hey i totally understand your frustration with manuals,there was a guy in the stuff for sale selling dr-550 and he mentioned downloading a manual,i instantly perked up,but he responded that he doesn't remember which site he got the manual from obviosly roland doesn't do it and the beat i got from them is that you can send them a $25 check and specify the catalog number of your desired product and they'll send it,but you probably already know this,i have been using boss drum machines for about 4 years,through trial and error,and of more recent i have been trying to use them with midi sequencing for the last 8 months,again through guess work,i have a dr-5 and
a boss br-8 for digital 8-track recording,i use the midi out like you said,but i am surprised that your
dr-550 doesn't have in and out.i almost bought one because the price is reasonable,but i was told it didn't have all the song writing capabilities and sequencing tracks that the dr-5 and
the dr-660 or 770 have.i can think that you might have to go into another midi port connecting
the dr-550 and your recorder so that it all works in sequence,like maybe a keyboard work station or another sequencer,i would have to think on this for a bit,unless of course you've tried that route,i am at work so i can't get too into studio,midi,real stuff talk,but it sounds like you would save a lot of time and headaches by just upgrading to the dr-5 or the dr-660 or the new
dr-202,i think personally,these are the best drum sequencing machines, all around for everything,just for the ease of use alone.they are a dream,the sounds especially the dr-5 cause it's a 4-track sequencer,some amazing sounds.i also been able to disguise the fact that it's a drum machine,most people ask me where i recorded such a phat drum sound.but out oof necessity, imade the choice to get the dr-5 for handling all my recording tasks,best for mapping a tempo,and just having the midi clock,so that you save space by not recording it,but having it play each time ,plus,you can constantly change every nuance or beat ,or endless possibilities,just by sync'ing,i know i probably haven't said much but babble.save yourself a lot of trouble and upgrade, especially if you're already familiar with boss's stuff,you need something with midi in and out other wise you're re-routing things and adding more wire--------mojovoodoo
