TR-6S
☆ Top Pick
Roland TR-6S
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
The TR-6S is the small TR-8S. Six tracks instead of eleven, a smaller screen, and none of the ACB circuit modeling left out: 808, 909, 707 and 606 kits are the same ones Roland ships in the expensive box. It runs on batteries, it takes your own samples over SD card, and there is an FM engine underneath for sounds the classics never made.
Why it made the list
At the very top of this budget you are choosing between authenticity and features. The TR-6S is the only machine here with Roland's own models of the machines everyone else is imitating, and that matters more than track count once you are actually writing. Six tracks sounds thin until you notice most classic patterns use five.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: someone who already knows they want the TR sound and was about to spend twice this on a TR-8S. The gap between them is polyphony and screen size, not sound.
Where it gives ground: six tracks is a real ceiling. If you build dense percussion layers, you will bounce and resample, which is fine but it is a workflow you should choose deliberately rather than discover.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Roland: TR-6S Rhythm Performer | Full Demo and Review
Full Review
Roland TR-6S vs TR-8S vs MC-101 // Review and full workflow tutorial
Comparison
Roland TR-6S Rhythm Performer Overview
Overview
Roland TR-6S - a very honest review | Best Shortcuts + Everything you need to know
Overview
Pros
Roland's own ACB models of the 808, 909, 707 and 606 Sample import over SD card, so it is not locked to its own kits Battery powered and genuinely pocketable FM engine for percussion the vintage boxes could not makeCons
Six tracks, which is the real limit at this price The small screen makes deep editing slower than it needs to beDrumBrute Impact
Best Value
Arturia DrumBrute Impact
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
Ten analog voices, each generated by circuits rather than samples, with a distortion circuit on the output and a per-channel color switch that changes how each drum behaves. The sequencer does what you expect and gets out of the way, and everything worth touching mid-pattern has its own knob.
Why it made the list
This is the pick if you are not sure yet what kind of producer you are. It is analog, so the sounds move when you push them, and it is cheap enough that being wrong about it costs little. The distortion is the part people underestimate: it takes the kit from clean to aggressive without a plugin anywhere.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: a producer who wants to learn drum synthesis by ear rather than by menu. Every parameter that matters is a physical control, so you find out what decay does by turning it.
Where it gives ground: no sampling and no song mode worth the name. It writes patterns beautifully and arranges them poorly, so it wants a DAW or a second box alongside it.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Drumbrute impact - 5 pros & 5 cons, (more like 15 pros and 2 cons)
Full Review
Is the Arturia DrumBrute Impact an Underrated Drum Machine?
Review
Arturia DrumBrute Impact 1st-Look Review
Review
Pros
Ten genuinely analog voices, not sample playback Distortion circuit that earns its place on the output Every performance control is a knob, not a menu The cheapest analog machine here with a full-size sequencer and outputsCons
No sampling at all, so found sounds are out Song arrangement is weak enough that you will finish elsewhereModel:Cycles
Best for Sound Design
Elektron Model:Cycles
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
Six FM tracks and Elektron's sequencer, which is the actual product here. Parameter locks let you change any setting on any individual step, so a single kick track can move from tight to sub-heavy across one bar without you touching a knob live. The FM engine makes metallic and tuned percussion that sample-based boxes cannot reach.
Why it made the list
Every other machine on this list makes drums that sound like drums. This one makes sounds that are recognizably percussion but belong to nothing in particular, which is either exactly what you want or completely wrong for you. The sequencer alone justifies it if you have ever wanted a pattern that evolves instead of repeating.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: someone whose problem is that their drums sound like everyone else's. FM percussion plus per-step locks is a different creative posture, not a better version of the same one.
Where it gives ground: if you want a convincing 909 kick out of the box, this is the wrong machine and the RD-9 below is the right one. It also expects you to learn Elektron's way of working, which is a real investment.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Stimming reviews the Elektron Model:Cycles (Electronic Beats TV)
Full Review
Model:Cycles Review // The Pros and Cons
Review
Elektron Model:Cycles Review - FM Groovebox - SonicLAB Review
Review
Pros
Per-step parameter locks, so patterns evolve rather than loop FM engine reaches percussion no sample box can Six tracks with a sequencer far above this price Small enough to write on the sofa, though battery running needs the separate Power HandleCons
Elektron's workflow takes real time to learn Not the machine for convincing 808 or 909 emulationRD-9
Best 909 Sound
Behringer RD-9
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
A recreation of the TR-909 that copies its split personality: analog circuits for the drums, samples for the hats, ride and crash, exactly as the original did, with a 64 step sequencer, a dual mode filter and Behringer's Wave Designer for shaping transients. A real 909 costs several thousand used. This is the same voice architecture for the price of a decent microphone.
Why it made the list
If the sound in your head is house or techno, it is probably a 909, and this is the cheapest honest route to it. The additions matter too: the filter and Wave Designer let you do things to the kit that owners of the original have to patch outboard gear to achieve.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: anyone making four to the floor who has been layering samples to fake a 909 and would rather have the circuits.
Where it gives ground: build quality is where the money was saved, and it shows in the knobs rather than the sound. It has also been reviewed less than the others here, so there is less collective experience to draw on.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Behringer RD-9 Review | Worth the wait? Everything you need to know
Full Review
Re-Introducing Behringer RD-9 Rhythm Designer
Review
Behringer RD-9 // review, demo walkthrough and comparison // ALL-IN-ONE!!
Comparison
Behringer RD-9 Analog Drum Machine Demo
Sound Demo
Pros
Analog 909 drum circuits, with sampled cymbals as on the original 64 step sequencer with more depth than the original Dual mode filter and Wave Designer for shaping the whole kit A fraction of what a real 909 costs usedCons
Build quality is the obvious place the cost came out Thin review history compared with the rest of this listVolca Beats
Best Budget
Korg Volca Beats
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
Analog kick, snare, toms and hats with a handful of PCM sounds filling the gaps, a sixteen step sequencer and a battery compartment. It costs less than a decent pair of headphones and the kick is genuinely good, which is the whole reason it has outlived every other machine at this price.
Why it made the list
It proves you do not need $900 for real analog drums. The kick and snare are generated by circuits and they punch in a way that sample packs keep trying to imitate. Everything around them is compromised, and that is a fair trade at this money.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: someone finding out whether hardware suits them at all, or an experienced producer who wants a sketchpad that fits in a bag.
Where it gives ground: the PCM sounds are thin, and the clap is the usual complaint. Most owners end up running it through outboard EQ or sampling the good parts, which at this price is a reasonable thing to plan for.
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![Korg Volca Beats Review [Full Version]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oaHLMe3pHvM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Video Reviews & Tutorials
![Korg Volca Beats Review [Full Version]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oaHLMe3pHvM/mqdefault.jpg)
Korg Volca Beats Review [Full Version]
Full Review
Korg - Volca Beats Review
Review
Discover the Korg Volca Beats - overview
Overview
Pros
Genuinely analog kick and snare at the lowest price here Battery powered, small enough to write on anywhere The most reviewed machine on this list by a wide margin Cheap enough to be a second machine rather than the only oneCons
The PCM clap and crash are the well-known weak point Sixteen steps and no song mode, so it sketches rather than finishes