Beedster

Yep, get this, just think that pre-Brexit it was legitimate - no import duties etc - post-Brexit it isn't. I'm sure it will sort itself out but I imagine a few UK retailers must be a bit miffed that in internet price searches a store that appears to be in the UK is undercutting their advertised prices by such a degree?

But they're not selling from the UK despite their name (and the company registration you've linked to) arguably suggesting that they are? Anyway, c'est la vie, the only reason I mentioned it is that there's a lot of confused people out there, and I suspect use of 'UK' in relation to Thomann in Germany explains part of that confusion

Agree, I don’t understand why they’re still using ‘Thomann UK’ though, they’re not in the UK unlike for example DV247 who are

I get that, but I think use of 'UK' is misleading as the naive buyer would not expect to pay extra on a UK purchase?

They appear to be describing themselves as just that online (or at lest Google are, example below). I'm trying to sell some stuff on eBay at present, and quite a few people have said "I can get it new at Thomann UK for just a few quid more"? Apologies if this has already been covered, haven't read the whole thread.

Thanks sammybee I'd like to use the same machine for practicing, jamming and rehearsing as I will use for recording, in short I don't want a collection of rhythm boxes! The main thing for me is that I can get a decent drum sound that will pass for real drums to the non expert listener, in my case I want a small jazz kit type feel for most sessions and recordings, although the option for other kits is always going to be useful. I'm not too fussed about the interface because even those that are described as intuitive tend to have unknown unknowns, so I'm prepared for the learning curve. i assume it's a case of uploading samples as opposed to sampling samples (as we used to do back in the 80's)? I get what you mean about robotic, when we used to rehearse with a drum machine it was chaos when a real drummer came in for that very reason, the whole band had become too tight if you get my drift, so some 'looseness' is good. One thing I do like about the Roland and similar interfaces is the 16-beat step input, because I'm going to be using the machine with my daughters and it's a lovely way of them learning and the rhythmic structure of music; I've no doubt that within days they will be far better at programming whatever I choose than I am

Great stuff, and your left hand looks like an alien spider at times

Just the sort of advice that gets expensive! For me the hardest part of selecting gear is knowing when something is enough; I'm all too often sold on the possibilities way beyond my needs, and end up never exploring or exploiting them (I tend to run all my amps flat and active basses in passive mode). My sense here is that the Roland might meet my needs while the Akai might significantly exceed them. But damn, I bet I end up owing both at some stage

Great post, what a journey

Yep, true but I don’t receive email notifications etc on my drum machine

Keep hearing Akai MPC mentioned on other forms, any thoughts here?

Tell me about it, I was doing Electronic Music Technology at the LCF in the early 80's, we were lucky enough to have a lot of decent tech including a Fairlight, but the prices were astronomical, to the point that it was simply cheaper to have a drummer and a bassist than a drum machine and a keyboardist, despite the trend for keys to encroach on the latter's territory (and the fightback from us lot with slap and fretless, which were beyond even the best keys players)

Go over to Gearslutz and you'll find that it's not only a thing, but a time consuming and expensive thing

Likewise, I spend enough time at a computer to not want to have to be in front of one when I'm playing music for pleasure

Thanks BRX, funny isn't it that since reading that the TR-8 is essentially an 808-909 derivative I hadn't dug any deeper. I'd assumed that the S version would represent a minor refinement of the TR-8, especially given it was released pretty quickly afterwards, as opposed to pretty much a completely different proposition from my POV (I had 'digital' in my head, perhaps had I had 'sample' the S might have jumped out). So, new journey I guess, I've found drum machine demo vids (too much house/techno/electro effects) to suffer from the same problem that so many bass guitar demos experience (too much slap), but will have a good read around the TR-8S. It certainly looks like it might be the machine I was looking for with respect to the sounds I was able to get from my Roland electronic kit (on which I pretty much only ever used a small jazz kit setting). Thanks once again for your advice. Chris

Yep, it’s the same principle that ensures that no matter how high quality is the gear I use, it still sounds like me playing it

Early days with Modulus yes, but it was new technology then, and the rare exception now demonstrates that even the best technology is fallible. Moses have always been lower quality than Modulus

That's about the truth of it

Two graphite/carbon necks that come off the production line one after the other, that have been built using the same material, the same process and with the same quality control, will have similar if not identical characteristics in every respect (playability, acoustics, stability). This is rarely if ever true of two wooden necks, even if the blanks were cut from the very same tree. Carbon necks built by different manufacturers, or by the same manufacturer using two different materials/processes can of course have different characteristics, but that's not what the OP was referring to

Yep, but I understand that there is less variability between graphite components than wooden components, all other thing being equal?

Yep

Graphite neck removes a lot of the variability I think?

I agree, no amount of setup refinement can sort components, wood and metal, that don’t work together