Roland 303

[Scrawny]

Just wondering if anyone could tell me what the main difference is between the TB303 and the MC303, all I know is that the TB is the original one that came out in 82.

[romelpotter]

tb 303 does basslines
mc 303 emulates the 303, 808,909 and a shit load more although the sounds are very datyed these days.

[Evil G]

tb = good
mc = bad

[MARKEG]

tb = good
mc = bad

:clap:

[g]

tb = good
mc = bad
that's being kind

[Scrawny]

How much a TB303 set one back these days???

[Komplex]

betweem 50 and 2000 dollars

[acidchild]

$50? Please tell me where?

$2000?? Who's the jackass trying to sell for this?

The MC-303 is a POS groovebox...maybe a good drum machine at best. The TB-303 is the true Acid Machine. The one and only=o]

MC-303
http://www.vintagesynth.org/roland/images/mc303.jpg

TB-303
http://www.computer-controlled.com/My-Pics/images/TB-303andSM7.jpg

[Komplex]

Thats $AU

I've seen them in the trading post for over 2 grand before. Ones that have the devilfish mod etc. Theres one currently for sale by Voiteck who runs Truck music if anyone remembers that label...

Theres also an un-modded 303 going for AU$1300 not too far from my area. If anyone wants it I'm more than happy to drive down, buy it and ship it over if I get some petrol and services money ;)

[acidchild]

Ahhhh....$au! OK. That explains it! But hey, $50 AU is super cheap still=o]

[dirty_bass]

If you want a good 303 and don`t want to pay inflated prices for an old piece of very limited kit.
Track down the Freebase 383 by F.A.T
It sounds just like a 303 (I have had both), has a retune botton, for when the tuning drifts. Is midi compatible, has bigger knobs, the filter has more range and woomf. And costs about 90 quid second hand.
Also, the wave type is constantly variable between square and sine.

[grog|e]

Check out the future retro 777. Its been a round for a few years now, so you might be able to find one secondhand pretty cheap. They *really* rock if you want classic analog synthisis for the computer age.

Its got almost everything you could want:
2 osc/ringmod + noise + sub oscs
step sequencer
builtin midi/CV gate converter

no effects or LFO as I remember, but you can use the oscs as LFOs I think

makes the original 303 look like a dogs cock in a stocking

http://www.future-retro.com/

[Evil G]

my buddy has an fr777. it sounds awesome, and can do a convincing 303 impression and more. but the hose heads at future retro are taking the analog purist thing too far by not including patch memory. the fr777 nobs are actually continuous, and they would have to quantize the nob positions to store them digitally. big deal. i'd rather be able to save patches to near their true position than not at all!

[j_s]

If you want a good 303 and don`t want to pay inflated prices for an old piece of very limited kit.
Track down the Freebase 383 by F.A.T
It sounds just like a 303 (I have had both), has a retune botton, for when the tuning drifts. Is midi compatible, has bigger knobs, the filter has more range and woomf. And costs about 90 quid second hand.
Also, the wave type is constantly variable between square and sine.

Shit. I saw one of these on ebay for about £50, but didn't bother bidding as I thought anything that cheap would have to be a bit shit.

What's the filter like for routing other audio through? I seem to remember reading this was possible with the unit and a 303 emulator plus a decent analogue filter for under £100 would be very nice indeed...

[acidchild]

I have both the 303 and the FB-383. And had a 777 for a few years. the 383 and 777 are excellent. The 383 can be heard along the 303 in the new Acid House tracks i just did. I don't have with the 777, been too long since i sold it. Patch memory? Who cares. They're not being purists...it's simply a cost thing. Keep the price as low as possible. No one has ever complained about the non patch storage at all. I think it's a good trade off.

[Evil G]

Patch memory? Who cares. They're not being purists...it's simply a cost thing. Keep the price as low as possible. No one has ever complained about the non patch storage at all. I think it's a good trade off.

with 32 nobs and 7 switches, i care. i don't want to dig out a binder full of hand drawn diagrams and twiddle with fine tuning to get back the sound i made yesterday. i want to call it up by midi. at even a low hourly rate for your time, such a feature would pay itself off very quickly.

[DJZeMig_L]

I think the 777 does "record yer patch" if u record the pattern, meaning that the "patch" is trapped 2 the pattern!


Z

[dirty_bass]

the 383 has no patch memory, but you don`t need it, at all.
The accenting is fab.
You`ll need to run your 303 or 383 through some effects, I advice some distortion of orverdrive stomp boxes, and a chorus for extra chordal resonance for that "control" by secret hero sound.

[acidchild]

I think the 777 does "record yer patch" if u record the pattern, meaning that the "patch" is trapped 2 the pattern!


Z

Nope. The only memory it has is for the sequencer, which is completly seperate from the synth section. Same as the original 303. The knobs don't send or recieve any type of MIDI controls either.

[sash]

hey Komplex yeah i saw that Voiteck add too. Wouldn't ya just love to get one and make it go dugga dugga digga digga gidda gidda eeiiggga eiiigga eeiiiidiii eeeiiidiiii aaaaiiieeiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiioooaaaooouuuuuiiiiii....

[DJZeMig_L]

Okie no wanting 2 start any flames but I think I do recall going thru patterns and getting different sounds...!? humm I might b totally wrong but I have 1, it's borowed at a friends house and never really warmed up 2 it! :(

Z

[dan the acid man]

you cant beat guitar distortion pedals for some nice warm distortion on a 303.

[DJZeMig_L]

and noise lol ;)


Z

[Basil Rush]

there are some dutch dudes who do a yellow thing in a rack that sounds brilliant .... i don't think it was the freebass one though, called something else ... can't remember what the **** it was tho. sounded well nice.

we had an MC303, lent it to a mates kids now, if anyone wants the drum sounds i sampled most of them. there's a couple of handy noises in there.

mc505 has some good drum sounds too, if anyone has all the claps sampled up off this thing I'd love them :)

[FILTERZ]

and noise lol ;)


Z




you know that :lol:

[acidchild]

I guarentee the 777 does not store synth patches. The yellow rack mount is the Syntechno Tee Bee. It came in other colors as well...as the different revs came out, the colors changed. I THINK! I can remember a Yellow version and a Black version.

[acidchild]

I use an Ibanez SM7 Smach Box dostortion pedal...very nice. You don't lose any of the low end, which is a bonus. Basil, how would i get those samples? I always thought the MCheese-303 would make a decent drum machine!

[Basil Rush]

I guarentee the 777 does not store synth patches. The yellow rack mount is the Syntechno Tee Bee. It came in other colors as well...as the different revs came out, the colors changed. I THINK! I can remember a Yellow version and a Black version.

Yeah, that's the one, thought it sounded great compared to the freebass when i heard them back to back.

[dirty_bass]

I found the syntechno a little too abrasive and lacking in bottom end growl.
But then I bought mine when I was making proper acid techno, so I was looking for a very specific sound.

[slavestudios]

i use 2 MC303s in my live shows for basslines & drums.

they are evry very limited, but sturd as **** & rock solid.

theres better out there (no doubt) but they is a cool wee toy to play with.

much rather have 2 SU700s & a Quasimidi 309 & maybe a Machine drum, but i am skint as ****, so i make do with what i have.

i will say this though, i'd rather see a guy with an MC303 jammin live than someone pressin 'start' on reason on a laptop

[Scrawny]

Been looking around abit....anyone ever used a MAM ADX1 Analog Drum Expander??

http://www.bigcitymusic.com/i/cat/New/1000075_L.jpg

[slavestudios]

tbh, i think the MC gets a lot worse press than it deserves. it started the whole Groovebox thing & as much as you can slag it, i think its done itself proud.

as a first machine, its great. bit of drums, bit of synth, bit of fx, bit of sequencing..

its all well & good for you guys to sit with your Nord Leads & Andromedas & 777s, but that kit is well out of reach for your start out bedroom jock producer...


snobbery :nono:

[FILTERZ]

i use 2 MC303s in my live shows for basslines & drums.

they are evry very limited, but sturd as **** & rock solid.

theres better out there (no doubt) but they is a cool wee toy to play with.

much rather have 2 SU700s & a Quasimidi 309 & maybe a Machine drum, but i am skint as ****, so i make do with what i have.

i will say this though, i'd rather see a guy with an MC303 jammin live than someone pressin 'start' on reason on a laptop

you still have to press start on your mc303 dont ya , i would rather see someone jamming , dont matter what its on laptop or what

[slavestudios]

yep. u gotta do the same with a Technic as well...

i dont use song mode btw, i bounce thru patterns manually on 2 MCs & 4 drumachines...


what i'm talkin about is pre-programmed sequences