This week's discovery is a drum machine that may have been used for interdimensional travel in an alternate reality. But in our present timeline and reality, we have the D-1000 Vacuum-Tube Drum Machine—a rare Metasonix creation with fewer than 200 units ever produced.
Its name accurately reflects its purpose: it produces drum sounds utilizing vacuum tubes. However, Metasonix vacuum tubes aren't used just for aesthetic or general warmth like other devices that include tubes; they're utilized in all of Metasonix's synthesizers as an integral component of the sound-generation circuit.
All of that is included in the D-1000 as a percussive sound synthesizer. It has four tubes and four distinct drum voices. The cymbal is made with an internal noise source, while the Drums 1 and 2 and the Snare voice are powered by self-resonating bandpass filters tuned precisely for gnarly percussive hits.
Sequencing these drums is just as mechanical of an operation as the sci-fi design style implies. You may use its onboard kill switches to sequence or connect it to external Eurorack gates, CV, and clock sources. In addition, its Tempo knob goes all the way to 1,000 bpm, which gets you into pure noise territory—an area that Metasonix welcomes for all its users.
Few could yield better results while experimenting with the Vacuum-Tube drum machine than Hainbach. Check his video demo of the D-1000 below.
This D-1000 is pristine, as it hasn't seen much action, according to Reverb seller Emory's Gear Port. It also comes with its original tackle box-style casing.
If you're looking for a drum machine that's unlike anything else out there and want to add something truly special to your collection, check out the full Reverb listing here.