Korg PX-3

Fairly easy to use. Not as easy as my zoom 2020 but much more easy than my lexicon MPX-1. Decent manual.

Very good clean sounds and very good reverbs.
Amp simulation rather weak.

Don't know. Have this unit for about a year. However, lack of editability and cntrol make it almost impossible to gig with it. (It is supposed to so anyway).

Don't know. Haven't dealt wih. Own this unit for a 8 months now.

I own or used a lot of preamp and effects stuff mainly for direct recording. Among others, POD 2, Zoom PS02, Zoom 2020, Lexicon MPX-100, Hughes & Kettner: Cream machine, Tubeman and Crunchmaster. Main setup for direct recording: ADA MP-1 + Ampulator + Lexicon MPX-1 or Peavey Valverb.

The PX-3 is in the first place a very good effectprocessor. Reverbs are comparable with lexicon MPX-100 (though less editable), so pretty good. Far better than the PODs reverb. Ultra clean sounds (using only compression) are very good too (better than POD). Very usable for direct recording. So if clean sounds are your thing the PX-3 can't be beaten.
The POD and Zoom PS02 have better distorted sounds. But I found the POD pretty weak on effects, especially reverb. At the moment I am quite happy with the Zoom PS02. This unit has more or less similar effect quality as the PX-3 but better amp simulations (slightly less than the POD though). The Zoom PS02 has better drum sounds too + recording capacity. Therefore I would not replace the Pandora but go for a Zoom PS02.

In short my opinion on the Pandora PX-3
pros:
- good effects (especially reverbs and tremolo)
- good clean sounds
- small and fairly easy in use
- excellent built-in tuner (better than many tuners I have used)

cons:
- distorted sounds weak and digital sounding (metalheads look elsewere)
- weak when used in front of a guitar amp
- not 'gigable'
- I used it with 4 rechargable batteries and they run out of energy pretty fast (something like an hour and a half or so). Dropping dead of the batteries gave a hard and through headphones very annoying bang.

pretty easy to use. sometimes i get confused with the dial and the button when i want to change the volume or the preset.

although, this thing is very well made, when it comes to changing from one setting to another it really takes time. for instance if i'm tweaking with the distortion section and i want to go to the delay part, it takes a while to move to the next.

also naming each preset is a pain in the ass...starting from 0 and looking for the right alpabet was time consuming...

i use a fender japan 1991 strat with Evolution pick ups install on the bridge. this effector's basically noiseless, but i only use it as a practise effector.

but, the sometimes i got disappointed with the distortion. although, i know its digitally processed and the price they offered was one of the best, i still couldnt stop thinking of the BIG stack marshall amps with finer sound. the sound i get from this effector is basically rough and suits blues, style. its a little difficult to punch out cleaner and smoother sounds. if you're imagining satch, vai and santana you really have to put in some effort or get the right pick upss.

another multi-effector that i own is a zoom 2001 player, and that has a smoother sound, but even more of a digital feeling.

i'll give credit to one aspect of the drum program...the metronome kicks ass, but that's about it all the other drum presets have poor sound.

this is good on home recording, and another amazing thing is that you can use this effect on a cheap synthesizer, like the ones you can buy for like 300 dollars. you can get the wah sound and make the violin sound strange and mimic tangerine dream...lots of possibilities if you dont limit this machine to only to guitar.

this deserves an 8.

very reliable unless the program patch is setted on the dial. sometimes, the dial is turned accidently when i put the thing on the floor and the program jumps from one to another...

never dealt with them

i play los of alternative, guitar instrument, and practice mechanical stuff on this. i try to play satch, vai, Mattias IA Eklundh(if anybody knows him) and other stuff similar to those music.

ive been playing for about 5 years and i own a zoom 2001 player. at home i basically use those multi effectors and at live i use a distortion pedal and that's usually it.

i might buy it again, but i'd like to first try out the Adrenalinn and the px-4 before i go for px-3 again.

i love the size! it's small and you can carry it around all over the house. i love the little metronome! some distortions are cool and the delays are quite nice. i hate the quality of the distortion, sometimes the sound is not smooth enough.

i didnt really compare this product to anything. the zoom effects seemed to hard to use...my friend got a gfx from zoom and the poor guy got too confused when it came to tweaking.i guess korg figured out the right interface.

i wish it had a better sounding drum program...korg should have dropped everything else and put in only the metronome. the drums were waste of effort for them.

i chose this effector because it was on sale, when px-4 was about to come out.

i compose on this one, because it works with headphones and its light. plug your guitar, choose your preset and you're there! no waiting like tube amps!

Extremely easy to use/edit patches (but, then again, I've had it for 2 years).
Manual is good and organized.
Firmware?

I'm using a Texas Special Strat thru PX3 to PC.
It has adjustable noise reduction.
It doesn't sound as good as those separate analog effects stomp boxes, but the effects sound good enough. There are some preset patches that sound close to some big-name artists.
The sound has an nice, lush stereo quality to it, but can be used with a mono plug with satifactory results (you'll just hear the left channel).

I've dropped it a few times and it still works perfectly.
I wouldn't use this for a gig because you have to manually change effects which takes too much time and there is sometimes a pop or click when doing so. One should have a stomp box(s) for gigs - period!

My style is...whatever sounds good. I've been playing for about 3 years.
If it were lost, I would get another one because I don't "gig" and IT'S SO SMALL! Regardless of the (low) price, where else are you going to get a unit with this many effects/features packed into this small a box? The whole thing is only about the size of a cassette and I LOVE how portable, light and good-looking it is. I also like that it has a display backlight which you can turn off to save battery life.
What I don't like about it is the rythm sounds are very "casio" - and you're basically stuck in 1 key/style. I also don't like the sustain of the effects, in that they have a mild "stepped-off" quality just before the note/chord dies out. Finally, if the batteries die while you have it cranked w/earphones, you WILL loose some of you hearing - UNCOOL squeltch!
I use it to proccess my guitar/acoustic, bass, and vocals before it gets to my PC recording software (ever tried software effects "plug-ins"? The majority are...well...yuk!)

First of all I have a Jackson KE3R and a Fender Princeton 112 amp.
I got the PX3 a year ago. Its very easy to learn how to get a good sound out of it the first time you use it. Later on it still have some surprises for you. The editing is very easy but is hard to get a really good distortion in the begining because of the narrow eq. posibilities. The manual is very useful for tips and in more advanced use.

Great sound overall. I don't really use the efects but the distortions are great once you get the feel of them. The presets were a surprise because most of them are great (especially SRV, EDDIE and OCTAVE). The harmonizer is great to and has no delays. Cabinet resonator is a very versatile option to give some "body" to the sound and it works really good even if I go out throu my amp.

It has felt quite hard a couple of times but after a little silence rigth after the hit, no harm that I have noticed. I would definetly use it in a gig without backup (after a battery check of course), but I would really like a footswith or something to make the effect toggle easier.

Never needed to use it

Great value overall. I play my music mostly but with this baby I can go from Megadeth to Van Halen to Blues with no problem. Its great for practice an the metronome, the bass patterns and the tuner are just perfect for that. The sounds I get out of it are awesome and I never stop finding new thing. Back a year ago I was a little away from music but after I got this little box I'm back on the road and I'm not planing to stop. I had a DOD GS30 that I sold to bougth this... Couldn't done better. If some #$%&#@ would stole it from me I woul buy another (but I would try the new one first).

Je vais faire le review en francais, ca manque un peu ici ;-)
Le manuel est super clair mais il n'est pas necessaire. Si on vous revend un Px3 d'occaze sans manuel ce n'est pas un probleme tellement c'est intuitif (et je suis plutot dans la categorie sous-doues en chipotage de parametres). Les presets de base sont deja excellents pour s'y mettre a peine l'engin deballe.
Au niveau de ce que l'engin propose on est bien plus loin que ce que proposait le Rockman il y a kkes annees.

J'ai essaye plusieurs configurations.
1. chez moi avec un casque "Walkman" : bonne stereo, reverb et chorus agreables, la disto ne vrille pas les oreilles et ne fais pas trop distortionner le casque. Donc on peut jouer + de 5 minutes sans attraper la migraine.
2. chez moi avec la config : guitare, px3, ampli.
Peu importe l'ampli utilise, meme un crate 15w a 75 euros : ca sonne.
3. en repet avec la config : guitare, px3, ampli a lampes 100W. La aussi le px3 donne sa couleur propre a l'ampli, donc un peu trop "type" dans ce cadre la.
4. j'ai donc essaye une derniere config : en insert dans la chaine d'effet de l'ampli. C'est la que ca coince. Que ce soit en serie ou en parallele, le px3 bouffe de la puissance de l'ampli, le son bien rond et pechu de mon ampli est anemie, il faut donc augmenter le volume. en mode bypass on retrouve un son plus "normal". Autre probleme : certains presets comme auto-wah, flange etc.. produisent un horrible larsen lorsqu'utilises avec la disto.
Seul la reverb se revele alors silencieuse.
Bref : le px3 n'est pas fait (a mon avis) pour l'utilisation 4 d'autant plus qu'il n'y a pas moyen de le piloter avec un pedalier.

Il tient le coup pour l'instant.
Au niveau alimentation, les 4 piles sont usees assez rapidement : mieux vaut acheter une alimentation.

.....

Je ne pense pas le revendre ni acheter une nouvelle version si Korg devait en sortir une. C'est juste ce qu'il faut avec le prix qu'il faut pour une utilisation domestique.

It's easy to get good useful sounds, presets aren't bad & can easily be customized once familiar with the manual.

I use through Fender hot Rod deluxe, Roland Blues Cube & Peavey Envoy. Sounds are good with any amp I've tried. I use mainly Strats. I like the modulated effects best for quality - chorus, delay, tremelo, phaser, flanger. Distortion acceptable but could be improved on.

I have used in live gigs many times with no back up. I built a stand for it using black aluminum tubing so it's handy on stage. No problems so far with reliabilty after 3 years.

Never needed

I play classic rock, blues, some country. I bought it mainly for size & the rythym functions. I would like better drum sounds & the ability to select Bass pattern separately from Drum pattern but for it's size & price, it's an excellent product. I found I stopped using my various Boss footpedals since this would do so much well in suh a convenient size.

This product is very easy to use. I bought it without trying anything relitively like it, and I learned it in less than an hour. The manual is good, but you don't really need it.

This box has a great sound! The effects with it are very strong. You cann play along with awsome guitars like Hendrix or Clapton. Jeff Beck is one of my favorite guitarists and he sounds just like his guitar with this box. Theres no way to tell. The Pink Floyd feature is very good because it has a heart beat after it just like one of his songs. You get great song out of this box.

I've had Pandora's Box for a long time and it's never broke down. It is very dependable.

Never needed to.

I play alot of rock guitar, and this is a great match. I can play along to my favorite guitarists. I've been playing for about 20 years, and the only other gear I own is the older Pandora's Box. This is a huge upgrade from the other one with up to 50 styles you can play with! If someone stole it I would surely buy another one because it is one of the greatest effects box I have ever tried. I love playing along with Jimi and Ray Van. The only thing I don't like is that some of the light effects on it all sound the same. It's not something I would play with in a consert, but its great to practice with because it makes you want to play more. It will sound great no matter what guitar you have, or what amp you have. It's super reliable and it's worth buying!

Very easy to use. I just plug it in a have fun. Manual is easy to understand.

Great sounds! Not noisy. Cool effects. I use it with a 52' Telecaster RI with both my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp and headphones. Headphones are the best!!! I play lots of vintage rock from the 60s and 70s (and 80s like REM).... and can find most of the grooves I need, but of course, would like more!

I would not gig with this without a power supply. The battery drain is fast and furious if you use the back light in the LED. It seems fragile, so if you step on it it would surely break; but, when I dropped it a few times off the kitchen counter, it survived without a scratch.

No opportunity to deal with Korg.

I play vintage rock and it works fine. I've been playing on and off for 30 years. I had a Boss Metal Zone stompbox and like the Pandora much better (got rid of the Boss Metal Zone, use the Pandora every day!) If it were lost of stolen I would buy the new PX4. I love it because I can sit on the couch or in the bed with headphone and this little wonder-of-a-box and be in guitar-heaven. I don't like the battery drain but like power adapters even less, so I just buy lots of batteries!! I wish it had more patches out-of-the-box because I'm really lazy to create them. I program and work on computers for a living so when it comes to music, I just want to plug-in and ROCK! It certainly helps make music and I think everyone should have one if they like to practice with headphones. I've written a a few very cools guitar tracks with this magic-box and recorded the tracks with Calkwalk Guitar Tracks 2.... great combo! My advise is to purchase the PX4 now that the PX4 is coming out in Feb 2002, if you can wait a few weeks.

Depends how deep you want to go... out of the box you can get some useable noises, along with some rather more 'outre' tones that you first categorise as 'wacky' before considering them 'grating'.

Nonetheless, you can have a simple blues rhythm, bassline and a.n.other guitar effect of you choice going in seconds and, wa-hey, instant band!

It's a small unit, and Korg have crammed a lot in, so by it's nature it can be a little elaborate to edit, but you can save your revised patches, so it's not too much of a pain.

I bought this as a headphone amp, and play an Epiphone Les Paul and a Yamaha 102s (tele-style single coil). There can be a hum with the single coils - the cure? Twist your body around until you're standing at a different angle to the Pandora (or just move a little further away).

The effects' qualities are variable - don't even TRY using autowah!

I'm not overly sold on the end sound for a performance basis - it sounds 'processed', but for practicing it's fine. For the price, what do you want? Blood?

Battery life is a pitiful 9 hours. GET A POWER ADAPTER!!

Interesting note - the unit uses 4xAAA batteries for power, so that's 1.5V x 4 = 6 volts. BUT the DC input jack asks for a 9 volt supply, so make sure you match your power adapter correctly.

Battery life aside, it's dependable, sure, but I'm not sure that it's a gigging box, really.

I've been playing a year, and have yet to adopt a style of music. The different sounds you can get out of the Pandora mean I keep on exploring different sounds and such (for a while, I made a point of ALWAYS using a new setting for practice every night).

If it were lost/stolen...hmmm If I could afford it, I'd probably consider getting a POD - but then I'd need a drum machine too. Alright, the end result would be more flexible, but also damned near quadruple the price!! There lies the beauty of the Pandora, an attraction only added to by its tiny size and hence great portability.

If I ruled the world, I'd make it possible to splice the different rhythm and bassline patterns together to form song sequences, and would add some kind of interface to allow 'deep editing' via the PC. Oh, and infinite battery life, and the ability to endow upon the user godlike playing talent...

For a headphone amp/practice tool, for the money, I don't think this can be beaten, but if you're looking for something to use live, maybe you should look elsewhere.

I own both the PX2 and the PX3. I loaned my PX2 to a friend and missed it so much I bought the PX3 - even better. It's really easy to program, once you get the hang of it (read the manual, it's very detailed). I can get numerous great tones out of this little bitty box.

I own a variety of tube amps, but have been looking for a way to reduce the weight and still capture a great tone. The combination I found is this PX3 through a Polytone MegaBrute (75W, 2-channel, 8" speaker - really wicked little amp!). I can get great tone out this thing. If I need more ooomph, I just plug a cabinet or two into the Polytone. Although limited in the number of effects combinations, I can easily dial in something I like. I just set up six patches with varying combinations of distortions and effects and set the unit on top of my amp (which has a channel footswitch, so I can switch to a louder, heavier channel). I've been using the PX2 and PX3 live for quite a while. The unit is not very noisy. I use a Schectar custom shop strat with two Humbuckers and single coil in the middle, with a coil splitter for the buckers. My favorite setting for the PX3 is a slightly modified Blues patch. I also use the Angus patch, the R N B patch and a few others. The Unit is also a wonderful practice tool, with the ability to change pitch without changing speeds for the cd input, and the ability to switch off the center channel of the cd input. It has a metronome and a tuner built in, also. I like the effects and the simplicity of using them. For the size of this unit, it sure packs a whallop. The only effects I've not been fond of are the pitch shifter presets. I haven't spent any time messing with them yet, so I may find some functionality there later. The PX3 has no preference for pickups, even providing a switch for low or high input. I can use it with any of my guitars. Like any of my other preamp type effect/modelers, it needs to be used with the right amp to give me what I need. It works well with some and not with others. I think it gives me really great tubey sound when used into the Polytone. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the output impedence of the PX3 and the input impedence and type of IC or transistors used on the amp. Try it in various combinations and I'm sure you'll find one you really like. For ease of use, size and functionality, this little beast can't be beat.

I've never had a problem with either the PX2 or the PX3.

Never dealt with them.

I play blues, rock, soul, and whatever else I find myself doing in fill-ins. The PX3 can cover all the bases. I've been playing for 35 years and own tons of tube and solid state gear and lots of guitars. If I lost this PX3, I would DEFINITELY get another one. If you have the opportunity, try it with a good solid state amp. Find one that is light, with a great clean tone and plug the PX3 into the front end, mess with it a little and VOILA, you have TONE! For quick gigs, auditions, or rehearsals it is a great, lightweight way to go. In combination with more speakers and the right amp, it kicks serious BUTT. The only thing I wish it had was a way to switch patches via footpedal, but how are you going to program that into a box the size of a cigarette pack? Maybe the AX1500 will work for that....This unit is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, whether you play out a lot, or just sit in your room with headphones.