
I am Philip (aka USRFobiwan) I am a ex-producer in the Dutch house scene from 1988 till 2004 (first acid then, chicago house, trance, hardcore and techno. I have made numurous records and and have worked with other producers like Jeroen Flamman (Fierce Ruling Diva) , Daniel Leeflang (DJ Dano), Carl cox, Dj Vox and many many others in the Dutch house scene)
You can find some of my discographs over at Discogs:
Odysee
TinHill
So now i got that of my chest we can get along with "THE god of bass" the TR-909. I own a TR-909, infact i am the first owner, and bought her in 1985. I have also played with several Tr's in the past 20 years. And there is a big difference in the series. For example, some batches have different EPROMS (or Operating Systems) ranging from version 1 to version 4. The version 1 series tr's could not stay in sync with midi when midi clock is send to the machine it also has some additional bugs.
Before you ask: You can see the version if you hold down TRACK1 and power up the TR-909.
Also some ranges have different or altered sounds then other series. Like for example range (serial number: 000001 to 14.000) had a very short decay. My serial number was in the 30.000 range and was the last known series. This series is the "must have" house TR series. So if you want to buy a TR be sure to ask for the serialnumber (25.000 and up and you are good) So watch so spacial about these 25k plus series? The bassdrum is the best. It has a long decay. way Longer then the other serial series. Also the tune dept range is longer or deeper sounding.
And that brings us to my first beta testing, i have compared it to my own TR-909 and below are my findings:
The decay of the TR basskick is to short! way to short! It has to fade out more. Open up the gain on your desk to the max. Open the bass eq all the way and you "should" here a distorted beeaauuuwwww kick that decays and fades away. It does not happen with the beta period.
Also the low tuned kick doesnt sound right, my TR sounds deeper and wider. Maybe to do width the decay time, dont know yet.
The snare is well... the same really. excellent work guys!
Same for the rimshot

The clap is almost the same, om my TR it sounds slightly thicker, like adding more fathness or eq'ing more bass.
The rest of the sounds not compared yet, but my findings are of most important i think. Because its all about the TR-909 basskick!
Let me know what you think...