Roland 808 and 909 drum machines fused with new Serato DJ controllers

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    Mon, Aug 14, 2017, 10:49
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  • The DJ-505 and DJ-202 will arrive later in 2017.
  • Roland 808 and 909 drum machines fused with new Serato DJ controllers image
  • Roland and Serato have announced two new hybrid drum machine DJ controllers. The DJ-505 and DJ-202 bring live beat-making to a Serato digital DJing setup, allowing users to construct their own grooves over the top of other tracks. The drum machines contain 808 and 909 sounds generated by Roland's analogue modelling technology, ACB—they will include 606 and 707 sounds following a later firmware update. A TR-style step sequencer can be used for tracking both drums and Serato's Sampler. When combined with eight sample pads per channel, these controllers can be used for live remixing and editing. The new products are downsized, cheaper versions of the DJ-808, which was released last year. Both new models have two channels rather than four, while the cheaper DJ-202 cannot connect to external hardware. The DJ-505 can be used with external turntables or media players. Both come with Serato DJ software. The product launch follows last week's announcement that Roland will be releasing Boutique versions of the TR-808 drum machine and SH-101 mono synth. Watch a promo video for the DJ-505.
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    Roland will release the DJ-505 and DJ-202 later in 2017 and will retail for approximately $699 and $299 respectively.
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