Korg EA-1 Electribe

Quite frankly it?s a cinch to use. I?ve owned about 7 synth over the past 15 years, ranging from Juno1 to TX81Z, and this one is the simplest to use. You can create good stuff in a jiffy. I was baffled to see I could recreate sounds from techno hits I love so much. (I managed to get leads that you can find in titles like Daft Punk?s Da Funk, Quench?s Dreams, Zodiak Youth?s Fast forward the future, my all time favorite, and so on). But you also can take any sound and modify it instantly at a turn of a knob and get something fresh.
I guess presets give an good overview of what this box has in its guts, but as usual I prefer to play with my own stuff (anybody would). Unlike previous reviewers, I think it?s unfair to say that it features only 4 sounds.
As I said, editing patches is so easy that anybody without any knowledge on how to program a synth should get by almost instantly.
The manual is clear, info easy to get (I?ve been through reading several Roland manuals, needless to say more....)
And please note that unlike what is written in the previous review, it?s possible to use several knobs on one part, but in song mode only.

Ok, it?s got only 2 ways of polyphony (1 per voice) and sometimes I wish it had more. But as I?m into goa trance and techno, so it?s OK after all.
my main complaints are :
- no LFO (no point in using LFO in goa trance, but still, there is more to electronic music than just techno)
- not velocity sensitive : too bad ! (forget about giving your performance some expressiveness)
- distortion not adjustable
- a reverb would have been a plus (I had to buy an FX processor hereafter, as I just can?t stand < flat > sounds)
n my main beef is about the sequencer : it is UTTERLY USELESS ! You wanna spend several hours programming a simple bassline, adjusting the pitch, gate time etc.... Pardon my French (Ok that one is easy since I?m... French) but step by step mode is such a pain in the ass to use. To say nothing of real time programming, whether it be via the on-board keyboard, or using a midi keyboad, it?s just not reliable (notes not exactly where you thought you put them ; other notes that simply vanished....) Ok I?m aware that I?m not a good musician, (but in techno who gives a damn), but try and program anything directly. I just gave up, and that?s why I use my T3, on which I play my patterns and < download > them onto my AE1. Then I tweak my patterns. Just forget about the sequencer, unless of course if you intend to end up wearing a straight jacket for the rest of your life.
The delay is adjustable, but I find the chorus and flanger FX a bit weak, and is not up to what you would find with an external effect processor ). To this end, I sometimes use my WSAD?s audio in and use this beast outstanding effects.
Audio in : a cool feature, but I don?t have much use for it

As I said, if your on a budget and into techno, if you can?t afford a 303 and want to create some good aggressive leads or effects, that?s the right stuff for you. As I never used a 303 myself, couldn?t say if it?s a good or cheap imitation, and frankly I don?t care. All I want is to instantly create the right stuff and AE1 fills the bill for me. As I think it?s good value for your money, I?m not demanding.

I?ve owned it for over a year, and I?ve never had any glitch with it. I won?t revert to the sequencer thing, I?ve made my point already.
Never used it on a gig but I guess I would if I had to

never had to deal with them

I own as well a T3, MC303, and a WSAD, and the AE1 fit well in this configuration. If it were lost, I?d get a new one right away. If it were stolen, I?d get gun, and take care of the bastard who pinched it.
If you?re a real synth buff, if you?re used to complex programming, fond of complex waveforms, then don?t bother with trying it. If you want something effective to rock the hood, blow up your speakers, if you want to smack your bitch up, go ahead, this silver box is for you.

This box is incredibly easy to use. Everything is layed out clearly, and since all the sound tweaking functions are all on the front, you dont need to learn complex edit modes. The sequencer however is less than brilliant, and rather fiddly. It simply is too limited to do any advanced sequencing, so all you can do is simple 'riffs'. Where the instrument prooves good is when you rig it up to an external keyboard via a MIDI cable, costing more money.

2 note polyphony...NOT GOOD. It can be acceptable if u are using it with 2 or 3 other synths, so it plays a lead and bassline for example. I often want to play 2 finger chord in a lead and find i cant; rather annoying! The keyboard SUCKS. You must have an external keyboard to play this instrument. The effects are quite good. You are only limited to 2 knobs to tweak with, so Korg have done a good job in squeesing what would be usually 5 knobs into 2. This however does limit the versitility of the effects. The delay is GOOD, and extremely handy (i use it all the time). Moving on to MIDI... The instrument transmits and recieves everything you would need BUT the output of the knobs are all NRPN's. THIS IS BAD. This makes editing the controllers after in your (external) sequencer is more than difficult. Why didn't they use the GM controllers ie 74 for cutoff and 71 for resonance?

This box in my oppinion sounds GOOD. It is perfect for ripping leads, basslines and simple sound effects. You can create these very quickly and store them. Even the presets sound good, but these are little use to most people, unless you like using other peole's material in your compositions.

Very reliable. Sysex dumps take forever... but apart from this, it is an extremely reliable machine. It is made of plastic however, rather shocking since my last korg (X5d) was more than rigid, being housed in a tough metal casing. Apart from this it seems tough enough, just keep your kids away from it!

N/A

Overall, this machine has and will help me with composing. It will always come in handy, however advanced the other equipment in the studio becomes. It is also designed with the mixing console in mind. 2 analog outs are left, one for each part so you can plug these directly into 2 spare channels in your mixing console. While i'm on this subject, the EA has absolutely no panning control. If you intend to use this in a sterio image, i suggest you buy a mixing console too! I'd advise it to anyone looking for a cheapish lead and bassline synth with a few interesting touches to it. I'm also considering purchasing the ER-1 shortly.

Okay, this thing is a little difficult to use, if you ask me. It is very much aimed at the DJ kids who don't know a lot about music, but you musicians out there can get the hang of the weirdness fairly quickly. It's not insurmountable, but it's not my favorite, either. Also, it would be good to note that this does NOT use a 303-type interface, like I previously thought. You have to set up the rhythm and THEN assign a pitch, and THEN assign a gate time. Once you have spent that 3 hours setting the pattern up, it's a cinch to go in and tweak all of that. I just wish there were a "coarser" way of just setting the pattern up in a few seconds, and then use all the tweaking features to clean it up.

The presets are... Uhhmmm. There. Really, who wants to use a billion patterns that you didn't write? How cheesy is that??? There are no synth "presets" per se, since it's all about knobs and buttons. But you can easily swipe sounds out of the preset patterns by copying them to another slot and ripping out all the sequencer data.

I live in Japan, so I only have the "User's Guide" which can be downloaded from Korg. I read Japanese, but not well enough to use the manual that came with it. Actually, there's a beef. You only can download the "User's Guide" from the site, which constantly refers you to the "Manual" for more information. There's plenty to get you started in the guide, but who knows what dark mysteries lurk in the so-called "manual?"

Haha. This is a 2 part synth, one note per part. The "keyboard" is a set of little rubber buttons that cover a little over an octave (16 half-steps--they are the same for the sequencer steps, so that's why the odd number.) I really would have liked more polyphony, but I also would like an Arp 2600 and a chocolate car with diamond wheels. Just isn't going to happen.

Built in effects are time-synced delay, chorus, and distortion. The distortionwhich cannot be adjusted, which is, as we say in tha 'biz, Very Lame Indeed. (at least in MY 'biz... You can say whatever you want) The delay is decent, offering depth (amount sent to the effect) and delay time. These two knobs also control depth and time on the chorus. You hit a button to switch between the two. A little ungainly, but I'll take the size tradeoff here.

You can sequence knob movements, but only ONE PER PART. So if I want to change the volume and the filter simultaneously... Well, I just can't. I honestly don't know what they were thinking here. Throw in even one more per part, people!

Main thing you do with MIDI on this is set the clock to an external one, which is all I've done. Uhhh... It worked.

Okay, the sounds are the real drawback to this unit. I'm afraid I must agree with the previous reviewer who argued it only had 4 sounds. Actually, that may be a little generous. The high end of the resonance filter is utterly useless, reducing everything to a crackle. The low end of the cutoff sounds the same on every voice I've played with--only about 75% of the knob turn has any effect whatsoever. I just can't get the gutsy sounds I want out of it. It's a very quiet unit. Forget your dreams of a cheap TB-303 kiddo, this thing just doesn't touch that for versatility. I get much better sounds out of ReBirth, but then I have to use a mouse, and I just need to TOUCH something to really ever get into it.

This thing is best suited for cheesy basement DJ party shenanigans. Or, as I think I'll use it, a pattern scratch pad for until I get something that actually sounds good. I imagine I could record with it, yeah, but I'd need to process the bejesus out of it on the computer, I think. It sounds... Flat. Cheesy. Cheap.

The effects are best summed up with... "Eh." They're nothing to write home about, but they don't suck too bad.

You cannot express yourself with this box. It is for doing robotic basslines, and that's about it.

Well, it does seem pretty reliable, unless your coworker unplugs it to get to the outlet it was covering up, right before you were about to save the pattern which, as I explained before, took you 30 years to write. But that's what I get playing with it at work. I had nothing else to do...

Okay, all I gots ta say is that I can find no email addy for Korg, and that is a huge strike against them in my book. I want to get ahold of the legendary "manual," but I don't want to get up at 4 in the morning to call them. Moreover, since I'm in a foreign country, they will probably just tell me to call the Japan office.

The idea of any company not doing online support in this modern age of washing machines and supercomputers is just plain ridiculous, so I'm gonna say the support is bad.

If this were lost or stolen, I'd be like, "Gee, my EA-1 has been lost or stolen. Imagine that." That would be my only reaction. I certainly wouldn't replace it. But in the scheme of things, the way things go, you might get bit by the ol' Fido, and three-hundred-some-odd dollars isn't crap in Japan, so I would nary shed a tear.

I'm fairly new to OWNING synths, but I've been using them since Jr. High. In addition to this, I have lots of recording equipment and effects and guitar stuff, AND the Korg ES-1, which RULES, so don't be turned off to this line from Korg.

I love the size. This thing goes in my backpack and comes into work without the principal's office knowing a thing--'course I'll probably get in trouble as soon as the teachers rat me out, but I'll just mysteriously forget how to speak Japanese again. What I HATE about it should be pretty obvious: It's far wussier than I expected, and I can't really think of a good use for it. It looks pretty, though.

I wish it had more polyphony, and just more GUTS. Also, only sequencing one knob movement per part is quite lame. Additionally, I would love an effects bank with editable effects.

I think it will help me, if only by letting me work on a pattern and figuring out what I want it to do. I may use it as a sequencer as well.

This "synth" doesn't sound BAD, it's just way too entry-level for anyone other than amateur DJs. I have a couple friends who would love it, and could actually use it to fill out their DJ sets. But I am not a DJ. This box is not for me. Maybe this box is for you. I won't say it's trash--it will do what it's designed to do. Just don't expect too much.

Laid out simply. Had edited patches recorded to tracks within half an hour. Simply looked in the table of contents in the manual for a description of my task and got to it.

Features were nice. Read everyone else's reviews for descriptions. Sounds were very editable. That's good because this piece really only has 4 freaking sounds. The several hundred listed in your instruction manual are basically the same patch voices with pre knob edits on them.

Here we are. I wanted a poor man's synth sequencer. This waste of plastic only records two tracks of boring speaker pushing ambient crap (and don't get me wrong, i like and use boring speaker pushing ambient crap, but as i wrote before, that's it). I know this is billed as a techno machine, but i swore I've heard pianos and anything other than "phat bass" and lead pads in techno... nope. This is the machine for you if you have already run out to the store and bought two turn tables, a mixing board, and some underground records and want to be better than the other 6,000,000 kids that were ahead of you in line to do that. I bought an old roland sequencer for a hundred dollars less off of ebay that more than destroyed my opinion of the EA-1. For the price you pay for one of these and its drum machine counterpart, you could buy a yamaha RX-1, or a roland MC-505, and perhaps start writing some expressive music.

Other than the fact that MARS music sold me a used unit and didn't tell me (pencil writings all throughout the manual) the thing seemed to work well for the 12 hours i owned it before I hauled its cheesy self back to the store.

Korg makes some gorgeous machines, but they seem to suck when making things that people who would like to START playing music could actually afford to buy. They should stick to their tritons and trinity's and rethink selling the affordable market until they have something worth selling. I'm assuming the drum machine counterpart will let you record more than two tracks, so that's probably the box to check out. Leave the blue box in the store though...

This thing is a leisurely stroll through some sort of "phonic-park"... Very simple, intuitive design and layout of the controls... I'm only reletively synth-savvy, and I was able to churn out some phat, buttery sounds in no time. Good for any skill level...I've learned a bunch while toying with my EA-1.

This 2 part, monophonic beauty is semi-limited in the "features" category. It has distortion [which lacks control], tempo delay, and chorus/flanger. I find myself using the distorion and delay all of the time, they're very handy. The chorus/flanger on the other hand, is a lil' weak. But it's better than having some built-[boring]-reverb. There's only 11 knobs for you to fiddle with [2 of which are for volume adjustments], I wish I had more control over shaping the sound...but for $399 I can't complain. The sequencer is easy to use [similar to standard Roland stuff]... You can't really play this thing live [as a keyboard]...there's just not enough "touch-pads." I'm sure you could hook some cheap midi keyboard up to it, and dodge this problem, so I'm not gonna count that against it. Give some props to Korg for over-doing the amout of flashing LEDs and lights in general...they give this synth a lot of robo-attitude... nice. For the price, you've get a lot of snythe-power.

Beeps, thumps and everything in between...the EA-1 can deliver. Being monophonic and limited to two "parts," it's not really meant for deep, evolving pads/strings...but you can still get some thin, airy washes... Based on the factory patches, you can tell that this unit was aimed toward the dance market...but don't let that prevent you from discovering its versatility. Here's a tip: Run any crappy keyboard through it's audio-in and process it using the EA-1's on-board effects...you'll be blown away...I was. I think that these EA-1's can find a home in any electro-musician's arsenal. It has a very distinct sound...very "space-age."

After a couple months use I've decided that my EA-1 is reliable. It's extremely light [which makes me worry a little] and it's incredibly plastic [yes, there are different degrees of platicness now]. However, despite all of this it seems solid. I'd gig with it.

...N/A...

I think the worst part about this synth is its name. I'm embarrased to say "Electribe." I prefer to call it my EA-1. I've wasted many hours tied to this unit, it's so fun and inspiring. I'm very glad that I purchased my EA-1...If "10" is considered a "fantastic value," then I'd have to present Korg with that honor. They've created one great groove-machine.

This machine is very easy to program.
I found the manual to be straightforward and helpful,but as someone already mentioned,everything you need to know is on the machine itself.The presets are by no means inspiring,but with some knob twiddling im sure you'll find the right sound

This synth is monophonic and there is no aftertouch or velocity sensitivity. playing the onboard buttons as opposed to a keyboard is a refreshing approach to writing patterns. the effects are thin with the exception of the lush sounding delay. standard midi capabilities with: in,out,thru. the sequencer is a really cool 808 oxo style.

Obviously this box was made for folks into house,trance & techno, but i think most creative musicians can use it for a variety of different styles.
I particularly use it for moogy 60's & 70's type stuff, although it sounds nothing like a real moog, but for 350$ I can't complain. It can be very expressive if you take your time when creating sounds.the basses are fat, and if you want some quirky sounds, take any pattern,set the tempo to 300 and go knob crazy! im sure this wont dissapoint!

I dropped it once before a gig and it didnt give me any problems.
I would feel very safe on tour without a back-up

I would definitely buy it again if it were lost or stolen. It is an invaluable piece of gear. I've been into analog synths for a few years now and ever since i got this thing my songwriting has flourished into something better than listenable. next month I'm getting the er-1 for some beats, and i know i wont be dissapointed.

It's pretty easy to use. I'm in Japan and my manual is in
Japanese, so I'm just figuring it out as I go. If you've got any
experience at all, you could suss it out. There's always a tradeoff
between ease-of-use and depth of control, but this machine is pretty
simple and they've given you a knob for the important stuff. I think
they got it right.

It's only 2-part, 2-voice polyphonic, although with the delay effects
it can seem like there's more. A control for the distortion would be
cool. It's a little difficult to play the keyboard. One thing people
(myself included) seem to love doing with phat mono sounds is to play
around between an octave or so with one hand while tweaking your knob
with the other ;) The keyboard is just to big to easily do this, but not
really big enough to actually play. It doesn't really matter, you have
the sequencer option to record knob motion seperately, so you can record
those tweaks later. The audio input rocks. I can pretend to be a DJ for
a night, bringing in sawtooth mayhem over a CD. For the price, the
features are great, but face it, you can't make a whole song with it.
It's good at what it does.

The sounds are phat. Really, if you've played it in the store, then
you'll know. It's not much use to you unless you're into squelch and
bleeps, but if you are, it does them really well. A few people have compared
this to a 303, I don't think it's supposed to be a 303 emulator, there
are plenty of those out there already. You can make some new noise with
this, and you can blow your speakers too if you're not careful

I've had it for a week, and it hasn't broken yet, it seems
good. The construction looks pretty sturdy and the knobs and buttons
feel solid. It's a bit of a joke though if I give it a 10 for reliablity
when I've only had it a week...

Didn't deal with them. Their web page could use a bit more information
on it, the page gave me basic specs and told me how great the product
was, they could do better there...

It's really good. While I've only had it a week, if you're into
analogue sounds, I'd recommend it. For the price, I don't think
there's anything else out there like this (yet). Not that it matters,
but it even looks cool. My girlfriend likes it. I played in the store
with bright lighting and bought it because it sounded good, but something
I hadn't noticed... in a darkened room, the little pink flashing lights
are an awesome bonus. It's keeping me up at night, and there's not
much more you can ask from a machine. You'll love it, your neighbour
will hate it

the presets sound good, better with some tweaking though. fairly good manual
the only thing i would change is give it programming more like rebirth
with forward and back arrows for inserting rests and such

like i said early good sounds that can be edited very easily.

never had it fail on me
im basing this also on the er-1 since ive had it longer with no problems at all

again here im speaking more of korgs customer support in general since i had no problems with the electeribe.
i know korg is not too good with they're upgrades (prophecy)
and some stuff (manual for the prophecy ($60$ and my poly-61m $25)
is over priced

overall a good machine and good deal for the money. i would probably replace it if it was stolen. if you can only afford one of the electribes id say go with the er-1 though.
i like the sound of these two together better than the mc-303 and this is easier to program

You're probably not going to find an easier synth to use than this one. The manual is short and sweet, and pretty much everything you need to know is displayed on the machine. Most of the preset sequences are VERY cool, but they can all be edited (I HATE permanent presets!) Programming is fairly easy. This is a great tool for techno/industrial-type music. I think experienced synth users are going to have fun with this thing, but I would definitely recommend it for beginners. Unbelievable machine for the price!

This obviously isn't going to have the features that an expensive Roland or Kurzweil is going to have, but there are TONS of sounds that you can create. The effects are very easy to use because you hear the changes with the turn of a knob. There's a step or realtime sequencer, and you can record effect changes in realtime (very cool.)

This is mainly for the techno/industrial genre. The sounds aren't realistic, and they're not meant to be. Very comparable to sounds you would hear in the Prodigy's music, some sounds remind me of KMFDM.
Great effects! Very good bass-type sounds. You can also get some great ambient sounds from it.

Haven't had it long enough to know how reliable it is. Seems like it would be. Probably as reliable as any drum machine, or similar synth.

? - I'm hoping I don't ever need repairs!

If lost or stolen, I'd replace it for sure. I love the ease of use, and wide variety of sounds. I highly recommend it!

I bought it used, it came in a plastic bag, no documents, not even a power cord. I figured the whole thing out in about 2 weeks.

The distortion isn't always as extreme as I want it, but all the other stuff works like a new car(not american car).

Although this synth doesn't have many programs right out of the box to satisfy me, with a little turne of a knob or push of a button, I have the exact sound I want to get. And I can always program in my own...

I can totally depend on this baby not to fail. I've been using the Electribe A since November 99 live nearly every week, it's never failed on me, and I don't think it ever will. But sometimes when I change a program on the fly, it re-sets the bpm, I figure it's just mine though.

I got this synth with no manual, no nothing, not even a box. It came in a bag. And it's just like new. The only limitation is that it has only 2 voices,but they're verry filling.