Korg PX-3

Straight forward to use and immediately usable through 50 preset patches. Easy to get the hang of editing and saving user made patches. Other features are easy to use although some which sound a great idea I rarely use. Used on stage but can be tricky, could do with belt clip. I eventually hooked the end of mine under the strap for carrying my amp, it certainly didn't budge then. Like to use batteries but can run out quickly especially if backlight is on. Manual is clear and easy to follow.

Effects tend to be good and most are in some way useable although my biggest complaint is which effects can be used simultaneously. The effects are all broken into groups of which usually only one in each group can be selected. For example, If you want a compressor you can't have any of the distortions. They are in the same group! Also, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Autowah, Pitch Shifter share a group. Only one of these at a time. Also, noise reduction slightly deadens note sustain.

This is my second Pandora 3 due to major malfunction of the first (constantly resetting, screen displaying garbled info, after about 6 months). Was replaced by dealer under warranty. Have had replacement for 1 year and is functioning fine, don't know if I fully trust it though.

Although replaced by dealer after malfunction, this was after the dealer returned the unit to Korg who refused to take responsibility for the unit failure. The dealer replaced it through good will and customer loyalty.

Enjoy using Pandora, useable amongst various styles. If lost or stolen would consider replacing with the same but would have a look at other available alternatives. Like the practicality (Size, few buttons, clear backlit display). Wish it had belt clip. Saves a fortune considering what effects it does contain, but not as flexible as individual pedals (obviously). Worth considering but try before buying if possible.

Very easy to use. If all you want is to use the presets on it, it has a total of 50 programed patches and a lot of them are pretty cool. You can also edit and program 50 user patches and name them whichever way you want to name them so you can know what they are. It is very easy to edit and program your own patches and sounds once you read through the manual which it's pretty easy to understand. The manual looks intimidating at a first glance because it seems pretty thick, but that's only because it's written in about 3 different languages. The phrase trainer feature is great and easy to use, and the tuner, rhythm, and metronome features make this unit even that much more versitale and fun to use.

I use an Ibanez Prestige USA Custom 6 string and an Ibanez RG 7 string through a Mesa/Boogie 3 channel Dual Rectifier head, a 4x12 Mesa Recto cabinet with vintage 30's, and a Line 6 AX2-212 combo amp for most of my wet sounds. I haven't tried using the PX3 in a live set up, but that's something I might want to try out to experiment with the Mesa head. This unit is not noisy, although it has a very faint buzz that you won't hear as you are playing. Most of the effects sound very nice for the price of the unit, sometimes you can tell cheap effects versus expensive ones, but this unit sounds a heck of a lot better than some other effects that cost more. If you want to get the sound of some of your favorite artists with this unit, you might get close depending on who you are trying to emulate. I would find it very hard to emulate a tone from someone like John Petrucci, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, or Greg Howe with this particular unit....Rather than doing that, I would prefer to set my own unique tone with it, but you might have to spend some time tweaking to get that "special" tone you want, just as you would with any other effects processor. Overall, the sound quality of this compact unit is very nice.

I haven't had it for very long, so I don't know how reliable this unit is through some years of use and normal abuse. I might use it on a gig as tone experimenting in conjuction with my Mesa Dual Rectifier head....But it might be a little difficult to change patches in a live situation since it's not really made for that purpose....Unless you leave the same setting during your whole live performance.

I never had to deal directly with Korg in the past.

I play lots of styles of music, from flamenco-classical guitar to funk, blues, fusion and heavy metal. I am in a cover band, so we do cover a lot of heavy material. I've been playing for a total of 9 years. This unit is a good match as far and a practice tool, I don't know how reliable it would be on a live situation, but that's something I'm willing to try out. If stolen or lost, I would buy it again because it's just a nice piece of equipment to own, it does many things in one pocket size lite weight unit. I love the size of it and the lite-screen, and how I can use it as a metronome to practice accuracy.

I had the first generation of Korg's portable effects boxes, the PX-1. I upgraded to this because I needed more patch locations - the PX-1 had 20, this has 50 user and 50 preset. It's pretty easy to use. The wheel is a big help in getting changes done quickly. It does have a lot of features, so the manual (which is excellent) is important, at least at first. You get the hang of making changes quickly. I was creating new sounds within half an hour. There are some limitations, though. Each component of a patch has only one adjustable parameters, and there are certain combinations that you can't use - compression with distortion or delay plus reverb, for example. There are an awful lot of features packed into this box - tuner, metronome, and built-in drum and bass patterns that you can jam along with.

I use a wide variety of guitars (and more importantly, pickups). There is a low/high gain switch which can adjust to different sorts of guitars. The sound quality is excellent, but will vary based on pickups. Using very quiet pickups (Lace Holy Grails) it is hard to get a good distorted sound. Using high gain humbuckers, it is hard to get a good clean sound. With most pickups, both are possible, and there are many useful sounds. I found about half of the presets useful (I don't have much use for the pitch shifted ones). This is very quiet for an effects box, and the stereo output is a great plus through headphones. I have also run it through solid state (Fender Amp Can and a variety of mini amps) and tube amps (Laney LC15) with no problems. One of my favorite setups is a Parker guitar through the PX-3 into a Fender Mini-Twin amp. Ultra lightweight, portable, and all battery powered. Forget havng to carry an acoustic for playing by the campfire! I find the effects comparable to what you'd get from a (non-boutique) stompbox. There is a wider variety of distortions than on my PX-1. I particularly like Tube, Crunch, Valve, and Crush.

Never had any problem with my PX-1 and this looks at least as solid. It is not great for a gig because it's hard to adjust parameters on the fly, it's light enough to be yanked all over the stage unless you tape it to your guitar strap, and the parameters are less adjustable than most of the alternatives. However, it makes a SUPERB backup to a bunch of stompboxes or another multi-effects box. It's very small and light, and, if you're going to carry a tuner anyway, why not use this, which offers you an awful lot more flexibility.

Not very good. Korg's Web site has little information and doesn't have the manual available on line. Even the third party Web sites I've seen for this are pretty poor. I may have to start one myself...

I play rock of all different types. Stylewise, this would be useful for almost anything from jazz to metal. I wish it could take a foot controller, which would make stage use more practical. This is one of the best products I've ever bought. My uses for it are: 1)headphone practice - I can avoid bothering my wife and the stereo sound is great, 2)playing along with the drums and bass to practice improvisation, 3)ultraportable electric guitar rig as described above, 4)onstage tuner/backup effects box, and 5)use at home as a regular effects box (get an AC adapter for this). There are sounds on this which just aren't on my other boxes, so I use this rather than trying to reprogram the others. That's an awful lot of value, and the fact that it fits in your pocket is a huge plus.

He comparado la programacion de este efecto con el ZOOM 505 y definitivamente la programacion de KORG es muy superior en cuanto a su facilidad de uso, rapidamente uno ya puede estar creando sus propios sonidos o modificando los ya existentes, el manual si no es muy util no trae mucha informacion considerando que mas que un manual es un folletin, mas facil es meterse directo al aparato y empezar a pasear por las opciones, le pondria un 10 pero el manual le quita puntos, no hay informacion sobre el firmware de la maquina y menos is es posible su actualizacion.

Los sonidos son muy buenos, asimismo la calidad de los chorus, delays y distortions tambien son buenas, el noise reduction es bastante bueno y se puede graduar de una manera mucho mas suave que en otros efectos que poseen saltos parametricos, el unico detalle es que cuando hay determinados golpes de la pua con determinados efectos como chorus o delay solos hay un peque?o zumbido que no lo he escuchado con otros efectos pero esto es casi imperceptible yo lo notado usando auriculares y tocando solo guitarra ya que con los demas sonidos de un acompa?amiento esto queda opacado.

El equipo es muy confiable se puede usar tambien baterias aunque usa las AAA las cuales son mas caras y mas dificiles de conseguir (sobre todo alcalinas) en cambio las AA se encuentran en cada esquina de mi ciudad, no he probado aun usar el equipo en un concierto solo con pilas ya que he escuchado que no duran mucho tiempo y no quiero arriesgarme aun tenre que probar.

Comparandolo con el ZOOM 505 lo siento mejor en muchas cosas parametros de programacion, memorias de usuario, facilidad de uso, sin embargo le veo como desventaja en que no se le puede conectar un pedal externo o un switch externo que pueda servir como pedal, para detarminadas ocasiones es mas util que estarlo accionando con la mano, sin embargo todas las demas caracteristiscas de sampler que permite grabar la entrada de musica por el auxiliar y reducirla en velocidad sin alterar la tonalidad son realmente EXCELENTES!!! para sacar canciones y practicar solos, la modalidad de supresion del canal central es aceptable y sirve tambien para practicar pero puede mejorar en la calidad del sonido resultante, tambien es muy buena el acompa?amiento de bateria y bajo estas cosas la verdad no las he visto en otro efecto, creo que compraria otro igual pero buscaria una pedalera tambien porque para practicar y ensayar el PX3 es fabuloso!! no hay comparacion pero para excenario en vivo creo que preferiria una pedalera. aun me falta probar esto en vivo, todavia no lo he hecho...

Well, it's really simple to use for a first approach. The doc is quite good, the quick select is a good feature regarding PX-2.
The edit patch is classical, you select an amplifier type, set the gain, then set the equalizer, choose an effect (chorus, flange, wah...) and set the level, select the reverb/delay, select the speaker.

I heard it on Marshall, Peavy bandit, Peavy Chorus 212, it always sounded great. In fact, there are so different effect embeded, that some seem useless but I can't tell.
My teacher went through all factory settings and for each did a demo of the style. How impressive ! Already I found it great, myself playing, but definitively I was proud I bought it !
The delays are very good, the distos also, with several flavours, lot of reverbs also, all very good. I couldn't imagine so many quality effect in such a small single box.

I can't say anything about it because it's a practice tool.
So not gig. Otherwise, quite reliable.

never dealt with korg

I play Pink Floyd, AC-DC, Trust, Gun's Roses, Hendrix, and it fit all those. It's the only effect I have, I use also my Bandit 112 disto and reverb, very good both.

I first wanted to buy a Zoom GFX 707, but I tried it and the PX3 just after and there was no comparison. Ok , 707 is a pedal, so you can select patches while playing, but nothing to do regarding the sound quality, Pandora overrides its competitor, for drum machine also.

I advice you test it, and after buying it becomes obvious. I just finished playing AC-DC with the CD, the sound is the same (but it's not Angus playing !).

I think the price is due to the fact it's not a pedal, but for the sound, you get it for the bucks !

I stolen or lost, I would immediatly buy the same, it's so cool practicing anywhere with the good sound !

Ah some people say it's better to conect it on the effect loop out, but I get a better sound on the classical guitar input of my amp.

Ease of Sound: Very easy to get sounds.
Editing: you must use the manual.
Manual: Foreign Languages are mixed with english--should be separate.
Firmware: Don't know.

If you view this as an inexpensive practice tool, it can't be beat. That's what it is. It is not going to work live, it might work in the studio, but it is not going to sound as good as separate, high-quality boxes and an amp is going to sound. IT IS A PRACTICE TOOL! Thas is why I give it a 10.
My setup is an Es-335 and an SG.
It is not really noisy.

YOu should create your own patches!

It seems to work without a hitch. I have dropped it 2x.

It IS cheaply made and lacks rubber feet to keep it stable on a table (hey, that rhymed!).

It should have a belt clip as well.

Haven't needed to.

Practice tool!

this thing is pretty easy to use.most of the patches sound pretty good.and editing the patches are simple.the manual will clear up everything.i only had to read it once.the only complicated part is the phase trainer. and that is still easy

i have mainly been using it and old kramer with a humbucker.and it is pretty quite.i played it with my fender with the single coils and it is a little noisy but it does have a noise reduction feature and it helps.the px-3 sounds a lot better through headphones then an amp.it is the only way to hear the difference in the amp modulation.the distortion is a little lacking it is either too much or not enough.there is really no bottom end to it.but you can find something to work. i really like the chorus sound and the reverbs,and i was really suprised with the auto wah. it is one of the best i ever heard.i have a dod effecs board and the auto wah sucks so i bought a cry baby.the patches are mainlt for soloing and learning licks. the s.r.v.,jeff beck,jimi.and eddie patches sound pretty close to thier sound.also i really liked the octave features and harmonies.
the rhythm and bass patters are a joke.like something off an old keyboard.but there are alot to choose from and you can change the basskey,and tempo.the phase trainer is neat it hase a center cancel with take the lead guitar and vocals out of the recording.you can record up to 16sec. in a loop and then you can slow it down with out changing the pitch.or you can change the pitch of the recording to match the tuning of your guitar.
but all in all it sounds really good

i have only had it a short time but is seams really reliable but it does eat batteries so get the adaptor. i would never gig with it. it would be really hard to use,but i will record with it

the korg web site sucks and i bought the thing used off e-bay.the manual gives you alot of information.i think i'll get better support from the guy i bought it off of then the korg website. the support rating is so low just because the korg site sucks.

i play alot of different types of music so the px-3 really suits my needs. i have been playing guitar for more then 15 years and this is the best personal playing devise i have ever used.if i ever broke of lost it i would replace it.i wish the distortion was alittle better.and the volume was alittle louder.but for the price and the size of this thing you can't really beat it.this this i just fun to play around with. i highly recomend it you will enjoy it

You will probaly need the manual, but all and all its pretty simple.

For such a extreamly small device and considering the price the sound is good to excellent. I use a standard mex. Strat, and a Gibson 330. People need to understand that the px-3 was intended for practice use and not giging. For this purpose the sound can't be beat considering the price and portability. I have heard lower end stomp boxes that can not compare in soud quality. I also own a DOD fx7 and the Korg blows it out of the water.

I have droped the unit a number of times, with no ill effects. It has a plactic casing that I doubt would take any serious abuse.

Never had any dealings direct with Korg

I play just for self enjoyment, and experiment in many styles of music. for this purpose the PX-3 suits my needs perfectly.

The PX-3 is very easy to use, but it is not totally intuitive so you will need to read the manual. Once you know how to navigate the buttons, the thing is a piece of cake to operate. I read through the manual once & have not had to go back to it. For the features it has & it's size, I don't think it could get much easier than this.

The manual itself is pretty clear and is printed in four languages, so it's not quite as big as it may seem at first glance.

Editing patches is very easy and the effects are set up to enable you to dial in a decent sound quickly and without having to know a lot about how to get a good sound. This is good & bad, which I'll comment on under "Sound Quality"

The phrase trainer is incredibly easy to use. The only other one I've used is on a BOSS ME-30, and this one is better all around.

For what this is, the sounds are fantastic. I'm using the PX-3 as a practice amp with headphones, and I might record a bit with it. Compared to other effects rigs, this doesn't have the best sounds. On the plus side, the sounds are quite good and you can dial in a good sound quickly, without having to know a lot about what you're doing.

The distortions sound a bit harsh to me, but I find them to be more than useable for my purposes. (My preference is for the Tube Screamer or Marshall Tube amp type of sound.)

For EQ you get 2-bands, Hi and Lo, and a Hyper-Bass-Boost feature. You don't have total control of your sound, but you can get a good sound out of it and it is easy to use. I think that adding more bands would be a bad idea, as that would get too cumbersome to deal with in a package this size.

The modulation and delay effects are quite good. You get 4 chorus sounds, all of which sound lovely! I have noticed that the modulation effects, particulary the choruses, tend to introduce a bit of noise into the sound. (The unit has a noise gate that allows you to achieve complete silence, but you can still hear the chorus noise on top of your sound.) The delays allow you to select from several of the most common delay times from 20ms to 2 seconds, so you can get slapback and echo. The effects are limiting in that you can't tweak every parameter. For example, you can't get a 93ms delay time - you have to choose from the options given. You also cannot change the feedback on the delay, or at least I haven't found a way to do that. You can change the level of delay signal to dry, but that's about it. Again, the setup is not as flexible as other rigs, but it's really not designed to be. Adding such tweaks would make it more cumbersome to use.

The best thing on the PX-3 is the "Key Transpose" feature, which lets you alter the pitch of the signal that is plugged into the "Auxilliary" jack, like a CD player. I didn't expect this feature to work very well at all & it's pretty much flawless. You'll get a bit of audio degradation if you try to drop things more than a step, but for moving a few cents either way it works great!

The metronome is great & is pretty ear friendly through headphones, which is unique among the electronic ones I've tried in the past. The drum machine & bass accompanyment are alright. It's not a sequencer and it is not even remotely close to a DR-5 or anything like that. It's not something you would ever perform with, but it's great for practicing with.

The cabinet simulator is, well, okay. It sounds pretty good & is rather flexible. I also have a J-Station, so I feel that I'm a bit biased in this area. The best way to put it is that compared to the J, the Px-3 cab simulator definitely comes in second. If I were to compare it to the cab simulator on my ME-30, the PX-3 wins hands down and by several laps!

The overall sound quality does not compare well to what you'll get out of a high-end rack, a POD or J-Station, but it is very nice. If my rating were comparative to those types of devices, I'd have to give this unit a 6 or 7 at best. I would not recommend using this as an effects unit for a live rig. It will work okay, but there are other devices better suited to that purpose. If that's what you're looking for, you should look elsewhere if you have the means.

Compared to other devices of it's kind, like a Rockman or other headphone gear, the PX-3 rules. It far exceeded my expectations! I'd give it a 10, but I think KORG can improve on the noise issue I mentioned so I'll say 9.

I haven't had mine very long, so I can't say a whole lot. It's mainly plastic, so I wouldn't want to drop it from 6 feet onto a cement floor. It seems pretty solid and well made though.

I have not had to contact Korg with any issues or questions, so I'm no help here either. I was able to find out some decent information about the PX-3 from Korg's web site prior to purchase. so they were quite helpful in that regard.

I like to play a variety of stuff, mainly Rock and Jazz, and this is certainly a flexible little unit capable of delivering lots of good sounds. I'd buy this again in a heartbeat if I had to replace it.

There are some things I initially thought I'd like to add, such as MIDI or the ability to tweak additional effect parameters, but I've now come to think that doing so would spoil what the PX-3 is and make it harder to use. It is not a POD-type device or big effects rig, and shouldn't be viewed as such as it will definitely leave you wanting. However, it is a cute and friendly little practice partner, and in that realm I don't think I've seen better.

I am a keyboardist/acoustic guitarist who has also been playing Rhythm Electric for the past 11 years. My overall style is in the vein of Journey/Rick Springfield. This unit is very easy to use and edit. To me, there are an awful lot of parameter settings in a such a small box. The manual leaves a bit to be desired in terms of descriptions and elaborations, but the diagrams are self explanatory. I found it a breeze to get clean sounds and chorused sounds, but have yet to be able to get a good distortion sound that will reproduce in computer speakers, the headphones, and also an amp. Instead I have to constantly tweak settings for each, as what sounds great in headphones tends to suck on computer speakers. Is this normal?

I am a keyboardist/acoustic guitarist who has also been playing Rhythm Electric for the past 11 years. My overall style is in the vein of Journey/Rick Springfield. I generally run a Roland XP-10, my Takamine EF381C Acoustic/Electric 12 String, Ovation CC0026 Acoustic/Electric 6 String, and my Cort Strat Faker Electric Guitar through my keyboard amp with the PX-3 in between for live performances.

For home recording I run direct through the PX-3 into a mixer and then into my DMAN PCI soundcard into Cakewalk output through PC speakers.

I found it a breeze to get clean sounds and chorused sounds, but have yet to be able to get a good distortion sound (either of my own or my favorite artists) that will reproduce in computer speakers, the headphones, and also an amp. Instead I have to constantly tweak settings for each, as what sounds great in headphones tends to suck on computer speakers. Is this normal?

I have used it in both professional studios, and live and would continue to do so.

Have had no problems as of yet.

I am a lead vocalist/keyboardist/acoustic guitarist who has also been playing Rhythm Electric for the past 11 years. My overall style is in the vein of Journey/Rick Springfield. I like the size and portability, the multitude of features. The factory presets all need tweaking, but I think you can get a good sound. I just wish I could understand why I can't seem to get any good distortion sounds. Before buying it, I spent 3 weeks trying out every floor multi effects pedal. To me this one won hands down. But opions vary.