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Roland TR-8
Firmware Review and Update
If you bought your TR-8 from new then the first thing you would need to do was perform an update to the firmware of the instrument.
Basically the instrument was released to the musically community with several bugs and a few features that were missing, against the release specification. Over the next few years a number of additional firmware released were made, mainly free of charge, but in the case of the 7x7 upgrade that added the TR-707 / TR-727 / TR-606 instruments to the unit this was provided at additional cost.
Top tip: If you are in the market for a second hand Roland TR-8 then make sure you buy one with the 7x7 pack installed as this is still only available from the Roland Cloud service at additional cost.
This page provides some links to videos that help with working with the firmware of this instrument.
The Roland TR-8 has been picked up from its storage location and I have been using it to answer some of my fellow Tuber's questions this morning.
I have in the past been fairly diligent in firmware upgrades, but while answering a specific question I found that I was not 1 but 3 firmware upgrades behind.
Now as this is another product that is end of life with Roland I thought I had better install the latest update and workout whether there are any new features that I might use.
Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this drum machine.
The base release of the TR-8 included kits from the TR-808 and TR-909. And to be honest this is what Roland sold this unit on. But in June, 2016 Roland released an expansion pack for the TR-8 (known as the 7x7 upgrade) which installed kits from the TR-707, TR-727 and TR-606. I have finally got around to upgrading my TR-8 to be able to use the upgrade.
EDIT: 2021 note. The only place to get the 7x7 upgrade is the Roland Sound Cloud. You will need to create an account and get your debit card out as it is $120.
Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this drum machine.