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Zoom RT223 Rhythm Trak Drum Machine

The RT-223 is a drum & bass machine for any kind of rhythm play. Small in size and light in weight, this low-profile unit will go with you anywhere. You can get a session going with your very own rhythm section in a flash, even on your desktop. Learn More...

    • New $179.95
    • free ground shipping
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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Sound:
The soun is so good,but the only draw back is the pad buttons is not working after some use, ( snare & bass) is not working no use of it after few months of usage

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Overall:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
It has a few design flaws:you have to scroll up and down with arrow keys to access song/pattern numbers instead of being able to directly type in the number which wastes time at a gig.The internal memory is not great I could only programme 40 songs(not very complex arrangements either)before I ran out and this was AFTER I had erased all the existing patterns.You cannot assign swing to individual songs either.

Quality:
Seems well put together and relatively robust.

Value:
It is around the same price as the alesis drum machine and is as good as it with the added advantage of bass but internal memory needs to be doubled.

Sound:
The sounds are reasonable in this machine,the drum sounds are better than what the alesis sr-16 has to offer.The bass sounds not as good but effective in a live music situation.

Ease of Use:
Programming does not take too long to get the hang of and is nice to work with especially in real time mode.

Support:
n/a

Overall:
I'm already considering looking for a machine with greater memory capacity, that is the the greatest single drawback with this machine and what makes it unsuitable for live venues where a musician has to be able to draw from a bank of 100+ songs.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
Loaded!

Quality:
Seems to be constructed quite ruggedly.

Value:
Lot's of bang for the buck.

Desirability:
My brother heard mine and it blew his mind. He's a bass player too and he's decided to lay down his previous drum machine. It's a must have as far as I'm concerned.

Sound:
The RT 223 is simply the BOMB! I love the sound quality. It has deep lick drum tone and with the widely varied drum patterns and bass lines it has helped me get back in touch with my creative side. It offers a good number of grooves oriented towards the type of plying I like most which is jazz funk and latin. I can't say anything bad about the RT 223. The only question I have though is that when I plug my bass in the input side, it does not allow me to push it in all the way as the sound drops out of my bass. Anyone else have that issue to deal with? Aside from that; LOVE IT!

Ease of Use:
Smething this versatile I suppose it would be all that easy to master especially if you have not done programming of any sort. But I can make it do what it does for me.

Support:
N/A as of yet.

Overall:
It ain't going no where. All I wanted was a simple drum machine that gave some beats to help me woodshed on my chops and I got much more than I expected. I'm totally pleased.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
i would have liked an ac adapter to be included.....20 dollars for this is a lot.

Quality:
Plastic and metal / I wouldnt step on it / it appears to be sturdy and well made.I handle my equipent with care and from what i've heard expect this product to last a long time.

Value:
I made the right choice for me and any apprehensions i had from reading these reviews are gone. I'd buy it again.Perfect tool for my live gigs and it sounds incredible.

Desirability:
For me a drum machine should not be so flashy that it stands out more that my intrument or any other equipment for that matter.Simple,black and professional looking.Fits right in with my set up.I love the small size too...easy to set up close to me for live use.

Sound:
i purchased this machine after auditioning it and reading the reviews on here. I am a keyboardist/vocalist that is looking for basic,adequit rhythum accompaniment. I'm glad i didnt rely on these reviews for my purchase because the rt 223 has definately surpased my expectations.The sounds are very realistic and with the pedal i bought the 223 will be the perfect tool for my live gigs.Very easy to use.I'm not concered about memory because elaborate songs are not my thing..i prefer writing fairly basic patterns as opposed to being locked in to song modes. This machine is an extremely musical upgrade to my sound.

Ease of Use:
i found this piece of equipment to be very user friendly and simple to use.i expected total confusion after reading other reviews comments about the manual which i found to be decent.I was surprised at how easy it is to edit individual drum sounds.

Support:
I have know experience with tech support yet.

Overall:
This is what i intend to use for my live performances. My emphasis is on my vocals and keyboard playing and this brings a fantastic,and realistic rhythum to my music. For studio work i'd probably use a live drummer but the rt 223 would work well for demos.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10

Feature:
Lots of features, just cant get it do do anything i want

Quality:
Good quality unit. will be very happy if i EVER figure this thing out. I do hear the memory us quite limited whenb using BASS as it takes up alot of the memory

Value:
Great value if you can make it do whatx you want it to , seems to have a mind of it's own, and doe's seem to like me much .

Sound:
Sounds are excellent, if i could just figure out how to use this thing. I must be drum machine challenged as this is the 6th one I've had, and supposed to be the easiest to use, but after 3 months, i'm no further than the first day !

Overall:
I'll keep plugging along reading and reading, but nothing seems to help, does not seem to corisponde tio the book instructions. Difficult to use in my estimation.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
a midi out would make this category 10.

Quality:
plastic but nice and sturdy as long as you dont step on it.

Value:
I think it is underrated on this site, so wrote this review. Good value, nice addition to your studio or rig. good for daily practice and demo recording.

Desirability:
Go get it!!

Sound:
very realistic for a budget drum machine.

Overall:
excellent machine froom zoom.

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Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
Features are decent. I ordered the power supply and the foot pedal. The foot pedal really helps when I am playing the bass line on the keyboard. The power supply should come with the machine...that should probably be a predictor of the service to follow.

Quality:
When you pay $179, don't expect Fort Knox-type protection. This is plastic and rubber, so you handle it like plastic and rubber. Unless you're thrashing around on the stage, typical use shouldn't cause problems. I carry it around in the box it was packed in to protect the buttons.

Value:
Any better quality and I would expect to pay more than twice what I paid for this. For the price point, you get a decent machine with more features than you should expect for the price.

Desirability:
I am a part-time music professional with a music degree, so I expect a lot from my instruments. Not real sexy for a musician who gets paid to play. Might work as cheap accompaniment beside the pool, but can't pass off as the real thing in most arenas.

Sound:
Adequate sound for the price. The bass sounds are mostly cheap-sounding, with a couple of quality-sounding sounds. The drums are very good for the price. When run through a decent mixer, it sounds pretty good. When played with our small group (one keyboard, one guitar), it sounds great.

Support:
I am a patient person, especially when it comes to service calls. However, support cannot even be rated because it is non-existent. It took almost three weeks for an email response which just passed me on to another website which has not responded at all...and will not even load in my browser half the time.

Overall:
I thought I would not use this to capacity before I had more musicians (drum/bass), knowing there was no memory expansion available. However, I ran out of internal memory on this after inputting 4 songs, while the advertisement said up to 100 song storage. I could understand a variation based on useage, but did they really not expect somebody to enter a typical length song? Now I must delete 10 factory-installed patterns to input 1 of my own. That really made the machine not worth it. I'm back to no drummer/bass player anyway and out $179!

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
Drum+bass machine, you can jam with it. I hope it had a dialing pad and a more accessible volume control.

Quality:
plastic casing-only had it for 2 weeks, but looks kind of cheap.

Value:
$180... not bad.

Desirability:
the best budget drum machine. better than Alesis sr-16.

Sound:
It sounds realistic, good enough for my home studio.

Support:
NO idea really.

Overall:
good.

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Main complaint is there isnt a jog dial or number pad to flip through options or sounds real easy, but your can hold down both the + and - buttons for a speedier search. The effects are ok. Groove play is nice though.

Quality:
The machine seems pretty sturdy the bottom is metal the top plastic part is a see through type but not a big deal overall it seems good.

Value:
This product is a great value especially if your someone just starting out making beats will be easy I've had the sr-16, the mrt-3 and this and this one is the best by far. the mrt-3 is good too but not so much for hip-hop or rap beats. At this price its great.

Desirability:
This is a must have peice of equipment, set this up with a computer and some software and you got a studio ready to produce some cool beats.

Sound:
Pads are very responsive, not like the sr-16 and the sounds are good too, cool for hip-hop/rap beats if thats what your looking for.

Support:
Never had to use them so wouldnt know. but the website is helpful you can hear demos of all their drum machines. www.zoom.co.jp is the url. Check out the onboard demo its cool.

Overall:
I wanted to write this review to help people decide if its right for them for the hip hop peoples out there looking to get into beat makingt this is it. You wont find anything near it in its price range. So unless you have enough for a dr 880 go with this especially if your just starting out. Learn the vocab on these things too it really helps.

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