Oddly for a machine made in the early-to-mid-80's it's mostly associated with the early-90's commercial house movement, and was used extensively on Stock, Aitken and Waterman's productions of Kylie Minogue et al.

Without effects the sounds are dated - the kick drum is timeless (it's a bassy pulse), but the snares and claps are very 1991. On the other hand, judiciously-applied effects can transform the beast into a hardcore monster, although the same could be said of many other drum machines.

In terms of pose value it's second only to a TB303, and partially as a reaction to this, and the vastly inflated prices, it tends to inspire a mixture of love and hate. Some love it as a musical tool and status symbol, at which it excels (and, in my opinion, there isn't anything wrong with status symbols), whilst on the other hand it doesn't have much musical range (house/techno, basically), and in common with most retro gear it's not much use on its own.

Furthermore at 1,000 pounds it's beyond the reach of most musicians, and looked at objectively a second-hand Roland R8 (or, for that matter, a sampler) is a much better buy. And, in terms of style, the TR606 looks nicer and is roughly one-ninth the price, although it's extremely limited.

All in all, it's a useful mid-80's MIDIfied drum machine with a hard, analogue sound and a hands-on programming approach.