Alesis SR-18 HANDS DOWN! If you're looking to replace your DR-3 (nice drum machine by the way.., I used to own one), and outside of buying a new DR-3.., the Alesis SR-18 is the way to go (especially when looking at cost). Boss makes some nice drum machines but DAMN! are they expensive. Even dealers have complaints about Boss gear at "Cost".., unless Boss has recently dropped their prices to dealers.

As James said the SR-16 is probably one of the best selling Drum Machines of all time. Alesis has been selling that unit for YEARS and it's one of their big success products. You could probably find a used SR-16 for a good price too. I can't even begin to count the number of people I know who still own one or have owned one over the yearss



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 01-25-2010).]

That WK thingy how big is it? Will it let me play piano like I normally would play piano? Or do I have to alter my playing to suit the arranger? I tried the "Full Keyboard" mode on both Roland G series, Tyros 1 and my PSR-3000 the Rolands did the best job, but none of them could do it properly, I really had to limit myself in order to keep the digital band leader from getting carried away into experimental modern jazz music Which may offcourse say more about my piano playing than the hardware - but still... I used to own a General Music CD2 - I really liked that keyboard.

The Midjay is the most expensive alternative, this will take three gigs to pay off so if I chose that one it better be some naked girls included in the package... What I fear about that unit is that it may be so feature rich that it will be a major pain in the a** to sort out. The biggest important feature I need is flexibility, I have to be able to control the unit by playing like I always do, I have to able to let the crowds mood control if a song is longer or shorter than the original. I none of this was important, I would just load up an MP3 player with backing tracks and go to town. Maybe I'll do that? Is there any mp3 players that will loop a clip? Until you tell it to play the next without any delay between tracks? That would be cool!

I demoed the SR16 before I bought the DR-3, I liked a lot of the features, but lack of LCD backlight, and the way the fill worked put me off, also the sounds of the SR16 is in my opinion a bit "tin canny" or "electronic" compared to the DR-3. I also checked out the DR-550, DR-670 and Zoom series, the DR-3 was so small, light, and was really easy to use. And it had 3 variations per beat. And the way tou built songs and could loop the sections was pretty cool. I did get fooled by the seller on the bass features. I was under the impression you could play bass on it via midi, well you can.. but as soon as you let your fingers off the keyboard, it starts to play the built in bass pattern - not cool. But the best thing about the DR-3 is that it is built like a tank. This was not the first pint or G&T it has consumed in it's years. I think it died of liver failure....

But that SR18 sounds really cool and I like that big LCD display....

hm... I'm torned between old and familiar, and new and exciting....

DocZ



[This message has been edited by doc-z (edited 01-25-2010).]

Im not sure what youre using it with, but this works well for me: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/108105-REG/Alesis_SR16_SR_16_16_Bit.html

I also have this roland but it might be overkill for what u need: http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend....ELAID=284727430

[This message has been edited by chony (edited 01-25-2010).]

The DR-3 is a very nice drum machine. My main gripe with the unit is the pads. IMO they're not very good and too small. The design and texture of the pads is just all wrong. Who on the design team thought it was a good idea to put a curve on the pads is insane.., plus they're very slick due to the paint and material the pads are made of.

What exactly do you mean about the Bass feature? When I had my DR-3 (It's been a while).., I always used a midi keyboard for recording my patterns. I was able to input bass directly from the keys. If you were having trouble with the the preset bass riff playing once you lifted your hands off the keys.., why not just copy the preset pattern to a user location and then delete the bass track....

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 01-25-2010).]

I'm using it with whatever crappy digital piano is present at the bar/pub that I play. It is basically a tool to keep the crowd pumping, which in turn keeps the beer taps flowing. It doesn't have to be studio quality sounds on it, it just has to sound "live". And yes, none of these tin cans can compete with a real flesh and blood drummer, but a real life drummer costs money, is grumpy, usually has anger management issues and tends to drive clunker cars that break down on the way to gigs. So a drum machine that is a true drummer at least in "spirit" would work

What I like about the DR-3 is the way it uses velocity and trigger switching to get a humanized feel. The SR16 will get a bit thin "machine gun" sounding when doing a 16/32nd sections. But that is probably due to sample rom limitations, otherwise it is a good machine.

DocZ

I say just replace that DR-3 with another one if the new Alesis SR-18 isn't to your liking. Have you looked at the Zoom RT-223 as well? The RT-223 is essentially Zoom's competitor to the DR-3, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. When I bought my DR-3 it was when the price was only $179. Boss jacked that puppy up now and it's going for around $220.

about the bass part, obviously I am not smart enough to realise you could delete the bass part... I wish I knew that.

I think I will give that SR18 a go, the DR-3 is familiar and safe, but I can't help wonder if there is something more out there. It is kind of like women, just that the drum machine will not gut you like a pig for testing out the competition

DocZ

Unfortunately, nobody MAKES what you want, doc-z. Except Ketron. And those are older technology. No Audya module. No SA, no guitar modes, expensive, limited style library...

You need to consider either getting a proper arranger (you can always MIDI in a wood 88 if you have to play one of those) and do what you want with that. A much older, used module is going to frustrate you when you hear how much BETTER modern arrangers all sound (even the MOTL ones). Is bringing one more lightweight keyboard to a gig THAT much of a burden, especially how little more than the module some of them weigh?

You want live sounding drums, maybe a used E50 might fit the bill, or a new Korg PA700. Both of those can be had for less than a new Ketron module. If not, I'd still take a close look at that DR-880. I tried the Alesis SR-18 (had an SR-16 since they came out), and wasn't really that impressed...

I know that money is always a consideration (as it should be) but seems to me a Korg PA588 would solve both your drum and "crappy digital piano" situation in one fell swoop. Bite the bullet, man. You can thank me later.



chas

Oh, and doc.. There really isn't ANYTHING that can follow full, normal piano playing perfectly. So much is implied that no machine will ever figure out exactly what you WANT out of all the passing notes, runs, grace notes, clams ( ) and other assorted pianistic things.

Best they manage is a mode where the chord won't change until you hold down more than two notes, so you can play with the sustain pedal down and it won't change, but actually PLAY three notes or more simultaneously and then it goes to the new chord. Add in the mode where it knows what bass note you are playing, and you can get somewhat close to regular piano playing, but it is ALWAYS going to involve some sort of adjustment of technique to work right...