In this video, I compare the Roland MC-101 to the MC-707, as well as give context to other instruments in the category: standalone hardware grooveboxes – meaning machines that let you create multitrack musical performances with drums, synth sounds and even looped clips.

Both the MC-101 and the MC-707 have the same core sound engine with around 3600 synth presets and over 600 drum samples and dozens of kits, but the 101 gives you more limited access to changing that sound engine’s parameters and creating your own presets. Other than that, a surprising number of features are equally accessible on both instruments

Here’s a detailed walkthrough of all the main features and differences between the two:

TIMELINE:

0:00 Intro
1:00 Tracks
2:30 Controls
4:55 Pads: 16 vs 8
5:55 Velocity
6:30 Screens
7:05 Portability
7:20 Connectivity
8:45 Mutual params
9:45 Effects
11:00 Clip params
11:35 Seq params
12:35 Sound design
16:10 Clip & scenes
19:20 Looping
20:35 Timestretch
21:05 Sample edit
21:35 Scatter
22:15 Chord & misc
22:55 Pros & cons