Roland

the pads and sequencer buttons, to
create Clips, which are recorded,
arranged and played using a grid
system like Ableton Live’s Clip View.
Both Drum and Tone generators
make use of Roland’s new ZEN-Core
engine, using a mixture of PCM
samples and virtual analogue. That
means there’s no Analog Circuit
Behaviour (ACB) tech – the much
hyped engine used for the Boutique
range and the TR-8S’s drum
emulations. Despite this, the MC-707
is packed with sounds from Roland’s
past, which on the whole sound
excellent. There are multiple varieties
of drum kits based around sounds
from each of the company’s classic
groove boxes and instrument patches
that take infl uence from Junos,
Jupiters, 101 basslines and more.
In total there are more than 3,000
Tone presets and 80 preset Drum
kits, each made up of 16 individual
drum sounds. The Tone and Drum
generators are more than just preset
players though; each has a decent
The Looper tracks are probably
the least developed element of the
707 at present. These allow users to
capture audio, either from the
device’s external inputs, the USB
audio connection or from another
track internally, and loop it as a clip
within the 707’s arrangement
workfl ow. There are then edit controls
to adjust the pitch, speed and
duration of loops. Where the 707 lags
behind some rivals is the lack of
one-shot sampling or loop slicing.
This means it’s currently not possible
to, say, grab a vocal stab from a vinyl
record and sequence it using the step
sequencer, or chop up and retrigger a
amount of sound shaping parameters.
Drum sounds can have each
individual sample tune shaped, while
the Tone engine offers a simple
subtractive synth engine, whereby the
source sound can be fi ltered, shaped
and have effects applied. For
authenticity, this engine is a slight
downgrade from the full component-
modelling of the Boutiques’ ACB, but
– as Roland explain – it allows for a
much higher level of polyphony from
the hardware (a max of 128 voices).
There’s more customisation too, as
users can import their own samples
via USB to act as sources for Drum
and Tone tracks.
ROUND THE BACK
Along the rear panel, the MC-707 has two stereo pairs of jack outputs, one acting as a
main out and one an assignable output. These are joined by a headphone output, a pair of
external input jacks (with a mono input switchable between mic and line), and two more
jack pairs acting as send and return connections for an external effect loop.
On the MIDI front, the 707 has an input and two outputs. The MIDI routed to these
outputs can be confi gured in the device’s settings, so that the 707’s tracks can be set up
to sequence a variety of hardware devices across multiple MIDI channels. Next to these
sits an SD card slot, pre-installed with a card acting as the device’s memory. This can be
upgraded, but comes as
standard with a screwed-
in protector plate keeping
the card fi xed in place.
The MC-707 has a
USB connection too,
which allows it to be
connected to a computer:
fi rstly, to transfer samples
and fi les to and from the
device’s SD card; send
and receive USB MIDI
and stream individual
channels of audio to a
DAW; and fi nally in order
to use the USB as an
audio input for sampling
loops from a computer.
THE ALTERNATIVES
Akai MPC Live
£850
With a built-in
battery, Akai’s
standalone MPC is a
truly portable
production tool.
akaipro.com
Pioneer DJ Toraiz
SP-16 £1225
Pioneer’s standalone
sampler has a similar
combination of
performance pads
and sequencing.
pioneerdj.com
Roland TR-8S
£550
If beatmaking is your
primary concern,
Roland’s updated
TR-8 combines
sample playback
with excellent
modelled drums.
roland.com
I can see it becoming a
creative hub for a
lot of producers
Reviews | Roland MC-707
82
FMU349.rev_roland_707.indd 82 04/09/2019 16:42