Roland TR-808 Comparison: Clavia Nord Modular, Nepheton, TS-808, and Sample Packs

Published on Apr 6, 2018 Erik Kirton

"This started as what I thought was going to be a simple project. Essentially, I wanted to program a few TR-808 sounds, as authentically as possible, on my Clavia Nord Modular synthesizer. After countless hours researching and meticulously building each sound from scratch, I was quite pleased with the results.

The TR-808 utilizes a few tricks that one might not discover, without actually seeing and understanding the schematics that Roland designers created. High hats, for instance, aren't built on noise, as many believe, but rather on six separate pulse wave oscillators, which are then sent through a series of bandpass and highpass filters. The snare drum is similar. Oddly, the most used sound, the bass drum, is the easiest to program.

In the end, I took the liberty to alter some of the instruments to my taste. To me, the high hats on the Nord Modular sound more musical, because the six pulse waves are tuned slightly differently than the original. Additionally, the snare has more mid-range frequencies, and the claps are cleaner. The claves are virtually identical to the TR-808, as is the bass drum. I did add a longer sustain and an overdrive module to bring the sound out a little better, though. Other than that, the instruments you don't hear in the video (i.e. toms, congas, maracas, etc.) have a higher dynamic range, but are otherwise almost 1:1, with the TR-808. I even programed the trigger noise, for that Egyptian Lover vibe. The rimshot, however, is killing me. Even looking at the schematics, I just can't nail that sound. We'll see. I'll get it, one day.

A little bit about the other instruments in the video:

The TR-808 was mine. I sold it years ago, but was thoughtful enough to record all of the sounds, using practically every setting possible. I included it because, despite all the sample libraries I own, I know that my TR-808 was recorded without any alterations of the original sound.

In my ears, the Nepheton, from D16, just doesn't cut through a mix. I love the interface, however. It's easy to come up with a quick beat; but, ultimately, I normally just use the sequence and replace the sounds with those from other instruments or sample packs.

Tactile Sound's TS-808 is free and many of the sounds are much, much better than those from the Nepheton. The claves, for instance, sound wonderful, and the high hats are the best emulation I've heard in a VST.

The samples came from various packs. They're all thrown together in a single folder on my computer, so I can't even say where I purchased them from. Sample packs are nice because they offer so many different types of compression, distortion, and other effects that I might not have in my studio. On the other hand, they're static. Often, I'll find a particular sound which is almost perfect. That's the point: "Almost" is like almost being happy. One either is, or isn't.

On a final note, I also own a Roland TR-8S. It's not included here because there are already countless videos on the Aira gear. I will say this, though: Roland nailed it. They actually listened to users and implemented many of the things we missed on the original TR-8. Still, not even they seem able to authentically emulate the TR-808's rimshot. I guess, that's where the sampling function comes in handy.

Anyway, I hope that someone finds this useful. I would sincerely appreciate questions or feedback. Usually, I'm pretty good about answering... almost."

This one is in via liquid sky berlin.