Thats the suck MPCTNT, if I knew who did that they'd be getting a flying burrito (elbow drop) off the top of a house to the side of their thick skull. The worst part is that they probably don't even know what they stole or have any idea how to use it.
To the O.P.
I haven't used my Ren for a while (the Studio and Ren have the same capabilities just different hardware) but I make Dance music and have had some success with the Ren. It's a completely different workflow than anything else you might have used and honestly I'm waiting until the 1.7 update before I start using it again (we will be getting a real mixer, multicore support, and FX plugin automation).
I have owned Maschine for quite a few years which I pre-ordered before it came out(though my girlfriend.. actually fiance now as of yesterday
pretty much uses that exclusively to make music on). Along with the Ren, and Maschine, I also own an Ableton Push (with live 9 standard). In the past I've done most of my music creation with Cubase and I still do my mixes and final touches in Cubase and probably always will.
The music I have made on the Ren is quite different from what I had done before simply because it's a different way of working. I find myself sampling and exporting and working with the audio parts quite a bit more than when I work with other equipment. If I have a part that is okay but just isn't fitting I try things like chopping up the audio sample of the entire part and try turning it into an instrument mapped across the pads so I can play it differently from what it was before. There are other tricks I do with the Ren that I don't do with other instruments like duplicating a sample or loop across 16 pads so each pad plays the same loop sample, then change each pad in some way like different filter settings or placing an insert effect on a pad. Then I have this set of the same sound but all effected differently that I can play which usually makes very interesting results. Until 1.7 drops I think it would be very difficult to go from start to finish with the Ren for dance music just because of the intricate mixing and automation that is required as well as the processing power (all things that will be addressed in 1.7).
That said I made a few tracks with the Ren and the layout of the workflow in an MPC is very interesting. I find that making a new instrument out of samples is pretty effortless and coming up with song ideas and arrangements follows the same lines. Once you are used to it you can work very fast and it really makes you work differently which leads to your music sounding different as well. For me that (plus 1.7 features) makes it worth holding onto. I can sit down with it and bang out some ideas and just play around with stuff pretty effortlessly and it's actually "fun" to do. If I get stuck or feel limited I just bounce everything into Cubase and work from there.
So while I wouldn't say it's the best out there for Dance music it will give your dance music a different edge you might not have experimented with before.
