Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

This is from the mc909 list, one of the members talked to the Rolan reps 
and got the following info.  Seems that Roland didn't really add to much 
to the 505, larger display and sampling seems to be the biggies, lack of 
megamix is inexcusable.


(First of all, thanks to Doug Hanson of Roland for getting me a pass to 
the
convention, and to Jim Norman and Vince La Duca for putting up with a 
barrage
of questions from me. Jim says he really wants to support the users of the 
909
and will listen to suggestions, is arranging for pros like BT and Sasha to
program new stuff to download, is working on improving the website and so
forth, and wants to make sure users don't feel like Roland doesn't care 
about
them once it has their money. He and Vince are good guys.)

- The MC-909 is big, bigger than I expected. The screen is nice and the
velocity pads have a good feel to them. The faders are smooth and chunky 
too.

- The guys stressed that this was NOT just an SP-808 plus an MC-505; they
specifically told Roland NOT to do this.

- It has onboard RAM for patches and patterns, and will remember and
automatically load samples you have saved to user slots if there's an SM 
card
inserted. The RAM is Flash RAM; Jim says he hasn't noticed any speed 
problems
(says it's pretty fast, actually).

- USB works with either PC or Mac; basically the 909 acts just like a hard
drive and dragging samples back and forth between either SM card or sample 
RAM
is very straightforward. There is no dedicated software and no plans for 
any at
the moment (with the large screen and graphic editing it's pretty 
unnecessary).

- There is no multisampling; samples are treated as tones for the 
synthesis
engine (the S-760 emulation mode from the XV is not on the 909). You can 
map
several samples across the keyboard using the drum kits, however.

- You can put a drumkit on every track if you like.

- It will do velocity layering between tones.

- There's no downsample, but you can use bit reduction effects and 
resample the
result.

- Stereo samples do use up 2 voices. Keep in mind that with resampling the
polyphony and number of effects on this thing aren't as limiting as you 
might
think.

- It will do realtime timestretching of sample loops (for example, 
vocals), and
the algorithm sounds pretty good. Better than Acid, in my opinion.

- Sample loop chop can work automatically (finding the beats) or the slice
points can be set manually. The 909 will then ask if you want it to 
convert the
sliced beats to a drum kit (instant rhythm set). Each drum gets its own
envelope and filter settings. This is pretty cool.

- Samples have multiple trigger modes to choose from (drum, gate, latch).

- Samples are assigned to notes and then entered in tracks as note-on 
events.
Because the samples are elements in the synth engine they get filters,
envelopes, LFOs and so on. The envelopes don't sync to MIDI, apparently, 
but
there is an Auto Sync feature that will keep your sample loops locked to 
the
tempo.

- You can do graphic waveform editing in the LCD, including both vertical 
and
horizontal zoom for finding zero crossings.

- The audio ins can be passed through the effects (including the Mastering
Compressor), so you can mix other instruments or your voice through the 
effects
live. The whole mix can be resampled at the outputs.

- Biggest difference in synth engine - other than polyphony and sampling - 
is
the way drum kits are handled. This is why the non-909 SRX expansion 
boards
aren't 100% patch compatible.

- The XV chip in the 909 is actually faster than the ones used in the 
Fantom
and XVs.

- If you mute sample layers it will do a volume mute, i.e. you can do 
gating
effects. Samples are triggered by note events, so muting will not 
retrigger the
sample loop.

- There are no mute groups for drums, etc. Jim had mixed feelings about 
this
but felt that having a full 16 tracks was probably better.

- There is a Song Mode and it will record mutes separately from the 
patterns.
They weren't sure about controller sweeps, but you can always use a long
pattern for this.

- The Arpeggiator is very cool; it's fully programmable and polyphonic, a 
big
improvement on the 505's arpeggiator. Programming it is very easy. I 
believe
there's still only one, but I'm not positive. You should be able to record 
it
to a track though, like on the 505.

- Chord Memory is a handy addition for composition (or easier 
performance).

- There is no Megamix. Jim argued for this but Roland Japan felt it was a
necessary tradeoff for having 16 tracks. The Mixer can control Level, Pan,
Keyshift or Reverb (and apparently some of the effects parameters, like 
the
Step Filter).

- RPS does not seem to transmit MIDI; there was no parameter for this. 
With
sampling this is less of an issue but it's still disappointing.

- RPS does not generate recordable events; the RPS parts are separate from 
the
sequencer.

- Pattern Call seems to be local only. There is a Remote Keyboard mode but
neither the preliminary manual nor the MIDI implementation chart make any
mention of remote pattern switching that we could find; it's possible that 
the
remote keyboard can be used for Pattern Call but there was no way to test 
this
and the 505's remote keyboard mode did not do Pattern Call. The guys are 
going
to investigate this further.

- It will transmit Program Changes and other setup data, but it apparently 
does
not transmit Pattern Changes for recording on an external sequencer.

- It will record and play sysex. You can also choose to transmit parameter
changes as CC's.

- The sequencer is faster than the 505's, and it is possible to use 1-bar
patterns, but I noticed that pattern switching between 1-bar patterns was
sporadic at best, whether I was using a dial or Pattern Call. You can also
advance to the previous or next pattern using the cursor buttons, but this
switches immediately rather than queuing.

- The sequencer gives you the option of changing tempo from pattern to 
pattern
or retaining tempo from one pattern to the next.

- It is possible to copy tracks or a range of bars from pattern to pattern 
and
track to track.

- It will record from multiple MIDI channels at once.

- It is not possible to switch in and out of record mode during playback.

- It is not possible to activate TR-record (X0X style grid edit) during
playback. While in TR-record mode there is no way to select a note to edit
without auditioning that note (scrolling through the notes plays them out
loud). Being able to see the notes on a grid is nice, but it's not useable 
in a
live performance situation.

- The Groove Quantize (now in the menus) sounds much better than the 505 
thanks
to the higher sequencer resolution.

- The Back button in the transport controls will reset the beat clock to 
zero
for rapid stuttering effects.

- The Turntable fader can be assigned a CC number for controlling external
synths, as can the D-Beams.

- The dedicated (not Mastering) compressor does include an EQ (three 
band?).

- The screen has a screensaver and you can import your own jpeg's to 
customize
this.

- Sound quality seemed fine but was hard to judge in a loud tradeshow
environment.

- The manual was a prototype (a printout, actually) so there may be 
features
and functions we were unable to find. Jim has been pressuring Roland to 
put
their manuals online for download. I guess they're concerned about the 
"grey
market." (Jim was also tempted to put a fake link online just to tease 
people
and was tickled that Nina had deconstructed the Flash movie.)

- MSRP is $1795. It should start turning up in early December sometime 
(the
port lockdown may affect the actual date in the States).



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]