Roland MC-303 Groovebox

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Roland MC-303 Image

The original groovebox for dance/techno! It's got 303, 808, 909, Jupiter, and Juno sounds. It is a sequencer arranger and looks a lot like the original 303's and 808's... Not to mention it includes real-time Filter Cutoff, resonance, panning and arpeggiator. With this box alone you can become a techno music maker!!! It sounds pretty good and has an unbeatable price (around $500)!!!! Though it's been swept aside by the MC-505, JX-305, EG-101 and Yamaha RM1x, it's still a good entry-level machine for those of you on a budget or just starting out. It has been used by ATB.



54 VISITOR COMMENTS

maarten
December 28, 2011 @ 4:41 am
chris303, just set them to ext, then 'system write' (shift+function+button 15)
ananjar@yahoo.com
December 2, 2011 @ 4:17 am
Hey guys, the memory of mine is full, and use I've done dump, but I dont't know if it is possible make longer the memory.
Expansion board, or something like that?

Thanks!
victor
October 5, 2011 @ 6:17 pm
ok ELT your review is not based on owning a mc303 and the huge learning curve that most owners suffer from. but the reason why people buy the mc303 is because it is a tr909 tr808 tr78 and synths to die for maybe they are not pro samples but for the price used i got mine £100 and so glad roland produced these. i have a korg em-1 and it has 2 synths no polophony what does the mc303 have loads . please someone tell me how bad the samples sound in the mc303 sound module mode and i will sell my korg and buy a roland jv module. on it's own the mc303 will not impress but give it some respect
ELT
October 5, 2011 @ 12:37 pm
Well I tried one out today as I was considering taking it on a part trade for my drum kit. I have to say that Im glad I didnt. Its def not what I personally would be making music with. It has very basic effects, 2/5, the sounds are not the greatest, ok bass, ok melodies, but thats just ok, 3/5. Its not that its a bad peice of gear... For the right price (UNDER $120) For a begginers groove box maybe... You get midi control, 8 tracks, a few effects knobs and 28 voice poly! Although you should def take a look at the Korg Electribe series 1st, ER-1, Em-1 etc. Overall I rate this machine at 2.5/5
victor
September 9, 2011 @ 5:35 pm
i thought mine was usless not being able to play on the fly with it then i bought a roland mc50 hooked up to it.. i can control all volumes of drums playing in realtime now this little box has really come to life think of a korg electribe ahh no timeing issues either.. i tried hooking the mc303 to pc softwear with allsorts of problems i was going to flog not now. for the price of these secondhand they are worth the money but they take forever to learn how to use. but with all the sounds in the box you will still be more than happy
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • Audio Clip 1 - ample grooves and loops and an arpeggios with filter tweaking. From the Future Music CD, isue 47.

    Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - 28 voices
  • # of Tones - 448
  • # of Drum Sets - 12 (inc. 808, 909)
  • # of Instruments - 16 part multitimbral
  • Effects - Reverb, delay, chorus and flange
  • Arpeg/Seq - Sequencer : 8 tracks, 10 songs, 120 preset & 50 user patterns.
    Arpeg: 200 RPS phrases
  • Keyboard - 12 buttons
  • Control - MIDI
  • Date Produced - 1996
  • Est. Value - $400

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