Roland Bringing TR-606 Sounds To The TR-8 Drum Machine

tr-8-606-sounds

In celebration of 6/06 Day, Roland today announced that they are bringing the sounds of the classic TR-606 Computer Controlled Drumatix drum machine to the Roland Aira TR-8

They did not provide any details, only saying that the TR-606 sounds will be “Coming soon as part of the 7X7-TR8 Drum Machine Expansion. Stay tuned for release date.”

The 7X7-TR8 Drum Machine Expansion, originally released in 2014, is priced at US $95 and adds two new drum machine sound libraries – TR-707 and TR-727. it looks like the 606 sounds will be incorporated into an updated version of the expansion pack.

See the Roland site for details.

28 thoughts on “Roland Bringing TR-606 Sounds To The TR-8 Drum Machine

  1. Great for those already in the TR-8 environment.

    For those who want great 606 (and larger 192 pattern memory), the Acidlab Drumatix doesn’t cost much more than a new TR-8 + expansion.

    1. Funny how expensive Acidlabs is. I remebmer that not long ago TR-606 went for $100 if anyone even bought one. I’m amazed how the value have risen in recent years.

  2. Great news! I love my TR-8 and the 7×7 added a lot to the machine for me. Even better if this is a free update as I was hoping for / expecting a paid expansion sometime soon. This should give a bit more versatility to a machine that offers a lot of instant fun and is great for jamming 🙂

  3. it coasted $100 to add on 707 8 and 6 bit samples that Roland has owned since 1985. while i love hardware and drum machines. great samples are easy to come by. i would never buy this and save my money from expansion packs and get something that is a stapler or lets you synthesize your sounds. IMO…this is more of an afordibal price but roland is dropping the ball. even there analog modular coming out is of no interest.

    1. Different strokes for different folks – the TR-8 is selling like hotcakes, so there’s tons of interest in a good quality drum machine. I’d like to see them do a ‘TR-9’ that includes all the sound options up front and enhances the sequencer.

      1. ha yeah i get that. i am not trying to knock people that got it or are getting it. i mean i def paid more then $100 for my 707. i just felt rage when i looked up how they charge for there packs on there aria line. but yeah if you enjoy making music on something its worth it…$ to $$$$

    1. That would be great too. But If so, I think it would be a better idea to put out a CR Machine Line Series where you would get CR-78,68,8000,5000

      1. Yeah, but Rytm is a real drum machine with multiple outputs, actual analog drum synthesis, USB interface, and sample capabilities. I want to like TR8 but it’s severely limited.

        1. I don’t want menus on my drum machine! i don’t want sampling! I don’t want “deep synthesis” for drums. I want a good sounding collection of roland drum machines with tons of knobs and full faders. TR8 gave me everything i wanted for cheap enough and threw in an audio interface so you can channel everything.

          Do you cry when your bicycle isn’t a hovercraft?

    1. If it’s a 606 it won’t be using samples like the 808 kit does on the TR-8.
      I have great 606 samples but having owned an actual 606 can vouch for the fact that they very rarely capture that wonderfully crappy sizzly yet slinky hihat sound in just the right way.
      So I hope this goes exactly were it needs to modelling wise.

      1. My first thought was, “oh no I hope it’s not just 606 samples.” I’m sure (crossing fingers) it won’t be since the 606 had a fair range of controls on the sounds.

  4. I’d like to also see the boss dr55 and the dr 110 too… plus digital 505, 626, R8

    for now, i’m getting my old school drum machine vibe from the JD-xi i bought last weekend.

  5. according to an insider namend “tha knoq” roland is about to announce a 16-pad sampler/workstation. in all likelihood it will come with lots of wav loops and one-shots, including tr-606 samples. so if i were you i would wait a few more weeks.

  6. Roland’s incentive to bring out more drum machines for the TR-8 is through charging for the expansion pack. This is a shame as other companies have simply reinvested in existing products by adding more sounds to their library. Would it really be that much to ask, Roland, for these extra sounds to be free considering the price point of the TR-8? Perhaps not, but I’d expect additional sounds from the CR series for the cost of the expansion pack. I rather suspect the 700 series back-fired as an additional cost as the demand would have been relatively low. With the 606 they may increase sales, so this incentive is for people who love the 606 (which are more units of potential sales than the 700 series, I would suspect). Far better would have been to spend the R&D on a decent iOS editor/sequencer, particularly with the view to being able to sequence whole songs. The JD-Xi offers far better value for money but it is not a drum machine per se (although it includes a lot of power in that camp). Roland are confusing the shit our of me again…..

    1. I was under the impression that the 707/727 had more cred than the 606. It has a higher rating and more ratings at vintagesynth.com. Since the 707/727 was sample based (way less work to make an expansion pack), and sounded a lot different than the 808/909. seems to me the call was a good one. Personally it’s the CR-78 I want, so I’m still waiting.

  7. Just to be clear, the TR-8 doesn’t have samples in it. It’s based on modelling or, as Roland call it, ACB! The same tech used in the other Aira devices. I have the System-1 and TB-3 as well as the aforementioned drum machine and I had a 606 in 1983. I used it constantly and miss the sound. I don’t want samples and, if I did, there’s tons on line so I’m gonna wait n see what Roland come up with.

  8. It would be really exciting if someone created a 808,1 and an 303Ltd . there simply are not enough emulations and hardware clones out there. we need more.

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