Roland’s TR-1000 Rhythm Creator is the ultimate drum machine | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersExpandThe Verge DailyInstallerVerge DealsNotepadOptimizerRegulatorThe StepbackArchivesStoreSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Roland’s TR-1000 is the ultimate drum machineComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...TechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentGadgetsCloseGadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GadgetsRoland’s TR-1000 is the ultimate drum machineCombining real analog circuits with digital synthesis and sampling makes the TR-1000 powerful but overwhelming.If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.by Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'BrienJan 27, 2026, 12:00 PM UTCLinkShareGiftIf you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.This is actually tidier than my desk normally looks. | Photo by Terrence O’Brien / The VergeTerrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.It took way too long, but Roland finally caved and gave the people what they want: a proper analog successor to the iconic TR-808 drum machine. The 808’s sound, especially the kick drum, is embedded so deeply in the DNA of modern music that it would be a gross disservice to try and boil its influence down to a single sentence or a list of artists. (Note: Not all of the songs linked necessarily use an actual 808, but they at least feature samples or approximations of its sounds.)But, in typical Roland fashion, the company didn’t just re-create some iconic analog circuits. No, the TR-1000 also has digital emulations of other classic Roland drum machines. It has FM synthesis, PCM samples, and a built-in sampler with looping and chopping abilities. Not to mention dozens of effects, the ability to layer sounds, and a modern sequencer with probability, automation, and microtiming. In short, if there is a feature you wish a drum machine had, the TR-1000 probably has you covered. But that also means the TR-1000 is an intimidating piece of gear with an equally intimidating $2,699.99 price tag.8Verge ScoreRoland TR-1000$2700$2700The Good16 incredible-sounding analog drum circuitsMultiple engines with a huge sound paletteLots of hands-on controlsFun performance-focused Morph sliderThe BadExpensive as hellMaybe a little too feature-packedSampling feels bolted on$2700 at Perfect Circuit$2700 at Sweetwater$2700 at Guitar CenterHow we rate and review productsJust looking at it can be a bit daunting. Roland has at times trended toward garish or toylike designs, which it’s rightly been criticized for. Now the company may have overcorrected. The recent Gaia 2 and SH-4d synthesizers are utilitarian, almost boring-looking. The TR-1000 continues that trend, but it carries a gravitas that those two instruments don’t. Roland’s flagship drum machine means business and looks the part.The stark gray-and-black scheme gives it an industrial, almost brutalist vibe. There are 16 satisfyingly clacky keys across the bottom for the step sequencer, firm sliders for each of its 10 audio channels, plus buttons and knobs galore. Roland heard you wanted more hands-on controls and decided to give you all the hands-on controls.One of the TR-1000’s best features is its gritty analog filter.The result is that you can do a lot on the TR-1000 with minimal menu diving. If you’ve ever used a step sequencer before, you should be able to bang out a simple beat immediately. There are dedicated knobs for tuning and decay so you can easily get that ultra-deep, modern 808 kick drone. While the labeling on the other knobs is generic (CTRL 1, CTRL 2, CTRL 3), the screen on the top right shows what they control.Now, that does not mean there is no menu diving here — this is a Roland machine, after all. But the company has made strides with its UI in recent years. The issue is that Roland still hasn’t gotten a handle on its compulsion to cram every possible feature into every device. Is it nice to have sample chopping and resampling abilities on the TR-1000? Sure. But using them isn’t always intuitive, and the layout isn’t ideal for exploring chops to recontextualize a loop. For sampling one-shots and drum hits, the TR-1000 is great. But some of the more advanced features feel tacked on, buried behind convoluted button combos and cumbersome menus. The result is that I rarely used the looping or chopping features, and instead treated the TR-1000 as a more traditional drum machine.From that perspective, the TR-1000 is an undeniable, if incredibly expensive, success. The headline feature is, of course, the 16 analog drum circuits that re-create iconic sounds from the TR-808 and TR-909. These are the reasons to splurge on the TR-1000. If you don’t care about having an authentic analog re-creation of the 808 snare, then spend your money elsewhere. There are countless digital facsimiles, including affordable options like the T-8 from Roland, and more free sample packs than I can count. But for those who crave the real deal, this is what you’ve been waiting for.If you’re into making old-school hip-hop, house, or classic techno, this is the palette you want to be painting from. But I wouldn’t call the 808 or 909 sounds retro. They’re timeless. And the TR-1000 helps prove that point by placing them in the context of a modern sequencer, alongside more aggressively digital sounds.The 808 bass drum is the most important development in pop music since the electric guitar.The analog filter and drive help glue all these disparate sounds together while also highlighting the grit of the analog drum circuits. Turn up the decay on an 808 kick and crank the drive to about 75 percent — this is the sound of the gods. It’s the point where the bass just starts to cross over fuzz territory and hits hard enough to rattle your chest. I found myself returning to this specific sound over and over again when I felt like jamming.
Here's what the TR-1000's analog drums sound like through its analog filter with the drive cranked:

Here's what the TR-1000's analog drums sound like through its analog filter with the drive cranked(opens a new window)

Roland could have just replicated the OG 808 and 909 sounds and called it a day. But in addition to the classic timbres, there are extended controls that give you far more sound sculpting options than were available on the original machines. This includes tuning the 808 kick so you can play it as a bassline, which is obviously popular in modern music but usually requires a sampler or synthesizer.The TR-1000 also turns out to be a great advertisement for the company’s digital emulations. If you put the analog circuit behavior (ACB) emulation of an 808 kick next to the real analog one on the TR-1000, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference — it’s very subtle. I like to think that I have a relatively discerning ear when it comes to this stuff, but when I tried to guess which was which in a blind taste test, I was barely better than pure chance.The ACB models are also where you’ll find my personal favorite Roland sounds. While I get the appeal of the 808 and the 909, I’ve always been drawn to the more lo-fi sounds of the TR-606 and the CR-78. Now, if Roland wants to give me a real analog reissue of those sounds, I will gladly throw all my money at them.Okay, but seriously, give me an analog CR-78 reissue, please.Despite all the additional sounds and advanced features the TR-1000 offers, I usually found myself starting with some slight variation of the same sound palette: an analog 808 kick, snare, hi-hat, and clap, analog 909 snare, and a digital 808 kick layered with the analog one. Then I’d fill up the other five tracks with various digital percussion sounds that struck my fancy at that particular moment in time.Because of the quirks of the TR’s sequencer, I also often found myself working with shorter, simpler patterns. Rather than have one long 64- or 128-step sequence, the TR-100 essentially has a 16-step sequencer, with eight variations that you can then change, plus four “fill-in” versions of each variation. So rather than thinking of things as one long eight-bar loop, I would work in two- or even one-bar loops, but then build a bunch of slight variations to swap between.This workflow actually led to me creating more varied drum tracks, and the piles of hands-on controls actually had me treating a drum machine as a performance instrument for once, rather than a set-it-and-forget-it backdrop for noodling.My favorite performance tool is easily the Morph slider, which is definitely inspired by the crossfader on Elektron’s Octatrack. It lets you set two different sets of parameters for all your sounds and then seamlessly blend between them. Often, I would use it to switch between a basic version of a pattern and one with the drive cranked, the decay on the kick turned up, and the snares tuned to hit harder.The Morph slider lets you seamlessly blend between two sets of sounds.Another performance-focused feature that I kept coming back to was the Step Loop. Some drum machines allow you to repeat a certain part of a pattern — say, the first half a bar or a single step — to create on-the-fly fills and buildups. But Roland is the only company I know that lets you repeat whichever steps you want in whatever combination you want. Want to repeat steps one, five, and nine to create a looping fill that avoids any snares? Just hold those steps down for as long as you want. It turns playing fills into an active process, rather than just something you program in and trigger occasionally. It’s the rare Roland feature I wish other companies would blatantly steal.I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the TR-1000. It’s more fun than I’ve had with a drum machine in a long time. But I also feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface over the last couple of months. The looping, time-stretching, and chopping are all things I rarely bother with; the same goes for the virtual analog synth engine — largely because programming melodic passages is an enormous PITA. There are individual outs for each track, which would be huge in a more professional setting, but in my attic office / studio, I only ever bothered with the master out. I also never touched Song Mode. (To be fair, I never touch song mode on any of my gear.)There’s just so much going on on the TR-1000 that it’s overwhelming. Roland really did build the ultimate drum machine, but it can feel like too much at times, and I preferred to stick to the basics. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; you should use an instrument in the way that feels natural to you. But if you’re not going to use the TR-1000 to its full potential, the $2,699.99 price tag is probably a deal-breaker.Photography by Terrence O’Brien / The VergePreviousNext1/13This is actually pretty neat for my desk.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'BrienEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentGadgetsCloseGadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GadgetsMusicCloseMusicPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All MusicReviewsCloseReviewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReviewsTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechMost PopularMost PopularTikTok USA is brokenPayment processors were against CSAM until Grok started making itThe great e-bike crackdown has begunEven the big dick subreddit is mad about ICEIntel Panther Lake laptop CPU review: call it a comebackThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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The Roland TR-1000 Rhythm Creator represents a bold, if somewhat perplexing, return to form for the iconic drum machine manufacturer. As detailed by Terrence O’Brien, the TR-1000 isn’t a simple recreation of the 808 or 909; it’s a sprawling, layered instrument boasting both meticulously modeled analog circuits and a surprising amount of digital synthesis and sampling capabilities. The machine's core strength lies in its 16 analog drum circuits, engineered to faithfully recreate the seminal sounds of the 808 and 909 – a feat that’s genuinely impressive and, as O’Brien notes, surprisingly subtle even when pushed to the limit. However, the TR-1000’s complexity is a double-edged sword. The sheer number of features, including FM synthesis, PCM sampling, the looping/chopping of samples, and a fully-fledged sequencer with probability and automation, can feel overwhelming. The TR-1000's interface is burdened with a multitude of knobs, buttons, and a screen, requiring significant time and effort to master. Despite these complexities, the machine possesses a wealth of performance-oriented features, such as the Morph slider – a digital crossfader that allows for seamless blending between two sets of parameters – and a unique step-looping system. This system, which enables users to repeat specific steps in a pattern in any combination, adds a layer of dynamic control that’s rarely found on drum machines. O’Brien emphasizes that the TR-1000’s analog filters, when combined with the drive controls, deliver a particularly potent sound, transforming basic patterns into powerful, gritty textures. The machine’s potential extends beyond simple beatmaking; it is a tool capable of crafting intricate and expressive sonic landscapes. While the TR-1000 is undoubtedly exciting, its considerable cost and complexity mean it’s not for everyone. Ultimately, the TR-1000 is a statement of intent from Roland, a signal that they still hold a deep reverence and understanding of the legacy of the 808 and 909, and a commitment to offering producers a profoundly tactile and capable instrument though the price and sheer technical depth may be a significant hurdle for many.