Modor DR-2 digital drum machine...

[Easterner]

Just browsing a west coast music gear website and... noticed this!!!
https://www.perfectcircuit.com/modor-dr-2.html

And a quick search on YouTube finds this product video!


I personally am a big fan of the Modor NF-1 digital desktop polyphonic synth module... so I'm interested to hear more about the sound and functionality of this box...

[Modulus]

Looks pretty dope. More sound demos by kink on the modor channel. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCr0HkWlM60JmapHaTOd0BUg

[???]

Oh yeah! KiNK!!!

[anselmi]

nice but ... too big for a just 6-drum instrument ... being this size and digital I would have expected 10 at least

also, it sounds quite plastic-ish in Kink´s demos...the snare and claps are too flat for my taste...100% subjective anyway, other will love this


edit: 1750€ !?!?!? really?

[Red Electric Rainbow]

kink always seems way too eager for my blood

[Red Electric Rainbow]

nice but ... too big for a just 6-drum instrument ... being this size and digital I would have expected 10 at least

also, it sounds quite plastic-ish in Kink´s demos...the snare and claps are too flat for my taste...100% subjective anyway, other will love this


edit: 1750€ !?!?!? really?

no shade, but yeah, i don’t really expect them to be moving too many units at that price.

[anselmi]

full specs and more demos here:

http://www.modormusic.com/dr2.html

[grizzleb]

Way pricey, maybe there might be a cheaper module in the pipeline. Nf-1 sounds like one of the best digital polysynths imo

[Red Electric Rainbow]

i think its an interesting unit all things considered. thank god they have individual outs for each voice. i was super stoked when I saw that it was advertised with a 128 step sequencer. i immediately thought of 8 bars with 16 steps per bar. I was a bit let down when i read its 128 steps using 32nd notes and not 16th notes. that being said the 32 LEDS over the 16 step buttons are a nice, thoughtful touch. a small effects section with built in reverb and delay would’ve been nice.

[Red Electric Rainbow]

im still traumatized by how bad the OS was on the Jomox alpha base. hoping this doesn’t suffer from janky firmware too. ive never used modor so i don’t how spot on their stuff is.

[Pyrrhix]

Personally, I think this machine has the perfect combination of an underwhelming sound and excessive price. Truly remarkable.

[Red Electric Rainbow]

Personally, I think this machine has the perfect combination of an underwhelming sound and excessive price. Truly remarkable.

maybe trying to cash in on the success and popularity of the NF-1?

[Red Electric Rainbow]

not sure how much money they’ve pumped into it, but $700 seems like number that would move a ton of units. maybe they’re basing their price on what other boutique units go for?

[Modulus]

Yeah 2100$ seems a tad excessive especially when something like the pulsar is only 1800$.

[rowsbywoof]

Yeah, going to have to echo the popular opinion here... that price is way over what I’d want to pay for it. The NF-1 is a great machine, and a tad pricey as well, but I didn’t feel it was completely off the mark. This seems way too pricey for what it is to me. I still want Modor to do well. I’d love to play with it. Maybe when the world stops being over, and if Perfect Circuit survives lockdown.

[tIB]

A DR-2m might be interesting.

[Voltcontrol]

I like it, it has it's own sound. But that price, DAMN.

Noticed that a handful of folks from the community and some electronic artists put a bunch of unused & somewhat valuable drum machines up for sale very shortly after this was announced, so I guess the GAS is real with some for this one.

P.s. Digitone still is fantastic for digital drums (and much more) to me. Didn't think it was very keenly priced up until this this thing got launched!

[pmboos]

I love the sound - my initial inclination was to get this over the Pulsar-23. (I have to save u for either.) I am now starting to reverse that thought... I have a great drum machine for my 80s sounding stuff. I'm happy with my two Volcas, Sismo Samba, and Rakit Metal, so if I want an overtop drum machine to better integrate with my semi-modulars, I think the Pulsar-23 would fit better...

BTW, I like the size...

[Red Electric Rainbow]

Noticed that a handful of folks from the community and some electronic artists put a bunch of unused & somewhat valuable drum machines up for sale very shortly after this was announced, so I guess the GAS is real with some for this one.

in the BST thread here?

[rowsbywoof]

I love the sound - my initial inclination was to get this over the Pulsar-23. (I have to save u for either.) I am now starting to reverse that thought... I have a great drum machine for my 80s sounding stuff. I'm happy with my two Volcas, Sismo Samba, and Rakit Metal, so if I want an overtop drum machine to better integrate with my semi-modulars, I think the Pulsar-23 would fit better...

BTW, I like the size...

For me, Pulsar over the DR-2 every day, but I also think they're two completely different things for completely different tasks. Where the Pulsar is set up for experimentation and generative along with played drum synthesis, this seems more straightforward and more like a drum machine to me. Still, drum machines are a dime a dozen. So many great options, especially in digital, and I don't really see anything the DR-2 brings new to the table. Pulsar definitely would be a completely new experience, though not being able to save anything and getting a blank slate every power on might be less useful for some, I really do see the Pulsar as a playground more than a workhorse. DR-2 might be a better sit down and write actual songs with it piece of gear. I'm certain it wouldn't be my first choice for that task either, though.

[Voltcontrol]

Noticed that a handful of folks from the community and some electronic artists put a bunch of unused & somewhat valuable drum machines up for sale very shortly after this was announced, so I guess the GAS is real with some for this one.

in the BST thread here?

I could have been more specific about which channel:,Saw people post messages about machines for sale on Facebook, Instagram and my local ‘eBay’. Some are indeed part of this community.

[rohelineoun]

im still traumatized by how bad the OS was on the Jomox alpha base. hoping this doesn’t suffer from janky firmware too. ive never used modor so i don’t how spot on their stuff is.

+1
I can live with some jank in a synth that I'm playing by hand or an external sequencer but not in a drum machine. I remain skeptical till proven otherwise with small firms and ambitious drum machines.

I'm worried the DR 2 might not be ambitious enough though. I think 6 voices can be plenty (I'm putting aside the question of the asking price for now) if you have tools to animate them. LFOs, parameter locking or motion capture, macro controls, ect can all bring a machine to life if coupled with a good sound engine. This is subjective but I do like the sound of this thing in the KiNK demos; however, it doesn't look like this drum machine has any of those tools.

I don't want to be all negative though since a new drum machine always makes the world a better place. The velocity/accent implementation is intriguing. Using TRS jacks for the individual outs to allow for send and return of each individual voice is a really cool idea that I've never seen before. I also really like how it's built around 32nd notes instead of 16ths even going so far as to have 32 running lights on the sequencer. I use substeps/32nd notes a lot and so having them displayed this way instead of hidden through some shift button combo or sequencing a note repeat is really nice.

[rohelineoun]

I missed two things:

* α & β, 2 variations of a drum sound: Each of the 6 instruments can have an alpha(α) and beta(β) 'version', 2 instances of a drum that differ in the value of 1 of their parameters. The alpha and beta variations have their own separate sequencer line, but soundwise, they are canceling each other out. So, a typical use could be for closed and open hi-hats as alpha/beta variations of a hi-hat cymbal. This way your closed and open hi-hat together only use a single instrument. But of course, you can use it for many other things too.


* Random: you can also choose a separate parameter for every instrument to be altered by a random amount at note start. Keep the RANDOM button pressed while turning a knob to set it's randomness..


These are some nice tools to bring it to life but I'm not sure it's enough to bridge the asking price.

[dubonaire]

Can you have a ride and a hi-hat together though in a drum set? I don't think you can, which is a huge shortcoming for a drum machine in my opinion.

[mongrol]

Specs, voice config etc seem very similar to the LXR....