The Alesis SR-16 is a 24-bit stereo drum machine that was first introduced in 1990 (in its original 16-bit version) and is still being manufactured and sold today. It has 12 drum pads and 233 sounds to choose from, and can have up to 100 total rhythms stored in it - 50 presets, and 50 user rhythms - and can store up to 100 songs. There is a separate Left and Right jack for the Main output, a combined L+R stereo pair for the Auxiliary, a headphone jack, MIDI In and Out/Thru, foot pedal operation, and plenty of audio effects applied to the drum samples, too. One feature I enjoy using - being the cassette enthusiast that I am - is the ability to backup and restore data via the built-in cassette interface. So far, my stereo is one of my only reliable ways (the other being my VCR) to create and verify backups on cassette, not surprisingly. This has to do with the fact that the stereo and VCR use line-level inputs, rather than the microphone-level inputs on my portable "shoe-box" recorders. I will try other media as time goes on.

The AC adapter shown to the right of the unit is rated 12 volts DC at 0.5 amps, though I have also succeeded in running the SR-16 off of the 9V battery snap that came with my Arduino. It runs for only 20 minutes on a 9V battery, but at least it can be done.

The MIDI cable at the bottom of the picture was not included with the drum machine, rather it was purchased separately. It is an ESi Midimate eX USB to MIDI interface, and I chose this particular cable because the reviews mentioned that it is capable of creating and restoring device backups of their 1980s and 1990s gear, in System Exclusive (SysEx) format.