (Why is this so hard, anyway?)

Scott