Would You Pay $1.99 For A TR-909?

iPad Roland TR-909

Would you pay $1.99 for a (virtual) Roland TR-909?

That’s what the creators of nineOnine – a virtual TR-909 for iPad – are hoping. nineOnine is intended to emulate not only the sound of the classic TR-909, but also the logic of programming and saving rhythm patterns.

Features:

  • 16 step drum sequencer
  • 10 user defined presets
  • 9 drum instruments
  • 8 drum patterns (4 x 2 banks)
  • 4 preset tracks
  • Knob zoom for easier handling
  • Effects rack (Reverb, Delay, BitCrush and Pan)
  • Record and export loops in 16bit/44.1kHz stereo WAV format

While a couple of bucks for a virtual 909 sounds like a steal – nineOnine needs some additional features in order to become a no-brainer. MIDI features are missing in action and “Track Play is preset and can not be user defined.”

Developer Mirko Trkulja promises some significant enhancements with the next update, though, including:

  • Knob automation
  • Wi-Fi MIDI sync
  • Full sound synthesis
  • Step or Tap pattern write mode
  • More patterns and presets
  • User defined Track Play

These ‘enhancements’ seem like features that, at this point, should be part of just about any 1.0 music app.

At this point, even $1.99 doesn’t seem like a bargain for nineOnine. We’ll be interested to see how this app develops, though. If the feature set does mature, this could be a welcome addition to iOS musicians’ toolkit.

4 thoughts on “Would You Pay $1.99 For A TR-909?

  1. there must be THOUSANDS OF THESE, how many recreations, emulations, reimaginings of this ONE drum machine do we really need? I appreciate them making it easy to get access to. I'd rather stick to Drumazon from D16. as it's the only one I use.

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