Categories: Synthesizers

1981: Battle of the ’55s

1981: Korg and Roland both release prosumer drum machines designated 55. The KORG KR-55 is a non-programmable drum machine with many preset patterns and individual volume controls for each sound. Regardless of what this advert claims, trust me, this thing does not remotely sound like an acoustic drum kit. The sounds are pretty charming tho. I had one of these for years and now i have somehow ended up with only an empty KR55 box. The Boss (ROLAND) DR-55 is quite different: despite the very crude prototype-esque appearance, the DR-55 is a programmable drum machine. We have one of these at Gold Coast Recorders and while it seems to be overlooked in favor of our TR606, it is a worthy unit. For some odd reason the DR55 seems to command a higher price than the 606 on eBay. Anyone have an idea why? Has the DR55 been embraced by a leading contemporary artist?

chris

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Johannes says:

04/19/2012 at 12:51 am

... not so much by "contemporary" artists, but by some heroes of New Wave, contemporarily considered to be "cool" again. Among those as quoted from vintagesynth.com: Joy Division, New Order, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy, Depeche Mode. Enough reasons to push the price I guess.