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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
 Posted - 09/08/2007 : 00:13:38
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| I want to get a drum machine to use at home,so I don't want to spend too much. The guy at the music store demo'ed a Zoom one that was quite reasonably priced. A Boss Br-3 would also do but it's a hundred more. Does anyone have any knowledge of these entry level machines? What about used? Any known duds that one should steer clear of? I look forward to your helpful input. |
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midibuddy
Silver Member
Ecuador
285 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2007 : 18:16:29
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I'd say the ZOOM MRT-3... it's very basic as it doesn't have bass sounds, and it doesn't have fills/variations, just the rythm you're playing.
But it's very easy to program so you can have your own songs ready within minutes.
and it's very cheap! I got mine (older, silver version) for $ 80 including power adapter, brand new.
The newer black version is about $ 100, you should be able to find one with power adapter included.
The sounds are quite acceptable, but it's my 1st drum machine... |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2007 : 20:12:35
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quote:
Originally posted by midibuddy
I'd say the ZOOM MRT-3... it's very basic as it doesn't have bass sounds, and it doesn't have fills/variations, just the rythm you're playing.
But it's very easy to program so you can have your own songs ready within minutes.
and it's very cheap! I got mine (older, silver version) for $ 80 including power adapter, brand new.
The newer black version is about $ 100, you should be able to find one with power adapter included.
The sounds are quite acceptable, but it's my 1st drum machine...
+1 on the MRT-3, or MRT-3B. I got one new about a year ago for $99. Decent sounding drums, and easy to use, and if you are familiar with the differences between eighth notes and sixteenth notes and beats per measure stuff, it should be even easier. If not don't worry, I am not as familiar with those types of things either, but as long as you understand fractions, its not that hard of a machine to learn... |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2007 : 22:06:31
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Well I went to look at those zoom machines again. But the music store had a demo model dr-3 for 60$ less than a new one with the box and instructions,so I bought it.I am quite sure these instructions are going to be well read, and I hope to have it figured out by spring. I had a zoom 505 pedal and I hated it so I'm sure that influenced my decision to buy the Boss machine. I'll post a report of my progress when there is progress to report. And thanks again for your input. |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 00:48:00
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quote:
Originally posted by pedals 4 pv
Well I went to look at those zoom machines again. But the music store had a demo model dr-3 for 60$ less than a new one with the box and instructions,so I bought it.I am quite sure these instructions are going to be well read, and I hope to have it figured out by spring. I had a zoom 505 pedal and I hated it so I'm sure that influenced my decision to buy the Boss machine. I'll post a report of my progress when there is progress to report. And thanks again for your input.
Hi pedals 4 pv
First of all, congrats. on the DR-3, keep us informed about your progress with it.
Sorry to take this off topic for a bit.
The 505 was one of Zoom's worst pedals, 
& that's not just my opinion, look around at the reviews on the web.
I have a few zoom multi processors.
I repaired the input sockets on a 505, ages ago, but I didn't hang onto it.
I recently did a similar repair on a 606,
which like yourself, tainted my opinion of zoom gear, I assumed that the 606 was just a 505 with an expression pedal.
But I was very wrong,
consequently, I did hang onto the the 606, it has some really nice patches preprogrammed into it's factory presets.
and it has a small collection of amp model patches & settings.
My now very old Zoom 2020, has some for the richest chorus settings that I have heard.
Maybe even better than my beloved collection CE-2's 
It even has dual delay settings. & a simple cabinet simulator, on the headphone/record output 3.5mm socket.
But I have not heard or seen any of their stand alone pedals.
I did hear, one of the distortion pedals was very good.
As I said sorry to take it off topic for a bit.
Regards Dr. Bob  |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 06:02:15
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When the salesman demo'ed the zoom machine he showed me a new zoom pedal to proove that the quality of zoom products had improved. They certainly appear to be of better construction even some metal in the housing,unlike the simulated plastic of the 505. The 505 is, I think, likely made of cockroach carcasses. As for the dr-3 I'm happy so far. A tip for anyone buying one;the instructions for disabling the bass guitar part is on page 89 of the 122 page manual this info should be on page 1. Not having played with a drum machine before, the bass lines in the preset patterns make it hard to play along as you don't really know what song it is playing,if that makes sense. I'll probably find it useful once I get the hang of it but at this point the disabling of the bass makes it much easier to work with. |
Edited by - pedals 4 pv on 09/13/2007 06:17:48 |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 08:29:02
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i have a old alesis sr16 around somewhere.... i got one years ago when i saw a guy doing a gig in a pub with one and a acoustic guitar.....he played lots of different stuff and it filled out the sound great..it has four outputs..... to allow you to mix down the drums like a real kit...i.e bass drum,snare,tom toms etc......it has 40 different drum kits and lots of different styles...myself and a bass player/singer i know used to use it on small gigs when we had no drummer as it still allows you to jam and play mostly live because you can control the start/stop and the drum fills with footswitches so your not tied down to a backing track...i suppose it's nearly obsolete now compared with some of the newer stuff out there...... but i think it has a very good sound for a drum machine and it's still going strong after 14/15 years apart from a scratchy volume control(i'm sure a bit of switch cleaning fluid would look after it).....so.... i will let you make up you own minds on quality/durability..... but the sound of it is class imho... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 09/13/2007 08:30:39 |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 09:36:11
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Of the three music stores within reasonable travelling distance from my place none carry Alesis,so that was not an option although a friend had recommended the sr-16. Anything with ale in it's name can't be too bad, but I've had pretty good luck with Boss products before  so I think the dr-3 will be okay, and with the 100 preset styles to play along with it could be a good learning experience to play some rhythms that I normally don't play. I wish I had bought a drum machine when I first started because I would have been a much better player today. |
Edited by - pedals 4 pv on 09/13/2007 09:53:00 |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 10:13:52
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can't really go wrong with roland/boss.........and i hear what your saying about playing along with a drum machine it can help with playing rythmn ..i must dig mine out and start using it again ........ |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 09/13/2007 10:16:12 |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 15:21:26
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What about the Korg EMX1? http://www.korg.com/gear/prod_info.asp?a_prod_no=EMX1&category_id=2
quote:
Originally posted by FRANZONI
can't really go wrong with roland/boss.........and i hear what your saying about playing along with a drum machine it can help with playing rythmn ..i must dig mine out and start using it again........
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 16:55:22
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| The Korg emx -1 is double the price of a dr-3 and as in all facets of life, budjet is a major factor. |
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midibuddy
Silver Member
Ecuador
285 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 17:03:11
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so how much did you pay for the boss Dr-3?
Around $ 120?
I wanted the BOSS DR-3 Badly, but it was double the price I payed for my Zoom... plus they didn't sell it in here...
How's the DR-3 working so far? |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2007 : 17:42:36
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| The dr-3 is $260cdn plus tax. I got my demo model for $200 plus tax. the Zoom machine is $ 140cdn. Not bad when a real human drummer can cost upwards of a thousand, if he's reasonably sober. It's not the initial outlay that kills, it is the upkeep that's expensive. This is why only professionals own their own live drummer,and the rest of us have to settle for electronic drums. |
Edited by - pedals 4 pv on 09/13/2007 18:11:07 |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 20:51:25
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Drum machine up date: This thing is FUN  to much fun actually as I played with it so much that I felt the very painfull warning signs of the much dreaded tendonitis and had to shut it down for a couple of days.
I must get the footswitches and would have bought the two FS-5U's testerday but they weren't in stock. I did however get the special cable for them. FS-5U's are pretty expensive there anyway, 50 each. I'll try the other guys today and see as they were closed yesterday (sunday). I would like to find a less expensive option but I will probably end up getting the Boss switches as I'm sure they will be good and dependable.
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Edited by - pedals 4 pv on 09/24/2007 20:52:44 |
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Topic |
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best cheap drum machine
