Roland Intros New MC-707, MC-101 Grooveboxes

Roland today introduced the MC-707 and MC-101, two grooveboxes designed to let you make complete productions, standalone or integrated with a computer-based workflow.

Building on workflows introduced with instruments like the TR-808, TR-909, and TB-303, the grooveboxes are designed to let you create songs quickly and easily.

The MC-707 Groovebox offers eight-track recording, sequencing, sampling, synthesizers, and studio-grade effects, plus a curated palette of sounds, loops, and phrases.

Audio and MIDI can be recorded with deep control over timing, while hands-on faders and knobs inspire in-the-moment creativity.

The MC-707 features the sounds of classic Roland rhythm machines and synthesizers, but also looks forward with modern digital and hybrid sounds.

It features 16 ‘ultra-sensitive’ pads for playing or sequencing drum parts, melodic basslines, or polyphonic chord progressions. There’s also a TR-REC step sequencer, inherited from Roland’s classic drum machines.

 

With advanced USB audio interface capabilities, the MC-707 lets you easily record all eight parts to individual DAW tracks and finish a song there, or sample sounds from a DAW to capture backing tracks, stems, and more for live shows.

The MC-101 Groovebox has all the sounds, sequencing, and effects of the MC-707, but in a more compact four-track version, tailored for portability.

It runs for up to five hours on four AA batteries, and is compact enough to let you create sounds or make beats anywhere you like:

The MC-101 has a four-track sequencer. You can use the 16 RGB pads to create drum, bass, and synthesizer patterns. You can freely combine loops and one-shots with melodic phrases, including your own imported audio recordings and MIDI sequences.

The MC-101 lets you compose and trigger clips, rearrange, re-sample, record your knob movements, and more.

Each track has independent effects processors, with a huge number of variations. Options include chorus, delays, reverbs, overdrive, distortion, filters, compression and more.

Here’s an overview:

Pricing and Availability

Both grooveboxes will be available starting in September, with the following pricing:

49 thoughts on “Roland Intros New MC-707, MC-101 Grooveboxes”

        1. Don’t forget you need to buy the apps, a midi interface and a controller which adds a few hundreds dollars on top of the price of the ipad/iphone.

          1. I do surveys to get my apps, and wait for them to go on sale, conceivably you could get away with doing a lot with just bm3 and no midi interface

        2. @chris not really considering on ipad running something like korg gadget has terrible hands on control. Finger on a screen vs pads knobs is an extremely different experience. In order to match a hardware groovebox you would need a ios audio interface, midi interface, and controllers. Now your not very portable anymore and more hassle. A laptop and daw with a controller are looking better than an ipad, but even further away from the groovebox experience.

          If korg made a audio/midi hardware performance controllers specifically for gadget where you slide in a iphone or ipad then have access to pads and knobs, audio outs, & midi, then I would be down because it would make the ipad or iphone have the hardware user experience. I have not yet seen such a product.

  3. Taken from the MC-707 site – “It has the sounds of legendary Roland rhythm machines and synthesizers that are the foundation of electronic music—including the TR-808, TR-909, TB-303, JUNO-106, and SH-101”. Does this mean samples or synth engine of the mentioned devices?

    1. Specs say it uses their ZEN-Core engine, which is PCM samples and virtual analogue, something of a renaming of what they once called Linear Synthesis. It does not use the computationally intense Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) engine that is used in the Boutiques and Aira instruments.

    1. The MC-707 does have line inputs and a Looper track type for sampling so you can either sample an external source or the master right into a clip.

      1. Oh I missed that!, thanks for pointing out. I am more interested in the MC-101. Love the portability, wish this one had a line in too!

    1. That was my thought too. It would be fun to have a discreet private jam in a coffee shop. But with all those coloured lights I would be concious that people would think I was playing with a child’s toy.

    1. yeh those knobs look steaming hot to touch for some reason…they can barely touch the knobs and they seem to get a burn and pull their fingers back violently maybe its a hardware fault that is making the knobs too hot

  10. The MC-909 was one of my favorite pieces of gear EVER. That plus a Virus and a P3 were perfect for what I was doing at the time. But I ultimately sold it because in order to record anything into the sequencer YOU HAD TO PRESS STOP FIRST. It was the groovebox that didn’t groove. I sure hope this machine does not suffer from that same flaw because it looks reeeeally interesting otherwise.

    1. But the mc 909… So many controllers, 16 tracks… Compare to mc 707 the mc 909 was better in many ways, of course mc 707 has other things but for 15 years later it looks like a downgrade…

  11. To everyone asking about sampling:

    In addition to its deep synthesis engine, the MC-707 has a powerful sampler with on-the-fly recording that synchronizes to your project’s tempo. Record vocals or instrument parts, or import from your own existing library, then sequence or trigger phrases, one-shots, and loops. You can also tweak and mangle samples by truncating and reversing—with the inspiration and precision that comes only from hands-on control.

    1. What are you, a Roland employer? No, as far as I understand, you cannot sample into the 707 and play the sample as if it was an oscillator.

      1. Hey everybody, look how clever this guy is!

        I just copied and pasted the text from the site, but who needs information, right? You seem to have all the answers.

        1. Nope, you cannot, if you watch the Loopop video, he changes the pitch of the loop thats constantly playing. You cannot use a anything you sampled as an oscillator in a synth track, only on the looper track… You can load samples into the synth tracks from an sd card though.

  12. Roland continues to improve its user interfaces while maintaining good build quality. I look forward to trying out the 707 which looks like a great first or second machine. I hope they’ve elaborated their voice/sequencing architecture a bit though – in the past, it’s often felt like fast food or dessert that’s delicious at first bite but laden with too much fat and sugar to be enjoyable by the time you get to the end.

  14. Love the sample video for the MC-101, reminds me of the music of the original Nintendo Super Mario games.
    So that’s like a 30 year old retro groove that still sounds good.

  15. Well spec’d, clearly capable, but not super inspiring for some reason? I think it’s subjective/personal. These are clearly killer for some (or a lot of) people.

    1. In fairness, the TB-303 and MC-202 weren’t super inspiring in the early 80s. They were weirdly fiddly commercial failures that nobody liked until they hit the discount bins.

  18. I’ll stick with my Korg Electribe Sampler 2 and my Korg Kaossilator Pro. It has taken me years to even scratch the surface of the workflows of this stuff. I don’t feel like relearning. And WHERE does Roland get off charging so much for their equipment? Seriously! Get a dose of reality!

    1. according to the molten guy who spoke to roland, song/arranger mode is ALREADY the number one feature request. so why didn´t they implement it in the first place? *facepalm* from the getgo akai was rightfully critized for not implementing song mode into their force. so apparently roland people were not aware of that criticism. wtf? lmao…

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