Volca Sample + Volca FM - Minimal Techno Tryout Jam - Should i keep them?!

Elektronauts Our Music
#1

Heyja,

so i finally decided to buy some Volca’s too :slight_smile: Heard that they get a lot of love from the various Communitys out there. I therefore unboxed them, tried them out for a couple of hours and this is what i ended up with:

Its very unpolished and the Bass Level is waaaay too low. I noticed that later after i listened to it on my cheap Hifi-System - but it was already too late to correct that as it was already recorded :slight_smile:

Well, i quite like them i must say. But im still not conviced if i should keep them. The Mute Mode on the Sample is a pain in the ass imho. Why the hell do i need to always hold that Mute Button to see the mutes? Cant i just lock it? Like it works on our Elektron Machines - or an Electribe? Pattern Change is always instant, not working in time, but thats ok so far - one can get used to it. But the Mutes are almost unusable if you need to work on other parameters - its just not well thought out i think.

What do you say? How do you overcome the limitations? By triggering the Units from an OT or other external Gear? Or have you found some magic hacks to make that Mute Mode usable?? :smiley: Would be great if you could share some tipps for a more hands free approach - if you have some!

Thank you and all the best,
subbz2k

1 Like
#2

Sounded ok, for a toy.

#3

hehe, thank you :grin:

1 Like
#4

I think the VS is kind of a toy-like as well but the VFM is full six op FM. It’s sound design potential to price ratio, for a piece of hardware, is pretty amazing. I would keep the VFM, lose the VS, and get a VM.

The Volca Modular is the real deal also. The VM paired with a sampler (or sample player like the Model:Samples alongside WavelabLE or Elements), even using the VM merely as a sample source, is a really good idea. The VM is a bit more expensive than the other Volcas but I can’t imagine exhausting it’s sound design potential any time soon and I’m not sure that can be said of the other Volcas outside of the VFM and VD.

That’s not to say people haven’t been doing cool things with the VS (it’s all over YT). With the Model:Samples at it’s current price, however, saving up a little more cash to get a lot more kit seems the wiser decision. The M:S is twice as much money, to be sure, but it is way more than twice the piece of kit compared to the VS.