acts in parties coupled with a sampler. Sounds are good for standard use and the big knobs (cut off, reso, lfo, ADSR...)

are useful for realtime effects.

It's not analog but anyway it's fully portable (3kg) !

I don't know if I am really qualified to rate any gear with my experience, but i would rate this one with a 4 or maybe 5 as a drummachine.

As a drummachine it's very useful, I can do what I think of doing with it except for the hihats which are quite static and boring. Further on, it IS a digital sample module and I hate the low resolution(1-127) when turning the knobs. This infects all features, especially the envelope, this sucks!!!

Also the resonance is very weak. The cutoff goes deep though but then in the end it all depends on the sounds you're editing, and these are very limited. The bass sounds you're supposed to tweak are quite boring and very limited for editing because you know exactly how a bassline can sound, and the MC will only sound as a fraction of the real stuff.

But there are "a lot"(~450) of other sounds that are also tweakable, this part is fun to experiment with if you don't know what to expect. But then it's a question of time 'till this gets boring too. I will sell my MC-303 and buy a sampler instead, it will probably cover the whole groovebox and much more.

What I have gotten out of this machine is how sounds, envelopes, filters, LFO's, midi etc..etc.. works. I don't think I can get much more out of it.

Either it's the machine that limits my creativity or I can't do more than this. I think I can... Kind regards

Arnold Kopping

This thing is nothing but a glorified and overpriced SoundCanvas with a very basic 8-track sequencer attatched and static sampled sounds that will go out of style in the next few years. Don't let the store demos fool you. Stay away from this waste of money. The closest thing in terms of price and capabilities would be the CS1x by Yamaha which blows this unit away. Buy one of those instead.

other equipment. Standalone, it has its own sequencer, but frankly,

you will notice that it will sound much alike. I've been using

the mc as a external box aswell, and compared to the "real" thing,

the 303 doesnt got exactly what it takes. Its a overall good machine,

meaning, it has a little of everything.

But i dont whine, ive owned one for a while back now, and i dont get

bored with this machine. For those who intend to buy one, dont buy one

and think youve bought a TB.. it isn't a tb, and will never be.

Its a damn fun, goodlookin, portable groovebox.

More recently, I have been using it with cubase as a sound module. It's got cool sounds but because of the lack of outputs, you have to rely on the internal effects which are cool (but you can only set one at a time). Download the mixermap (MC303) that allows filtering, effects control, volume control etc. Write your filter changes in Cubase and have fun watching them as they play back. I have owned my box for 2 years and have not tired of the sounds, nor exhausted the possibilities of the box. Interestingly, I have never used the RPSs as they cannot be recorded. Can anyone direct me on how best to use theses

I am currently using the 303's midi-out to control my Akai S3000 sampler and pretending that I am using an MPC3000. I am desperately seeking someone who has opened up their 303 and fucked about with it. Wouldn't it be nice to add 6 more outputs and analogue filters (Curtis - preferably). Could this be possible?

Finally, I left my friends house one night with the 303 in a record bag, jumped into my Suzuki Jeep with two friends and drove off at high speed. 10 minutes later, I said, "Where's the 303?". Nobody had it. I'd left it on the roof of the Jeep! After having a look on the roof (It wasn't there), I drove back through dark London streets, scanning the road..... and found it outside my friends house on the street, in the gutter. It had fallen 5 feet onto a kerb and into the road, protected only by its thin record bag. I took it home, switched it on and it was fine. After that, I have to love it!