Roland MC-707, One Week Review

I've owned the Roland MC-707 for just about one week and have already released multi live jams and spent a good chunk of time this week exploring the inner guts of this machine. I wanted to drop my 1 week review and overall experience with the MC-707.

[Demoulous]

Well, I caved and ordered one last night. Looking forward to integrating it with the Hydra, Poly Boog and Neutron :).

[ianwilson]

Great insight Todd. When I first looked into the MC-707 it felt like there was no song mode, and that it was more performance-based. That turned me off because I wanted a groove box that could replace 95% of my DAW and do full songs. Is that truly the case? I had the Akai MPC One on my list but I just wasn't sure about the workflow, and the Roland workflow seemed more my style.

Now with the Verselab MV-1 out, it is making things very difficult, which is a good problem to have I guess. Did you look at the Verselab and Akai MPC and if so, what caused you to choose the MC-707?

[InkyDaCaT]

Thanks for this honest review Todd, glad you are enjoying it😉

[Arperture]

My biggest gripe with the Zencore engine is that it is a little too menu-divey. Sometimes it seems like there are just too many options. Four partials each with their own filter and amp and LFOs. It can be a bit daunting to try to build patches on that little screen. I use mine mostly with outboard gear anyway, and bring four mono signals of audio into the box into four tracks. The other four tracks are usually drums, sub bass zencore tone and maybe a looper.

[Hysteric_Subjects]

How DO you afford all the lovely toys! lol
I don't need anymore GAS but this has piqued my interest...I have an MPC but this whole thing looks good for more hands on flow

[ZaffinMusic]

★★★★★ Great review, Todd! I think if I didn’t have the Maschine+ to sequence my gear this would definitely be a contender. Has it had a song mode in an update yet?

One thing I’ve found with Roland is that they do update things - initially - but then they move onto the next thing. I was happy to see a couple of updates to my System-8 over the years but I think that’s it now.

[jszack]

I love my 707, too! (and got one because I was so fond of the 101, which I purchased first, and still love as a more portable 707). Have you tried attaching a MIDI keyboard to your 707 yet, using it as a sound module (i.e., more in a synth mode than a groovebox mode)? I found that's a good way to get a lot more expressiveness out of the machine, especially on certain tone tracks when you want to be more smoothly melodic or get those big pads you're talking about. And you can also attach your other boxes (waldorf or whatever) and control them via MIDI through the 707 and record their output onto 707 looper tracks. Nick Batt has a good Sonic State video showing how he does that--I tried it with a Moog Sirin and it adds a whole new dimension.

[davidotoole]

Hey Todd. Glad you're enjoying the 707 as much as I have been.
As far as updates are concerned, Roland has been dropping them roughly once every three months so yes as you say it's kept users happy by being able to either explore the new pieces of those updates, or in some cases redefine what the 707 is (I'm looking at you Scene Chaining, lol!). The 707 is still Roland's flagship within the AIRA series, and has held its price (as opposed to the Verselab, for example), so yeah I would think logically, the interest in the market keeps the 707 front of mind for Roland in terms of continuing to release new firmware for it.

[firesailstudios]

Recently dug my mc 707 out and got it updated. For sending out program changes with other gear it seems like changing the scenes just sends out program changes immediately instead of at the end of the clip… gonna have to work around that for now… but all the other updates the mc 707 has received are very impressive.

[aethervagrant]

Nice review. I was drooling over the 707 but went with the MPC One instead as I need a box that can let me do everything without a pc or too much outboard gear. But I love the sequencing and workflow with this thing. it would be killer to have both, but I still need a Neutron that you sold me on with your videos.

[LucidMusicIncRecordings]

At 1.7 I can’t think of what features it lacks. More sample memory like the verselab would be nice but that’s all I can think of.

[vincebu]

The Akai force and 707 together is what I use.. They are my top groove boxes on the desk..

[AlekseiDroganov]

Hi, Todd! I have dreamed of buying myself a powerful groovebox for a very long time and the choice at the moment I think is not very big. But still I chose between Akai Mpc Live2 with battery and monitors, Mashine plus, Elektron analog four mk2 and, of course, Roland mc707. But I'm looking for a device among them that does not have much menu diving. Not for MANY HOURS OF MENU DIVING, WITH A FRIENDLY INTERFACE. And so that it sounds professional, and not like a child's toy, if you know what I mean. I would be very grateful if you would advise me something, because you have more experience. Thanks🙏🙋‍♂️🤔

[GrootsieTheDog]

I get the best qualities of the MC707 and Keystep Pro sequencers by using them together. I have the Keystep pro going into the MC707 (707 is Master clock) BUT my setup is not conventional - I set up all four Keystep midi ch.s to 1 and use the auto channel on the 707 to switch between tracks/external gear. This way I can simultaneously and improvise/perform: 1. multi track individual synths. 2. Switch complex on the fly multi track sequencing between different synths. 3. Record any combination of the four Keystep tracks, on the fly, to the 707 clips as mute scenes on a single track ( for ex. Clip1 - track 1 unmuted & 2-3 muted, Clip 2 - track 1&2 unmuted & 2-3 muted and so on). 4. OR - Distribute and record, on the fly, the keystep seq tracks to various tracks/clips/external gear on the 707. All this is done rather easily in a performance and improvisational setting (the beauty of the Keystep pro). It’s the best set up I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried A LOT lol).

As a post script: Its simply impossible to use the auto channel if you want to multi track using the mc707 (for ex. Tracks 1&2 midi ch. 1, tracks 3-5 midi ch. 2 and so on) because the midi bleeds when entering notes from controller so that it’s sends multiple voices (this of course can be overcome by using the pads). Roland is aware of this. I noticed this when using a Peak synth (it shows the voice allocation on the front). This doesn’t happen when you use a controller set to a single midi channel and change channels with the controller (instead of track selection with auto channel).

[unclemick-synths]

Glad you're enjoying it. The drums for this video seem to have a bit more life and "thwack" than your earlier experiments - have you been tweaking them?

[SimpleHold]

From what you have to say about it this just sounds better and better. I’m looking forward to hearing this together with the Opsix or Blofeld.

[teddybearasaurus]

I almost pulled the trigger on this one, but the workflow just didn’t suit me. I wish it did. I ended up “settling” for an mpc one instead, but I love the idea of this machine. Still amazing to me in general.

[mechatomb]

You’re completely right. Machines that get updates really start peeking in the interest of people who may have been put off by then.

I was just looking at the updates from the MPC line and I was blown away and I am now I’m really considering buying one for the first time instead of buying another piece of gear like an Elektron to pair with my current gear.

I don’t personally like the look of the 707 but I love that the form factor really lends itself to performance, and that’s really enticing

[veganchris]

Great review. I agree with all of it. I would probably say it sounds “polished” or clean compared to other synths. But it sounds great. Also, there’s a work around where you can record two or three tracks into one looper track to free up tracks. If you need to, but that has its pluses and minuses.

[LousyFacelift]

Very much agree with what you say here. It's always good when companies have a whole line of instruments relying on the same tech, like Akai and Roland these days. It allows them to isell more units to secure further software development for new updates. That's what keeps these machines relevant and fun to use. I'm really impressed with the MC-707 like I am with the Akai MPCs and hope for more to come. Both could use a nice disc streaming option... wonder who will be first to bring that to the table.