Roland mc 707 & 101 groovebox / Tr-6s rhythm performer

I got the 101 on Sunday, it’s pretty cool , a little limited compared to the 707 , but it’s battery powered which is great for jamming on the sofa or out the house , pretty easy to grasp too .
I’ve set it up in maschine you can stream 4 midi and audio tracks into maschine or a daw (707 has 8 tracks) and you can send the computer outputs back to it to resample in the looper , all over usb , gonna setup some macros later
I like it tho , so much so ,I’m gonna probably get a 707 next year .
Sampling overall is a little limited , you can load your own samples, and record in the looper , the 707 has lots of sound creation capabilities , the 101 not so much it has the same preset library but editing is stripped down , step automation is cool , And loads of effects .

No song mode and only 8 scenes atm, should be 16 imo , that you trigger In a live performance , 16 clips per track and 4 tracks x Upto 128 step per pattern per clip that can contain it’s own sound or kit and automation Data ,your not limited to using 4 sounds or kits overall , just 4 at one time.
I do like the step sequencer on the 101 , you have a little more control on the 707 due to the dedicated step buttons ,the 101 uses the pads for the steps , in drum mode and you can change the selected sound with the knob , in tone mode you have a keyboard octave laid out on the pads ,and use the knob to change step , Its easy to use very quick , I’d say jam is a bit quicker for drums but in keyboard mode the 101 tops it for me , I especially like the keyboard layout over the 64 pads type , no chord mode on the 101 but you can still program chords , so not a big loss .

https://www.roland.com/us/products/mc-101/
https://www.roland.com/us/products/mc-707/

 

I’ve been using it as an audio interface for my Mac , no physical inputs but it’s not something I need .
You can send your computer signal into the unit either pre or post fx and this also means you can use it as a LOOPBACK device in maschine and resample from it ,with fx , you can also individually resample each track from the mc-101 ,Overall it’s got 5 pairs of stereo inputs and 2 pairs of stereo output, The main mix and the 4 tracks , main output and an output for sending audio to the 101 looper.

Overall a cool little interface if you don’t need physical inputs , also works in a aggregate device with another interface, on Mac .

 

thanks for your hands-on-experience: seems to be a fun little box. if money wouldn't be so limited on my side i'd probably buy one too - but the big one. i love "tools" like these, where your creative juices can flow freely....

have fun and all the best to you.

greetings, Urs

 

No problem
I got the 101 because of it’s portability, but it’s definitely got more going for it than that .
I would like the 707 too for the sound design , I’m trying to sell a few things to raise the cash for it
I’d pair them both together for 12 tracks

 

I recently grabbed the 707, fantastic synth engine on it....

 

I picked up the 707 this morning , sold jam and komplete ultimate 12ce and an old interface, , to raise the cash for it , pretty much broke even , I also have the 101 , lol
Roland see me coming , I got that for the portability, being it was still summer when they released it , it’s cool tho the 101 can be connected to the 707 inputs and play through so ultimately I can have 12 tracks , I’m thinking I’ll use the 101 for vocal loops Prepared in maschines audio module

 

blasphemy

(have fun with that "other maschine" ;-)

 

I know , I know , really wanted that 707 tho . I’ve still got maschine and I’ll still be using it especially with the two boxes tho I might start using all 3 in logic due to the lack of inputs in maschine , but it’s good to get away from the computer , I’ve been loading maschine kits into the 707/101.
Thinking about selling my komplete kontrol mk2 next , I want a keystep to use with the boxes , probably pick up a m32 with it to replace the kk.

 

Really liking the 707 a lot , sounds awesome, loads of effects, love the pad layout , 2x8 works for me better than 4x4 , personally think maschine should have a 8x2 now or even better 8x4 so two octaves are readily available.
It’s easier to play notes on , and to know where you are in the scale .
Id love to see sequencing scenes aka song mode and a total of 16 scenes instead of 8.
Atm I’m recording a song from maschine into it via midi, recorded some audio loops into the 101 , I could easily get through the 12 track limit of the 707 +101 combo, but it’s pretty flexible so you can get round that by turning loops to one shots

 

New update, new features

 

Coming soon
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2...rkstations-keytars-grooveboxes-more/#comments

 

Thinking of getting a 101 - are people still pleased with it?

 

Yeah , I’m still using it , tho I’ve got a 707 as well, but I use them together and separately, being that it’s portable I use the 101 maybe more , it’s also a cool little audio interface, and a great sound module .
I’m undecided on which one I would miss , if I had to get rid of one

 

Thanks - my main uses are a simple rhythm section to play along to when jamming (I don't want to fire up a computer and power up Maschine just to play) and as a sound module. I had a 1:1 with a Roland rep yesterday looking at the 101 and JU06A. If I had lots of money I might get a TRS8 and some bits (System 8!) but practically the 101 covers lots of basis for less money than other options. It's £399 in the UK at present.

I've not thought about it as am audio interface. My MODX takes USB and line inputs so I'm currently using that until I spring for a mixer.

As an aside (and yes only 4-note polyphony) the JU06A is wonderful. It's on offer at £309 as well but no drum machine capability!

I suspect I will be getting one shortly;-)

 

It’s definitely a cool little box for the price ,I’d buy it over the tr8 s all day , I’d love a system 8 too , but tbh the 707 has me covered for synthesis.

I use it to make drum loops on the sofa it’s super quick for that and I love motion designer (automation) thats a cool feature, you can load your own samples into it , or record loops into it from the computer over usb .
Regarding it as an audio interface I use a Mac so I combine it with the 707 as an aggregate audio device so I can stream 12 channels of audio to the computer, and it has loopback so you can use it to sample from the web/I tunes , or I use it on its own with my MacBook on the move , which is cool , it’s very versatile .
All that’s missing is scene chain /song mode , hopefully that will come soon.

Roland also do a online live tutorial for owners , I did it last week , a beginners and an advanced course , about 4 hrs long all in all , we connected to a live video stream with group chat , the guy was in the USA , so it didn’t start till 12 am in the uk , but it was pretty cool .

 

Excellent information. I’ll look for the course once I get it!

 

https://www.roland.com/us/roland_cloud_academy/synth_aira/?lang=en-US

 

Today I set up a template for mikro mk3 midi mode to launch scenes and clips from my 101 via program change.
So 8 pads launch one of 8 scenes
And I have 4 pad banks to launch 16 clips for each track .
I can record these pc into maschine to make a full arrangement .
I’ll upload it , you can duplicate the 4 pages to 8 and use it for the 707

I’m selling my 707 and I’m just going to use the 101 with maschine, I don’t feel I need both and the 101 is more versatile.
Going to get a second hand system 1m to play around with , ive got most the plug outs ,and that will give me my synth fix , maybe get a second hand mk3 , or hold out too see if anything new comes along.

 

Cool, i‘m looking forward to the Upload.