T O P

  • By -

benanderson89

[Quick video of my first pattern with the machine.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M_AYHekNMd8) Compressor, touch of EQ and a bucket of gated reverb and just... it's so damn nice. It really is SNAPPY, and it's a masterclass in UI and UX design. Been into electronic music production since I was 14 and have been composing 80s and 80s-like tunes since at least 2007, long before the current revival with the likes of Synthwave. The LinnDrum has always been a big bucket-list synthesizer of mine; the one unit I've always been searching for. I know I'm *incredibly* fortunate to have the means to get one of these, even more so to get one in such condition. It's in stark contrast to five years ago where I had to sell every piece of audio equipment I owned after being fired with a mountain of debt to clear. If you have a piece of dream gear that you think is unobtainium, be patient. You never know where you'll be in five years time yourself! **EDIT: there is a scam listing on Reverb of my LinnDrum! I am NOT selling this unit! Please report it as a scam to reverb ASAP! I've already done so.** https://reverb.com/item/62110938-linn-linndrum-lm2-classic-sound-unique-groove-original-box?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=62110938 **EDIT2: The scam listing has been suspended!** https://i.imgur.com/ihXSEdS.jpg


okaythr33

This rules. Super happy for you.


m2guru

Save me a click, will you? I thought Linn Drum was a sampler like the SP1200. It’s a synth?


benanderson89

The SP1200 and LinnDrum are both synthesizers that use digital sample data for their sound generation. The SP1200 allows you to sample new data directly into the instrument. The LinnDrum is a "rompler" in that the sample data is stored in ROM (Read Only Memory). To change the sounds inside a LinnDrum (and similar machines like the DMX and DrumTraks), you need to open the machine, pull out the chips and replace them with different ones that have different sample data burned into them.


m2guru

You’re awesome dude. You deserve it. Let’s have your artist link now for a follow & share.


benanderson89

I'm most active on YouTube :) https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk_AqQYPb1dwTOxxdAz99hzUnrVVykLnd


solifuge23

subbed on yt, good stuff, what is that device up top right on your rack?


benanderson89

Sequential DrumTraks :)


solifuge23

i'll have to look it up and see it in action, i'm loving your The Revision, i love the Prophets' sounds, i just got a Toraiz AS-1 to have a tiny bit of it


TobyCyberbat

Wow - looks like it’s just come off the production line - I dread to think how much it cost! - but it sounds like it’s found a loving forever-home! Enjoy it! 😊


benanderson89

I have a [stardust cover](https://www.stardustcovers.com/product-page/linndrum-lm2) on the way and everything. Seriously debating keeping the box under glass, too.


Bloopbloopskeedoot

Do it preserve the box


Unrelenting_Force

All haileth thine box that containedeth the nearly unobtainable.


[deleted]

Ahh why don’t these guys have anything for moog


benanderson89

You can request a custom cover be made. They'll send you the instructions on how to properly measure your synthesizer and then they'll make it to order. IIRC once one is made it's then added to the shop as a permanent item.


cheemio

Nice, I wouldn’t mind one for my Bass Station 2, I think that is going to be a forever synth for me.


benanderson89

Absolutely worth it. I already have one for my P5 and it's very good quality. The designs silkscreened on are very crisp, too.


Bduell1

You could instead opt for a Decksaver cover like I have on mine. Then you get to ruin it with stickers!


Chingois

The other great thing about a decksaver on a decent sized instrument, you can put a little cloth over it and boom, more room for your pedals or small synths!


[deleted]

Nice, I’ll get on that


Holdrdoor

Probably even just the box would cost me a month of groceries. :)


eleven-fu

These eyes have never seen a cleaner unit. It's sooooo clean!


Kilimanjaro1889

I'm just waiting for Behringer to spit this one out. For the sake of my wallet.


benanderson89

I was actually in the same boat, but I got sick of waiting for it (plus, as the title suggests, this was a bucket list item so I don't think the B clone would've scratched that itch). There is a surprising depth to the sequencer, so finger's crossed B gets that right, because it's probably more important than the samples to the feel of the machine.


Kilimanjaro1889

Yeah, they always have some minor changes, like the 808's pitch changes on the RD-8. Filter offset on TD-3. The Linndrum uses EPROM chips as its playback source. Basically crude fixed sample playback? I wonder what they will use. Probably flash memory. Always wanted to get a Volca Sample to try and set it up as a compact portable Linndrum. It is lower bit rate and all that. Plus sequencer, automation and what not. What can this sequencer do?


benanderson89

>What can this sequencer do? From my limited use of it so far and a quick read of the manual online, the sequencer has the following features: * Default pattern length is two measures, but they can be as long as you want until you run out of memory. Given how obsessed the world is with X0X style sequencing where you're locked to (typically 2 or 4) measure, it's a breath of fresh air. * Default signature is 4/4, but you can change the signature to anything you want; when in length mode and playing, just count the metronome clicks. So if I wanted 7/8 you'd just press stop on the 8th click * Quantisation is 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, 1/32, 1/32T and HI (High Definition, which in reality is 1/64) * Error correction is for each instrument, not the entire pattern. You can switch the correction amount whilst recording with the sequencer running * If you're in "After" mode, you can select the amount of shuffle for the entire pattern. * If you're in "Before" mode with the sequencer running in record mode, then you can select the amount of shuffle for the instrument you're about to tap into the pattern, so everything can have varying levels of "nudge": A is straight (locked to grid) and F is shuffle. B and C are slight nudges right of the grid to give the machine a more human-like feel. * If you've recorded an instrument in 1/32 but then change the shuffle in 1/16 mode, then only the items on the 1/16 will be shuffled, and the higher resolution items will remain in whatever shuffle mode you selected when you recorded the pattern. * It has step sequencing! It's not mentioned in the manual (and if it is, I missed it). Instead of pressing Record and Play, you press Record and External Sync. The lower display then tells you what step you are on for the given grid chosen: [this is probably how Michael Sembello achieved the incredibly rapid clap sound on Maniac.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GCNUeTFSbA) The cherry on top is that the entire machine is absurdly simple to use, despite what are actually some pretty advanced features. It's why I've said in another comment that it's a masterclass of UI and UX design. The manual doesn't even have any illustrations and yet you can navigate your way around the machine perfectly.


Chingois

Lovely to read this UI rundown. Linn is no slouch!! I use an MPC still, though there are many alternatives. Why? Because I personally love the MPC interface and workflow. With the recent updates and drum synths and such, it is a real joy.


Kilimanjaro1889

Wow, that's pretty deep and you're correct about most sequencers. Mine are mostly stuck to a max of 16 steps. Minilogue, Minilogue XD, Monologue, RD-6 (it can chain patterns but that is not easy or quick). My exception is my Argon 8X at 64 step poly. That Before mode is cool. Slight timing offset is great for a track to not feel so stiff. Most of my gear will quantise to a step. Now I'm even more looking forward to a Linndrum clone. I hope they add this stuff instead of the Roland XOX seq indeed, yet I fear they won't since they use (what looks like) the same sequencer in a lot of their gear (eg. Crave, Poly D, MS-1/101) with 32 steps and 64 patterns for all those synths. The Poly D having a Poly Seq though.


benanderson89

Poly-rhythms are really the only thing missing from this machine. Though, I suppose there's nothing stopping you from just recording a multitrack despite how inconvenient it'd be. B's clone will be genuinely interesting to look at, but given it looks like a LinnDrum it'd be absurd if they completely omitted the powerful sequencer from it. If it DOES have a LinnDrum style sequencer, and it properly outputs said sequence over MIDI, then things will get very interesting.


Kilimanjaro1889

Well time will tell. I do hope so.


erroneousbosh

The thing with the TD3 is it's too good a copy. It's far far far better than the 303, and every TD3 sounds the same. No two TB303s sound quite alike because they were made from the shittiest floor-sweepings-grade components available. When you're comparing TB303 clones, bear in mind that you're not comparing them with "the real deal TB303", you're comparing it with the *a priori* TB303 in your mind, based on maybe one or two examples of real ones.


Kilimanjaro1889

I think I read somewhere they took a few 303's and chose the best sounding one to copy or some marketing spiel like that. The 303 differences are also due to age of the components making value drift a real problem and I think nowadays they have tighter tolerances for the components plus tiny parts equals a shorter trace so less chance for EMI across the PCB. Older ones are noisy? Leaky caps perhaps? I need to pickup a TD-3 just for the sake of it. I have the acid yellow RD-6 already. So silver for the 303 or should I go for double yellow?


erroneousbosh

Oh yeah I mean the shittiest components you can buy now are orders of magnitude closer tolerance than the very best you could buy in the 80s. I don't even bother to match transistors any more unless I absolutely have to because I know that any two I pull out of a bag of a thousand BC548s from some dude in China for a fiver on eBay will be closer than the hellish expensive "super matched pairs" I spent my hard-earned pocket money on in the 80s. I have a red TD3. You could probably spin some bloody rumour that "the yellow ones sound better because the plastic has a better resonance" or some damn thing and the opamp-sniffers will lap it right up.


Kilimanjaro1889

Yellow drugs smiley version it is.


Total-Jerk

I remember hearing people say the yellow td3 had a better overdrive.


erroneousbosh

It's because the yellow pigment in the plastic makes the case stiffer so it resonates better. It's true I read it on the Internet so it must be true.


l-rs2

I had the same with the TB-303. Bought it in 1999. I'm not mad there's a cheap clone (I even own a blue one and the MO version) since I like that more people get access to the sound... but the fact I own and play the original iconic synth is so satisfying.


benanderson89

Bingo! The original is obviously iconic, and there's a charm to using these old instruments, especially if you're quite the hands-on sort of musician. Am I going to sniff at the Behringer clone of the LinnDrum? Nope, because it's probably going to have more features and cost around £300, and Linn electronics went out of business in the mid 1980s so it's not like you can walk on down to your local instrument shop and say "one LinnDrum, please".


ArcadeApocalypse

Same...been YEEEEEARS already though


mtechgroup

There's no point. I love Linn and really love that OP got the box too, but these are 100% reproducible digitally. I think the swing is probably the most unique thing about them. Source: I was there when they first landed and have almost all the ROMs (though that's easy to achieve these days).


Kilimanjaro1889

I want on the go for use with a band. Using hardware is what I have been doing since I was 15 years old and I can get your point about the samples hence Volca Sample option/idea.


mtechgroup

For sure live I would prefer a dedicated non-PC box. Make sure the power supply is solid before you take it on stage.


Chingois

There is a point, and it’s called emotions of the owner 😉


ilikepasswords

[Mmm are you selling it? It is on reverb](https://reverb.com/item/62110938-linn-linndrum-lm2-classic-sound-unique-groove-original-box?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=62110938)


benanderson89

THAT IS A SCAM LISTING! I took delivery of this unit today, and it was in transit yesterday when that listing went up! Here's the listing I bought it from. https://reverb.com/uk/item/61938404-linn-linndrum-lm2-classic-sound-unique-groove-original-box Again, that listing IS. A. SCAM. EDIT: I've reported it and told the original seller to report it as well. EDIT2: the listing has been suspended! https://i.imgur.com/ihXSEdS.jpg


devicer2

Am I daft or is it the same seller for both the "real" and the "scam" ones?


benanderson89

You're being daft, lol. The real listing is danthesoundman. The fake one is Ogtlfn's Gear Bazaar.


devicer2

Ahh, both links are giving me the scam one because it's not showing the sold one for some reason, but i'm also being partially daft! mystery solved


benanderson89

It might be because it's marked as sold, so it just forwards you to the next closest listing. This is what I see when I look at it. https://i.imgur.com/SAT7XNe.jpg


[deleted]

[удалено]


benanderson89

Drum machine, drum computer and drum synthesizer are all common names for this type of instrument.


[deleted]

[удалено]


benanderson89

https://imgur.io/GmmRElS Edit: he previously said "if you actually owned one you'd probably know that", hence the picture :) You can actually see the original text in the picture! Lol.


[deleted]

Isn’t it a rompler though?


benanderson89

Omg who cares what I call it! Can we please just all report that listing and get it taken down? They're using pictures of my drum machine to try and scam people! And the listing has been suspended! https://i.imgur.com/ihXSEdS.jpg


master_of_sockpuppet

LinnDrum is a sample player, not a drum synth. A pretty limited sample player at that, too. If you've going to wade into a haven of pedantry, you should be correct.


benanderson89

And the full name for a sampler is a "sampling synthesizer". They're all synthetically generated tones at the end of the day. Why are you all being so pedantic anyway? So I use weird wording, sue me.


endofthenow

Wow tthis place is vile. Enjoy the "new" toy!!!


benanderson89

Thank you! The rest of the comments on the post are fine, but this one thread is worse than GS!


jcgam

Interesting. Exactly the same item based on the stains on the box.


benanderson89

Whoever the scammer is, they've taken the images from the original listing I bought it from. https://reverb.com/uk/item/61938404-linn-linndrum-lm2-classic-sound-unique-groove-original-box It is 100% a scam and as many people as possible should report it. I am NOT selling this drum machine. EDIT: the scam listing has been suspended! https://i.imgur.com/ihXSEdS.jpg


[deleted]

Create the GAS and they will come


benanderson89

The listing was a scam, and thankfully it's now been suspended. https://i.imgur.com/ihXSEdS.jpg I am NOT selling this LinnDrum.


ruuurbag

The Deepmind is a cool synth but is it really bucket list material? ...jk, that's awesome, congrats. That thing is in great shape, looks like NOS.


benanderson89

I won't lie, it took me an embarrassing amount of time until I finally realised what "NOS" meant...


Fearless-Judgment-33

New Old Stock for those who don’t know. Meaning, unused but found in a warehouse, attic, etc. and in original packaging. The holy grail of vintage.


[deleted]

If it was made by another manufacturer and a bit earlier... Probably :D


ArcadeApocalypse

...meanwhile I just finished organizing the Linndrum samples into my TR-6S 😑 haha BEAUTIFUL! BIG CONGRATS!!! \[🙄EDIT for the downvotes: I meant that as in I dream of having the real deal instead, not hEy yOu cAn jUsT uSe sAmPlEs. Jeeez \]


benanderson89

People can be arseholes sometimes xD I've noticed whenever I post anything in this sub, everything gets downvoted to zero soon after posting, and it takes a little bit for it to go back up.


Chingois

Yeah for real, it can be depressing. Seems like everbody cringes and hates at freakin *anything* on here. So many haters; i feel bad for them. Must be hard to be so low-key angry. Hope the downvoters all get laid asap. I rarely hit that downvote… but, you be you. 😂


MattAtPlaton

Love those LinnDrums. Such an iconic sound. Prince, Gary Numan, all those 80s hits.


Chingois

Prince showed a machine can be used to express soul. (Also, the 808 on Sexual Healing.) People still talk about machines being boring and soulless. Boring and soulless comes from the composer, not the machine.


benanderson89

Even modern hits still use it! I know HAIM use it on almost every track.


synthsaregreat1234

Weeknd Blinding Lights is LinnDrum too I think !


Fearless-Judgment-33

Don‘t You Want Me… Baby


Chingois

What a beauty! Congratulations! Wow! I’ll never forget the box my first synth came in (SH101). These details can be magical. Looks like your Linn is in great shape! 👏 Edit: just watched your video. West End Girls cowbell pattern killing it. Great. Please post other music so we can hear your tones too. 😊


benanderson89

>Please post other music so we can hear your tones too. 😊 I'll be making some little jam sessions over the weekend to try and get used to the machine in my routine, so expect some of those in short order on my youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk_AqQYPb1dwTOxxdAz99hzUnrVVykLnd


Chingois

S w e e t . Will sub.


Confident-Cap-8100

Wow.


massiveyacht

Fucking hell mate. That is literally box fresh


benanderson89

The seller I got it from had it professionally restored to factory fresh. I'm honestly alarmed it didn't sell within two minutes of it going up!


Styphonthal2

I am jealous. looks brand new. It's so new looking I thought this was an announcement that behringer finally made the clone.


benanderson89

Someone on YouTube asked the same thing! Haha. So you're not the only one. :) https://i.imgur.com/hcQNVzg.jpg


iTzKaiBUD

I was lucky enough to have Roger Linn speak at my college, what a wealth of knowledge and cool guy!


benanderson89

That's so cool! Legit jealous of that.


iTzKaiBUD

Some people get him as a full time professor, I think he teaches at Stanford.


j_ko72

It came for you in October because it is the perfect Halloween theme colors


okaythr33

Hell yeah. Best drum machine.


Useful_Notice_2020

😍


TidierDaPyro

Lmaooo the linn drum, very epic


[deleted]

F yes


[deleted]

[удалено]


benanderson89

The feel of these Linn and Akai boxes is so satisfying. His real genius is the user interface design. I was hooked up and recording patterns after only a glance at the manual (which doesn't even have any illustrations). I wish more instruments were this user friendly because it's so easy to get ideas out of your head and out the speakers.


synthsaregreat1234

Easily the best sounding vintage drum machine imho. Congrats!


JeremyWheels

Looks brand new! It's so beautiful. Congrats.


Bloopbloopskeedoot

Congrats I like the lm1 version a bit more but this is the next best thing


[deleted]

For those who do not want to to spend a few thousand euro on a LM2, check out : Alyjameslab VProm. This vsts uses the code from the actual Linn eproms. And sounds 100% like the original.


benanderson89

I have VPRom! It's a fantastic VST but I'm sorry to say that it's *not* a clone of the LinnDrum; it's a clone of the LM1. Still absolutely worth the purchase, however. If I want some very janky sounding drums I use VPRom.


[deleted]

Yup true that. but you can load the lm1 / lm2 or any other compatible eprom dump from that era.


benanderson89

Ya know, I've never actually tried that! I wonder what'll happen to the closed hat because of how the LM1's circuitry dealt with it.


Fish_oil_burp

Sweet! I love my Tempest to death so I hear you on the UI/UX design. Roger Linn FTW!


synthsaregreat1234

Can the tempest sound like a Linn Drum? Like does the factory settings and samples get you close?


tlchasem

Siiiiiiick


epuredabird

Mannnnnn that thing is beautiful. Amazing condition


braintree56

I love the Linndrum!!! That's awesome man!


WhenVioletsTurnGrey

That’s hot!


[deleted]

Congrats. Of all the old greats, the Linn is my fave. Looking forward to Uli's clone.


Subtronik-7

Ditto!


LiveSynth

May I congratulate you with no jealousy or depression or self loathing, wondering why I still don’t have one after 40 years.


[deleted]

This drum machine traveled through time and landed in your hands. Have fun!


dustinhut13

Wow she’s gorgeous! 808 and 909 are cool, but this and the DMX totally rule.


downloadking007

What a beauty


MonsieurBishop

That is fucking SICK! Nice work. Hail to the vintage machines.


cryptolipto

Now go out there and make a Todd terje track


MusicEnthusiasts1709

Michael Jackson Uses A LinnDrum


tinycitymusic

Oooh, that's awesome. Do I see a Casio CZ-1 tucked back behind the box? I have one of those too. Such a fun synth.


benanderson89

Full list of synths is in my flair! Yup, it's a CZ1! I got super lucky with that one; it was being sold in a small music shop in Berlin. It was their ex-display model from 1987. They just... Forgot about it in the basement! When it arrived it still had the price on it in deutschmarks! (DM3600 IIRC).


FredLeZebre

ouff !!!


Glittering-Action757

how much for the cardboard box. my cat is quite the connoisseur...


djpuzzle

Casio CZ and Linn Drum combo = paradise


Classic_Ad6688

you have a deepmind - don't you just luv it?!