Innovative "EZ Compose" feature. 440 world-class drum and percussion sounds. Guitar/bass input, multi-effects, COSM amp models.
198 People rated this product : 8 out of 10
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19 People wrote reviews |
Read all Boss DR-880 Dr. Rhythm Drum Machine reviews... |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 10 out of 10
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Feature:
The features are what makes this machine shine. To begin with, it's packed with 500 very useful preset patterns. No bank after bank of mambo and cha-cha here (yes, they're in there too, but the DR-880 is mainly about rock, alternative, hip-hop, etc). You can take any one of those patterns and build a song very easily. The DR-880 is equipped with a fill-in library that can be combined with any of the patterns. You can easily select where in the pattern you want the fill to occur and then save that pattern to a user slot for your song. (There's 500 of those too). It has an intro and ending bank as well, so all your songs don't begin with a click track. It makes things sound a little more polished. Then there's the groove modify feature. Wow! Take any pattern and you can make the machine play ahead of the beat or on the backbeat and choose by how much. Or maybe you want to add some ghost notes? No problem. You can not only choose to add ghosts, but also how many ghost notes to add to the pattern. This is helpful for giving your songs a "live drummer" feel. By varying your patterns and using these features, it's easy to put a song together. There's another handy feature called EZ Compose. It allows you to mix/match high hat/ride beats, bass/snare beats, percussion beats, etc to create new patterns on the fly. Save them and you can apply the groove modify to them as well. When you're done creating patterns, programming a song is simple. Just chain your patterns together and voila! Beyond that are a built-in tuner, an effects processor, and a built in arranger. I've not even got into these yet.
Quality:
My only complaint is that it's made of hard plastic. I prefer a mure durable product. However, my machine won't be mobile so it's more of a pet peeve than a necessity. Overall, the product looks good and appears to be made well. There were no loose parts or cosmetic blemishes on my unit.
Value:
This product is absolutely worth every penny, even if you have to pay full retail price. I would have gladly paid much more if I'd known beforehand how excellent the DR-880 really is.
Desirability:
The sexiness of this product to me is in its quality, ease of use, and the satisfaction of knowing I bought the best unit on the market for what I needed a drum machine to do.
Sound:
The DR-880 is quite simply the best drum machine I've owned, and I've owned several. In fact, to call it a mere drum machine is insulting. I consider it an instrument. It is packed with top-notch sounds. You would literally have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to purchase the many percussion instruments represented. My only complaint is that I wish the pads were as responsive in real time as they are when you're in record mode. I've maxed the pads out on their sensitivity and they're still well below where I want them.
Support:
I have not had reason to deal with the company itself yet.
Overall:
My favorite feature is the fill library. My only complaint is that I wish BOSS would issue some updates as well. If this product were stolen from me today, I would replace it with another just like it.
Submitted: 3/21/2005
Style of Music: Rock/Alternative/Country/Hip-Hop
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5 of 5 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 10 out of 10
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zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us. |
Feature:
Overall would be a 10 but including the foot switches and a case at this price would make it a 10. Also the computer interface could use some work. It is very basic. Given the power of USB some type of software to allow writing patterns/songs on the computer, even a basic one, would also be nice.
Quality:
Great sounds and lay out. Only a small deduction for the plastic case. In fairness all the models I compared used similar construction. Seems sturdy enough and may be a non-issue but I will be carefull.
Value:
Great value. Like I said you will pay a bit more but the sound quality is worth it.
Desirability:
Like most roland/boss gear it is well marketed. Just go and see the demo videos on the Roland/Boss websites.
Sound:
Costs a bit more than some but the sound is where the pay off is here. The drums and groove options really make this usable as a real sounding drum part.
Ease of Use:
I am a guitarist, so the learning curve is there. However, as advertised, the EZ Compose feature gets you up and running with serviceable patterns for performance. Once you spend a few hours with it, you can start doing good things. This is probably better than most drum machines.
Support:
I haven't needed them. The web site and user group has been informative.
Submitted: 2/26/2006
Style of Music: Rock, Folk
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5 of 5 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"I'm just learning about this type of equipment (live sound) and your explanation was so easy to understand. Thanks for hiring musicians so my life is made easier!" - customer on November 19, 2008
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