Korg ESX1 Electribe SX Sampler User Reviews at zZounds

"An Amazing Piece of NEW Technology" submitted December 1, 2004

By a customer from yahoo.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Life long dedicated Touring musician ,,

Music Style: From kenny G to Pantera, Roni size to Bach

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Sound: It's a sampler. Drums sound full and punchy and the bass end is there. Sampling rate is now 44.1 khz. instead of 32. No down-sampling to save space unfortunately, but there's 245 seconds mono and that's probably enough. (And you can resample through effects for lo-fi sounds and to save polyphony). Effects are not classy- in your face is a better description- but work very well for electronic music. The delays are smooth and the distortion goes from subtle to not. There is also an extra pair of stereo outs. Feature: the polyphony is mono with the ability to layer two keyboard 'parts'. the keypad is allright. not velocity sensitive or pressure sensitive the arpeggiator slider/ribbon controller is a nice touch that i hope gets updated with new os versions, ie being able to use both on the drum parts. the effect are incredible. they aren't the greatest but they sure are powerful and handy. the grain freeze is pretty cool. the distortiond and bit reduction rock and the compression is very usable. they are really simple to use and assign to the samples. it has a smartmedia drive for importing/exporting samples saving or loading patterns and songs wich works without a hitch and is much faster than the es-1. it has midi in/out/thru with a syncable clock wich i have not tried yet. the sequencer is dead easy but it is basically 4/4 16ths with the ability to place the ending step of the pattern and 128 steps. much has improved over the other electribes. great for live use and improv. Quality: it has been reliable, no crashes or hiccups. no problems to speak of. the resampling feature has been improved with the new os. the body is all metal. seems like it could take some bumps. Customer Support: 8 Manufacturer Support: Never called them The Wow Factor: If you're familiar with x0x style sequencing or have used the original electribes, the interface will be second nature. It's probably the most intuitive piece of gear I've ever owned. Overall: I would buy it again if anything were to happen to it. Compared to the Roland SP-606 for example, it's a much more exciting machine to play with and (I feel) far more creative (okay, the 606 does have the advantage of USB, the D-Beam controller, a larger memory and graphic waveform editing too, but (to me), it feels a much less exciting machine to use and not quite as phat-sounding as the Korg when you start turning up the ESX's built-in tubes). I've been using kit like this since the late 80's, and it's by far one of the best of it's kind. It doesn't get in the way of what ideas you may have and it's just so hands on compared with similar products from other companies. If Korg ever made an "extreme" version (more polyphonic, built in synth from the EMX-1, USB, more outs and so on), I'd buy it without question. All in all, the ESX-1 is an excellent product from Korg.

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"Korg krank up another top jammer slammer and at a decent price" submitted December 6, 2007

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Musical Background: Producer

Music Style: Underground dance, Breaks, Ambiend, Experimental downtempo

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Sound: 44.1KHz sampling. Sorted. Nice change from the 33Khz found in the younger brother (ES-1) which I owned prior to buying this. The sound is clear and the tubes deliver wether you want a warm subtle overtone or total burned chicken distortion. The effects deliver too but the reverb is a bit ringy when applied to cetain percussion sounds but all in all I rate the sound. Feature: User friendly is an understatement. Fair enough I used to have an ES-1 which gave me a head start but beginners would have no problems picking up how to use it. Hands on and no need to navigate through endless menus. Everything is at your fingertips and you're not restricted to having to only perform one "tweak" at a time. The selection of effects is a nice mixture and all have great results. Some people may say the effect editing is limiting but the parameters that are covered ar more than enough for what I need it to do. The extra mono outputs are a welcome touch too. Ease of Use: Like I said, user friendly is an understatement. Quality: Built tough. The sleek metal finish is much better than the shiny plastic finish on its little brother. I managed to burn a littl hole below the 3rd step key on my ES-1 (don't smoke kids- bad for you) but I dont need to worry about that with this machine for 2 reasons: 1) its metal and 2) I packed in smoking. Value: Yeah you get a pretty decent deal for the money I think. Manufacturer Support: Havent had a single problem so havent had to contact korg. The Wow Factor: Both new generation Electribes have got major appeal. Very sexy machines. Blue EMX and red ESX. I even started to fantasize about a green Electribe sampling vocoder but I dont think we'll see one of those with the Microkorg already about. Overall: It probably sounds biased but it's gonna get 100%. It does everything i require and I've had no problems with it. It completes my setup and I dont think after using this that I could get used to anything different to Korg due to how easy it is to use. Infact after buying my first bit if studio kit (ER-1), I wont use anything but Korg now (apart from for my mixer, monitors, compressors etc). Kiss me Korg

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"The new Electribe ESX1" submitted November 10, 2003

By a customer from iastate.edu

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Music Style: hip-hop, neo soul, down tempo, drum & bass

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Sound: The sound quality is much improved from the other electribes (es1, em1). One thing that I like is the that the sound is not as choppy as the es1. The esx1 provides a rich smoth warm sound because of the tubes that are built inside the machine. My only concern is that I wonder if the tubes will one day need replacing. It does not specify this in the insttruction manual or how to get the tubes replaced if they do need to be replaced. Feature: I liked all of the features and new effects that were upgraded to this machine. The only thing that I would have liked to see different is I wish it had more atleast one more keyboard and more sampling time. Overall the features are great. Quality: The esx1 is built sturdy and will last a long time as long as it is not mishandled or mistreated. Value: I traded in my es1 and my em1 for this machine. I was worried at first for trading in both of my machines but I found that the esx1 does what the em1 and es1 combined plus more. It is well worth the money. Manufacturer Support: I had to never deal with Korg, but as far as ease of use I find it much easier to use than the es1. If you already know how to use the es1 you are in good shape. When I first I got the machine I felt overwhelmed with all the new features but once you get use to it you'll find that it is not that hard to use. The Wow Factor: The product is built nice and is a nice color. The glowing moving lights helps to perform in the dark. Overall: Overall I think this prodcut is well worth the money and I would reccommend it to nayone who wants to buy the new electribe.

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"Super Sampler" submitted April 28, 2005

By a customer from avmreport.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: musician

Music Style: idm, emo, electronica

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Sound: some effects are a little grainy in parts Feature: this machine is very versitile Quality: I was disappointed here: just bee real careful with the knobs, and you will be ok. I live the design though, the metallic red finish rocks. Value: Not a bad deal, I will say that. It is in real handy at gigs. Manufacturer Support: I was having trouble with one of my knobs, and I had a hard time getting a response from Korg.....then I was without it for more than a month because I had to send it back to the factory. The Wow Factor: It is attractive, and I would buy it again. Overall: get one, just be careful with it.

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"a good deal" submitted October 24, 2005

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: inactive musician

Music Style: mixed bag (whatever strikes me)

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Sound: at first I thought that the vacuum tubes were a gimick untill I plugged the mothersucka into a double stack marshall. Feature: It could use more input options for sampling, but thats nothing an adapter can't cure Quality: built like an ox Value: for the production capabilities it's a steal Manufacturer Support: can't really say at this point The Wow Factor: the metal chasis keeps the groupies wet Overall: more effects, more, more, more!!!!

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Korg ESX1 Electribe SX Customer Review submitted April 3, 2005

By a customer from .com

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Musical Background: producer

Music Style: hip hop

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Sound: I just got it 2 months ago. Ilike it a lot. Feature: I like it.

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Korg ESX1 Electribe SX Production Sampler

User Ratings

"An Amazing Piece of NEW Technology" submitted December 1, 2004

"Korg krank up another top jammer slammer and at a decent price" submitted December 6, 2007

"The new Electribe ESX1" submitted November 10, 2003

"Super Sampler" submitted April 28, 2005

"a good deal" submitted October 24, 2005

Korg ESX1 Electribe SX Customer Review submitted April 3, 2005