cheap MC-09, talk me out of it

[TrondC]

local ad, MC-09 for $70, worth a shot or is it as useless as I've been lead to believe?
seems a no-brainer, but I'm really not supposed to be buying any gear now, as I still struggle to learn the stuff I have properly.. (yes I'm a slow learner)

I'm thinking of using it mainly for live shows, as a second 303-voice, I've heard the drums suck pretty much, but any useful kicks in there?

convince me

[Hair]

Looking at the VSE page/comments/youtube link for it, for $70? If I were you, I'd probably go for it unless I was really strapped for cash.

[Yekuku]

talk me out of it

convince me

lol ! U seem confused
I d say, go for it
I bought mine for 180 euro last year and i did not regret it.
The sampler section sucks, since it is full of aliasing/jitter.
About the rythym section , it sucks too. I am into DnB , and I cant find any drum sound that suits my productions.
Most of the factory sequences also suck and it is a pain in the a*s to program . ( just like the real thing)
It sounds like a 303 emulation, but not close enough.
I say buy it, because this box has character and sounds great. Just dont compare it with a real 303.

[JSRockit]

Buy it even if only to resell it... they go for more than $70.

[Syn303]

Pressing [SHIFT] + [16] = Vintage 303 Mode?

The MC-09's filter kind of steps though, it's not really smooth.
But can be aggressive, does some good bass sounds, still very
limited. Almost toyish in appearance, with them useless RCA phono
outs (why oh why Roland, what were you thinking?) The MC-09's
Accent doesn't quite kick it like the 303's Accent does (MC-09's is
much weaker). And the Accent only affects the Amp (Volume)
and not the Cutoff like a real 303. The drums are pretty weak too.

But... I would ask VSE'r 23, as he owns 2 of them for his opinion.

[Stab Frenzy]

The MC-09 is something that I reckon could be used in some really interesting ways. I'm sure it's got some weird Roland limitations that you'll have to work around, but that's always the way.

I do however reckon that using it a second 303 voice might possibly be not the best use of it, but that's just a guess.

[Ashe37]

I'd pay $70 for it if i didn't dislike roland's interface...

[garranimal]

Buy it even if only to resell it... they go for more than $70.

They're selling for $130 - $250 on ebay.

[jeeroj]

it's got to be worth $70 even just to play with, like jsrockit said, you can always sell it on

[23]

I'd go ahead and get it.
The thing has a lot of annoying aspects to it, particularly as a sampler. Sample load times are extremely long, and sample quality is far from the best in the world. None the less, for live work, there's some nifty tricks up the things sleeve as a sampler.

As a 303 emulator it fails horribly. It can sound 303 like, but the sound of a clean 303 it quite spottedly can not hit.
There's a lot of things to it though that allow it to jump into territory that's very 303 foreign. It's arch is a fair deal deeper then the 303s (all be it be ready to menu dig on that end). On that end, it can serve well not so much as a 303 emulator, but an alternate take on the 303 concept (IMO).

I had a bit of a time getting my head around it's sequencer (and more). But that's largely due to the fact that the thing has the most horribly written manual I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

i think some people will love them, some people will hate them.

My true honest feeling on it was it was a piece of c**p, but it's crappiness went to such depth that it ended up being pretty unique. (which led me to loving the thing)
There was a pretty indepth review on the thing I had written for a friend a couple years back. I'll see if I can dig it up and PM it to you.
There was a demo I had recorded of it that can be reached HERE.

but at $70, h**l....buy it, and if you don't like it, you can probably sell it back off for a $100. Maybe even $150.
you can't go wrong really.

[TRANSISTOR FACE]

I'd go ahead and get it.
My true honest feeling on it was it was a piece of c**p, but it's crappiness went to such depth that it ended up being pretty unique. (which led me to loving the thing)
y.

Oh man, I know exactly how you feel. Forget about the sampler and drum-machine aspect of it... The dsp synth it has is just soooo quirky. I swear I can't get anything in my set-up to sound even remotely as just purely as digital (I mean this in a good way) as this thing.
I just love it. but yeah, it IS a crappy machine in itself. I don't use it in my music anymore seeing as how I've got my fair share of good analog gear but I remember back last year I was going through a kindof lo-fi chiptune style composition phase and it was perfect for that.

Get it!

[23]

I didn't go to much in detail (to save space) before, but I have to echo Transistor's sentiment.
Even as a VA, the thing just really doesn't sound analog. h**l, it doesn't sound like a subtractive ROMpler either.
Hence, as Techno was saying, why I would say the thing is just crappy.

The best way I know how to put it is take everything said about the 303, update it, and you have the 09.
Manual = Easily the most horrible I've ever encountered (despite the rumor of the 303 manual being bad, I actually found it pretty straight forward).

If it was (in part) designed for 303 emulation, it fails at this task pretty miserably.

If it was designed as to emulate analogue sound, again, it fails at this pretty miserably.

It's pretty damn hard to emulate it's sound (as use to be the case with the 303 before the emulation onslaught).

It's build quality is absolute c**p.

Yep.....it's crappiness simply goes to such depth that it ultimately becomes difficult to find something quite so good at being crappy. Hence why after getting one, I ended up IMMEDIATELY seeking another out.
was a total, "JESUS THIS IS CRAPPY! I GOTTA GET ANOTHER ONE! I LOVE IT! "

I've heard some say they think it's a future 303. I don't know about it ever hitting some sort of cult status like that. But yeah, it does bare resemblance in how damn crappy the thing is for what it was designed for (and it just so happened to end up with possibly the worst written manual ever to boot).

[TrondC]

haha 23, that's qute a post

I'm getting it, even tho I thing I won't be keeping it :p

[Blue Monster 65]

Eh - it's c**p. I'll give you 30 bucks for it.

Let us know your opinion of it once it's in your hands. I looked at buying one of these when they were being blown out, but didn't (didn't really need/want it, but wanted to fool around with it). If I were to find one that cheap now, I'd grab it, muck around with it and see how it works (or not) and then sell it. Looks like a no-brainer for fun to me!

Scott

[Computer Controlled]

For $70 you can't go wrong! You can double that easily if you end up not wanting it.