One of the first drum machines to ship with MIDI built-in, this 1984 Sequential classic brought sampled drum power to the masses right alongside the Roland TR-909, paving the way for integrated synth setups like the Traks Music System.
It packs 13 PCM-sampled sounds at 12-bit resolution—bass drum, snare, rimshot, two toms, crash and ride cymbals, open/closed hi-hats, claps, tambourine, cowbell, and cabasa—across 12 polyphonic voices routed to six mono channels plus a stereo mix and three stereo outs. Program up to 99 patterns (100 measures max) or 99 songs (100 steps each) with a total memory of 3289 events, tweakable volumes (00-15), tuning per sound, and tempos from 40-250 BPM, all shown on LED panels with a memory-remaining readout. Hands-on trigger buttons for live play, a numeric keypad for song editing, cassette dump for backup, and sync options like 24/48/96 PPQ in/out make it a sequencing beast in a sturdy 21.5 x 9.5 x 4-inch walnut-sided chassis.
Owners love its punchy, editable tones that hold up in modern mixes—think Daft Punk's "Short Circuit" or Tame Impala's Currents—though some note the snare's slight trigger delay adds a quirky human groove, and EPROM-swappable sounds invite custom tweaks. Battery-backed memory keeps your beats safe for years.
