Now we've wanted one of these funky beasts since being into early hiphop in the 80's and it was great to get our grubby mitts on it, even if it was only for a couple of days.
First impressions? Well it's funny how it didn't really sound like what we expected an 808 to sound like - just shows how many heavily processed or just plain fake sample sets/beats are out there. Don't get us wrong once you get a beat going it sounds chunky and warm, the (in)famous rimshot sound made us smile when ever we used it, which was a lot.
But here's the thing, would we pay up to a grand (looks like the going rate second hand) for one?
The answer is no.
Yep it's a great machine, and a real joy to use but it didn't totally blow some of our other drum machines out of the water and £800-£1000 seems too expensive to us. That said tho, it's still a wrench to give it back.
Here's a quick video of us mucking about with it.