Korg A2

This thing works on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, bass guitar, keyboards whatever. It is a great home-studio piece. It gives you realism, and it also can be tweeked into the fantastic.

Have never needed a manual. All you do is twist and push the knobs in the front of the thing to get different kinds of choruses, reverbs, flanges, pitch shifters, delays, dynamic modulations,etc. Then you push and twist some more to set the parameters on the effects. Push write and then yes to save. That's all. The most difficult part is finding the time to do it! It has a card slot for a backup card. Don't have any of those so I only make minor tweeks on one or two effects in the chain and make a note of it. Hey, the presets are pretty good on their own!

The sounds on this thing are superb. I HATE most digital equipment, but I never feel like fingernails are being scratched across a chalkboard when I listen to this. The sounds are very useful. They have added a great deal to one part of "my sound". It beats by far Digitech, Rocktron, Zoom and other similar products. I have bought a lot of those and have already sold them all. My A2 and A3 stay after years and years. Although I have never compared them head to head, I can't imagine the elite models like Lexicon being much, if any better.

As others have stated below, the compressor is bad. That's when this thing gives up the ghost and you know it's digital.Turn the compressor off and use a floor compressor or another rack compressor. Combined with other pedals this thing is great, too!

I run it through tube and solid states. Boogies, Fenders, and bass amps. Run it out to two amps and the stereo effects fill the air with all the psychedelia you could want!

Direct in works well, too. Sometimes, this is all you need!

Distortions run from very unique, cool and useful to so so. But they are more options on the palatte.

All the other effects are great!

It has lasted over 10 years. 15? Just need to change the battery by unscrewing the body. About 10 or 15 screws--a bit of a hassle! Be careful not to strip the screws! Don't tighten them all the way!

Don't even want to deal with them!

This is a great effects processor, one of the best I guess. Glowing reviews everywhere you look--unchanging even as time wears on. Both for this and the A3. I own a couple of both! Wish I had an A1, too--a kind of Holy Grail for me.

The A3 is more guitar oriented. The A2 has more general natural sets which I use for my "studio environments". Everything sounds good through it. There are also cards with different sounds you can use. I have the Studio Card and the Keyboard Card (can be used on both A2 and A3). The studio card has a great number of reverb environments. The studio card is mostly enhancing type programs to fill out digital keyboard sounds. Kind of cool at times on guitar--especially Strats!

Both this and some classic Korg keyboards (M1 and O1/W series)were made around the same time. Don't know if they were really related, but I remember hearing that some of the guys from ESONIC came over and the company was cooking when these were made!

And I'm proud to own these and my O1/W keyboards! I would certainly buy any Korg products from that era as soon as I would get any of the latest things on the market.

With minimal effort learning what the push/rotate knobs do, editing patches is fairly simple. When I started with mine I didn't have a manual and didn't have any problems figuring it out. Since then I created www.korgaseries.org (not .com as someone else suggested), which has manuals, patches, cards and a mailing list to ask questions of my self proclaimed experts on the subject.

I bought the unit because of two artists - the Edge and a band called The Choir. Because the Edge uses a LOT more than just this processor, his effects are harder to replicate, but The Choir's lush, swirling, chorus effects are nearly the presets in some patches. The overdrive, chorus and delay effects are my particular favorites - with the compressor probably being the worst (fairly noisy). It's a little noisy just on it's own, as it was a bit before it's time and the bit depth and sampling rate of the A/D converters are a bit sub-par. I use my unit primarily with a Fender Strat (humbucker in bridge with a coil tap in second position) and either my '68 Fender Vibrolux (when it's working) or a 70's era Fender Champ (mic'd of course!).

It's an aging digital unit, so it needs some TLC on occasion. The internal memory is dependent on an internal battery, which wipes out your presets if it dies. If you keep an eye on it though it's not a problem. The only other reliability concerns are the front and back jacks, which are soldered right on the mainboard without any physical supports on the chassis. If you're the least bit handy with a soldering iron though, that's easy to fix (or upgrade to better jacks).

Totally unsupported by the time I bought mine used.

I play rock, alternative and worship music at church. With enough time spent tweaking your presets, it works fine in all those scenarios. I've been playing for about 20 years. My other gear is too numerous to mention, but I have a few old tube amps, a modern (Line 6) amp, and about a dozen different electric and acoustic guitars. If I lost it, I'd find another for sure! I wish it had a bit better MIDI support - it's pretty basic, but again it was ahead of it's time and one of the first to have MIDI at all.

well, it's not properly a simple unit. you have to spend a lot of time on it, but it is well spent time .
A2 works with static chains of effects (97 different chains, 6 effects per chain) so you have to search your right sequence of effects. 6 pots to control every effect. Quite marvellous to work on it.
MIDI controlled. Display not very well lightened.
manuals on http://www.korgaseries.com

my setup: yamaha pacifica 112 -> korg A2 -> Boss SD-1 as booster -> Laney TF-320

EFFECTS: about 10 different kinds of distortion, 6 kinds of reverb, 2 phaser, 2 flanger, 3 chorus, 4 delays, compressor, 3 kinds of EQ, Exciter, 3 Amp simulator plus a variety of stereo effects (but remember: you must use static chains... you can't create your own chain).

It is a perfect silent unit on clean sounds, quite noisy with distortions. It hase a noise gate but, on the higher levels, it kills the sustain.

Reverbs, delays, choruses, phasers, flangers are simply wonderful. You can choose different types per each, and you have a total control on them. More, you have a volume control from total dry to total wet sound (so, you can use this unit in a loop).

Several distortions, from TRUE tube overdrive emulation (think to Little Wing's intro) to thresh metal (I play Metallica without any problem). But, if you don't use EQ's and Exciter very, very, VERY carefully, you won't obtain a good sound.
But don't worry, I play in a hard rock / metal cover band, and I use distortion for about 90% of the show... With this unit i was able to create about 10 different, and really useful, sounds.

EQ's, Exciter: they REALLY change the sound. I found compressor quite useless. Use it carefully: it will squeeze the sound, and kills your tone.

I wasn't able to create a thick solo sound, so i preferred to use an overdrive as a booster.

ps.: you can create some special effects... nothing special, of course... but let's think to begin One (Metallica) whit a stereo heavy helicopter in your PA ;-)

from 1992, never had a problem (i bought it used 1 year ago... but before it was used by a friend of mine...).

This unit will be in my setup for all my life. I love its clean sounds, and its distortions (but not solo sounds) too.
Do you know U2 Pride? it was played with this unit...

If you want a professional unit (don't forget: in the 90's, this was a 2000 $ unit), with a quite vintage sound... well... it's the A2.

I play hard rock 70/80/90 and 80 metal, plus some famous contemporary cover... it can play everything (except nu,death,black and similar).
I think I will soon improve my setup with an all-tube power amp (maybe a Brunetti Silver Bullet) and a Carvin 2x12 Cabinet to use this unit until its maximum.

It's fairly easy to use and tweak for a unit that old. But of course it would be great to have the fx chains freely configurable. As it is you can't add an effect if it's not in the chain already.

I use this with several guitars, mainly a Fender US strat, and also as a send fx for recorded non-guitar stuff which is fun. As far as the guitar sound it is really good for the way I use it - straight to the board. The basic tone is very well preserved through the unit when running it clean, which cannot be said for my J-station or the Pod which I used to have. I also like the distortion a lot, but I may differ from most people as I generally prefer transistor/stomp dist (or digital in this case) to tube dist, except maybe for semi-overdriven tones a la Fender combos or similar - I don't like 'fat, warm' sounds... I want it cold and lean, he he. More experimental than virtuoso dist if you like, and this unit is fine for that I think. The reverbs are surprisingly fine as well for a guitar unit, as are delays and chorus, absolutely usable for other stuff.

Well, I got it second hand, and the display is kinda weak and hard to read sometimes. Except for that, the build quality is like most professional units.

Don't know really, but I don't like the fact that Korg like many companies don't provide downloadable manuals. It should be standard practise for a hardware company, because that little service always works to fool me anyway into liking a company and makes me want to buy more stuff from it... really!

I bought the unit unheard on reputation alone, and for the price I would have accepted anything I guess. But I like it a lot and have been using it quite a lot during the last months, mainly as a quick n'dirty headphone practise amp, but also as a mix toy. Recommended.

One piece of advice: do not bring this processor with u to gigs, jam sessions or any live performance; I guess u could if u bring with u the foot controller FC6 but this is practically unfindable and other single pedal switches work only if u have all your effects presets back to back; other than that the processor it is a great recording studio tool and not only for guitar, but for everything; it is unbreakable and believe me, if it worked for 7 years with me with all the hell I gave it.... the memory battery dies very soon but I'm lucky cause I use STEVE HOWE ROM card with its own sounds and presets so that doesn't bother me, as mentioned by others the various input/output connectors start being dodgy pretty soon and u have to give your cord a good shake (make sure your amp volume is down!!!) to resume normal operation.

I purchased the A2 brand new about twelve years ago. I worked with the presets and found only a few things I liked. The factory stuff is not that great, however, that was easy to overcome. I prefer playing as opposed to searching for the ultimate sound so ease of use is important. The chain theory was different than the processors I had previously, but is simple to use. My battery went dead and I lost a lot of sounds I've never taken the time to recreate. Get a backup card.

I have never liked the way the A2 sounds running through an amplifier. The pre-amp was a bit noisy so I have used it almost exclusively running direct. Of course, that requires a controlled environment as far as stage monitors and what not. I NEVER use the on board compressor as I found it is the source of some of the noise problems. I am always in the market for new and improved products and I have gone shopping with intentions of replacing the A2. After twelve years it is still my primary piece of equipment. If you want to pay for it you can make your guitar sound better. However, it's going to be difficult to find any one piece of equipment that will replace the A2.

It would appear that the input on the face of the processor is prone to problems. After the sodder joints broke the first time I plugged into the input on the back of the unit. This lasted a while but I also had problems with that connection. I finally had a friend take it a part and fix both inputs. I have always tried to take the load off the input by looping the guitar cord under my rack box so there is no stress on the input itself. However, that only delays the inevitable. Other than that the A2 has to be considered a work horse. I have flown it all over the place, and while I have had rack boxes split and broken by airlines, the A2 has always started when you turn the key.

I called the company many years ago to get a copy of the Nashville Card. A card programmed by a friend of mine that use to live in Houston. He is the one that originally put me on to the A2 and has since sent me a number of other cards. The Nashville card adds a number of sounds that were not part of the original factory programs. I lost the original card on the road and a customer support guy sent me another one long after they had been discontinued by the company, I appreciated that very much.

I play what ever style the job calls for, if necessary, I run an A/B switch and have my acoustic and electric guitar available. It does a good job with both. As far as other gear, I played a KSBJ radio station anniversary concert at Lakewood church in Houston some years back. When the job was over I had a guy there that bought all the equipment I used that night (reverb, roland delay, distortion, misc., and a big, heavy box). I bought the A2 the next day and have been using it ever since. I had a lot of problems flying equipment with airlines breaking stuff. I put the A2 in my suitcase between my cloths...I've never had a problem. The addition of the Nashville Card was a real plus. The rock & roll distortions are much better and there are a number of acoustic guitar sounds that are nice. The Nashville Card is a must. If my A2 ever goes down I'm going to be in trouble. I have become very spoiled by its ease of use and quality sounds.

It is not difficult to get good sounds from it. However when editing much the knobs are too small. A large wheel would make editing much faster. I have yet to find a PC/MIDI editor for patch editing which would make life easier for me.
Manual is comprehensive and useful with some redundancies. But it covers only the Howto. There is no real documentation (details of the algorithm, what is the purpose, how should it be used) of the effects, effect chains, and preset programs - but I haven't seen this for any other device, so that may be standard.
Complete program data can be dumped to MIDI/PC which is nice.
www.korgaseries.org has much improved the value of my A2. Presets sound very good and have always been good starting points for creating my own sounds.

You hear noise only from outside connections which would improve if the unit had symmetric InOuts. The internal power supply has a certain hum which can be significant in a quiet studio.
The effects are great alltogether. A chain of six effects is all you can want for a guitar: Distortion or compression, equalising, modulation, reverb in many combinations and some variants each. I used it also for vocals and main mix reverbs and it proved very good in any case. The combination of effects is restricted (to 97+some SPC-card chains) but that has never been a problem.
Equalisers are vulnerable to digital clips but I don't know if any digital FX have solved this problem.

It is the most rugged piece of my gear and has always been reliable.
Once the battery went dead and I lost my programs. After that I learned about backup, RAM-card and MIDI connection. Now I think it is very reliable.
I always fix a loop in the guitar cable with some wire to protect the input jack and so I never had any trouble with it.

Once I asked about the A2/FC6 cable with a prompt reply which was friendly and not very helpful, at least they gave me a telphone number to assist me to make one. I do not blame them since it is out of production for so many years.

Rock, Jazz, experimental, free form music. Guitar-songwriting for 15 years, regular recordings for 10 years. Yamaha Jackson-style guitar, Marshall combo, several drums, gongs, Casio keyboard.
I just bought a second one (206EUR used) to have it live not only for the guitar but also for the vocals. Nothing more to say.
It has been the best investment in my gear so far. Since I bought it 10 years ago it has outlived any other thing in my gear: guitars, amps, microphones, recorders, even cables.

As opposed to many other units I have, this particular one actually required some time to learn. However, once you figure out how the "chains" are configured, you're all ready to go!

Superb! This is definitely one of those anomolies among digital multi effects processors. Very high-fidelity effects definitely geared towards professionals and studios (not for simple home practice use). Loads and loads of presets/sounds can be downloaded from the Korg A series website. Highlights are the modulated effects (chorus,phaser,wah). Preamp/distortion are OK...would recommend separate stomp boxes though.

Looks like it will last...however, frong panel has small flimsy knobs that look like they can easily be bent or broken off in transit.

don't think they support this model anymore...discontinued for a while now.

This is the bigger brother of the Korg A3. Includes all the features of the A3 plus true stereo outputs and...ALL the chains are built in (do not need to use separate cards to load up chains). There are absolutely NO difference in sound quality or digital circuitry between the two units. The A2 simply has ADDED features....not REPLACED features. The A4, on the other hand, is a totally new beast...I'd stay away from it.

The Edge of U2 uses this (A3) for many of his sounds on Achtung Baby and Zooropa.

Ed O'Brien of RADIOHEAD used this processor heavily on their first two albums (Pablo Honey and The Bends). Excellent for his wide canvas of sounds and sonic ranges.

There is no problem at all getting all sorts of sounds from it. I have the manual, but I've never really read through it, because i've never needed it. I have never come across such an easy to program, self-explaining FX-processor. It is ten years old and the programmers then certainly knew more about user friendliness than many programmers do today!

Very good for a unit which is ten years old. It is very cheap (about $300-$400) but difficult to find. The sound it makes is amazing if you compare it to many DigiTechs, Rolands or TCs, of course it can't get near an Eventide, but you can easily get ten A2s for one eventide. There is no disturbing noise coming from it due to a very good noise gate (even with the noise gate off, there is almost no audible noise). The preamp section is a bit weak, because it doesn't have very many parameters, but it sounds much better than any POD or J-Station, even sounds better than my DigiTech 2120!! It doesn't sound like a tube amp, of course (for that I have a Rocktron Piranha, because it's better than the Triaxis) but it has amazingly good digiteal distortion (not just clipping diodes or overdirven Transistors, it really seems to add the frequencies to your signal) The chosuses are very good, and so are the other effects, you just have to get the hang of putting them together right, no good turning Flange, Chorus and Reverb up completely on one preset and hoping it sounds good. Has a very good parametric EQ-section and never sounds mushy (except if you want it to, e.g. turn up basses full and everthing else down) REMEMBER: Most of the sound in this unit comes from the programmer! You want a specific Sound: THINKING about what effects you need to get it, dialing in the effects chain, and tweaking it to perfection is YOUR job, not the unit's!

Can't really tell, it's never made any problems in the ten years of it's life, but I have heard that the backlight of the LCD-screen tends to get weak with time, mine is still perfect. It's only been in Studio-Use, so I don't know how it turns out to react to road use - it's not very sturdily built, plastic front and so on... We'll see... I give it an eight, because I think it might be problematical in live situations, if you're not careful with it.

Korg certainly do have a pathetic web-site, I don't know what it's good for, looks horrible, bad web-designer... BUT: There is a site:
www.korgaseries.org
Go there, if you want presets, manuals, RAM-card help and so on, I count this towards customer support, because the site is aided by Korg.

My setup: Ibanez Universe UV7BK, an old one with old pickups, MUCH better than the new ones, a Rocktron Piranha, MUCH better than the Triaxis, especially considering the price you pay, a MESA/BOOGIE Strategy 500 Stereo Poweramp (if you get a Poweramp, get a MESA, there's nothing like it!) and four MESA/BOOGIE Thiele Road Ready Speakers with the Proline version of the EVM12L in them. I play mostly heavy metal (In Flames, Arch Enemy...) and NU-Metal (Papa Roach, Korn...) It suits my stile perfectly, I don't know how it reacts to blues and jazz, probably it has to vomit ;-) I wish it had a pitch shifter, but on the other hand, I use it after the preamp, and a pitcher should go before the preamp, so I couldn't use it anyway. I have been playing for 5 years now, and have owned many different Preamps and Effects thingies (including three DigiTechs, ART SGX2000, KORG AX300s), but the Setup (Piranha + A2) is unbeatable, especially for the price paid (Eventides may be better for studio use, but I don't think You really hear the difference in live applications. What's more, it's INSPIRING!!!

The manual is thorough and explains every effect parameter in detail including graphics where required. Editing is simple and intuitive, once you understand the basic structure of the unit. Initial learning curve is steep but one you have it, you can operate this thing blindfolded.

I use this both as a guitar processor and as a backup "Lexicon" as the reverbs are good enough to meet my (home) studio requirements. Plugged into a Fender Twin it creates huge sounds. The choruses are excellent; the flanges aren't bad, nor are the phasers. You can dial up everything from a Robin Trower to a "Hendrixy" sound and get reasonably close. The lamest effect is the auto-wah. The distortions and overdrives are killer, but as to be expected they excel mainly in the '80s big hair band kind of sound. I don't bother with those but if you want to play Boston or metal, this is the unit for you.

I've never had a problem with this unit except the display light burned out and I need to squint to see what's going on.

For live playing I prefer my stompboxes as they are foolproof. However, in the studio this is an excellent device. It's extremely versatile, an exceptional piece of equipment and I can't imagine life without it.

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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