I'm thinking of getting a sampler to go with my drummachine so I get get the synths and other sounds out of the computer.
At the moment it looks like the Electribe, MPC2000XL or MPC1000 might be a good solution. There's Octatrack, but I could get an Electribe and some synth like a Xoxbox etc for it's cost. At the moment I'm leaning towards an Electribe. Are there any downsides to the Electribe? Suggestions would be much appreciated!
Sampler-sequencer suggestions
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Phase Ghost
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Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
Which electribe?
Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
Electribes are nice, but not quite on the level of an Octatrack or a high end MPC. I wouldn't mind owning an Electribe, but I'm saving up for an Octatrack myself atm.
I wouldn't buy an MPC2000 or 1000 though, get a 3000 or a 60 instead. They sound much nicer.
I wouldn't buy an MPC2000 or 1000 though, get a 3000 or a 60 instead. They sound much nicer.
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Phase Ghost
- mnml maxi
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- Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:19 am
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Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
Also, Mac or PC? If Mac, go Numerology and a Lauchpad. It's the dopest step sequencer setup out there. Honestly, it's worth buying a mac mini or used macbook for. I was in your shoes before I went down the numerology route. I looked at the newer red electribe sampler, octatrack, some yahmaha QY thing, old ass MMT-8, everything.
Numerology owns all of them. I don't look at the screen when I'm using it at all aside from bringing it up for adjustments from time to time. It's a very quick and intuitive way to work.
If the red electribe is anything like the newer blue one, it's pretty weak. My buddy has one and it's like a toy. The filter and effects are pretty sh!t all around. The ER-1 is the only electribe I think is worth owning.
If it's a step sequencing environment you're after, look no further than Numerology. No, I don't work for the guy; I just really like the setup. Drums, mono notes, poly notes, chord sequencer, loads of sh!t. You can build a custom sequencing setup as deep or minimal as you want.
Numerology owns all of them. I don't look at the screen when I'm using it at all aside from bringing it up for adjustments from time to time. It's a very quick and intuitive way to work.
If the red electribe is anything like the newer blue one, it's pretty weak. My buddy has one and it's like a toy. The filter and effects are pretty sh!t all around. The ER-1 is the only electribe I think is worth owning.
If it's a step sequencing environment you're after, look no further than Numerology. No, I don't work for the guy; I just really like the setup. Drums, mono notes, poly notes, chord sequencer, loads of sh!t. You can build a custom sequencing setup as deep or minimal as you want.
Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
I owned the EMX, presumably you are talking about the ESX? I can't say anything about the use of it but I ( and a shitload of other people co's I read about it ) had an issue with the fuse going. Seems notorious in the Electribe series - at least the newer red and blue ones, so I'd question the build quality If the efx are the same, then they're just a bit 'meh', I didn't really find anything that inspiring with them. It just happened to be something for getting a vibe out really quick and for that purpose, the interface is fine.
The Octatrack seems the best performance style sampler around at the minute but feature-wise, something which blows the Akais out the water is the E-mu 4XT Ultra. As a hardware studio sampler and wanting to move away from the box, it has it all. A comprehensive 48 track sequencer, 128 note polyphony, 3.2 gig HD - expandable to 9 gig, 24 bit efx processors, 21 filter types - including the Z-Planes, an arpeggiator, 2 lots of midi in/out/thru's, 8 balanced outputs and modular style routing possibilities. It's immensly powerful. The daft thing is, they sometimes go for a few hundred quid, daft considering they were £2800 when they came out....
Depends how deep you want to go, that thing could be everything, synth, sampler, efx box, sequencer. If you wanted to just have a sampler with a pattern sequencer which doesn't really have a plethora of features, I wouldn't bother.
The Octatrack seems the best performance style sampler around at the minute but feature-wise, something which blows the Akais out the water is the E-mu 4XT Ultra. As a hardware studio sampler and wanting to move away from the box, it has it all. A comprehensive 48 track sequencer, 128 note polyphony, 3.2 gig HD - expandable to 9 gig, 24 bit efx processors, 21 filter types - including the Z-Planes, an arpeggiator, 2 lots of midi in/out/thru's, 8 balanced outputs and modular style routing possibilities. It's immensly powerful. The daft thing is, they sometimes go for a few hundred quid, daft considering they were £2800 when they came out....
Depends how deep you want to go, that thing could be everything, synth, sampler, efx box, sequencer. If you wanted to just have a sampler with a pattern sequencer which doesn't really have a plethora of features, I wouldn't bother.
Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
+1 on numerology.
I `ve owned the red and blue electribes for some months. It was some good fun playing around with them. For me it worked best (soundwise) turning up the tube stage just a little bit. It`s sounding nicer and fatter with the tube dialed in a lot but I felt mixing the sounds worked easier with just a little amount of the tube.
But in general I didn't like the sound very much although the mixes I did including electribe-drums sounded pretty nice. I`ve recorded the sounds in pro tools and mixed them there, always clean and cutting through.
The effects on the electribes are not sounding very nice to my ears ...
I don`t know what to feel about the electribes exactly... On one hand it`s lots of fun playing around with them but on the other hand I don`t like the sound so much and it`s limited in some ways. Dunno, maybe I`d like it today more than some years ago.
But there are guys who make/made awesome tunes with the electribes, especially Paul Brtschitsch (Electribe MX)
Best would be if you can test the electribe for some days.
All the best and I hope you can play around with a new toy very soon
I `ve owned the red and blue electribes for some months. It was some good fun playing around with them. For me it worked best (soundwise) turning up the tube stage just a little bit. It`s sounding nicer and fatter with the tube dialed in a lot but I felt mixing the sounds worked easier with just a little amount of the tube.
But in general I didn't like the sound very much although the mixes I did including electribe-drums sounded pretty nice. I`ve recorded the sounds in pro tools and mixed them there, always clean and cutting through.
The effects on the electribes are not sounding very nice to my ears ...
I don`t know what to feel about the electribes exactly... On one hand it`s lots of fun playing around with them but on the other hand I don`t like the sound so much and it`s limited in some ways. Dunno, maybe I`d like it today more than some years ago.
But there are guys who make/made awesome tunes with the electribes, especially Paul Brtschitsch (Electribe MX)
Best would be if you can test the electribe for some days.
All the best and I hope you can play around with a new toy very soon
Re: Sampler-sequencer suggestions
Thanks for the replies guys!
Lots of interesting stuff! The (sound)quality of the Korg Electribes is something I've been worried about too. Doesn't add confidence in it when you hear the effects are crap. Looks like it's too good to be true for that price and it doesn't quite cut the mustard.
I should have been more specific and mentioned that I'm not looking for a hardcore studio sampler.
That Numerology thingy seems to be pretty cool btw, but personally I wouldn't like to have things tied up to a computer.
It starts to look like Octatrack would be the best solution for me. I actually had made up my mind a while ago, but recently I just started thinking that there have to be some alternatives. Wouldn't mind owning a MPC though, but I don't know if it's good for live use.
Lots of interesting stuff! The (sound)quality of the Korg Electribes is something I've been worried about too. Doesn't add confidence in it when you hear the effects are crap. Looks like it's too good to be true for that price and it doesn't quite cut the mustard.
I should have been more specific and mentioned that I'm not looking for a hardcore studio sampler.
That Numerology thingy seems to be pretty cool btw, but personally I wouldn't like to have things tied up to a computer.
It starts to look like Octatrack would be the best solution for me. I actually had made up my mind a while ago, but recently I just started thinking that there have to be some alternatives. Wouldn't mind owning a MPC though, but I don't know if it's good for live use.