Korg A2

I think this is the easiest effects rack ever made quite honestly. There is very little you can't change in a matter of minutes with a few buttons and knobs including: individual effect parameters, volume level of each chain, noise gate etc. There is even a performance mode on the thing that allows you the ability to do genral effect changes live with the quick twist of a knob.

The manual suffers from some translation issues, and isn't the most clear as far as effect specifics, but the documentation in general is very broad and helpful. There was a subsequent 'how to use the korg A3 (A2) book published by and independent that I bought long ago. It does a very nice job of detailing how to achieve different specific players sounds with the unit. But I maintain this is the easiest effects rack to manage, ever produced.

I have used this with everything from high velocity tube amps to JC 120s to direct into board to...well you name it. It is the best of both worlds, an awesome stage unit (but you need the FC6 foot controller to get around on/off effect changes without a change gap)capable of delivering anything you could want for bass, guitar or general sound application as well as being an amazing studio tool. I have run this direct into recording consoles with only the chains featuring the speaker simulators and I swear it is the most crunchy ass kicking overdriven metal guitar on the earth, or the sweetest little jazz/blues git you could want.

I can get ANY sound I want from this thing and never stop walking away from it shaking my head in amazement.

The Achiles heel on this thing in my experience is the engineering for the instrument input jack. It is VERY vulnerable as it is a jack right onto a circuit board and the input module itself tends to stress the circuit board and damages the solder points. I have repaired this a number of times in the past and just had to retire the unit (temporarily-I hope) because the solder points on the board have deteriorated. If you use this unit for live performance, and use the input jack YOU MUST INSTALL SOME SORT OF STRAIN RELIEF or you may wind up like me, crying over the loss of a good friend. A simple tie-wrap and surface mount holder that you can loop your chord through should suffice. Other than that, had no trouble with it in 11 years.

Great support. when I recently located an old FC6 (a tough relic to find) they were able to provide me the propriotary cable quickly.

I have called them before with questions and they were always very helpful, even when dealing with some kook calling about a unit they discontinued many years ago.

The web page referenced earlier on this page ('korgaseries' something or other)is an awesome resource for anyone interested in the A series from Korg (A1 through A3, we purists scoff at the later floor pedal effects A5 etc..), including history, patches etc...very nice page by some very helpful people, and do you know any other series of effects that has isnpired it's own user web-page? True testimony to the wonder of the A series.

Greatest rack ever made. I sincerely belive that. Mine just recently died and I went out and hunted down a new one (although I could only find an A3). Can't imagine being without it, it does so much and is so easy to use and so forgiving when it comes to abuse--I love it, can you tell? I would probably pay the original sticker price if that was the only way to find a replacement, even though it's 12 years old. Without a doubt the single best investment I have ever made in gear after 22 years!

easy as any other high tech multi-effect unit

super quite...super high quality effects....maybe a little too digital sounding

inputs/outputs go bad & u half to resolder them to circuit board but thats the only problem

I am very interested in finding out what the differences are between the A2 versus the A3 & A1 do they have more or less usable guitar sounds & how do they rate with others...I need a comparison opinion

This is not a plug and play unit - forget the presets - however, programming is as complicated or simple as you want to make it. Some very useable sounds are available by simply selecting a chain, and turning on or off the effects you want. Very simple! Or delve into the parameters and tweek away. I did fine for a while without the manual, but needed help knowing exactly what some of the FX were!

Presets are not much use except for one or two, and those are exceptional, so I had to program all the sounds I use myself.

Mine is a rack setup - in a very nice 6U SKB case! ADA MP-1 preamp (buy one!) and a Rocktron Velocity 150 poweramp, which sounds as great as any tube amp in my opinion. I was a little apprehensive about going to a rack system, because I wanted the old Fender/SRV type sounds - no prob! My MP1 (which is tube) along with my A2 can get me ANY sound I want - and I mean ANY! Forget digital sampling crap - the A2 will do it for you. My main axe is a custom build (homemade!) solid mahogany with Custom Seymour Duncan and Jazz Syemour Duncan humbuckers and a maple neck. Weighing in at 12lbs it sustains for weeks!!

Depend on it? Absolutely! But you will need a backup card for complete confidence. Dont buy an FX unit without backup. This is not a fault of the A2 - any FX unit can be shorted. A friend of mine had a Digitech 2110 crap-out minutes before a gig. He didn't have a RAM card for it so he had to re-program right there - and fast!!! If that's your idea of fun, then I guess you don't need a backup either!

The A2 is an older machine, so Korg couldn't help me too much, however they were helpful. One of the techs let me use his email address for help.
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For great support on the Korg A series (and great commradery too!) go to http://www.korgaseries.org. Enter discussion, get help, download patches and chat with other A2 users - See you there!
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I play almost anything - blues, rock, classical, tame, nutty, techno. The A2 matches my eclectic style ! I wouldn't use it without the FC6 foot controller - it allows stompbox style switching on/off for each effect in each patch - too cool! Also a MUST HAVE is a volume-style controller for changing parameters on-the-fly.

If it were stolen I would buy another - keeping my RAM card to upload all my old presets! I bought my A2 in Canada and recently moved to the UK. I was planning on selling it and buying another, but found out that I could convert it to 240v by simply changing over two wires on the transformer. This is VITAL for me, as it is possible that I will move again. Knowing that I can change it back to 110v so easily is a comfort, since I don't have to worry about losing all my presets!

I often use the sounds themselves for starting points in my writing, so it definitely is useful in making music. I don't think I could live without it now!

There are only a couple of things I miss - a pitch tranposer (but I would only use that once in a while, so not really a major point) and real EQ knobs. I will probably get a parametric EQ so I can change overall setting instantly.

Programming is the key with FX - set it up right and the A2 is your friend! Using the FP6 I have some banks set up so that each patch just picks a different setting on my preamp(using MIDI) and othertimes I use the on/off ability - program one patch and then get INFINITE variations by switching stuff on or off, just like using stompboxes (But 100000% better!)

102 effect! preset chain programming 1000 presets = a bit of confusion in my mind.....
Like every powerful effect you must spend more time on it

very very very clear I use it on recording studio and bass.....good on guitar amazing sound

no trouble

If you like a serious effect with clear sound this little beast is for U; but if you like alesis...

The Korg A2 is very easy to use. All of the parameters are adjustable from a simple front panel, which has effects localized to a particular knob. To turn an effect off (take it out of the chain), simply push the knob in. Bypassing the unit is done in a similar one button fashion. There's lots of MIDI control options, and the ROM card slot means adding new effects chains is a simple matter of plugging in the card. I had the NY guitar expansion, and was really happy with it. Some very useful stuff there. My biggest gripe about the unit was the LCD display. Since there's no way to adjust the contrast, you either see it well, poorly, or not at all. The manuals for the unit are pretty useful. They detail all the parameters and options for each effect type, and explain the basics of chain based effects quite well. I was building and editing effects within the first couple hours of use.

I used this box with a variety of different instruments: An 89 Ibanez Jem, a 94 Ibanez 442R, a Yamaha APX6 acoustic guitar, a Roland GR-1, and a Korg X-3. The unit was very useful in a varity of ways for each and every instrument, and also had patches for live drums and vocals that I was never able to put to use. Very flexible. The unit has a built in noise gate for every program, and thus noise was never a factor. I tended not to use the built-in distortions since I record direct typically, and few of the distortion chains have a speaker sim. I ran from a Whammy to a Zoom 9002 (for some distortion, a tad o' compression and eq) into the A2. Occasionally I went from to an IPS33B harmonizer before hitting the A2. The effects were quite strong. The reverbs are of near-Lexicon quality, and can get really huge. Chorus effects were quite variable, from slight to dense. No pitch shifter per se, but it did have a good detuner. The fact that it handled stereo in and out was a big plus for keyboards and guitars.
When I ran through an amp, it was a 100 watt 2x12 Crate amp, which I prefer for the lack of sonic coloring they do. It sounded very good through the amp, although my beat up amp did cause some interference noises if I set it right on top of the cabinet.
I typically do instrumental rock and fusion (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Chick Corea, Frank Gambale) as well as some techno stuff, and was really happy with how well I could emulate certain sounds. In fact, once I became more comfortable with the unit's controls, I could really make some incredibly thick but clean guitar sounds whether I was clean or dirty.
I was particularly impressed by the reverbs and compression. Outstanding for the price.

The unit seems to be pretty stable. I carried it around extensively without a rack-mount and never had any problems. I'd definitely feel comfortable using it without a backup unit.

Korg was really helpful in making sure I got the answers I needed.

I would consider the A2 an incredibly good deal and match for any kind of music. After 7 years of playing I've used stomp boxes, processors, and straight into amp/board setups. This was definitely the best sound for $400 I've heard. It'd still be great at twice the price. With better distortions and harmonizing it'd be a great stand alone/plug & play unit. If the device were stolen, I'd probably try to replace it with the same unit or it's big brother the A1. The sound quality really blew me away. I was quite fond of the quality of the output signal. Very few boxes can be recorded with the first few hours you own them. This sounded killer whether it was used as a main processor for guitar/keyboard, or used as a general mix-down aid.
If you can find one of these for between $400 - $600, buy it! It's a great addition to the project studio, since it's not just a guitar box. For guitarists, it's the missing link between very glitchy reverbs & chorus and faking a Lexicon. Easy great sound without dropping four digit figures into a single piece of equipment.

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