AMAZONA.de reported Acidlab’s Drumatix announcement on 13 April 2014, and Attack Magazine recorded pre-order availability that June. Contemporary reviews arrived in 2015, alongside the English manual’s June 2015 declaration.
A 606 idea opened out
Acidlab announced the Drumatix in spring 2014 as an analogue machine built from the language of Roland’s TR-606 but unwilling to stop there. It arrived with added sounds and adjustable parameters, a compact contemporary instrument for players who knew the old box and wanted a more open version of the conversation. The April announcement and June pre-order report describe a product on its way; they do not establish first delivery, final pricing or the first territory supplied.
Top News: Acidlab Drumatix wird ein TR-606-Clone ↗ News Round Up: 6/6/14 ↗
Familiar circuits, different choices
The manual traces the Drumatix through several Roland designs: bass drums drawing on different circuits, a rimshot related to the TR-808 and a clap in the Boss DR-110 family. The result is not a replica. It is a deliberately mixed vocabulary, turned into an individual analogue machine by extra voices and control.
Patterns written while the pulse continues
Its 192 patterns sit in twelve groups, with step programming and real-time tap entry. Playback can continue while the player changes modes, and MIDI or Sync-In can take over transport when the machine joins a larger setup. That encourages a live way of writing: alter the rhythm while it is still telling you what it wants to become.
What the first reviews liked
2015 reviews praised the aluminium case, additional instruments, individual outputs and expanded sound shaping. One enjoyed the accessibility of the sequencer and the quality of the snare sounds; another heard the Drumatix as a practical extension of the 606 rather than a museum-perfect copy. Both recognised a machine with its own working personality.
A compact source for Acida Dominga
In 2025 Acida Dominga described Drumatix as her chosen drum source in a reduced setup built for both studio work and live performance, with an Akai MPC handling central sequencing and sampling beside a TB-303. It is a concise picture of why this kind of instrument endures: one box can keep the drum language immediate.
In the market
Explore 2 period price records
- April 2015 · EUR 590
German review price. Drumatix; inclusions not established
- April 2015 · EUR 590
German recommended price in review. Drumatix; inclusions not established
Recording and working accounts
Explore 2 source accounts
- Acida Dominga — Studio/live setup; no named recording established
Names Drumatix as drum source.
- Acida Dominga — current compact studio and live setup
Acida Dominga says the Acidlab Drumatix is the drum machine in her compact production and live setup.
Sources
The visual archive
Further visual evidence.
These displayed records are labelled by their documented role, date and source; source-only records are listed separately below.
Sources for images shown earlier (2)
Additional visual sources (2)
Original publications and related image sources.
- Test: Acidlab Drumatix ↗
April 2015 · Henning Schonvogel / Beat, p. 74 · p. 74; full page inspected - Acidlab Drumatix ↗
April 2015 · Ulf Kaiser / KEYS, pp. 76–77 · pp. 76–77; full spread inspected