How To Turn A Roland TR-707 Into A 909, 808, 727, LinnDrum, LM-1 & Oberheim DMX

English developer Harry Axten has created the Roland TR-707 ROM Expansion, a third-party mod that expands the sounds available to include sounds from other classic Roland, Linn & Oberheim drum machines.

Features:

  • Adds eight sound banks to the TR-707 or TR-727 (see page for full list)
  • Original sound sets from both machines included, so the modified machine can work exactly as stock
  • ROM bank is selected by holding down one of the first eight step switches at startup
  • Reversible, invisible installation – doesn’t require any holes drilled, track cuts, etc.
  • Kit includes pre-assembled expansion board, chip socket and ribbon cable

Here’s a user demo, via preromanbritain, covering installing and using the mod:

Topics covered:

0:00 Introduction
2:04 Installation
19:16 In the studio
20:19 Sounds : TR-707
20:45 Sounds : TR-727
22:07 Sounds : TR-808
24:20 Sounds : TR-909
26:58 Sounds : LinnDrum
28:00 Sounds : LM-1
28:36 Sounds : DMX
29:31 Sounds : 707 + 727
31:18 vs TR-505 : DMX
33:33 vs TR-505 : LM-1
35:42 vs TR-505 : LinnDrum
37:29 Full beat
38:34 Conclusion
40:55 Epilogue

Pricing and Availability

The Roland TR-707 ROM Expansion is available for £60. It’s currently sold out, but a new batch is expected in later September.

14 thoughts on “How To Turn A Roland TR-707 Into A 909, 808, 727, LinnDrum, LM-1 & Oberheim DMX

  1. I’ve bought from Harry in the past and he is an amazing guy. I modified my 505 with his ROM and I love It!. Thanks Harry for keep developing stuff!. Any possibility to have an 808/909 ROM for the 505?

    Cheers!
    Aid

  2. … expect a cease and desist from Bruce forat. He owns the old linn brand and actively protects everything from the original sample files to anything else linn related that tries to upgrade, improve, or otherwise reference the old linn stuff.

  3. I have his ROM kit for the 626 installed and I love it. It just has a sound to it that the samples don’t have in an all digital environment.

  4. Very cool idea, but I don’t think that I would buy a Roland TR-707 to make it sound like something else.

    I also find the following sentence a misconcetion:
    “How To Turn A Roland TR-707 Into”

    Roland TR-808 and TR-909 are much more flexible, when it comes to tone options?

  5. I had a 727 and learned to like it more over time. You couldn’t get me back to that teeny display as a daily thing now, but the work flow translated well to bigger, easier 2020-level tools. It taught me plenty. If I still had it, I’d give Harry’s mod a go. You should always enhance whatever you have to the max. The sounds you find in Banks B & C are often the bigger gems.

    1. Funny, the display is one of my favorite things about the 707. Sure, it’s small but it lets you instantly visualize the entire pattern. On much better spec’d drum machines like the Digitakt, TR8/S, etc, you need to dive into each track to see the overall pattern.

  6. This is great, but Korg should make something like this but with a professional sized form factor. I had a volca once, i have the fingers of a regular sized adult and my vision is not telescopic, so i had to get rid.

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