Choosing the Best Drum Machine on Any Budget

[@sweetwater]

Shopping for your first or next drum machine? Check out our advice for selecting the right drum machine for you, and shop drum machines and samplers at Sweetwater 👉 sweetwater.sjv.io/DrumMachinesAndSamplers-gzSfYtPqnGk

[@nomad1517]

Model cycles is a masterpiece for a budget system. The things you can do with it are insane and is perfect for live performances. Super underrated.

[@Partywitharty0811]

Word?

[@joel82045]

Yes but the sound? Same of novation circuit?

[@BIG_PASTA]

Barely touched on the Model Cycles functionality/capabilities, it’s so much more than a simple drum machine.

[@chickenbiscuitbabyyewww9580]

Can you elaborate if you ever see this? I was really interested in this drum machine but this dude turned me off of it when he was messing with it

[@BIG_PASTA]

@@chickenbiscuitbabyyewww9580 Its a full blown 6 voice FM synth and super powerful sequencer! Check out some videos that really showcase what it can do... redmeansrecording has a good one!

[@djdeemz7651]

That last beat was 🔥

[@kevinperry3639]

A lot of great gear and lots of really cool beats too. Great video, thanks 🤘

[@vlissblisskiss]

i have a behringer rd-8 and a volca sample 2 basically pulling cr78 duty. it's an awesome combo

[@ronj5714]

nice...really like the sound of that small Korg.

[@smaller_cathedrals]

Love that brother's presentation! 👍🏾 I recently entered that whole hardware music making rabbit hole and got a Drumbrute Impact. It's super easy to get into and create some cool sounding stuff, even as an absolute beginner.

[@JamesNaked]

Great thing you did .....Love those Drummachines.....my favorite is Korg Volca Beats

[@spcsh1936]

wow...especially those elektrons sound really good

[@leewightman8619]

Iv just been using the roland t8 it does the job

[@Cysubtor_8vb]

Was considering a drum machine, but ended up going with a sampler and getting a Roland SP-404 mk2 instead.

[@phatplates]

Wise choice

[@jdssurf]

you still happy? I don't know much about it, researching now you get album worthy sounds on it? good kick bass and such? any cons?

[@DetroitMicroSound]

3:06 I would have showed Volca Drum, instead. Imho it's the best Volca beatbox. I had Beats. I have Drum.

[@jjjohny_a5965]

drumbrute s best drum hands down ...stock sounds like most drum machine are ok ..what sets apart is for all pads it has 1/8 out din witch lets trigger eurorack gear now where maken edm to hiphop on a whole new level ..if a mpc and a 808 had a baby it be a druumbrute

[@FSK1138]

PO-32 Tonic + Microtonic is the best budget Drum Machine

[@charlesbronson2806]

Out of the three cheapest. Id pick the model cycles hands down. I have the drumbrute and its just collecting dust.

[@ramseydoon8277]

I'd take the drumbrute impact over the model cycles any day of the week, you say tomato and I say tomato💁‍♂️

[@RandyReeTV]

Oooo that arturia one was sick too 😮

[@laurencashman6668]

You make them all sound amazing

[@mcgritty8842]

That’s the point lol buy at least one of em from them

[@pdxfun4888]

So the interest in drum machines is mostly for live stuff? Do you folks integrate them with your daw? If for recording, how do you snyc them up? Do you create the pattern on the drum box and record in the DAW?

[@sweetwater]

Hi, thanks for your interest! Great questions - this answer will be a bit long, but I hope it helps! A lot of people do get drum machines for live use, but as a Sales Engineer here, I’d say most of my clients who get them are using them in the studio. I personally have owned quite a few drum machines over the years, and I’m mainly a studio person myself. It’s true that just about any DAW can function as a drum machine, but having a physical piece of hardware can be more immediate and inspiring - I find that a good drum machine will help me come up with beats and sounds that wouldn’t have occurred to me if I were just using software. The most common way to integrate a hardware drum machine with a DAW is to sync the drum machine’s clock to the DAW via MIDI. As far as whether you create your drum patterns on the machine itself or in the DAW, that’s a matter of personal preference. When I was using a Korg Volca Beats as part of my recording setup, I usually preferred programming patterns in Ableton Live and sending them to the drum machine via MIDI - the Volca Beats’ sequencer is quite basic and doesn’t have a swing function, so Ableton was capable of more complex rhythms. On the other hand, I’ve also used the Arturia DrumBrute Impact (my personal favorite on this list), and the sequencer on that one is fun and inspiring in a way I don’t typically experience with software. The best way to see the benefit of a hardware drum machine is to try one out! Feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions - thanks again! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, [phone] ext. 1620, [e-mail]

[@ATHDIMENSION]

Yooooooo I love his KZbin videos this man got great knowledge

[@davidbock201]

I'm kinda surprised the Roland AIRA T-8 didn't make the list. Fun to watch though, for sure.

[@anaisyourfriend]

owned nearly all of them only one i have kept is elektron . the only one you need is an alphabase ;)

[@RandyReeTV]

I think you just convinced me to get the korg 😮

[@musicforhumans7095]

Love this guy. Great presenter

[@RubenGruber]

Great video, thanks!

[@boostAWD]

The Korg Volca reminds me of Reason but in hardware form

[@stingylizard]

Roland JD-Xi has all the kits and an Alesis SR-18 does everything else. Or... Arturia DB Impact 😁

[@ronaldcoleman9370]

I love that your doing this video on drum machines and I hope you keep them coming!!! My opinion is that the first four sounds really cheap and basic, but may be ok for absolute beginner's!!! I'll stick with Akai and Native Instruments!!!

[@mcgritty8842]

Akai and Native Instruments make synth drum machines????? I must’ve been sleepin hard

[@beesting6135]

Love Roland maaan

[@avace917]

Every time I see a drum machine roundup, I never see any MPC mentioned. Especially the One Plus being that it's $699 right now

[@darrell5228]

Some of those like they come from a Star Wars movie really high tech for a noob like me.

[@ikestoddard2458]

I need a simple sample player that can playback a few world drums, like bodhran or powwow gathering drum. What devices should I consider for guitar accompaniment? (Volca Beat does everything I need, but can you replace the snare and kick with your own sample?)

[@mothspleen1343]

There is a Volca Sampler that only does sampling, from what i hear it's pretty great.

[@Hoodyhoo504]

sp404 mk2 is worth a look. you can hook your guitar up and run it through the 404 fx and trigger samples as well as record your guitar playing and create sequences of everything.

[@jpfortuno]

The Arturia products always look nice, but what about the build quality? I had the mini lab before and most of the knobs were coming out and broke in two after 1 year without any heavy usage.

[@BrentODell]

I have used a MicroFreak and KeyStep Pro without issue, so maybe you got a bad unit? I have an MPC Live II, and the one I use is the third one after getting two bad units in a row, the first with audio out issues, the second with a bad touch screen. Thankfully, third time IS the charm, and I've had no issues since. I guess the moral of the story is hopefully it fails when it's still under warranty?

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

I have a keylab 25 and I concur.

[@fender1000100]

The Yamaha REFACE DX is the best drum maker ive ever heard. And can do alot more besides for less that £300

[@khajub]

Just a simple question I have already Roland MC-808 groove-box. Are there anything really you would recommend me buy one of these ??

[@jeanius123]

Thanks.

[@channelz3363]

Cycles sounds real good…

[@teddybearasaurus]

Model cycles has a 64 step sequencer…16 x 4 pages

[@1980easyboy]

bro, could you try to build a similar beat like you did on the elektron model, but on the Drum Brute?? This would be damn interesting..its also very important for me, as i am going to buy the drum brute, but love that special sound... this means the world to me mate... Kind Regards from austria

[@superblondeDotOrg]

Oh no Sweetwater made me want to buy everything. Again! 🤣

[@gsmith11172]

Great Video

[@IrvMrP]

Man. Boss DR-5 for LIFE! Real ones know what I'm talking about.... (313)

[@taskone5562]

Jah bless your the man

[@JoshuaPatrickGarrett]

I want to hear capabilities to replicate an acoustic drum set.

[@raspagameplay2413]

Cool but forgot to mention the budget

[@dankeplace]

$10

[@ramseydoon8277]

This video feels so rushed. If I chose a drum machine based on the given criteria my only option would be to buy the most expensive one that I could afford, no?

[@1972OGTony]

Congrats to dude with less than 5k subs to get a Sweetwater gig.

[@mcgritty8842]

Do you need more than 5k subs to get a Sweetwater gig? Sounds like you’re salty

[@1972OGTony]

@@mcgritty8842 23 people got better understanding than you 😂

[@nitad001]

@@1972OGTonywhat a feather in your cap

[@Youbadouba]

That’s 4 934 more than you, chillax mate.

[@alphanumeric1529]

808 43 years ago mate. Almost a half century ago. 30 years is misleading, it makes it seem still relevant, and perhaps it is, but it's not your father's drum machine, it's your grandfather's drum machine.

[@mcgritty8842]

Best drum machine for any budget. First one is the 2nd most expensive in the list… terrible way to present items for all budgets

[@Woozy.0]

First one is the one most users probably want info on...I know I did. The volca is also an awesome piece of tech. I like this layout, front loaded the fun and useful, then the odds and elite

[@christdolphin69]

why dont these companies choose people who know what they're doing with these instruments to demo them?

[@TheDistortionPrinciple]

Drum machines are still 20 years behind

[@djjuno106]

Behind ?how?

[@budgetkeyboardist]

Pretty sure it's on purpose.

[@DetroitMicroSound]

LXR-02 isn't. I'd like to hear him make hip-hop beats on that.

[@Woozy.0]

Behind what?

[@markallen381]

All of the drum machines have unrealistic drum sounds.

[@luispereztasso]

That's the whole point (?)

[@djjuno106]

If you want realistic drums use bfd

[@maxatorium]

😂

[@GrayGhostDog1]

If you’re looking for realistic drum sounds, grab yourself up an acoustic drum kit…

[@DetroitMicroSound]

The hallmark of Techno, is drums that sound like machines......

[@helluloidhoax]

Who the hell wants that insane noise in their song? What ever happened to a simple drum kit beat that sounds like a simple drum kit? Blues, Rock, etc

[@TayWoode]

The first does have good drums but he didn’t show that, he just seems to like trap style beats, the other ones are more analogue so they’re more of a synth rather than using samples of real drums

[@suntzu6122]

Sell your grandma and get a perkons HD01