Bassline DB-01 Desktop Bassline Synthesizer

In the very spirit of the 303. I've gone through some 303's. My first one was the one included on the Roland T-8. I had to have a "real one". Ironically, that 303 is still the smallest and most convenient 303 to add to a cramped board, and you get a franken-drum machine with it that's a combination of 808 and 909 sounds. Clever, those folks at Roland. Suddenly you want a big 303 and a real drum machine. Drum machine was easy for me. I love the TR-707. So I got a TR-6S. Done. 303 has been harder. The derailing moment for me was sequencing a 303 with an SQ-64 sequencer, then an Oxi One. Suddenly it didn't matter how good the sequencer was, or how it worked. I went through the TD-3, the TB-3, the TT-303, the NuBass and the Donner B1 Essential. The winners of that contest are the Donner B1 Essential and the NuBass for different reasons. The NuBass for sound, and the B1 for workflow. When you finally figure out it's dumb to put your 303 on the sequencer, and you just want something awesome beside your sequencer taking sync from it, that's great for transposing on the fly, then the Donner wins. And that's the current state of 303's. You should get the Donner B1 Essential not only because it has a song mode and a sequencer, but because the workflow is so good it doesn't make sense to ignore it. And it was the king until this one. (It's still the cheap king, and the common sense king). But what if you lack common sense and want the best of something? Then you get to spend 500 more dollars lol. This has the same kind of smart workflow the Donner does, but with an emphasis on live performance abilities. That makes it stupidly easy to get an idea down, just like the Donner. But it's made of metal, the buttons don't wobble, and it's a third the footprint on your board. And it looks awesome. And it sounds amazing. You would never want to use a sequencer with this. The workflow is the POINT of this amazing 303. And you see it in the design philosophy. They took everything great about the 303 and made it better, then took everything bad about it and improved the workflow. The sequencer and random mode are outstanding. Just go watch anybody using this thing. It becomes it's own point. It's that good. You'll find yourself making songs just to use it. And it transposes on the fly like the Donner. If Korg did the work on the NuBass and did things like, changing the dumb name, and adding song/transpose modes, they'd beat the Donner. If you just want the 303 you should have, get the Donner, If you want the best one on Earth I've seen, get this one. Updated: Pairs AMAZING with the Typhon from DB, but be honest with yourself. You'll probably end up getting two of each of them. It also plays CRAZY nice with the Minilogue XD if you are tracker nut like me. Something else I recently got a backup for and will never be able to live without ever again. I tacked on my favorite angry catgod sound in a video. Forgive the lazy iphone audio.