excellent all around sound. since i have not bought a drum machine since my roland 505, this is something out of freakin NASA. fantastic amount of fills per pattern, great intros and endings, and an unreal number of (500) pre set patterns. great nuance in snares and cymbals. NOT INTUITIVE, steep learning curve(for this dummy)but rewarding. i am happy with it.

only own it six months, and it has not left my studio, but seems sturdy, and has withstood florida lighting spikes and power outages ok

it is not cheap, but seems to be worth it.

no experience

home recording, local gigs, not proffesional (hobby)

rock,country,blues,r&b,funk traditional

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have not had reason to deal with the company itself yet.

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.

I've been a hobbyist, active musician, and everything in between.

Rock/Alternative/Country/Hip-Hop

The best I've heard.

The only big disappointment. In the old SR-16 there is an A->Afill->B->Bfill function (controled by footswitch) for every patch. This was ideal for impromptu live performance and probably the main reason why a product designed in 1990 is still sold new today! For all of the DR-880s wonderful innovation, how could Boss have overlooked this fundamental requirement for live work? Yes, you can easily create complex songs and modify patterns with multiple fills but there seems to be no option to assign any combination of foortswitches that will move from one pattern to a fill variation, to another pattern, to its fill variation and back to the 1st pattern. C'mon guys, this is no great programming challenge; all of the tools are already in the code!

A lower score only because its new.

I paid substantially less on a discounted promotion but would still consider buying at the current price.

Not yet.

I'm not much for form over function, but I will say that it looks pretty good sitting on my keyboard in a live venue.

Pro musician for 40+ years.

Rock, Jazz, Latin, Country, Standards . . .

Very realistic drum sounds especially to record songs with. The quality is great you can even tweak if you have to. It achieves what I need it for and more. You can Rock, swing, jazz or even do some latinish numbers on it. By itself it sounds like you have your own drummer in the house and not a machine. I think even live the Dr 880 would sound great. I use Mackie Pa systems, Marshall and Fender Amps and PRS guitars, Fender Strats and Ibanez. The instruction needs to be a bit more self explanitory for the lame person. An instructional DVD would be great since I am a visual kind of guy.

It came with the foot pedals for a little extra but they come in handy. the guitar or bass input lacks something like power or cleaningness. Although I have no use for that feature other than to practice some riffs with the drums I created before I record the other parts it's not a bad feature to have.

Not real intuitive but if you spend time reading the manual and tinker with it a while you can eventually come up with some bad ass stuff. It is fairly easy to start playing with the DR 880 but there is a learning curve to build your own patterns and putting a beggining and ending together. Looping is no problem though.

There is quite a bit of plastic for the price it should more metal. I can't afford a back up so I'm pretty careful with it. It might last a few years if I'm luckey.

It was maybe worth the price only because I needed the product in a bad way.

I have not had to use it.

It is very attractive like most music toys. I like the size and the cool colored lights and quick to set up.

Active musician/Recording Engineer

Rock, Latin Jazz, Blues

Excellent sound,I've used several other drum machines unable to achieve the punch & clarity + double kick and snare make it easy for 7/4 drum times

No extra accessories, power supply a plus, it would be nice if they came complete with foot pedals cables etc. for $500. It doesn't connect to the BR-8 digitally the way the diagram advertises in the owners manual. Optical is much cleaner & sharper than Coaxial and is digitally more friendly. It is easy though, to take it to a friends house with a guitar & an amp for a simple little jam session.

It doesn't bother me that it's made out of plastic. The majority of products today are made out of plastic.Most of the drum machines are. I own probably 50 pieces of electronic equipment, to which almost all of it is made of plastic of some sort. I believe if you take care of it,it will far outlast its useability.I've owned most of my equipment for 20 years and the only problem I have ever had is cables that short out. I resolved that problem with Monster Cables. I just put the DR-880 on a sturdy surface with a non-slip pad underneath along with a dust cover over it when not in use. I don't anticipate any problems,so far it's been flawless.

Better!

I haven't needed them, but it would be nice if accessories were more accessable. For instance itwas very difficult finding the FS-6 pedal to purchase. I found your web site somewhat of a dissapointment as well in describing the equipment you sell. I would find it helpful to see represenatives @ some of the main music stores giving workshops or sending free newsletters on upcoming equipment. Overall I am pleased with the DR-880 and won't find the need to purchase another drum machine for quite some time Thanks!

Bought it the day I saw it,by just seeing some of the capabilities!

Practicing Musician

Rock,Blues, Classical

retired live gigging, home studio

heavy fusion, diverse tones, tasteful effect use

rock

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.

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.

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.

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.

Great value. Like I said you will pay a bit more but the sound quality is worth it.

I haven't needed them. The web site and user group has been informative.

Like most roland/boss gear it is well marketed. Just go and see the demo videos on the Roland/Boss websites.

Active Musician

Rock, Folk

I have been playing for over 40 years. I play keyboard and lead guitar. I do play professionally.

Christian / Gospel

The sound kicks ass, this is the only beat machine I've owned, but I already know it's one of the best. I make hip hop beats, and the way this thing is arranged it seems like it would be better for rock. Even so if you mess around with it long enough you can do anything with it.

I like the fact that 10 minutes out of the box I was able to loop my own a beat without so much as touching the manual. It's a little slow to learn and program at first, but if you mess wit it long enuff it gets easy quick, wish it had more ethnic percs.

This machine is not very intuitive, but thats only at first. It can be really aggravating sometimes, but the sound and creativity more than make up for that.

I'm reading all these reviews about how people don't like plastic, but to me the 880 seems to be made very well, feels solid, just don't jump up and down on it.

It's worth the price, do some research, amongst the others in this price range this thing shines.

I'm lazy so rather than reading the manual, I just call support, have called twice and they are very helpful despite what others may have said.

Well i don't want to sleep with, but for beats this machine is fly-y-y-y-y-y.

3 years Producing Hip Hop trax 2 CD's 3rd on the way

Hip Hop, Underground rap

Clean, punchy, realistic. Sits in the tracks very very well. Does not muddy up the overall mix. I use the digital out which is adjustable up to 200%. Nice stereo mix on the presets. Superior toms, great snares hi hat is excellent. Lots of air between the drums. You can turn down the effects with one turn of a knob to your liking. Not alot of ethnic sounds but enough.

Came with power supply and manual etc.

Pricey, but for the sound it beats the rest.

recording enthusiest

all

The sound is outstanding. I thought there was a drummer in my sound room.

The best feature is the guitar affects. You can play anything from classical to thrash metal with a beat.

It takes a while to figure out. But, once you do. You will be amazed what this thing can do.

So far. I havn't had any problems with this drum machine. Knock Wood!!!

It is worth every penny.

I married it. LOL!!!!

I play as a hobbie.

Classic rock and Heavy Metal

As far as the drum samples are concerned, I think these drums samples are some of the best I've ever heard on even a high quality keyboard sampler. The fact that the samples are in a drum machine.. all the better. I highly recommend this drum machine if that is what you are looking for. Seems to be one of the best on the market right now.

Considering that it allows guitar and bass input, and added effects plus the drum patterns. I consider this product the most robust machine on the market.

A little difficult in the beginnning but it doesn't take long before your playing drum patterns and constructing your own drum sequences and songs. Suggest that you spend much time in the manual.

The unit seems to be built really well.. It is mostly plastic so one has to take care in handling the unit. But the product is reliable and seems to be constructed well.

As far as sound quality and features I would say that this product is worth the price being charged. I was mainly interested in getting an authentic sounding drum machines and I feel that is exactly what I got. I don't think I could have done much better for the price. The drum patterns and fills sound as real, as they could possibily be.

As of yet I have not needed support yet.

Home Recording at present... Previously a professional musican

Rock, 60's, 70's, 80's

Active musician.

Country, blues, pop.

Great sound quality, if realism is what you're after then this has it. Used it live and it sounded great. Pad sensitivity is a bit rubbish as it seems to only have about two levels - hard and soft. Output is pretty low. I wouldn't play my guitar through this if I could help it as I generally don't rate it's ability in this area.

Did not rate the special features in particular. EZ compose and all that jazz aren't precise enough for my needs.

Big learning curb, but once you've mastered the basics it's pretty intuitive. Programming songs takes a VERY long time. Lack of tempo change in song is a major blow and really is the biggest downer on this product.

Good quality. Yes it could be made out of gold-plated, bullet-proof titanium, but if you actually look after it and don't drop it infront of a tank or something then I don't see what difference it makes.

I got mine for 263 pounds which was the cheapest I could find it. I'm sure I spotted it for under 250 pounds before the credit crunch, but hey, it does almost everything I hoped it would do. Except change tempo mid song. Therefore, it loses a point.

Haven't required yet. Which I guess is a good thing...

For me, I needed this for live performances. Now I've used it, it fared very well. Basically my live performances are centred on it. But if you have a drummer and just need something to arse about with, get something cheaper and simpler. If only you could change tempo mid song...and it was made out of gold plated, bullet-proof titanium.

Musician

Rock

Classical and acoustic guitar and music composition .

Ambient, Electronic, Jazz

The midi file capability is the key to easy arranging of complex jazz tunes.

Good quality but lots of plastic.

Haven't tried yet.

Technical marvel. With digital out guitar palyer could mix guitar trio cd without digital effects direct to pc!

Active Pro

Jazz - Rock

40 years

Rock,Blues, Country, Jazz the whole shebang.

46 years playing, pro and hobbyist, most pop/rock styles and a little beyond

pop/rock and soul, jazz rock, fused styles

The sound is excellent.

Awkward to program compared to the Zomm Rt 323 of which I own two. The Zoom, which I think is out of production, is more intuitive. For one thing the key pad is similar to a piano key board.

Appears fragile, plastic.

My Zoom was much less expensive yet I believe a superior product.

N/A

I owned and brouht it back two days later.

Active musician

Standards and Soft Rock

The best feature of this product is the sound.

The programming is not intuitive. Guitar effects are cheap-sounding. Some of them are fair but it's not what one needs for a studio. I would prefer a standalone effect processor.

Like I said it's nothing but a soapbox or a toy for kids. It's gonna fall apart before you know it, just couple of pad hits and the job is done! Made of plastic. Beware!!!

Too pricy!!! Too pricy!!! Too pricy!!! Too pricy!!! Too pricy!!!

I did not contact them , but If I keep this product I'm sure I'll need those people very often.

I'm not gonna play with cheap plastic box.

Active Musician

Jazz, Fusion, Pop

The sounds are top quality.

The guitar preamp is good. I wouldn't use it for serious gigging but it is great for practice. I would like the drum pads to be ever so slightly larger for live performance real-time drum fills and then grouped as close together as possible. That combination has never been done on a drum machine yet.

It is a bad idea in general to make something out of plastic that is going to be struck with some force hundreds of thousands of times over and over. I, however, did not use this product long enough to find out if would hold up to the wear and tear of the road.

The price would have been just fine if it had been usable. If you need the (Roland) Boss DR-880 for studio use or as a drum sequencer only (being used in the song mode only) it would be a fine product. As it is I would not pay $5.00 for it.

I give them (Tech support for friendliness, accesibility and not being too condesending on the phone. As you have figured out already, they were not able to resolve any of my issues as it was bad engineering to begin with, therefore, not their responsibility. They were, however, able determine fairly quickly that it was unresolvable.

I do not "lust" after any piece of gear. It is either practical and helps me make better music/helps making good music better or it is useless to me.

6 night-a-week pro - session musician - recording engineer and producer

Anything that a crowd wants to hear is what I play.

sound quality is good but akward to program quickly.

i wish it had more sampling options. effects for guitars could be bigger.

once you get used to the contols its not hard to find what you want. i wish it were heavier. it feels cheap.

i got mine for 400 new. has a lot of options if you can figure them out.

never used it.

should be black and white and the casing should be metal.

recording artist

hardcore,hip,hop,and electronic

It's just great. Usable kits and good sounds. Nothing over the top. Like all these machines...I wish there was a site with drum patterns from more songs that could be easily downloaded. How about 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover or a Steve Gadd library easily downloaded? Ringo library, John Bonham library? Neil Pert, Gene Krupa...etc, etc. But no worries...it doesn't really exist out there anywhere yet.

I'm a guitar player and I wish the modelling was such that I could throw away my tube amps. Not to say it's not good and I like some of the sounds better than the PODxt. I wish I could get more gain out of the amp models. :) But really, for what it is...it's a killer box...and just an extraordinary practice tool.

People here are concerned that's it's made from plastic. I don't know if it's sturdy, but the machining and appearance are stellar. I've had no troubles yet. I've been using this machine non-stop for 3 months now and "all systems go"... so far. Aren't some plastics as strong as metal? :)

For me, this is a priceless gadget. I use it to practice and it's the best. I don't like messing around and I like the idea of a dedicated machine like this. One really hasn't been available until now. I've been wasting a lot of time with samples and files and Windows drivers and latency settings and thank God I don't need to play that ridiculous game anymore. Not that Stylus RMX isn't a killer program...just I don't need to launch my computer to jam out anymore. Building patterns, placing effect...adding fills...and everything's organized in this machine...that's a big plus to me...just a huge time saver. It is completely worth the price. There is a ton of well thought out engineering in this unit.

no experience...and I'm okay with that. I upgraded the unit...followed the directions...and the install was painless...thanks Boss!

Sex appeal? Now don't cross the line...I'm looking for boobs not drum machines. :) But I like the color and the design...no problem there. I really do favor the mixing knobs for guitar, bass and drums. Thanks for not making them soft keys.

Musician, Recording Engineer

Rock, Jazz, Country...anything where there's still a melody involved.

Sounds are pretty good. I will use it live.

Tap tempo is great. Total Sound Control makes it easy to fix beats I programmed with bad velocities, because the small pads and their sensitivity are inconsistent.

Typical Roland. Awkward until you own one, eat and breathe it.

Seems well built. Would prefer some metal.

Great.

Haven't needed it.

Lot of stuff for the price in a small box.

The sounds get repetitive after a while !

Great features,though it cant sample.

THE PADS ARE TOO FRIGGIN SMALL !THATZ WHY I'M PURCHASING A MPD 16 TO CONTROL THEM I'M TIRED OF HITTING THE WRONG PADS AND MISSING THE PADS !

NEVER DROPPED IT,SEEMS STURDY.

Seems like it'll last me until I get a MPC.

Good,I called once to see if it was compatible with a MPD 16.

no sexiness

This thing sounds absolutly sick- I love how realistic it sounds!...like theres a crazy little man with the best drums sounds you ever heard jammin out inside of it!- I plug into a huge PA system and crank it up...sometimes the cops show up cuz it's to friggin loud and they think there's a real band in there... and it's just me wasted, and the DR-880 rockin out full blast!...i love it man.

All the features are cool man!!

Dude...this thing is made wicked good!- It's wicked light and easy to carry around town if you want to go mobile with the sick little machine...it's crazy!!

Wicked sick value dudes...i would of payed a million dollars for this crazy little machine!!!!

The sickest support you've ever see man!!

I was wicked attracted to this sick little machine as soon as i saw it...you might say, it was love at first sight.-i say to myself "I want you" every time i see it sitting alone in a room waiting to be played...it calls to me, "play me dude"..."play me" it says.

Active Musician

METAL