Don’t forget the valves on the ESX-1 - they are a major part of its sound.
I like the motion sequencing very much on the E?X-1 series Electribes, though it could do with improvement - Elektron really have excelled themselves with p-locks by comparison.
I had one back in the day. Nice for mangling samples, but I found it a bit limiting and hated the smart media cards. I ended up going to an MPC1K and was much happier.
I’ve sort of come full circle though. I’m looking at a Digitakt over an MPC Live because I’m into simplicity at the moment. Being able to nudge notes off the grid would be one major reason I would choose the Digitakt over an old ESX-1.
U should buy two
I’d love to have an ESX again. I’d even take an old smart media one if the price was right. I never had an issue just recording things straight into the ESX. I bought all the smart media garbage when I had one before, rarely used it. If you are looking to use it as a one shot drum machine, I guess the SD vs SM is a big issue.
Hey all, reviving this thread after many moons. I’ve had DT1 for 6y and will take it to my grave, the esx-1 is always calling me to try it, what does it offer over the DT in live performance setting?
Anyone owned both and care to share?
I’d be using it for stripped down raw techno I guess , if you want a use case/context 
[edit] this is what’s inspiring me to try, love Andy’s stuff …
You’ve never moved air on a sound system unless you’ve used an EMX, ESX. Holy fuck those things bang.
Layout, ESX is much more spaced out. More hand friendly, less eyes, more fingers.
Ribbon controller for gltichy fun.
Ringmod the entire mix.
You can set up null points in the sequencer where all parameters reset to zero, or off. Say on the downbeats. This means you can go apeshit turning knobs as much as you like, and the track will snap back to its saved state on the next down beat, kind of like OT scenes, but different execution.
Did I mention the amount of air that they move? If you’re playing live, dont underestimate the EMX1/ESX1. Ive had both, and have had digitakt.
I still have an EMX1.
Digitakt (any elektron really) = clever sequencer tricks.
Electribe SX = Raw sound power, fun, fun and more fun and its loud.
Ok, this goes to show you really can learn something new every so often about devices owned for yonks. Off to read the SX manuals as I had no idea this was a thing.
You won’t find it in the manual.
You will find the section on step edit menu. Where you can edit parameter values per step. Yeah thats right, per step automation…which is er, parameter locks. (In addition to the regular korg motion recording)
Anyway if you do that in reverse, and set what I call null points, you can call them what you want, then yeah. As I mentioned, a whole lot of good stuff. Works way better on the ESX than on EMX. Samples lend them selves to wacky modulation a bit better than synths in my opinion.
Anyway. Dig deep and Enjoy.
Right, that makes sense. I use motion recording a lot, but never really looked in detail at editing the parameters of individual steps like that - nice!
Thanks for your reply, I’ve just bagged an SD version and excited to get my hands on it.
Found this great browser tool/editor (similar to elk-heard for DT) for starting a blank project, then easily loading all your own samples…better than the tedious one by one method on the device, hope you find it useful:
NOTE: Also available for the blue one EMX-1 and ES-1
The compare button.
Holy shit. I never knew.
Just found it. Lets you switch between what ever madness youve just made and the saved version, and back again .
So good.