Its not out till the end of July according to my supplier 
Ahh ok cheers… Look forward to hearing about them.
Anyone got the sampler yet? I’m considering getting one to replace my ES-1, which is great, but I need the added features. And I can justify it since I’m using the ES-1 alongside the monomachine (routing some channels through the ES-1 and compressing/distorting everything together sounds really nice).
It’s about a third of the price of an octatrack, which would be overkill for what I want to do.
I borrowed one for a couple of weeks. It certainly blows the ES-1 out of the water in all ways but one - character. Despite all its effects and whatnot going on, it is a bit dull.
Considered a Volca Sample? I know it’s lo fi, but what it lacks in capacity, it makes up for in style and creativity.
I borrowed one for a couple of weeks. It certainly blows the ES-1 out of the water in all ways but one - character. Despite all its effects and whatnot going on, it is a bit dull.
Considered a Volca Sample? I know it’s lo fi, but what it lacks in capacity, it makes up for in style and creativity.[/quote]
I’ve got an es-1 and a volca sample… Had the new sampler for a week… Nah. The workflow was not very nice (to me) and I have more instant fun with the volca and the es… It was the same as the esx. Never liked it either, but I know its very powerfull. I like the old electribes… (Maybe I get old ;p )
Nah, not within my scope really. It does have a great sound from what I’ve seen but the lack of an audio input to route through internal FX is a dealbreaker for me, and I want something that I can just save hundreds of patterns and samples into… perhaps I should just wait until I get the money together for an octatrack… would be lovely to route every output of the monomachine into the octatrack after all…
Nah, not within my scope really. It does have a great sound from what I’ve seen but the lack of an audio input to route through internal FX is a dealbreaker for me, and I want something that I can just save hundreds of patterns and samples into… perhaps I should just wait until I get the money together for an octatrack… would be lovely to route every output of the monomachine into the octatrack after all…[/quote]
Makes sense. That’s actually why I tried out the Electribe Sampler for awhile, to get just that. But I returned to my Octatrack, eventually. The ESampler is a bit obtuse in its sample handling, so having access to all your hundreds and hundreds of samples, isn’t the promised land it could be. The file structure should be a factor in your decision.
There’s a strong rumor that Roland unleashes something new on the hardware sampler market at NAMM in January. There’s the usual threads on gearslutz and whatnot about it, but I’m hearing this rumour on the streets as well, from people who couldn’t care less about what’s being said on the internet.
Not confirmed, mind you. But there’s the wink wink and nudge nudge going on, and one guy who deals with music hardware literally told me: “Don’t do anything. Wait until NAMM.”
Interesting. Yeah, I’m reading about how it has pretty bad sample file access and other things like too much interpolation on samples when re-pitched… soooo dunno. Perhaps you’re right—I should wait.
If the octatrack did chromatic sampling (I mean, resampling rather than pitch shifting), then I’d be trying to save some money for it buuuut $2000AU is a lot of money.
Hi guys,
I haven’t been following the EMX-2’s post-launch development (Sad that things like that have now to be monitored) and when it launched it seemed to have a few teething problems.
Anyone knows how it is today and what are its strongest/weakest points?
I’d be using it together with a couple of hardware synths for loops/ones shots to resample and sequence in Maschine.
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I’ve used one from time to time. It sounds great, it’s easy to use, the combination of synth, sampler and sequencer in the same instrument is powerful on paper.
But it has a few odd limitations, which seems to be more about lack of implementation skill and less about design choices made to meet balance between cost and features.
For starters, it cuts all envelopes and fx between pattern changes. You can bypass the fx issue by using the same fx in the patterns that connect, but all the same, if you don’t, you get an ugly cut. The envelopes, however, you can’t bypass. Anything that still drones on as you switch pattern, will get cut. There’s nothing pretty about that.
Also, rather than decide what the instrument is capable of in terms of polyphony and features, Korg lets you decide as a user. It’s a sixteen track sampler with one master fx on all channels and one insert fx on each channel. But once you start to push it, these things drop out and voices get cut. In reality, if you use the ES2 to moderate extent, you can get about 6-7 voices, maybe 8-9, before drop-offs becomes noticeably and you have to optimise your track like a coder optimises his code. It’s not entirely bad, cause it does give you flexibility in the same way as, say, the Tempest does - 32 tracks but six voices - but it’s just not the way it’s explained. It’s more like you have to be aware or know before you dive into it.
It sounds great, though, and the sequencer has a nice funk to it, with the groove templates and whatnot. I’d say it’s fun to build tracks with it, but part of it is lost on that whole optimisation thing.
In general, though, I’d say Korg failed on this one. Limitations are one thing, but I call this just bad implementation.
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they missed a trick so bad, I think they were under the impression professionals aren’t interested in grooveboxes, which is a real shame.
neu electribe sampler vs op1, what do u reckon? is the electribe good in any way? when I watch vids on it is just sorta looks really crap.
I wish they made a volca groovebox, multitrack analog drum machine, synths, a much more extensive sampler n sequencer, analog filter. that would be killer.
I just finished listening to the album that Mista Bishi made on Electribe 2S only and I must say it sounds really really good.
There’s an Electribe currently on sale for £170 and at that price I can always give it a shot and eventually resell if it doesn’t work for me.
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At £170 its a bit of a steal to be honest.
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It’s the user’s skill that makes a piece of gear good or crap. Before the internet people just got on with it.
A pro will get the job done on whatever tools he has acces too.
Thats such a non answer i hesitate to even bother replying.
of course we use what we have and get the job done. the new electribes are half baked tho.
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That’s the one that interests me more than the EMX2, which is the non-sampling Electribe.
I’ve used both OT and OP-1 for sample playback on gigs but would consider a more straightforward, simpler sample player - something to simply play back recordings of noises I’ve made on my MS-20 Mini, Microbrute, random objects, etc. without need of the OT’s esoteric sample-mangling capability. 270s max recording time looks more than adequate for my needs.
I agree. Mistabishi is a great musician, but that and the Electribe’s potential are no reasons to disregard sloppy execution from Korg. A philosophical truth about an artist and his tools is unrelated to bad development design.
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exactly 
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Thanks for the review/criticism of the ES2 btw. I expect quite a few limitations in a $400 sampler compared to the $650 Digitakt or the $2000 Tempest. I can live with these limitations though if I find a good deal for an ES2.
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I’d be tempted to grab an es2 if I saw a used one under £200 like mentioned. Overall it seems pretty even match with DT. Each has significant pros/cons. Definitely made me see Es2 in a different light since DT dropped… Totally dismissed it before after reading about its issues/shortcomings. Doesn’t seem so bad now considering the price…