Back in 1989, this drum machine hit the scene with velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads that captured the raw feel of live drumming, making it a game-changer for anyone chasing that human groove in electronic beats.
At its core, it's a PCM-based rhythm composer running at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate with 16-bit dynamic range and 32-voice polyphony, packing 68 onboard instrument voices—everything from punchy acoustics to electronic staples—that you can tweak via pitch shifts up to four octaves, decay, nuance for strike-position timbre changes, and eight sense curves for pad response. The sequencer shines with 32 preset patterns, 100 user patterns up to 99 bars long, and 10 songs chaining up to 999 parts, all with micro-timing down to 1/384 note resolution, velocity capture, and Feel Patches that add natural velocity and pitch swings for lifelike swing. Hands-on controls include chunky black buttons, dual sliders for value and volume, a two-line LCD plus graphic display and tempo LED, velocity/pressure pads, and a sturdy grey desktop chassis with eight individual outs, stereo outs, headphones, full MIDI I/O, and ROM card expansion for even more sounds like 808 or 909 kits.
Beatmakers still hunt these down today for their depth and pro pedigree—artists like Orbital, Underworld, and 808 State leaned on it hard, praising the editable sounds, groove tools, and sequencing power that hold up in modern mixes, though some note the learning curve for its menu-diving edits.
