Sequencers / Grooveboxes

Emu's eye-catching new Command Stations repackage the sounds of their MP1 and XL1 sound modules, adding hands-on sequencing and real-time controls. Can the company win fans with these late entries to the groovebox market?

For 10 years, Yamaha's compact QY 'walkstations' have offered an impressive set of tools for the mobile MIDI musician. Nicholas Rowland checks out the latest, which adds guitar and vocal processing.

Yamaha's RS7000 is a groovebox with a difference. Incorporating a sequencer, sampler and a synth, it claims to offer everything you might need for modern music production.

The latest in Korg's series of dance-friendly Electribe groove workstations is sample- rather than synthesis-based, but serves up the same beguiling blend of hands-on user interface and cutting-edge sounds and effects as its predecessors. Nicholas Rowland takes it for a spin...

It looks like a groovebox, but inside it's a powerful FM synth, fully editable via bundled software. Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser modulate those frequencies...

Roland followed their first MC303 Groovebox with the well-specified MC505. Now there's the MC307, with a spec more like the 505, a price closer to that of the 303, and more DJ-friendly features.

Is it a home organ-style keyboard? Is it a real synth? Is it a complete crock? Paul Ward explores the Korg Sigma, an instrument with a serious identity crisis...

It may look somewhat toy-like, but Yamaha's latest desktop synth workstation is actually anything but - it features serious synthesis from the AN1x and a host of performance-friendly controls. Chris Carter gets modelling...

With its host of programmable backing patterns and an audio track for live recording, Boss's JamStation is designed to enliven the tedium of solo practice, or provide an instant sketchpad for ideas. Nicholas Rowland strikes out on his own...