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Roland MS-1 Sampler

Summary
Manufacturer URL http://www.rolandus.com/
Ease of Use 8.4 (10 responses)
Features 5.8 (10 responses)
Expressiveness/Sounds 6.9 (8 responses)
Reliability 7.7 (9 responses)
Customer Support 4.8 (8 responses)
Overall Rating 7.6 (8 responses)
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Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $100 with 20M memory used
Submitted 09/30/2005 at 08:38am by Jon E.
Email: jonengel<at>yahoo dot com

Ease of Use : 10
I don't think Roland has ever made an easier piece of gear to use. Compared to most Roland manuals from that period the MS-1 manual is a joy to read but I think this says more for the simplicity of the MS-1 than it does for the bulk of Roland manuals. I think it would be overkill and a waste of time to write an editor for it, it's that simple. I downloaded the OS update from the link below, uploaded Ver.1.02 to the unit without a hitch.

Features : 7
Considering the ease of use and the relative low cost of this unit, something had to give, the feature set is pretty minimal. But considering that at the time a base S-760 listed for over $3000(!) I think it's a fair trade off. BTW neither unit has built in effects, Roland didn't add EFX processors to their sampler line until later. I think the original purpose of the MS-1 also needs to be taken into account. Judging from the layout and memory, it makes sense to me that it was originally targeted as a custom drum machine where you loaded your own drum samples. At this it still excels. I use it live as a phrase sampler, for this it absolutely needs expanded memory. But it also does this job well, whether triggered from its pads or remote MIDI keyboard. The inability to copy samples between banks and pads and to/from a computer are its biggest shortfalls here, but at that time SCSI and MIDI sample dump were the only ways computers were talking to samplers.

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion
It's a sampler with no effects and no filters. You can get some grunge effects by using lower sample rates but pretty much what you put into it is what you get out. If that's what you are looking for it's perfect. If you need effects and filters, look into the SP line.

Reliability : 10
Like all Roland's it is built like a tank.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them, never had to. All Roland manuals are on line now at http://www.rolandus.com/support/product_manual.asp

Overall Rating : 10
I don't write a lot of reviews but I wanted to share some information not already posted here. I've experimented using large (1.2G) SanDisk memory cards, it will only recognize up to 40M so no matter what you buy, anything over 40M is a waste of money. The good news is I recently started using a SanDisk 4 in 1 PC adapter card with Lexar 128M SD cards and they work like a charm (up to 40M of course). I know there has been some concern about expandability and proprietary cards, with the SanDisk adapter I think it will take any vendor's card.

If you're trying to be creative with this box and put loops together it's probably too limiting, the SP samplers are a better bet. But if you are looking for a simple, portable, WYSIWYG phrase sampler, there is nothing else out there current or past that does the job as well as this unit, especially for live applications. At the prices they're going for now, and with memory problems solved, they are a no brainer.


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $25 used
Submitted 09/25/2004 at 08:09am by kpx

Ease of Use : 9
Working OS:

http://www.rolandmusik.de/ftp/pub/downloads/aeltere_updates/MS1_V112.ZIP

Others dont load on my ms1 or I get checksum error

Still cant format 16mb sandisk cf card. It hangs on "Formatting.." message forever like it did with orginal OS.

Features : 7
Internal memory is too small, pitch should be avalible for each sample.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 7
Very useful in making hip-hop beats. Samples are very juicy.
Velocity works ok with external keyboard.

Reliability : 10

Customer Support : 3
Roland US site doesnt have email or any electronic support. UK site wont reply to any email.

Overall Rating : 10
Its special to me.
Ill never sell or get rid of it.


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $40
Submitted 09/12/2004 at 01:01pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : No Opinion
I guess it's easyier with a manual, I'm still looking for one... I've putten some infos on sonikstate, but... I one question remains: Please, does someone knows How I can save my samples on the memory card??????? I don't understand the Save/Load BUF 1-4 think... Is it possible to just copy a sample from one location to another? It's so basic, but i can't find it :( grrrrr.. Maybe my machine (or my card?) is broken. I can record directly on the card (banks C to E) but it doesn't want to copy a sample (or bank?) from banks A & B to the card's banks...
PLEASE HELP a poor electronic musician that can't invest 20$ in a manual (excl. shipping) & deliver his brain from disorder & pain, he will be your friend forever :)

Features : 5

Expressiveness/Sounds : 9

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : 5

Overall Rating : 8
it has a footswitch for recording! (a mysterious smile is indicated here)


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 07/12/2004 at 05:08am by Andy M

Ease of Use : 10
I got this unit NOS in original box froma shop who were glad to get rid of it ;-). Ive tried updating the Firmware but always get a "Checksum error" - Can anyone help on that?

I use the box as a sample player for single-shot samples and loops triggered froma footboard . It does exactly what I bought it for. Set up is very easy. the only pain is the sample length and loop points being numeric rather than time based so editing is a bit hit and miss but its so easy I can live with that.

Features : 7
I have only ever used two voices at once and play most of my samples from memory cards so polyphobny is not an issue for me. No effects but tehn i didnt want any :-). My unit will only use 8MB memory cards - It wont format any bigger ones and the newest firmware wont load. 8MB is ok but more would be useful - People have reported it working but I seem to be out of luck.

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion
I press a button, the sample triggers :-)

Reliability : 10
I gig with this all the time. The only troubles Ive had are forgetting to turn off the battery power and having dead batteries and having power supplies fail on me just before a gig (and no spare batteries). The unit itself is going strong.

Customer Support : 8
I contacted Roland about the finrware upgrade when I got the unit and although this really is a donosaur they responded fast and sent me the files. I couldnt load them though :-/ If anyone has succeeded in getting the newest firmware loaded please drop me a line.

Overall Rating : 6
I looked at more modern samplers and this is about the only unit that did exactly what I wanted it to without getting into $$$. Its very simple but again that was what I was looking for. If I lost it I would have to get another one.


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $210.00 used
Submitted 03/31/2004 at 12:29am by Mic Litter
Email: Littermic<at>aol dot com

Ease of Use : 10
The MS-1 is the first sampler I ever bought and I've been using it for eight years. As any user will tell you, soundcards are like gold if you can find them, but I just ordered a 350 MB card off of ebay for eight bucks. I also found another industrial strength full gig for fifty by Sandisk. The disks DO have to be made by Sundisk OR Sandisk ( I believe the company changed their name on us for kicks to have us all ass over end). I remember still the day I bought it for two hundred or so and got it home. I began sampling all the noise loops I'd gathered on tape and making rhythms. My first instrument was a tape recorder. My second was an Akai four track cassete recorder. This was my first venture into digital and I've learned to use it well. If I had Roland manufacture my own "signature" instrument it would be to reissue this only more multitimbral and with a full gig flashdcard (and make it so you can use ANY brand of PCMCIA). I just got Roland's Disclab and even with its optional DIMM memory, it doesn't have the same sampling time as the MS-1 with a full gig of memory. Another problem is it only uses certain three brands of CDR-W instead of just any old kind, which pisses me off. I bought an ASR and sold it shortly after because it was nowhere near as straightfoward as this device. Boxes like that are great for those who wanna sound like the Neptunes or something, but they have the lowest sampling time I've ever fucked with. As far as I'm concerened those ain't samplers, they are MIDI-controlled synths equipped with WAV file storage. I don't need piano sounds, I fucking sample NOISE.

Features : 7
The most Ive ever been able to play simultaneously is five pads. It sucks. Comparing this to my shiny new box, the Roland CDX-1, However, the MAXIMUM is five. MS-1 typically plays only three in standard stereo. CDX-1 has excellent effects, all kinds of bells and whistles, but if I want a sound to simply be duplicated perfectly, the MS-1 remains the best choice. I've found that it actually "cleans up" sounds from tapes and vinyl to crisp, perfect digital bliss somehow. None of the hiss or hum. It's perfectly uncomlicated to record with. Now that I know, thanks to this website and some Ebay hunting for memory cards, I Think it may have been the only sampler I ever needed. I've always wanted a setup that could fit in a lunchbox. This makes it possible. I know a guy who has two of these things that he hooks up to a 2 track Numark mixer in place of turntables.
The keys are velocity sensitive when you hook em up to MIDI only, and on mine that is annoying because it cannot be turned off. I never liked touch sensitivty on any of my gear unless it could be muted. I never really use it. If I want it, I'll use a non-synthetic instrment.
I've recorded almost a full HOUR on the sequencer before and still had space left. Some nights I just curl up on the couch with it, sample some tape loops and play around with it running on batteries through headphones. Then I sit back and listen to it play continupuly. This thing is like a loved-to-death teddy bear as far as my instrument setup goes.

Expressiveness/Sounds : 10
The sound quality and reproduction are the best you can find in a unit of this price. It eliminates static well, it enhances the sounds automatically, and things have always sounded exctly like or better than the way they were originally.
The type of genre I work in is largely power noise /industrial/EBM and I build my compositions using tape recorded noise and nothing but. Effects are great for guitarist and other such TRADITIONAL musicians trying to record a hit song from their bedroom, but I just want to reproduce sounds. I don't need synth patches of any kind. In fact I hate most of that shit.

Reliability : 8
After eight years of wear and tear (keep in mind I treat all my devices very poorly) this thing has endured pretty damn well, save for one little pad that doesn't react as well as it once did and gets stuck once in a while. I have taken it to every gig and when all my expensive, overcomlicated devices begin to fuck up on me I turn them off and just play this. It pisses off my band members when I go old school on them with out all the bells and whistles, but they know I don't require that shit.

Customer Support : 1
Roland would be upthere with Akai if they would maybe send you a copy of the manual when you request it! They're abyssimal with product compatability with virtually every product they and their little brother company Boss. I shouldn't be forced to hunt down a specific brand of CD-RW for a device I paid $800.00 for! Really, what slimy coroporate assbags. I've never tried contacting the company, as I have no rescource info. The websiteis just abunch of ads for the hot new product hey came out with today and not so much as an archive for older devices. But this is also a company that manufactures office equipment, a far more lucrative buisiness, I'm certain. *SIGH*. And, as usual, if it breaks, better luck using it as a paperweight and buying a new one than sending it for repairs (ARE WARRANTIES EVER VOID LONG AFTER THE DEVICE FUCKS UP THE FIRST TIME?).

Overall Rating : No Opinion
All griping aside, the MS-1 has remarkably FEW shortfallings in my opinion. I like my new Roland Disclab center alot better in SOME respects, but I CAN live without as log as I have this MS-!. I don't need a workstation. What I NEED is a STRAIGHTFORWARD sampler for CAVEMAN idiots like myself so I don't even have to LOOK at a manual. I'd summarize the shortfallings as the memory card it comes wit being too small space wise and too hard to find, it isn't very multitimbral at all and the thing only takes certain brands of them. As I said earlier, this IS how Roland indeed tends to fuck its customers. However, you'll never pay alot for one. I feel bad for the dude who paid five hundred. But bottom line I adore my MS-1.


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $30.00 used
Submitted 03/16/2004 at 12:45am by Jason Weaver
Email: jasonmd2020 at sbcglobal<dot>net

Ease of Use : 10
Don't know the software version. I didn't get a manual, but what do you expect for $30.00 on ebay. After poking around with it for 15 minutes it's easy to get up to speed.

Features : 7
Polyhpony is only 4 voices (mono)with no effects. I'm trying to find a memory card for the little guy. The samples are all mappable to midi note numbers. Also the keypads can transmit midi as well. It's not quite an Akai MPC, but it beats drum programming on a synth keyboard...

Expressiveness/Sounds : 7
The sound quality depends on the sample rate you're using. Remember though, the higher the rate the less memory you got to work with. I work primarily in the rougher ends of electronic stuff (industrial, drum -n- bass, indie hip/trip-hop) so I actually like using the lower rates. Also if you sample somthing in one rate & change the rate, the sample will pitch/speed up or pitch/slow down. Another feature that is immensely usefull is the divide feature. Take a long drum loop on A1 & edit to the length you want. Now divide the sample length by 8. change the sample end point to that number. Now go to the divide function and split the sample. Change A2's endpoint number to the same length as A1 & keep going until youv'e got 8 equal parts. Chopped up breakbeats with out the Recycle software! Hook that up to a sequencer/arpeggiator/drum machine & really tweak the beat. One more little trick I can't wait to try. In the system settings you can map the same sample to multiple keys (this doesn't transpose the key just triggers it on multiple midi notes.)Be sure to the the sample mute group to in or it can get murky. Now set another synth to the same channel as the MS-1. Why? SO YOU CAN HOOK UP THE VOCODER OF COURSE! (I just ordered an Alesis ModFx vocoder. Musician's Friend is blowing 'em out for $50.00. Where else you gonna find a vocoder that cheap!)So this way you can have the same spoken word sample or drum beat triggered with every new note played from one keyboard/sequencer.

Reliability : 9
I've thrown the thing with some spare batteries in my bag & it's been knocked around but has never failed me. As for gigging with it, I vould definetley wait until I got a memory card for it, otherwise it would probably work for only one song. I primarily use it as a sound tweaking device chopping up & rearranging beats, adding some grunge to phrases either pitched up or down. Then recording the result to use in ACID Pro as a loop. It's a great little studio swis army knife.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating : 8
If this one breaks down or the dog eats it (our puppy is teething) I'll just go back to ebay & get another one cheap!


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US $89.95 used
Submitted 08/06/2003 at 07:39pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 4
i got this sampler a bout a year ago and the heard thing is finding any equepment to go on it oor softwhear that interfaces with it.

I do find though that the sampler is easy to use but i do not like the fact that is dose not have reverb functions and modulations. But that is ok it has surved it,s perpous well

Features : No Opinion
the keyboards action is ok just like one person said the keeps getting a beating and still is ticking. i do like the sequencer it works well and it works well with my music creation cd{thanks to voyatra}

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion
it recoards vary well but has a slight hum when listening closely.I youse this for mostly rock and newage but it dose work well with rap and dance.

Reliability : No Opinion
I am in a local band and i take this every where. It is small and easy to take places and i have a gig bag now to put all my equepment in.

Customer Support : No Opinion
i have not called yet but when i do i will post it

Overall Rating : No Opinion
i would give this devise a rating of 4 out of 10 i hjave worked with many insterments in the past and this one works well for me.


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 07/16/2003 at 11:41am by steve

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Note: You can use any PCMCIA FLASH or COMPACT FLASH card, as long as it is manufactured by "SanDisk". Those cards have a preprogrammed manufacturer ID which the MS-1 obviously checks, so don't even waste your time trying other manufacturers. CF cards can be inserted using an all-pins-routed CF-to-PCMCIA adapter.
Hope I could help.

BTW, I'm using both SanDisk PCMCIA and SanDisk CF+Adapter cards with 5, 10 and 20MB, and they work perfectly.

So long
Steve

Features : No Opinion

Expressiveness/Sounds : No Opinion

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: US about $500-new
Submitted 12/14/2002 at 05:02pm by Jehramy Bennett
Email: datniggasheezy at hotmail<dot>com

Ease of Use : 9
I love the Roland MS-1 DIGITAL Sampler. It does exactly what I need it to and it's very user friendly, if you've got a pinch of common sense. I typically use it for vocal hooks or very short 1 to 2 second samples that are triggered from my keyboard when I have something that I know will be repeated in a song. The only real patch editing is the start, stop, and loop points which are measured in samples rather than milliseconds. (It's a small shortcoming when you think of the typical time format for most recording software, but no big deal.) You can also set how your sample is played back, with the triggering. It comes in handy when using the MS-1 the way I do- as an external sound module.

Features : 2
Polyphony is the number of sounds you can have played at one time. This sampler has 8 samples per bank. I think I should be able to have at least a full bank sound at once if I want it to, but we only get a max of four. . . (But what do I know? I think all keyboards should have a full rhythm section and 128 note polyphony! I guess I'm just one crazy M@#^**F&&^%$. . .)

There is no actual 'keyboard' in entirety on this piece of equipment. However, the keypads are very comfortable and can take a beating. None of them have ever gotten stuck on me to this very day!

The MS-1 Digital Sampler is a pretty isolated instrument for sound reproduction. The only expansion capabilities are being able to save/load your samples to/from an external device via MIDI (but that's hard to do via MIDI if you don't know your equipment's SysExcl#, and you won't find it in any owner's manual that came with your MS-1 sampler either. I also hear that memory cards are virtually non-existent and expensive if you happen to need one- which is a little less than likeable. . . I use a computer for my storage. Forget hunting for disks. Even when you get the newer adapter for sample storage, 64megs is nothing! So, I don't use them.

The manual is pretty good, unless you want to do something complicated, like backup your samples to an external source via MIDI. (Which is really the only sensible option for this piece of equipment.) Computers typically ask for your sampler's "System Exclusive Number" when you don't have a SCSI port (WHICH SUCKS). The manual doesn't tell you what it is, and you can't even find THAT out from your own MS-1 sampler!!!-WHAT THE HELL!?!?!

This thing has no effects, but let's be real. We all got a sampler for 1 reason; we wanted something that we could depend on for good sound repetition at the press of a button. That's what this thing does!!! The samplers with delay effects, EQ's, etc.- defeat the purpose. I wanted to duplicate REAL sounds the way they REALLY sound. Maybe a few "pass filters" (similar to those found on present day Roland products) could have been added for better sound quality in some instances, but anything more would defeat the purpose. People who are looking for Direct-X plug-in type effects and stuff in a sampler really need to be looking for a good sound editing program. Actually, I take that back. A SCSI port and the ability to use Direct-X to finalize a sample would be a darn good idea, but how many Roland customers have that kind of money???

I won't go into the MIDI capabilites of this machine. Let's just say that they are somewhat "sub-General MIDI" (*if you get my drift). It's not as bad as it may sound. The machine IS velocity sensitive, but only throught it's MIDI IN port. . .:)

It also has a sequencer, which is really to easy to use. I couldn't believe how simple it was when I first recorded on it. Of course, my first MIDI sequencer was the MC-500; and I think the MC-500 is easy to use and actually kind of slow compared to the XP-60's sequencer. So don't take anything I say to heart. . . If you need simple sequencing you've got the right machine. If you already have a REAL sequencer or two (like me) then you'll definitely get you're money's worth out of this sampler! (lol):):):):):)):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Expressiveness/Sounds : 5
First of all, this IS a sampler. Real samplers don't have their own sounds. . . The MS-1 will work well, wherever you need it to in any genre of music. As long as the tempo isn't too slow, you won't run out of memory either. You do have to take that fact into consideration, because the memory cards for this machine are virtually non-existent, and if you do find one it will cost you more than a little bit.

As I'd said before, there are no effects in this very REAL sampler. That isn't all that bad, it helps keep the cost down.

If you are triggering your sounds from an external source, you can have a change in velocity/volume.

This machine does not react to aftertouch ever. It says so in the midi implementation chart, and I have personally found that chart to hold true. . . However, I don't think that any sampler, even today reacts to aftertouch, but I don't know. I don't build samplers or anything.

Reliability : 1
This MS-1 is a very reliable piece of equipment as long as you aren't physically careless with it. I have dropped mine in various instances varying from actually dropping it on cement to little carpet incidents and rushed packing for bus trips. This is literally the most fragile piece of equipment in my small arsenal, and my arsenal really isn't all that small. Each incident has cost me $45 for repairs to the A/D to D/A converter. I realize now that packing my MS-1 in it's box whenever I am traveling with it is an ABSOLUTE necessity; otherwise it will be no good on the trip and will have to go to the shop.

Customer Support : 9
The company has always been friendly to me. Anybody who says they had a hard time probably gave the customer service rep (and probably gives everybody) a hard time. (People are people- okay folks?!) I was directed to the company that still manufactures the memory cards for the MS-1. I thought they cost way too much, but then I think that the Expansion Modules for the XP-60 cost too much, but again- what do I know I'm just a consumer. . .

Overall Rating : 7
If I lost mine or it was stolen, I would definetly get another one- but used this time. I don't think the sampler was EVER worth $500, but it does most certainly serve it's narrow purpose. The one I got I got for my birthday.

I have been playing music since I was 4 years old. I am 22 years old now. My first recital was at church on organ with both hands. I play a few more instruments now (in order of specialty- greatest to least): saxophone- 14 yrs, drums- 15 yrs, keyboard- 18 yrs, and some (rhythm) guitar- 3 yrs.

I love the sampler because it is fast and easy to use. I can easily get an idea into it before I forget it. I hate the whole memory card dillema and saving sounds to computer is a real hassle. . . Everytime I go to save sounds to my computer I have to find it's SysExcl.# by way of trial and error. I forget to write it down or even save it every time.

The sampler does help me create music and speeds up most recording sessions.

I wish I had a sampler with SCSI that made use of my various Direct-X software plug-ins. :)


Product: Roland MS-1 Sampler
Price Paid: 450 (cdn)
Submitted 04/18/2002 at 08:03am by gerobnimo
Email: omnicentric<at>videotron dot ca

Ease of Use : 7
first set your sample resolution ...
then, press record choose a sample bank and pad, press record again to start, press record agian to finish... very easy
editing is a breeze.. you can set the start time and end time and truncate them using a numerical value...
manual is useful for special features but all in all you can get by with out it...
takes a very mathematical mind or a calculator to loop two samples together with one playing for example at half the length
(eg. one sample 4256 long, and the other 2128 long...)
takes a little while to pick this aspect up...

Features : 9
4 polyphony at mono and lower sample rate...
the global sample rate is sort of a bummer but you can feed in a sound and play a sample and fix the speed there...
no effects, but there is a sort of coloration of sound that is pleasant... there is abit of hum from the rca inputs though.. which at higher sample rates is less apparent...
accepts midi in messages... the pads are not velocity sensitive even though they are nice rubber pads but it does accept velocity through midi... midi in & midi out (never used the out).. on board sequencer is a phrase sequencer with no clock or quantisizing... but I have been able (thru alot of trial and error) to make complete songs with my samples... useful for that...
original memory cards are hard to find but since I have loaded the new os (available at roland's website) I got a compact flash card adaptor and a compact flash card of 64 megs (!!!) and now I can sample a whole CD's worth of material! wonderful!

Expressiveness/Sounds : 7
sounds great! slight coloration of sound but that is ok...
more apparaent at lower sample rates (obviously)
does what its supposed to... too bad the pads arent velocity sensitive...
works well for hiphop, rap, and techno, and whatever else you need simples loops and stabs and one off samples...

Reliability : 6
can run on batteries! plug a mic and the world is your sound source!
my lcd screen is missing many lines though so for that I lower the score (but then again I am rough with my equipment)

Customer Support : 6
got an os upgrade from the roland website allowing me to use a 64 meg ram card...

Overall Rating : 8
well these can be found for a good price and if u load the newer os it allows the use of 64 meg cards... for that it is great...
for a while it was my main piece of gear and I recorded a pretty fly demo with it and my sl-1200...
I neeed a cheap sampler and it is simple and fun...
everyone should have one of these :P
I wish my lcd screen was new again tho :(
if anyone knows where to get a new screen please email me


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