So, I have SuperNova II, CS6X, K2000rs, Tr909 and a few other sound sources. I'll be getting a RM1x pretty soon, but I think I'll still be using Cakewalk for sequensing most of the time.

Given this setup, is there any point in getting a Tr808 ? I know somebody that has one for sale, and the 808s used to be hard to find (?) and I feel like rushing out to buy it.

What's making me hesitate is that I know the 808 doesn't do MIDI. Is it possible to sync the 808 to the rest of the equipment and will it be easy to use or am I setting myself up for more trouble than it's worth ?

you can Din sync it to your 909. I tried it with my xbase09 this summer, with my friend's 808, worked a charm

Yes, but will I be able to sync the rest of the equipment this way ?

I mean, could perhaps the 909 be the MIDI 'time master' somehow, so that all units including the Cakewalk PC are in sync ?

And if so, is the 808 timing accurate enough for the whole system to rely on it ?

well, the 808 will only respond to start/stop and receive clock. So it'll do it's own thing pattern wise, but in sync. Cakewalk should respond to that also via midi (it works with xbase as master and Cubase slave)But i've never tried a 909, so I want make assumptions about it. I'm sure some more qualified headz can give you a run down on it.

Thanks for your help and for being so patient, Frostbyte.

What I meant was that using the 808 as a 'din time master', the 909 might be able to be the 'midi time master', and the PC the first 'midi time slave' and the rest of the devices the second 'midi time slaves'.

The time signal path would then be :

  808--[din]-->909--[midi]-->cakewalk--[midi]-->interface--[midi]-->synths.

If I understand the hardware correctly, this would be the only possibility because the 808 has DIN in and out, and the 909 has DIN in only.

I bought it.

If anybody's interested, I'll post updates about how I hook it up and how the combination works.

cool. I'm sure you won't regret it. I'd love one, even just for the hats ! But I have to rely on the sampler for extra perc. Having two drum machines linked up is awesome, now you'll know the real meaning of layering   As for the technical side of it, well as I said, I don't know much more. We had it hook up to the xbase by din, and we just punched in pattern, accenting here and there. I don't think you should compute it to much in your tempo equation. But then reading back (i've been away a while) I see the 909 has only din in ? that would mean the 909 can only be slave in din sync? Does the din sync ovverides the clock on the midi bus? I don't know.

HEADZ!!!!!, how come no one answered that ? It's been three days  

Hello, my name is Frostbyte and I'm a gear whore who's just succomb to a compressor, ouch!

So far, I've done nothing more than sync the 909 to the 808 DIN out. This is the only option with the equipment I have now. I don't think I want to sync all my gear to the 808. But there must be some sort of device available that extracts the timing from MIDI and outputs a DIN signal ? I'll be looking into this soon.

The 808/909 combo is great, even tho the lack of midi on the 808 makes it appear like a tool from the stone age. :o)

Phillip Rees and Kenton both make Midi to DIN convertors.

peaceout,

peter

Is the Philip Rees' "MDS MIDI to DIN Sync (Sync24) Convertor" the right product (and best choice) here ?