Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-880 Rhythm Machine

As a guitarist who writes/records by himself,filling in the rhythm sections has always beenmy biggest hassle. Nearly every singledrum machine/production station I've ever laidhands on were geared towards Hip-Hop or Dancemusic. However, with the DR-880, there's a guitar insert, that puts my guitar right smackin the mix. The controls are all fairly straightforward. The drum sounds are some of the bestthat I've ever heard from a drum machine andBoss even pre-programs a few blast beats on thisunit. I haven't even begun programming my owndrum parts, I'm having too much fun with thepre-programs. If you play guitar at all, thisunit is worth picking up.

I bought for the great sounds. Some of the best sounding drums in a machine to date. It does cost a bit more that some but it is worth it. As others have said, it is plastic - but so is every other drum machine I compared it too. Seems rugged enough if you don't abuse it. One reviewer stated that pattern tempos always take over. Well....that is true if you are in pattern mode and this is how it was designed. If you want to link patterns and keep the tempo you must use the SONG mode to program the DR-880. In song mode you choose whether to have the song set the tempo for all patterns or have each pattern run its default tempo. This is actually a feature not a design flaw. It allows the user to have the choice. Finally there is a learning curve. As a guitar player by trade I find step programming a bit tedious, but the unit also has EZ compose mode which is really cool for quickly developing the base patterns, which you can then tweak later with step programming. If you are willing to learn, this is the machine for you!

The manual - available on line at http://www.roland.com/products/en/DR-880/ - tells you all you need to know about the capabilities of this machine. I can vouch for its ease of use. Within a LAZY Sunday afternoon I was able to create a new kit, add a new pattern, and improvise along with a half dozen or more predefined patterns. Those are the keys to DR-880: it is so easy to use and so capable. If you are a guitarist who is having a difficult time finding people to jam with or if you just want to be able to get your YAs-YAs out this is the machine to use. You will not be disappointed.

When I purchased the BOSS DR-880, I was amazed at the quality and simplicity of the machine. Due to the 500 preset patterns and the 500 user ones, I am able to record fantastic loops through high quality drum (and bass) sounds (for electronic style music I recommend #39 MGSaw bass).

I have a Yamaha Motif 6 keyboard that I have used for drum tracks on my recordings. I like the sounds but they sound a little muddy. So I heard the Boss 880 and bought it. I got it home and at first I thought this thing has a low signal, back it goes. But then I noticed there is a parameter where you can increase the digital output signal as high as 200% ( I'm going digital out from the 880 to my hard disk recorder.) Now were talking. But as usual too much effects on the presets so I easily decreased them and the drums sound great. There is a lot more air between the drums and they sit in the mix perfectly. All my other tracks are not being buried now and the drums are realistic sounding. I tried the guitar effects and they sound very usable. Gives a nice punch to my bass guitar as well. I don't like the pads so I either use the preset patterns or use my keyboard via midi. It is still new to me so this is my initial review. I also like the way they have mixed the drums on the presets, very nice if you are just using 2 tracks for drums although it does have indiv. outs. I have a feeling this is a keeper.