Korg PX-3

Very easy to get started.
Definitely need the manual for more complex (beyond headphone practice) settings.
This is ready to go out-of-the-box to blow you away.
Gotta give it a 8 though overall because, even once you've gone over the manual a couple times, some of the complex operations still don't match the labels on the keys and it's a bit tough to remeber some of the key functions.

Sound quality is simply AWESOME!!
Stratocaster guitar.
There are a few presets that are useless in my opinion:
o All the pitch shifters
o Flower
All the rest are outstanding, especially:
o Eddie
o Floyd
o Jimi
o FX Wah

Where's Alex?

So far, so good.
I don't think this is really set up for gigging though.

N/A

Overall rating is a 9-plus because the key functions really need to be a bit more obvious when it comes to the phrase trainer and the Center Cancel and Transposition functions.
I wish it were MIDI - hey, I can wish............

Takes just a bit of experimentation to get control over the different features, including programming your own sounds. I lasted a day before I lost the manual, and it really wasn't an issue. A couple of minor issues are rather than having the patches be numbered 1-100, they are numbered 1-50, then it repeats 1-50, but there is a small indicator that shows these are the user presets. Confused me for a bit because I thought I had lost my programmed sounds, then there they were again! Maybe I'm just dense. Other than that, haven't yet been able to figure out how to remove the center channel of the input channel. Finally, the ads say it will record up to 16 seconds of audio and will allow you to slow it down, but it only records 8 seconds. Maybe there is a lower quality sound option that extends it to 16 seconds, but I'm not sure. Need to fiddle iwth it more.

I'm using this with a Yamaha AES 800, directly into a $99 boom box. Believe it or not, it sounds great. (Even better than I used to get with my Rivera amp, since I play at low volumes. The presets didn't blow my socks off (the "funky", phased, and a couple of others were pretty good. The distortion didn't impress me especially, until I began tweaking sounds. Then I was much happier. Versatile. The only gripe I have is with the distortion sounds, there isn't much sustain. I can get a great Gary Moore/Santana lead sound, but it will only sustain for a few seconds. Bummer.

Very versatile. I wish there was a web site where people could exchange settings and compare them to song sounds (e.g. here is a "Europa" setting. . ."). If anyone knows of a site, please drop me a line.

Very pleased overall.

This unit is really easy to use. Although I am fairly technology literate I fine that many of the multi effects units out there can be difficult to navigate through the effects and editing. This is not the case with the PX-3. What really makes this useful is the LCD display that at a glance tells you most of what you need to know. I found the dial a good concept for controling the volume, but somehow wish that there was another dial for scrolling throught the presets. In addition, eventhough I have worked with the rythm section considerable, I still reach down and turn the wheel to adjust the volume, which inevitably changes the pattern I was working with. I have to agree with the other evaluations here - this unit would be outstanding for the price if there were a footpedal for live performances. That and a belt clip or something for the unit. Other than that, anyone can be jamming with the PX-3 within a few seconds of pluggin it in. I have toyed with the editing features, but haven't done enough yet to make a valid comment.

Quite frankly, I found the sound quality to be excellent. I was considering a number of other effects units including the POD and Zoom 505, but as soon as I heard this machine, there was no question. Definitely more than twice the machine of the Zoom, and although not as good cabinet simulation as the pod - the overall flexibility certainly sets it apart.

Sound quality wise, for most people this is king. Through the headphones it sounds great - If you have good headphones. Put it through a practice amp, or any single amp for that matter, and it falls apart. But that's to be expected. This is a stereo unit! You definitely need 2 amps or speakers to make this work. But don't go out buying a new amp. Most people have a stereo in their hose, so this is what I reccomend - get a patch cord that goes from 1/4" plug to two RCA connectors (actually I use the cable that came with my portable CD player and an adapter that takes the 1/8" plug to 1/4") and plugged it into the AUX input on my stereo. NAD Amp, Paradigm Monitors and a Mission Passive sub. In this configuration, anyone can make this puppy sound good. The Eddie setting is HUGE.

They couldn't have put a better sound for the first one as well - Summer - which is clean with chorus and delay. Very nice. Also - their named presets are probably as close as you are going to get to the sound of your favorites. Floyd - try playing Brick in the wall part 2, Angus - do the intro to Thunder Struck or Highway to Hell. I also like Subharm which is a great jazzy tone.

On the flip side, some of the pitch shifting sounds are really useless to the average player. I think they could have found some better patches than these for the presets. Pretty obscure. Because of these, I would have to drop the score down a little.

The presets should keep most people happy for a long time.

Oh yeah - I like the noise reduction feature. Makes the PX-3 as clean as you want it to be.

Not had it long enough to comment. One word of advice - watch those batteries!

Havent had to use it. Heard it's good.

A definite must buy. If you had to replace this with the equivilant number of pedals and rack units, you would be into the big bucks. I think that any beginer should save the money spent on a practice amp and buy this thing. I usually don't buy things on impulse, but one chord out of the PX-3, and my credit card was out!

With a built in tuner, rythm machine, playalong with cd ability including the feature of removing the center channel (gets rid of lead guitar and vocals) for play along, as well as the ability to sample a segment of a cd, slow it down and maintain proper pitch for learning riffs, and to much for me to type, the PX-3 is one of those must have items for the beginer. I have been playing for about a year and nothing has prompted me to play more and helped me move my playing to the next level and above. Oh yeah - the fact that it fits in your gig bag is just sweet! only as big as most tuners!

Easy and selfexplanatory to operate right out of the box. HAven't played around yet with customizing it as I am having way to much fun with the factory settings

Using it with a Mexican Strat and Kramer Pacer with 2 humbuckers. I like the sound I get with the strat much better so far, especially when using the headphones. The factory settings are superb, again this is primarily through headphones. The built in drum machine is great as is the ability to plug in and play along with a CD or tape

This is a great little toy. I would not use this for a gig as changing the settings on the fly would not work well at all. The piece is extremely light weight, and I don't know how many hard knocks it can withstand. Time will tell. But I think that Korg is a very reliable and respected brand, and this is the third generation of Pandora. So I give it an 8 mostly because of it's plastic case

Worked great right out of the box

Playing on and off for 20 years. This is the third headphone/practice amp, multi-effect box I own. It beats anything I have, and have tried so far. Was looking into the POD as well as Tech21 amps for simulation, but the factory settings alone on this one made it a worthwhile purchase. All the other features are an added bonus.
This little gadget is usefull for any style of music. I play hard rock, blues, heavy metal, and progressive rock. But this thing is so versatile and sounds so great that I find myself trying out all kinds of sounds I have never tried before.

To make a long story short, I cannot put my guitar down and have to stop simply because my fingertips cannot take the abuse anymore.

Really easy to use, although some of the button selections to get at some of the 'deeper' options are a little cryptic. The basic options are really easy though, so it is straight out of the box, and off you go.

Overall the sounds are good rather than spectacular (although the Jimi H effect is quite something). Usual range of distortion / delays make for useful rather than exciting settings. Haven't used it much through an amp as it is really setup for practise situations - the controls wouldn't support use on stage.
Clean sounds are good.

Seems solid enough - although I haven't owned it for that long. Not likely to use it for a gig though becasue (a) the controls are inappropriate for quick, onstage changes, and (b) battery life is only some 9 hours max with 4*AAA, so it would be risky....... Could use it in conjunction with another footpedal as an effect to be sent/returned....if you see what I mean. This would allow you to use it as a single sound setting on stage, and to run power rather than batteries to it. Culdn't us eit on it's own though.

Never had to use it

I play mostly rock in a covers band. So for practice it's excellent. Sounds are fine, I can take an inline feed from my (small) minidisk player & jam along. The inline pitch-shift is wonderful for this too. Backing bass/drums are OK - but very limited. If the primiary aim is practise - then it comes highly recommended, but I wouldn't labour under any illusions about using it live. The controls are wrong, there is no clip to clip it anywhere useful (although I have heard that certain cellphone leather cases will fit).
I'd buy it again if lost/stolen, it sits fine alongside my Digitech RP-1, and is very useful in my home studio. The only alternative I considered was the (discontinued) Zoom 9000 series.

Pretty easey, you'll need the manual for a couple of things.

For what I use it, it's great. When I go on vacation, I take this along with my Yamaha travel guitar just so I can practice an hour a day and stay in shape. I play chord solos with a little reverb, and practice scales with the rhythem patterns. Some day, I'm sure, they'll have one where you can program the bass instead of the presets... Lately I found another great use for it: I play weekly solo guitar at a very small (but classy...) restaurant with my Godin nylon. Iv'e been using a Fender AmpCan so I can move around easily, and I just started using the Korg for a little reverb. I use the "Garage" setting at around 12. Nothing else. It works great. There's only one problem, see next category.

The thing works great, and is reasonably solid, however... DON'T LET THE BATTERIES RUN DOWN!!!! Keep an eye on the battery indicator, you got, at most, half an hour of playing time before this thing emmits the most horrible squeal you've evber heard. At home that's fine but live it can be a little embarrassing. Other than that, no problem.

Great! For practicing on the road, small gigs etc., I couldn't think of anything that works as great as this one. It's VERY small and the backlight is great for those dark restaurant situations. Just don't let the batteries run down...

If you want to play the Pandora straight out of the box, it is pretty easy. When you want to start getting deeper into it's features (programming effects and using the rhythm section), you'll need the manual. Once you get the hang of it, though, there's not much to it.

The sound varies depending on whether you're playing through an amp or if you're playing through headphones. I'd give the sound quality through an amp an 8, and a 10 through headphones (hence the overall rating of 9). For reference, I'm using a Fender California Stratocaster and a Fender Blues Jr. tube amp.

The Pandora doesn't sound it's best through an amp; it seems to lose some of it's sharpness, but it still sounds pretty good. Some of the presets don't sound too good, but many sound great. My favorites are Jimi, Eddie, Flowers, Phased, BB, 90's. The presets of famous artists come pretty close to creating their sounds. The reverb settings on the Pandora are excellent. You can choose different sounding reverbs, like Hall, Arena, and my personal favorite, Garage. The built in rhythm patterns, while a bit corny, are quite fun to play around with.

I first tried the PX 3 through my amp, and I was quite pleased with it. When I plugged in a pair of headphones, though, I was extremely happy with this purchase. Using the headphones, the sounds seem to really come alive. The stereo chorus, which sounded good through an amp, is aboslutely beautiful. The phaser jumps from side to side. The reverbs sound even better they did before. The distortions and overdrives sound much more powerful. It might be useful for you to know that the output jack on the Pandora is 1/4 inch. If you have a pair of headphones with a 1/8 inch cord, you'll need to pick up an adapter from a place like Radio Shack.

This unit has a very warm, tube-like sound. Most of the effects are quite good, but some of the pitch shifters leave something to be desired. While there are some preset programs that you won't ever use, you'll be able to program just about any sound you could want (and you can store up to 50 of your own programs).

For home and studio use, it would be quite reliable. I don't gig, but if I did, I don't think I could rely on the Pandora. It is small and made out of plastic, you know.

Haven't had to deal with Korg, and I doubt I ever will.

Since this is a multi-effects unit, it is suitable for just about any style of music you can think of. There are hardly any sounds that you can't get out of this little thing. For the price, you'll have a hard time finding anything that matches the features and great sound of the Pandora. You'll have a hard time finding a better headphone amp. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely replace it. I feel the PX-3 is well worth the money I spent. Let's hope Korg puts out a PX-4. If they do, I'll surely pick it up.

The PX-3 is extremely easy to use once you give the onwers manual a brief once over. You can definetely just plug in and play without ever touching the owner's manual but to learn all the little intricate stuff built into this little blue box, the owners manual will provide that. Extremely well written, not like some others I've (can I get an amen from all those Digitech onwers out there!!). It features a rotary wheel for preset changes, 50 factory and 50 user presets, one 1/4" input, one 1/4" ouptput which is stereo and a 1/8" aux jack for bringing in an outside audio source (CD player, tape, etc). You can jam-along with the outside source and there is a center cancelling feature to try to wipe out the vocals anf guitar solos. This I haven't really messed with, it will only work if the vocals and guitar were recorded on the center track. There is also a phrase trainer which will allow you to record up to 16 seconds of a song, loop it and even slow it down to as much as 25% without changing pitch. This is a really cool feature and works as advertised. Also built in is a rythym section, both drums and bass. The PX-2 had the drums but the PX-3 adds bass lines. Pretty cool for soing little jams. One complaint I do have is the inability to hook up some sort of foot controller for patch changing. I realize that the intent of the PX-3 is for personal practicing but having the ability to use a footcontroller would make it that much more versatile for those planning on live use. I know other processors like the Zoom Fire and the discont. Zoom 9002 offered this ability. I went to a Korg clinic a few months ago and the guy running it said he used his PX-2 live all the time, he taped it to his guitar strap. Interesting but...ahh no.

Right now I'm using the PX-3 as a headphone practice amp/learning tool. I'm using it with all three of my guitars, PRS Swamp Ash Special, EBMM Axis and Ovation Standard Balladeer. They all sound great. I haven't tried it with my amp yet (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe) and I probably won't for two reasons. One is my buddy who has a PX-2 tried his through his Fender amp and it didn't sound that great, seems as though the Pandora series suffers from the same ailment as the Line 6 POD, they all love full range applications (i.e. headphones, direct to mixer/multi-track, PA system, etc) and don't shine through gear specifically designed for guitar. Secondly, I have a separate effects setup for my Fender HRD (Marshall Jackhammer, Boss Super Phaser, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay and Dunlop Limited Edition Crybaby) which I wouldn't think about replacing with the PX-3. This may sound whacked, but when I'm using my full setup, I may put the PX-3 in line in bypass to take advantage of its tuner since I don't have a play through tuner. Today I was pleasantly surprised however when I brought the PX-3 to the studio. I was too lazy to bring my amp and effects board with me so I brought the little guy with me instead. Holy crap, did it sound awesome!! Straight into the mixing board in mono, this little walkman sized toy sounded fantastic, even when thrown into the mix of a Fafner bass amp and a Line 6 POD. Made me think twice about my full sized setup. As far as presets go, alot of them were really good (surprisingly enough!!) especially some of the artist style presets (AC/DC, Van Halen, SRV, Deep Purple, etc). All the effects are really good. Very simple stuff (flanger, chorus, phaser, reverb, delays, cabinet sims, etc) and simplified tweaking. If you're looking for stomp box tweakability, this isn't for you. I wasn't looking for something that was to complex so I give this category the highest marking.

I could definetely depend on it for what I'm doing. If I were to gig, I highly doubt I would use this over my full setup. This has nothing to do with reliability, this is due to lack of foot "controllability".

I've never dealt with Korg.

I've been playing for over two years now and have been through a lot of gear on my rocky road of learning and determining what is right for me in all applications. I've owned various multi-effects processors which had all the in depth tweaking one could handle: Alesis Midiverb IV, Boss GX-700, Boss GT-5, Zoom 510, the POD and have tried various others such as various Digitech products (from RP-7 up to the 2120), Zoom products, Johnson Millenium, Rocktron Voodoo Valve, various modelling amps, the list goes on. After finally settling on my current full setup (HRD with the above listed pedals) and forever swearing off multi-effects processors and going tube with the bare necessity of effects, I found I really wanted something I could use in my living room, my den, anywhere on headphones with some effects capablility. I was using a JD-10 for that but it really wasn't what I was looking for. I had been busting my buddy's chops who has a Pandora PX-2 since he bought it and what did I end up with? Well, not a PX-2, but close enough! :) It really is great for private practice and the fact it sounded awesome in direct record was an added bonus. As I stated before, the only downside I can see is the lack of foot control. I do find I like to turn effects on and off while playing and switching over from cleans to distorted tones and when I need to do this, I'll have my full setup ready to work. As far as convenience , sound quality at $189.99, built in ryhthym machine, jam-along, and phrase training, it can't be beat in my opinion.

Considering all the features, I found the PX3 to be very easy to use overall.

I bought the PX3 hoping that it would sound as good as the PX1 with more features. Unfortunately, while the clean sounds are definitely superior on the PX3, the distortions do not sound anywhere near as good to me. I was able to program a great SRV, EVH, blues and metal patches on my PX1, but there is a certain buzzy quality to all of the distortions on the PX3 that I could not get rid of. Also, all of the presets are horrible and you cannot program over them like you can on the PX1. The drum/bass presets are fun to jam over, but are rather limited. I used both single coil and double coil guitars when using the PX3 and was not impressed with the distorted sounds. I returned the PX3 and will stick with my trusty PX1 for headphone practicing.

I really love the Pandora PX1, but the distortion, overdrive and fuzz tones on the PX3 are not anywhere as good. I spent enough time trying to program decent sounding patches that were at least as good as those I programed on the PX1, but had no luck. Others may like the distorion/overdrive sounds on the PX3, but to me that had a very "beer commercial" tone to them. To bad, because many of the features on the PX3 and the clean sounds are very good. If Korg comes out with a PX4, I give another shot, as I generally like their products.

I love the PX3. It is very easy to use and get good sounds out of, at least in headphones. Editing the patches is a breeze once you figure out how it works. The manual is decent and will get you started, but it doesn't take long to put it down start playing. I give it a ten rating for ease of use. If you have any experience using other effects processors, like the Digitech RP series, for example, this thing is a peice of cake.

I mostly use the PX3 with and American Standard Strat and a pair of Sony headphones to practice at home. This is what I believe the unit was made for. The sound qaulity is nice with this setup. I've tried to use it with my band, through my Roland JazzChorus 120, and it sounded kind of weak and trebly when it was cranked up, compared to my RP-1. Maybe it was just my setup and I didn't really play around with it to try to get a better sound, so your mileage may vary. Some reviewers have had better results.

The drum and bass sounds are fun to use, but they sound like your little brother's old Casio keyboard rhythms, in other words, pretty cheesey. But hey, whatda ya want, its not a drum machine! If the next version (PX4?)improves on this, it will make a great product that much better. I'll give it an 8 for the sound quality.

I've had the PX3 for about 2 months and so far so good. It is a light little thing, mostly plastic, and it would be nice to see it a little beefier, but if you are careful and don't drop, it should be fine. I wouldn't use it for a gig.

Haven't had to deal with them.

Overall, it is a great little toy. I play mostly rock and blues (been playing for 9 years) and it suits me. Great for practice and jamming in your living room without having you wife tell you to turn it down (use headphones!). Go get one!