hi all replacing my old zoom mrt 3 have limited $ ive hears the sr16 alesis is the choice
i can afford this boss makes a couple units in my price range i have fruity loops came with sonar 3.0
please advise machine..vs..software i havnet  had a lot of luck looping but im an old dog
thats still learnin
thanks in advance please be specific concerning products
buzzz

oh and arrousek your right trying to find that beat is a major pain in ass / and i havent perfected step recording at this time as im a self taught dumbass guitar playerlol

I use an SR-16 because it has tons of natural sounding drums built in and you can tap in whatever you want (then loop it etc) instead of trawling though stacks of loops looking for the one you want (by which time you have forgotten anyway).

It also has many "hidden" features....
e.g. most drum machines (and static samples) have 1. hi-hat open & 2. hi-hat closed and that's it. SR-16 allows you to "blend" the two using the buttons, which creates a more natural hi-hat sound (without having to rent a real drummer or their kit!).

Recommended.

I still don't know exactly what is a drum machine. Can you explain me?
What's the difference between a drum machine and a software?

        > Iszil

well Iz.. a drum machine is a little box with small pads on them which you can hit and then it produces drum sounds. it has a recording function which allows you to record your banging on the pads in a pattern made of a customizable # of measures, played in a loop, so you can create your own drum loops. then you can also create fill patterns and variations and in Song function playback&record your patterns in a song sequence. With the Alesis SR-16, the fill button and easy pattern selection makes it excellent for recording Song Sequences In Real Time, a feature which I haven't found in other drum machines thusfar...

So, that for Buzz's initial question.. If I were you buzz I'd try to get an old SR-16 off ebay (they are relatively inexpensive) and keep the MRT3 for more drum sounds (to trigger them with the SR-16 via midi). I also use the SR-16 mainly for it's sequencer and usually use it's internal sounds for layering with my other stuff. In fact, drums to a lot of songs I have on here are SR-16 only... with a bit of effects put to them that is... but Acid Son, Nightflyer, No Deal and Burning2Rebel1995 - that's the SR16 dry

thanks huys looking at the boss prodducts mw as welll the 880 seems like the 1 but retaila t 499.00////the 670 both current models 269.00 now .......seems i can get an dr 770 off ebat so far bourt 50.00 ...sr 16   65.00 - 90.00 and i wonder about age how much has the sr 16 changed in 10 yrs? thanks again ya''llll r graet
 

I have a 1990 SR-16. I have actually been looking at newer ones because I understand they have improved some components (for example,they have introduced something called "dynamic articulation", which is new and not present on mine. When you do a drum roll on mine, it comes out like a "machine gun" because it doesn't allow layering of drum beats. The new ones do, which allows for a more natural sound). They still are 16-bit sampling which is adequate (the old ones are 16-bit, too). I recommend also getting the two available foot switches. These are quite handy as one allows instant start-stop. plus foot tapping to select tempo. The other one allows fill to be implemented at will. The quality of the drum samples is quite good. It can also work as a midi sequencer. Also, the sounds and patterns have been updated to  more contemporary versions. Mine has the dated "eighties" sounds and factory patterns.

thanks BC