Back in 2001, this groovebox burst onto the scene with its wild orange finish and a groundbreaking D-Field controller—a touch-sensitive pad that let you scratch patterns like a turntablist or twist sounds in real time, pulling straight from the MC-505's killer waveform library.
At its heart is a PCM-based sound engine delivering 64-voice polyphony across 16 parts, with 600 dance-focused presets like phat basses, TB-303 leads, piano stabs, and 30 rhythm sets, plus 256 user patches for your tweaks. The D-Field shines in modes like XY for dual-parameter control (think filter cutoff and resonance), Vinyl-FX for backspin and scratching, or Spin for BPM shifts and snare rolls. An 8-track sequencer holds up to 40,000 notes at 96 TPQN, with real-time and step recording, 157 preset patterns, 43 arpeggiators, and effects including 6 reverbs, 2 delays, and 25 MFX options like distortion, phaser, and slicer—all in a super-compact 325 x 256 x 55 mm metal chassis weighing just 1.4 kg, with RCA stereo outs, MIDI I/O, and AC power.
Over two decades on, players still dig its intuitive live performance tricks and studio-ready multitimbral module vibes, though some note the sequencer feels a tad dated next to modern DAWs—perfect for hands-on electronic jams if you snag one on the vintage market.
