Korg ER-1 Electribe

seems intuitive and pretty easy to make good sounds (only have had it a couple of days)

re: erasing entire patterns (= patches for those not in the er-1 jargon yet).

Simply leave one pattern blank (as a preset, say the last pattern in the D bank). Write the blank pattern to the one you're trying to erase. Zap. All data is gone.

good blips, bloops, etc. I've made some cool ambient drone things already (similar to GAS). Seems fairly flexible.

very easy. just about bliss to work with cant really imagine anything much easier. as usual presets are bad. but you dont buy things like this for presets. it is a drum synthesizer. you buy it to make sounds nobody else has. ive owned three and never had much interest in the manual. if you cant figure out off the bat how to use this then im also guessing you bought this to make cliche 808 and 909 beats with which in that case you should do yourself a favor and just stop making what you call music and others call crap and go back to selling drugs at your local university.

not sure about the poly id guess its the ammount of instruments. id hope anyways.the psuedo delay is blah, you can make some flange and chorus with it but unless you feel its useful then it really doesnt matter. id hope you wouldnt buy this for the delay. i personally like the 606/808 style step sequencing. which is about all id want from those machines. but your listening to someone who wasnt happy about the use of 909 samples for hihats. i wish they wouldve gone with minipops hihats or compurhythm ones. i love the simple synth edit knobs on top. its great. im pretty much completely happy with the features on here the only one i wish it had was seperate outs but i know the price of this thing would be about ten times as much.

ok im sorry but why the **** would you buy this for 808/909 sounds? ive read some of the reviews and man is that stupid. thats like using a moog for 303 sounds. the parameters on the 808 and 909's were very simple you couldnt change the occilator or modulate it. 808s and 909s wernt big on editing sounds. you could vary it up a lil bit but thats about it. they were big on punchy snares and crisp hihats and phat kicks. and for having such a friendly sequencing interface. there is litterally tens of machines out there that can emulate or have samples of those sounds. its almost a standard with all electronic instruments nowadays. so why would you buy a instrument called a rhythm synthesizer for that? i bought this because i wanted the ability to have rhythmic synthesis without having to buy a handful of va's or monophonic analogs. im thrilled it doent do 808 or 909 sounds good. i have a novation d station for that and to be honest i barely use it because im so sick of those sounds. i got it for punchy analog drums but am just so tired of the roland sounds and you cant edit enough to get away from that. theyve been so overly used its pathetic. but i can get exactly what i want with this. sounds that nobody else really has used that much. and thats great by me.

my first one had a bad power jack. my second one i just traded to get a synth. the first one was in horrible shape when i bought it used. there fairly sturdy considering what they do. im pretty sure you could drop this and an machinedrum on concrete and the odds of the er1 still working would be much greater. im all about reliability, when it comes down to it it can sound like heaven. but if it has parts that cost an arm and leg to replace and its not very reliable i wont get it for cheap even. this is why i dont own moogs anymore and wont come near arps with a ten foot pole. well the originals anyways. ive heard the lil phatty is a lil lame though.

couldnt say. ive owned 3 poly800's 3 er1s one ea1 none of which have ever broke down. the polys had horrible midi issues but it was a different time, midi was new. and all of them were treated bad.

well i bought this one because when i traded my other they were in pawnshops all over, i figured id just get another down ther line, this was in 2002. shortly after they started to vanish. i never didnt like these i think theyre a great instrument for those who want to make music. but if you just want cliche techno sounds stick to a mc303 and especcially dont complain about how they dont sound like the real thing. because god knows hearing that line isnt getting old. i sold all of my analog gear off because of that. im tired of the cliche sounds. went all va.they have already become pretty damn overused. if you gonna do that you might as well just take other peoples music and play it. in other words stick to being a dj.

This thing is dead simple. I actually bought an EA, fell in love with the dinky lil sequencer, and found the ER for the equivalent of about $30US. What a bargain!

Its a drum synth/ sequencer designed for electronic music for very little money. To expect this thing to be loaded with features would be unfair unless I was laying out large cash. Still, there was room for improvement i a few departments like a few more real synth parts.

Awesome! Still V/A, but unless ou're a real purist with very expensive taste, this thing is more than expressive enough! Its not going to give you any real sounding drums because it was not desiged to sound realistic. It was designed to be a drum synth, and it does that quite nicely. Listing that as a weakness is really pointless! You might as well mark it down for not being able to make a realistic guitar sound,
Its a synth, not a sampler!

Haven't owned it for long enough to comment. I can say that the pots are not surface mounted and feel very flimsy. With my clumsy hands, its staying in the studio!

Support? Waaahaha! This is Africa, its cheaper to order aother 2 than get anything repaired!

It would be replaced! I've been making dance music for 4 years, I own a Virus B, Novation Supernova2, A Korg ER and EA. My bigger synths absolutely destroy the korg EA, but I use the sequencers of the korg EA to handle sequencing, while the ER is wired into Ableton as a drum sequencer for various vst's. The synth sections do add a different dimension to the big V/A's which is nice, but the sequencers are bloody magical! Great way to get hands on instead of mousing in stuff which I find makes me lose creative momentum. If you can pick one up for a bargain I'd say go for it! It has already surpassed my expectations.
The ER an EA remind me of why I fell in love with synths to begin with, so even though I have larger synths, I find that they detract
from the actual sequencing. I prefer to come up with stuff just using the ea, and then when the idea is down, plug in the bohemiths to get the synth sounds needed.

Extremely easy to use.. Plug and play indeed.. I love it. That's what it's all about, to create music right away.

4 synth that creates your hh, kick, blips , bloops. THere are also some sampled crashes, hh and open hh.

There is a delay fx section and it will record your knob movements too but that's a different story. Still, fair enough to me.

I bought the Waldorf Attack software and I don't like it the functions. The ER1's sound is what I after because I make electro Kraftwerkian/JOy Electrickish type beat instrumentals. THis is my main drum machine these days. It sounds good for Electro (aka Freestyle Electro)

Yes.

For 75.00 dollars this is a dream machine that I dreamed in 1992 when Techno was alive and well.. Now you can own the dream.

Now create those blips.

This unit was very easy to use and had almost no learning curve

No upgrade potential, does have on board sequencing.

Sounds great, many possibilitie. No velocity or aftertouch features.

I have had mine for over 2 years, and during that time, it has lost patterns beyond #25 on several occasions. (ex. A24= sounds good, A25+ = a constant ringing sound and patter lost)
I dont use the midi-in, but I use to control my EA-1, and also my alesis qs6.1.

I have seen other people with this problem, but no support from Korg on the matter. If anyone else has had this problem or knows what triggers it, I would love some input.

Also, the jacks on the back go bad very easily.
I have a maxikorg ( Late 70's 2-voice analog synth) and is still functions. It seems KORG was better 20+ years ago.

Horrible.
No advice, the item is no longer manufactured, was under $400 U.S. and is therefore unimportant to them.

I would not buy this product again, I became very attached to it, only to have years of work lost due to an inability to be able to dump the patterns I made from it.

Very easy to use. Has the typical 808/909 method of programming.

Four oscillator based sounds. Four PCM samples. Delay, Low Boost.

This is in response to the lenghty review below that indicated you should just buy an 808 and some off-board effects. Considering that an 808 and a delay unit alone will run you about $1200, you could actually pick up 8 or 9 ER-1's for the same price.

This little beast can do some amazing things. In fact, I think that in 10-years this little machine will be sought after the way that 303's and 808's are sought after now. I've used this machine at some club gigs and it really shines. The last gig I used it at, the bottom end on one of my sounds shimmied glasses off the tables.

It is not designed as a comprehensive analog synth replicator, but given the small number of parameters to tweak, the range of sounds is spectacular. And hey, If you've got $400 you can buy two or three of these things and string them together.

For all of those people who compare this unit (unfavourably) with the sound of an 808 or 909, keep in mind kids that this unit, when purchased used, is about 1/10th of the price of these other units.

Give it a try, you might be surprised.

All Electribes have a very simple and intuitive user interface, with dedicated illuminated buttons for percussion parts and for steps and common buttons for most other parameters (shared between the different parts).

You can start playing with it as soon as you take it out of the box and plug it in, but I would recommend taking a look at the manual while you're at it.

The features can be found in the Korg site and on additional non offical websites. Korg have cut down functionality to the necessary minimum while putting an emphasis on playability and tweakbility.

You can tweak the sounds live, record knob movements hook it up to your midi setup (in, out and through. The ER can provide midi clock or be slaved to an external clock).

More expensisve drum synthesisers pack features as individual outputs, dedicated knobs per voice etc. Given the price, this unit rocks!

It has it own sound. I read a review here on site where somebody described the sound as plastic/ bubble gum :-) I tend to agree. It excels at squelchy acid tones.

The sound quality per-se is not so great. The lower end (bass sounds) is a little week and the overall the ER has a tinny/ metalic appeal to itbut what it lacks in sheer sound quality, though, is recompensated in tweakability and the vast range of possible sounds. You are well encouraged to route the sound through a fuzz/ distortion pedal and experiment with it. Some compression would probably do it good.

For a tiny unit at this price level (and by any standards) it is simply a joy. I love love my ER mk II. It's a modern classic. I chose this (and the EA mkII to boot) over the move expensive EMX.

Some of the presets are quite nice, some too cheasy. I would recommend creating your own sounds (with any synthesiser, not just the ER).

Aluminum faceplate, wobbly knobs, cheap but OK inputs and outputs.
This unit is cheap so the nice hardware has been traded off against functionality and affordability.

I would certainly depend on it on gigs. Just make sure you have a nice case to carry it around and that you don't spill any booze over it.

I haven't had any problems with it so I cannot state my opinion on this issue. It would also depend on the the territory/ local distributor.

A modern classic. These units are extemely versatile, playable, tweakable and fun. I have enjoyed (and still am, a year after having bought it) mine thouroughly.

This review refers to the Korg Electribe R mk II.

I own the ER-1 mkII

It's very easy to use and ships with a very good manual. The presets are of varying quality, but it's when you start programming your own pattern the magic begins...

Everything is great, with a few small exceptions:

1. I'd like individual effects for each drum part. I do like it when you have a delay module on the main mix and then alter the delay time, but I'd like to do so individually with the parts. But maybe, that would ruin the simplicity (which is a plus in this machine!) of it.

2. You cannot ring mod the drum parts unless you have an external sound source. This sounds quite cool when you ring mod drum part 4 with a MIDI synched EA-1, but when it would've been better if the ring mod feature was switchable between drum part 4 x external audio and drum part 3 and drum part 4.

3. A few more waveforms would be good, since the sine and the triangle waves sound quite similar to each other. Once again, this would probably ruing the simplicity of this machine. With the modulations available you can create some complex waveforms anyway.

4. More PCM samples! Actually, the ones available sounds very good (especially when you increase their pitches), but I'd like to have a wider range of sounds.

This is its strength: the sound. Oh yes, it sounds so COOL! This is exactly the drummachine I wanted! I've made dance/trance loops, electro/synthpop patterns and even some hiphop drumloops and they all sound good! If you want it all to sound chaotic (but still cool), add some cross mod and delay and play around with the delay time. If you're a good patch programmer everything will sound like a dream. It's perfect for Kraftwerkish boings and smack sounds as its envelopes are very snappy and clicky (you know the lovely snappy sound of the pro one's envelopes? it reminds me of them...).

The ER-1 and the EA-1 makes a great couple and I use them synched together. They're meant to be used together and I really recommend you to do so too if you can afford them both and you think you need both of them.

Dependable? You bet. Sturdy casing (while we're at it, I just gotta mention that its bronze/red metal casing is really HOT!) and lovely knobs (even though they're plastic). The software is very well programmed and seems reliable (I haven't had any problems). I would definately use it on a gig without a backup.

Haven't dealt with them.

I payed 1100SEK (approx. $140) for it (new) a few days ago. They were sold at a clearance sale and I got the last one! Gosh, am I lucky or what?

I someone stole mine, I'd probably kill the one who did it and then kill myself. No, not really, but I would definately buy a new one. I'm a Korg fan (my gear setup only consists of Korg gear at the moment) and this machine hasn't made me dissapointed. Another amazing product of Korg!

It's very simple and fast to use and that's what I like the most about it. And, as a plus, it sounds good and is so fun to use! Buy one!

Win XP on an Intel Box, Mac OS X on my 2 G4's, and various Unix-derivants on my other Risc boxes.. doesn't matter since I haven't used any exclusive editor for each platform - AND - in opposite to the neat similar from Yamaha (AN200/DX200), it does NOT come with a packed CD & editors/goodies & pdf-manual - you are just getting a thin localized manual (but it covers everything, even twice (quick-guide & full)).

- The Preset sounds are showing off quite a bit of the flexibility this rather limited "va" & PCM -based DSP-engine can deliver.. Drum & bass, 4/4 techno, freaky electronica & stuff that belongs to the "cheesy but cool"-section are part of the preset patterns, which fill up almost all of the memory (IIRC at least 3/4 of the memory-patches are pre-loaded)... general these are LOUD, dancy, shiny, and max. about 1/3 is more delicate, detailed & nicely made.

- Editing patches:
Oh well.. it's quite nice, and delivers almost all advantages that you are most likely used from your copy of Rebirth-338, or the originals, with a few minor differencies.

VERY nice, is the thing that most likely pops into your eyes as being very flashy, it's the "parts" section on the right side, it's a group of dedicated buttons that allows you direct selection of each "instrument", and also *displays* the activity of each "instrument" during playback.

This is especially of good use when you are examining some of the preset patches, and want to modify one of the sounds, since the 4 VA parts can be whatever you program'em too - and there would be almost no other way to tell which part is generating the desired/disturbing sound.

The structure is definitely just simple as on any x0x-based machine:

You've got the SONG, which contains the pattern-numbers to be played & tempo-information (& some)

The PATTERN, which consists, despite of individual tempo-information (&some) of the

PARTS which hold
a) the settings for each sound (the "patches" if you want so)
b) the "motion-sequences" (basically a free-draft, single-shot LFO form)
c) the delay-effect-settings (tempo-oriented/motion-sequence/off, depth & time)


This all gets accompanied by a hand full of editing functions, which can be accessed via the shift button & the alternate functions, dedicated to some of the step-buttons


MAJOR FLAW:

-> There is NO option that I am aware of (with my firmware-version) which would allow the deletion/clearing of a WHOLE pattern at once...

-- So when you are just about to clear up a perviously programmed pattern-preset, in order to carefully construct your idea starting off with silence...

You will have to select
a) EACH PART's PATTERN,
b) select the CLEAR PART function utilizing the SHIFT-key & the STEP 11
c) then you have to "ok"/verify the operation by pressing the CLEAR-PART button(STEP 11) *again*...

and do this happily for each of the parts, which happen to be

4x VA
1x closed hi-hat
1x open hi-hat
1x hand-clap
1x "crash"-cymbal
and
1x accent

this totals 9 times for this part (points a,b,c) of the procedure..

but it isn't over yet..

THEN you have to

d)
de-select the cross-modulation & ring-modulation functions

to finally
e) re-adjust the whole sound-settings for each parts you want to use..


Now... this could be ALL solved with a click of a button if Korg would've implemented a "clear/initialize pattern"-function for the whole pattern...



The way I used to improve that is simply
- Holding down the SHIFT button all the time during the procedure, and the quickly alternating with the other hand between each part & the CLEAR PART function, similar way like in old movies when people jammed& pulled out a knife between their fingers in a speedy manner :-)

ANNOYING THING #2:

Each time you press one of the PART-buttons the respective sound gets triggered..

Now this is nice when you

----> 4 VA voices (in theory, and for simple cases it's 4)
- "4" PCM PARTS contain (OPEN/CLOSE HIHAT, HAND-CLAP & CRASH), so one might get tempted to name 4 PCM PARTS -after all each part has it's own pattern/sequence/part-button.

However, as the separation with the "," in the brackets might indicate, they have been set up in a way that NOT all of them can sound at the same time.. : means:

closed hi-hat & open hi-hat cannot sound at the same time.. ok - that makes sense..
but unfortunately this seems to be valid for the other couple as well.. for what reason ever..



ALSO please before buying please bear in mind that in order to create a GOOD sounding VA-snare-drum (808'ish) you HAVE to use 2 oscillators..

Likewise for (the completely missing) rim-shot, nice toms,etc..


THIS means:
When going for good sounds, this box delivers at MOST:
2x VA parts
and
2x PCM parts..

AND unfortunatelly the cross-modulation, which is the way to use more oscillators together when simply mixing it isn't enough, is ONLY possible for VA- voice 1 & 2..

The only option left for the other 2 oscillators is, beside simply mixing'em in parallel, to toggle on RING-modulation, which again is unfortunately bound to one of the other elements (PCM/IN IIRC) and is NOT possible between the 3 & 4th VA-voice..




----> The keyboard, as the step-buttons, and the function buttons, are quite good, the are almost completely directly illuminated, and well layed out.

Only one would wish seperate buttons for the editing functions, and maybe an extra memory for sound-patches & an extra 7-segment-LED-display for that *but* that goes to the wishes/expansion section..


----> The Effects present are a bit more than one might think on the first look or even after examining the manual..

The most obvious thing is the DELAY - it can be tempo oriented, or get modulated by a motion-sequence..


Controllable parameters are depth & time(/tempo-ratio)..
The best thing about the delay seems to be the motion-sequence ability .. You can slide through it from flanging-thin to canyon wide, which can give you awesome beat-doubling/tripling / bouncing effects, you can let it "dive in" & fade out using the depth-control (which seems to be something more than just the volume, I think it's a combination of feedback & volume .. maybe even some more)


So - you'll find out that the knobs of the delay effect contain control over many options at the same time...


SIMILAR can be found out about the "low boost"-knob in the upper right corner.. this knob is *fortunately* active for *all* the sounds - so no matter whether you are facing the PCM handclap, or the most flexible VA -synth, it's *always* active (what can not be said about all the knobs)


Cut short: It's a kind of a Filter (well duh, every EQ is), which operates as a bass-boost in one direction, and as a high-pass filter into the other..

Now don't get too excited, it's unfortunately *NOT* as massive in the high-pass direction as it is in the bass-boost direction..

I'd estimate a 3db - to 6db high-pass at max..

The bass-boost however is strong.

As a bonus - this thing gives you a distortion effect when you go past the 3'o clock setting (cranking it up to the max)

So you have:
-a bass boost
-a high-pass filter (w/o resonance increase)
-and can combine the bass-boost with distortion (grungy/fm-ish)

..and you could in theory modulate, for instance, distortion in& out with a motion sequence on the volume / or other - however I haven't tried it out yet.



----> Expansion:
Heh that's an easy one:
NONE
besides of maybe firmware-upgrades, which are highly desired..

I honestly hope someone will manage to hack that device if Korg is not going to be more friendly into that direction, in order to at least swap these horrible 909-like-samples out with some decent, clean 808 ones..

The DSP should be the same as used for their Oasys boards, as

- VA section (valid for each of the 4 voices):

1 oscillator, selectable waveforms: SINE, TRIANGLE (only..)
+ tunable in a wide range (though with the 39kHz sampling range - you will want to stay way beyond 16kHz ;-) - )

1 LFO - selectable waveforms: SAW,TRIANGLE,SQUARE, RANDOM, NOISE (tunable ! = a sample..), and "ENVELOPE" (simple an AD-envelope, or inverse ramp)

+ though it has a very nice bandwith (we are talking about 5kHz), it's routed to the main oscillator (as usual) - so you will never hear it directly/ can't use it as a "free" second oscillator.




QUALITY:

The section is "ok", unfortunatelly very thin (as there are no 2 flexible oscillators)
The worst things are
- it doesn't go "down" enough "per sai", you have to force the main oscillator to a lower frequency using the modulation feature..
So when using the main-oscillator free-running you are *very* limited

- the modulation control is the WORST
Sometime (I: most of the times) you are just occupied with fiddling around with the modulation knob around the mid ("0") setting to get the desired amount of modulation which is extremely finicky since you are getting massive changes with about just ONE step around "0".. meanwhile the setting on the rest of the scale - it's totally useless - unless you want to have it "ping" somewhere at the >5kHz or higher.

This could've be solved *way* better...maybe I will solve the problem myself if there won't be a firmware-upgrade in the near future.

PCM:

Well.. the samples are definitely 909-samples with all the disadvantages.. if you like the 909 - there's your chance to get the hi-hats & a similar crash.. however I'd recommend getting a 707 or alike when really desperate for authenic sounds - and if you want variations - go grab the Novation Drum-Station - way better sounding.

The hand-clap seems also very 909ish - which reminds me of another very annoying issue:

You can't control the decay-phase fine enough in order to give to very short claps.. it's just ONE step, that you have to fiddle out with that knob, that is inbetween "almost complete handclap audible" and "click sounds".. this is extremely bad - despite of the problem that the sample seems to start a bit earlier as the snappy part of the hand-clap begins.. so you can't make some short, really snappy hand-claps with it that way..


SOUND QUALITY PCM total:

Very present, somewhat low-fi-ish, but clean enough as long as you don't tune'em way down (remember - there is no "cosmetical" low-pass filter active/ not even an option)

Should be replaced with hq-808 samples, or simply more VA-voices in the next Eletribe R-mkIII IMHO

----> What Music for ?

Definitely standard dance 4/4 banging high-shiny stuff producers, as well as some kiddies just starting up, and even some brilliant electronic freaks will be happy - as you can unleash some of your creativity even with this tool.. but so you could with an DX200, Jomox xBase (used), and PC-edited: Micro-Q,Micro-Modular,PC contained: Creamware Pulsar, Korg Oasys..


Everybody that loves clean, punchy sounds, really fine resolution & very low and at the same time hi-fi-ish analog"like" bass drums should either go grab a used 808 & some nice multi-effects, or some other, recent unit at best..

I head the Alesis Micron features an onboard sequencer, and 8 voices plus a whopping DSP power in spare - it has extra drum-oriented pattern sequening helps & it should smoke this re-vamped DJ-tool anytime..

However - no intuitive directly visible step-sequencer..


Hip-Hopers will be, as usual, happy even with this tool, and alike could be for RnB guys & some hardcore-techno freaks.


Should be club suitable for any of those flavors.


----> Onboard FX quality is - despite of the flaws of the (desired) resonance, good - so all advertised effects are good. Distortion is ok too..


---

Can't give you an opinion here, since it's too new for that, but I've seen some dead ones floating around on eBay, though scarce, so they ain't foolproof as well, the flickering of the back-lightning LEDs I've notices could be simply due to the fact that the processor is controlling the LEDs multiplexed (as usual nowadays), and varies a bit in frequency due to the interrupts / or CPU cycles used during that, or the writing procedure in general - so I guess it's not a weak power-supply or alike.. this for the technical minded :)

Korg.. oh boy.. let's put it that way - they used to make good products.. back in 1970.. these were even solid.. last good things they've done were the Prophecy & the Oasys card, and the D16 HDD recorder.
The D16 was one of the most amazing examples (Oasys being another) how good & enthusiastic their support can be (one could almost start to love this company) - It's a marvel what they have included in the *free* 3.0 OS upgrade for the D16 recorder & how fast they've reacted on critics written in some mags..

BUT the Electribe series, as well as the MS-2000 are examples of very poor by-products which shouldn't see the daylight until they where really ready...which some of the products aren't even today..


Service -> Had the luck to now have to mess around with them..

Upgrades -> as long as the product was expensive, or they loved it out of one reason or another (mostly when a whole developer team was involved) - there were many - however - I am anxcious about the cheap Electribes (as for "throw-away" DJ-tools in general)..

However - for the now present raised price of 230 bucks (was 188 blow-out once, last year) - they definitely need to deliver improvements

I would not buy another one if someone would steal it - In fact I'd give him 5 bucks & tap him on the shoulder pittying him.

But since I am stuck with it, and music doesn't need to be made with the most "perfect" tools, and simple tools are easier for bringing through your idea, it will (have to) serve good.. in worst case, it will be a sequencer for my DIY-808&909 clone I have planned to finish soon

I love the step-sequencer, despite of the lack of pattern-erase, love bleeps & tight beats plus delay bounces & variations made with it, plus that it outputs sync, and also the notes.

I hate the 909 & alike trashy samples, the lack of real VA filters, at best for all voices, the lack of some controls for the PCM samples (you can't apply an LFO & alike), the fixed routing for Cross-mod & ring-mod, and the lack of a second Oscillator & separate envelope *per voice*, as this would just make this box worth calling itself a 4-part polyphonic VA equipped drum-box.

The sonical quality which is just about the one I had in my Quasimidi-rave-o-lution 309 is also not cutting any edge.


- I've chosen this one since I was lacking another sequencer, and a dedicated flexible drum-box (besides the 707 & a borrowed 909).

- As said many times :) already - I wish it would have
- Filters, since it lacks buttons it should be cut-off control up to 3'oclock & then raising resonance, or simply resonance added by menu
- 2 oscillators per voice + LFO, with dedicated envelopes (for snare-drum/toms/etc emulation)
- improved control-ranges for the knobs (especially modulation & AMP-decay)
- Motion sequence-memory which can record ALL the controls (by storing the movements sequentially & with noted knob number), one at a time - in one pattern.

- Individual outs for each part (at least PCM) in order to correct the horrible sounds & the lack of filter would be very desirable too.

Best would be removing all the PCM parts & improving+expanding the VA parts - being of same sonical quality & flexibility as the Waldorf Rack-Attack

- It helped out after intense tweakage even with more relaxed trip-hop, chill-out & @ some aggressive but rather intuitive electronic tracks so far. When I add the auto-filter with help of my external FX unit, it becomes even very nice from time to time.. however individual OUTs would be worth gold.



Overall - good for 909-addicted, loud music, and for some patient fans of electronica as me.. though it's not the last & definite drum-machine that I'll be buying due to the lacks..


You could get it if it's dirt cheap & you want a step-sequencer that bad.

Very easy to use step sequencer, and the manual is pretty good, although more tips on creating sounds would be nice to get you started. Editing patches is easy, just grab a knob and blast off. The knob reponse is a bit finicky, and matching values from pattern to pattern can be irritating. The over-sensitivity of the knobs and the anger this causes knocks this rating to a 7.

Limited features, but super for the price/performance ratio. It's really a sketchpad kinda box, but with a little thought, you can create some great tracks. The MIDI features are basic but good. The swing feature is super for giving the patterns a feel, and is conitinually variable from 50% (no swing) to 66% (swing) to 75% (ridiculous swing). The delay is the only effect, but it's 3 modes are quite nice.

Here's an area that needs a little clarification. Yes, this is a dance oriented box, BUT just because the demo patterns sound like the musak in an an ecstacy burnout ward doesnt mean you cant put your own brain to work. I have fooled people into thinking I had a drummer playing on tracks Ive laid down with this. And some of these people were not in the aforementioned ward.
If you want to create a fat, analog sounding kick, use TWO tone generators and don't tune them to octaves or fifths. Try something close to a third or a fourth (musical interval, that is) and make the higher pitch shorter in decay and clearer. Use a white noise-including waveform for the deeper of the two and make it decay a bit longer. The little decay of white noise sounds like snares addling along to the kick.
Layer your 'snare' in a similar way. Just nab some sounds from the other patterns.
Set the swing a bit over 50 if your pulling off straight rock stuff (try 54-58) and fills become livelier. Program creatively and you'll be surprised what this little box can do.
Oh yeah, and use the accent part ALL the time, dropping it out for effect. This gets your level up WAY over the self noise of the unit. (This is why all the demo loops are so loud and punchy. Check it out.

no prob so far

I love this unit and would replace it with another if it were to die or be killed during a attempt to match sounds between patches. I want to try out the other electribes now, but am happy with my ER-1. If the other ones are than this then I NEED THEM.
I prefer this box to a Roland or Alesis drum box in a similar price range because I am able to dial in some real and really odd sounding drums that surpass PCM samples by far.

Using the EA1 MkII.

This is a preposterously easy device to program, and I chose it primarily for that reason. The graphic step buttons make it ultra clear what's playing when, which is of great use to non-drummers.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found the manual clear and comprehensive.

Editing patches is also really easy, and there's a handy 'original value' light that tells you what a patch looks like when you've just changed patch but not knob settings. (The SH-32 could do with one of these.) That is, you twiddle your knobs and when you hit the patch's value it turns on.

Don't look to this fellah for effects, there's only delay. It's memory is also limited to only 16 songs, but you can dump info.

While I don't think the box sends MIDI velocity or pan controls, it is excellent for running other drum machines, which might be harder to program. I hook mine up to a Yamaha Motif to take advantage of its tasty drum samples whilst retaining the clarity of the step programming from the ER1.

Well, you're not looking for realistic sounds with this box (that's why you might want to let it play master to a drum box's sounds) but its synths are versatile and full-sounding. While its own sampled cymbals are a tad lacking, the things you can do with the oscillators makes up for it.

Looks dependable - it's pretty solid.

I've only had it a coupla weeks!

I would probably buy this box again although I may consider other drum machines now that I'm getting more of a feel for rhythm programming without the graphical help of the ER1.

It's alright, though the manual is sucky sucky. But it's easy enough to pick up on and teach yourself how to use.

I haven't picked up on the MIDI part yet, but it will pretty cool to work with if I do...

Works for goa trance or techno, or lame ravers, or rap of any sort if you use the presets. But you know what, even if you're a brainless "punk" you should still be able to find a good drummer who listens to misfits or whatever...it doesn't take that much brainpower...what I mean by that is this machine will never substitute for a nine piece drum set and my own two hands, especially not with my chosen category, ROCK.

It's cool if you want to use it at parties or to do some remixes.
But this isn't in any way teh pwn.

Read above comments, that's all I have to say really.

have no software to use it but its damn easey to program parts as well as patterns. i use copy paste etc to work faster. presets sounds arent that good its better to create your own or even edit existing ones. I particulary like to shorten up tyhe decay, dont like much long sounds.
manual is easy, but shpuld bring to you more triks, not only basic instructions

don like like most the global delay and little outputs
but what i havent read in the others reviews is about my favorite featur: audio in (x2). Is great to produce weird effects like akufen like, microsamplin from cd of music. i also use voice cd so someone is talking or singing while i play de elecvtribe. I also play in the audio in lots of classic an make kind of remikes. Too play etjhnic cd, making a very experi9mental noise and tension between analog noises and the ethnic ones

as you can create your own sounds, i think its quite versatile. You can use it to create samples and then the samples use in a sequencer,etc

nathing has happened yet in 5 months

hope never to use it

i love the ease of use and might buy it if it was stolen. other drum machines come with basslines, and that makes me a bit envious but i use it with my ea-1. i also have a computer with lots of programs and a master keyboard. i play along sometimes with friends or brother who owns some kor ms 2000 or roland mc 5050 or old gear like casio cz 101 an alesis mmt8, with wich we even made a record.

It's really easy to use! It's so easy, it's the only sequencer-based thingy that I've ever been able to use for jamming with a 4-piece band.

I am actually writing this because I want to know all that I can do with the midi functions. Does anyone know if it is possible to get some sort of larger light to show tempo (the led light is a pain in the ass if i start a song with guitar or vocals, then kick the er-1 in on-tempo)? If you know of a way to do something like this, so my band could have, like, a strobe light or something on stage that would give us the beat before we start, please e-mail me!

Fun, lo-fi beastie boys drums, steve miller-ish synth sounds.

Don't save when global button is on and you have "write protect" or something selected! It will ruin your presets! I fucked this one up a week before a show, so we decided it would be easier to program our beats into propellerhead reason and use a laptop. But the laptop wasn't real-time starting, weird knobby synth-sounding fun!

It's great for punk! It pisses off those who say "you need a real drummer and full stack guitar amps."

Im using the standard OS, I think is about time Korg make a new OS and perhaps update the DSP a bit. (see below) The presets are mainly standard drumbeats. (Techno, Rock, Rap, DnB) and some drumbeat effects. Some of them are very nice though. :) Editing sounds is a breaze. A patch editor however, does make a differnce, I use one for ER-1 and EA-1, you can find it at synthzone.com under the korg section. The manual looks like it was written by a lawer. But other than that, super easy to use. It gets a 10 because anyone can learn the basics of this in a matter of minutes.

There is 4 note DSP, 2 note gate input, and 2 note PCM polifoni. Its mighty easy to play simple beats with two or 3 fingers and record them, and you can fix your mestakes via step sequencer.
A onboard global delay is onboard, making the ER1 drowny, zappy, flangy, or just whacky delay. You can modulate the delay using motion seq. to achive a unique customized flange, or you can set a fast delay to put the drums out of phase in time, giving it a stereo comb filter effect. Kudos to Korg for making a global delay, it will allow users to put in new ideas of insparation, and frusterations! :)
How ever I beleive that there should be a part delay bypass function.
I wish the can expand this with a new OS and Updated DSP.(see below)
All voices are velocity sentitive, but does now repsond to standard CC#'s, you have to use Nrpns for over 40 parimaters.
The onboard sequencer is awesome, 16 step, 4 bars, swing, and quarter, double, tripliet time signatures. But i do have some gripes with the sequencer.(see below)

Nothing sounds bad about this at all, in fact I beleive the ER-1 will become a classic, soon we'll be seeing ER1 emulators (there are alrady products distributed and being developed with the insparation of the ER1, including myself).
This is a uniqe little monster, as there are to drum machines that sounds like this, and dispite the fact you can recreate the sounds on VA's using EG and LFOs on your Oscilators, its the Er-1s User interface and limited archetecture that makes it uniqe. And stand out of the bunch.
The bass is Bassy. The HH are 808ish wilst the CR and CP parts can be manipulated in the most remarkable ways. But because the pcm samples are somewhat dull (no other variants) I think Korg couldv stuffed an extra two or three PCM kits for HH CR CP parts, shame on you Korg.
The ER1 defenatly cries out loud, "More DnB Please!" This is the ultimate secondary (mayby primary) drum machine for DrumNBass! Also good for Hard Kicks and Bass rattling drops :)
This just as veritle as a Primary House and Trance Drum Machine.

Very dependable, never lost an grain of data in past 2 years I played with it (except once). I used it on neumerous gigs and it had its share of falling onto concrete ; the unit, not the box; when unloading from the truck. I would however periodicly backup data, when surge went out one time when saving and my pattern went Bie Bie, but thats a good thing, only that patern went out, and the unit didnt malfunction ( I dont think so at least!:-O
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If you are Doing DnB or Hard Trance, Please Get this Think, you will be Super Happy!:!

Iv ben playing with this for 2 years. I got a JX305, witch got some Nice Drumz, Alesis SR16 witch is totally underrated, and EA1 and JP8000(Well I dont own it, but sometimes Im lucky to brrow it)



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Now lets see what Korg seemlessly overlooked or forgot to put in the ER1.

I am a human with two hands and I want to do fast manipulations on multiple units and keyboards durring a live PA and/or DJ set. Somethings I simply cannot do fast enough in realtime on the ER1 so lets find some problems and possible solutions with the UI.

Mute Problems/Solutions-
Problem ... Normally you have to hold down tap and part button to mute it. (Its not that bad, but irratable sometimes) By doing this, I have to use my right thumb and pointing or middle finger to mute a part(s). However, I have to use my left finger on tap to do rapid/complex muting, but now I am un able to tweek my bassline and trigger my sampler in time with the beat, "OH WHAT TO DO!?!" I ask myself.
Sol #1 Well I ended up Spliting the ER-1 into 6 channels on my mixer via cross over, and muting on the mixer is more convienient for me. (It's my command station;) )(I'll address that later.)

New OS solution ... I think Korg should imlement ^SHIFT^ + TAP for MUTE ENGAGE, so you will be able to do single button mutes without MR.Tap button

Problem... I made 4 patterns in succession using the same 'kit', pattern 'A' in intro , 'B' is Main, 'C' is Alt Main, and 'D' is outro. I like the patterns I make, and switching between them. But now I want to mute out the HH and SD for the end of this song to slowly lead to the next. My B pattern has Thump Thump Thump Thump 4/4 kick whilst my C and D patterns had alternate Thumps and adding motion seq., going slower and faster, occasonaly skipping a beat.
But wait, now when I swich the patterns the Shares and HH kick back in when I dont wnat it to! Oh the agony! :( What is a young man to do in such a hostle environment?) I end up muting all but my ER1 input channels but one (left bass channel) on my mixing board and closing the delay on the er1 to achive desired result. I could hav just as easaly taped in the sequence manuly in time but now both my hands would be preoccupied, redusing the effecantcy I have while playing pads and loading new sequences on my keyboard, thats a damn shame...

New OS Solution ... Save Mute Pass fuction, allowes user to switch patterns, saving the previous mute setting on the new loaded pattern. This can be done by adding additional MUTE Engage settings on the Pattern edit part of the Er1 matrix menu. It will have an '0N1' '0N2' and 0FF setting. ON1 will allow save Mute Pass, while ON2 will do Mute Pass and disable part trigger/unmute when you push a PART pad while the sequencer is playing. This way you can select Parts and edit a parts rapidly without the sound going out of beat or sounding while pattern is playing. On the new beats you may simply tap 'Solo' and this will automaticly unmute all your parts. This will defeat the 'SHIFT+PART' purpose to select tracks untriggered.

Problem ... I need multi outs. I ended up Taking Two left outputs two right outputs (using mono spliters) and Head fone output into 6 tracks (I use 4 now). I made a crossiver for Low/HI Freq goes unto differnt inputs of the mixer, and paned the BD/PCM sampl on left, and pan SD and misc low freq sounds onto right channel on the ER-1.

New OS Solution... New global command, for output (L R) for 2 channel operation, and (4CH) for 4 channel operation. 4CH will disable the Main signal going into the Headfone output. By pressing and holding the Audeo input (next to main volume) Button, you will be able to rout the parts into the L/R or Headfone output by selecting parts LITEUP (L R out) or Dark (HeadFoneOUt), the cross delay secton will be disabled on the Headfone output and only output on the L R outputs. This will effectively g

Really easy to use as are the other 3 Electribe boxes.
programming patterns is pretty quick although there is no way of outright clearing a whole pattern. Instead you have to clear the individual parts. Tweaking the drum synth sounds is easy enough to. The knobs are pretty sensitive, but it's no big deal.

4 synth drum sounds + 4 pre made drum sounds (HHs, Clap, Crash). The synth drums are pretty cool, you can get some cool drum sounds out of it, but like was stated earlier it's hard to get realistic drum sounds out of it. The premade drum sounds are ok, but there's not much you can change about them. No effects, except a global delay. Great sequencer though. Also has audio in which you can tweak. Great option IMO. MIDI in/out/through. Also great motion sequencer to record know movements

Sounds are ok, but once again the pre made sounds will always sound the same. The synths are great for most kinds of techno. The global delay is ok, except it affects every part. there is no velocity sensitivity, but it has accents which you can tweak with the motion sequencer. So you can change the volume of the drums over the course of the pattern.

Will probably be reliable unless you drop it. Plastic keys could cause problems in the future, but otherwiese seems reliable

My roomate owns this and I've played with it. It's ok, but I wound up buying the EM-1. I think it's way better than this thing and it has a synth and effects. If you want a drum machine there are plenty of better ones. If you're looking for some funky drum sounds though, give this one a try.

No brainer: had it playing in a second and was editing patterns / sounds a second later. Haven't looked at the manual yet...

Okay, so it would be nice to have separate outs for each sound and effects for each part... but these units are selling for #189 in the UK at the moment, and that beats all the Boss beat boxes hands down... plus its got midi transmitting knobs on!

Well, I'm an old Kraftwerk fan and blow me if those guys at Korg aren't too! This thing positively oozes those blips and hi-qs from "Computer World", "Electric Cafe" et al.

I guess it's an an acquired taste, but I love it. I bought this for a bit of fun and to reignite my rhythmic juices and it has far surpassed my expectations...

If electro comes in big style, these are going to be soooo sought after.

Well, it's only been with me a little while and case wise, those knobs don't look too sturdy and i hate wall wart power supplies... time will tell.

Hmmm... I've dealt with Korg before regarding a Wavestation problem and they were less than keen, but that was old technology so maybe I'm doing them an injustice...

At the price I paid (new, by god) I'd get another one without thinking if this one got stolen. My remit was to have a beat box with XOXO programming and some retro style sounds. The MachineDrum seems overpriced (and overspecced?)the Boss DR series are a bugger to program and I hear the new lot are unreliable and I'm not throwing away money on a 909... I reckon Korg have got it exactly right with this one.

Simple to use, up and running in minutes. Presets sound alright but only one preset per pcm or drum sound, but the machine was designed for creating your own. Editing is simple, a matter of turning a few knobs. Manual is as good as needs be.

Hmm.... There arent any effects other than a delay which affects all the parts...very disappointing. There is a motion sequence recorder however, which can record realtime changes you make while the pattern is playing. Can come up with some good sounding loops using this feature.

The 4 PCM parts are tweakable via an 6-wave lfo, of which depth and speed can be varied. The other percussion sounds as well as the PCM sounds can be altered using the decay, pan and low boost knobs. The low boost knob simply adds more bass to sound, is nice for muting the sounds to an extent or to add absolute anarchy to a bassy sound.

With a bit of practice, one can come up with some great beats.

There are no expansion possibilities.

MIDI capabilities are good enough. The electribe can be used as a tone module, with the sounds triggered from a sequencer. I havent tried it with pedals or anything like that. Works fine for simple applications.

The machine sounds very analog and electronic, not at all natural. Sounds good if youre gonna use it for dance music.

If you are into analog, this is your baby!

No problems so far. Would use for a gig.

Never dealt with Korg.

If lost or stolen, would probably get another just for the analog drum sounds. Try and get one used. Might look at an electribe es-1 since you can sample your own beats??

Love the sounds, hate the lack of effects.

A nice little machine, good for coming up with new ideas.

It was easy easy easy to get a good sound with, but harder than shit to figure out how to save and form songs and whatnot. I eventually had the patience to sit down and read through the manual as I messed with it, and now it's really easy to do just about everything.

As many have said, the delay is kinda crappy. And the presets suck. I haven't found any use for the ring modulators, because they just sound like a nintendo game.

(continued from "features") Hell, the whole thing sounds like a nintendo game, which is what I was looking for! It's really fun. I am using the line out from my geetar, running it into the audio in. I'm having my vocalist play with knobs and mess with my sound as I play my normal-ish guitar. It makes a neat two-guitarist effect.

I haven't had it that long, and if it broke down I'd probably just get something with more features, maybe an alesis or something.

nope

This thing is like the Hammerhead Rythm thing in a box. Except this is more fun because you don't look quite as douchebag-ish at a gig with it as opposed to a big computer. I'm using it for our pop-new wave-metal-tori amos band while we search for a drummer.

Very easy to use

BUYER BEWARE

Right before a show I corrected a beat (about ten minutes before playing) and when I saved my correction, the machine erased the program being saved, as well as the next 25 programs - which constituted well over half of my two hour set. When I tried to save a working program to one of the ones which the machine had erased, the machine went ahead and erased the next 25. I now had no drums for my show. I lost a lot of work.

Theoretically, (according to the manual), one should be able to perform a midi dump of the data on the machine onto a computer, however, no suggestions are offered by korg as to what software should be used, and no software I had was able to recieve the midi data dump.

I must also add that on the ES1, (Korg's Electribe Sampler), completion of data backups onto a smartmediacard complete rather vaguely, and it is difficult for the first time user of the backup method to know for sure if the backup was succesful.

I know someone else who has had her ER 1 erase completely on her while saving something (she nor I touched the machine while it was saving). She began using only the ES 1 for her sets and that did the same thing. She reprogrammed the ER 1 and it erased itself completely again a couple of months after re-writing her set.

Some drum machines do this when a battery they might have runs out. Korg offers no reference to an internal battery in the ER 1 manual. I removed the base of the machine to see if it had a battery and I found none.

To summarise, the ER 1 sounds great and is easy to use, but I think that it not reliable enough for normal use. I have had mine for about a year and a half, adn I have to say that this is the greatest dissapointment I have ever had with a piece of equipment. To have important equipment fail right before a performance is quite embarrasing, and to lose months of work is even worse.

I live in Switzeland, the webpage is of no assistance (no contact info outside the US), noone answers the phone in Japan, and my warranty expires after a year.

Shit should work.

The presets sounds as expected--in other words, they are typical dance and nasty (as in bad) hip hop attempts. They're not worthwhile, but they do attempt to show you what the machine can do. Some of the more inventive ones take advantage of the Motion Sequencers well enough. But in this case, you're not buying this machine for its presets.

Editing patches is so simple you don't really even have to pick up the manual. We're talking about select an instrument, screw around with the knobs until you're satisfied with the sound of each one and then program them in a 16-step pattern. All the sequencing is typical of X0X boxes. You can arrange patterns into songs, etc. The manual does come in handy time to time and is well-written enough to get by if you're new to this kind of thing.

It has 4 parts percussion, 4 parts PCM, 2 audio ins, an accent part. That should be adequate for most, although I know people using up to 4 of these units in a loop.

It has global delay, which is a bit of a pain if you'd like to isolate it to parts, but oh well, not a huge deal. The audio in function has potential, but I've yet to figure out something interesting enough to use it with.

The motion sequencer is helpful, and is something I've come to rely on for taking patterns one step beyond.

Being able to create 256 patterns should be more than enough to work with. You can make sixteen songs made with up to 256 patterns. Considering you can record in tempo changes, that means each 'song' could contain as many as you can fit into 256, keeping in mind space to change tempo (1 or 2 patterns of space). Using the on-board sequencer is slightly painful compared to using a computer, but I find that it helps me edit myself nicely and is simple enough to use that I can leave a computer out of the chain for live performances. My one gripe is that you are mostly confined to using it for straight times--no 5/4 unless you force it. The one way around this would be to perform it 'live' utilizing the play and repeat from start functions, rather than building a song. Something I do time to time, although it means manualing changing patterns with the alpha wheel or pattern memory.

The low-boost on the unit gives it the bottom-end from hell--on the recordings I've done with it, it makes things kick nicely.

I have absolutely no problem with the sounds on this unit. I'm making experimental electro, in the vein of say, Solvent, Lowfish, Ladytron, etc. In this regards, I am very happy. Perfect shiny analog beats that can funk up to a weirdness with creative editing and playful use of the effects. Nothing here is out of this earth, but the unit has a good organic quality that makes it (granted, more onboard effects would be nice, but you could save money by buying this relatively inexpensive box and then finding truly highend effects to chain it into). I know people using it for the entire electronic spectrum (Dance, Techno, Industrial, Synthpop, IDM, hip hop) and a few using it for hybrids (one even is folk based, mixed up with acoustic guitars and a pedal steel). I believe it could be used with any musical style as long as the user leaves all their ridiculous preconceptions at the door. Your limits can often be your inspiration.

I've gigged with it and it hasn't let me down. I have no backup, so this is it.

The only thing I've noticed, as I've only had it for about a year, is that once and a while it does something funny. But it tends to be whenever I'm using the sequencer to write, not while it's just playing.

I've never dealt with the company, and hope I never have to do so.

I would replace it if anything happened to it, as it's integral to my setup--I use it as a master to an EA-1 and a Korg MS2000. I also use an Akai AX-60, but I leave it out of the chain.

I chose it because it held up price and sound wise when I compared it to everything else on the market at the time. I still think it's fantastic.

The presets are pretty much crap. Most are the stereotypical dance numbers with nothing really that interesting about them. Editing them isn't much fun either. There really is not a lot to edit with. Only a hand full of knobs (no sliders). If your not into dance music and need a medium priced beat box look else where!

Four voice polyphony is over kill to say the least. Too busy for me, Two voices would have been plenty. As far as the effects go (or lack of them) most are global, I hate how the delay is global! Again their isn't a lot to edit with, for cooler sounds I would run it threw a Sherman Filter Bank or something. The ring mods are ok, my breath wasn't taken away. I will give ti creidit on the sequencer, its pretty easy to use.

Boring and stale is how I would describe the sounds of the ER-1. If you need a beatbox to go with your Waldorf Q to make that next dancefloor diddy than this is your drum machine. The effects are crap and Korg knows it, people get real!

It is very dependable, I would take it to a "gig."

Haven't had the pleasure.

To me the ER-1 is a parody of a real beatbox. It has none of the features that I was looking for, it is defintly for the factory patch musician. If you have the money I would invest in a Jomox XBase09, or a Sequential Circuits DrumTracks. I love drum machines that are not XOX. This is just a cheap and bland beatbox.

Super easy to use. The manual is very helpful, easy to understand. (Roland could take some pointers here) The preset patterns really give you a good idea for what you can do with this thing and the "origional value" buttong lets you figure out what they're doing, it's great.

My favorite thing about this box, besides the sound, is that it has so many nobs and buttons. There isn't even an LCD screen for all those terrible menus and edit pages. You twist the knob and the sounds change. It's great!!! 2 monophonic parts, so you can have to completely separate monophonic lines going. It's not really polyphonic unless you detune the second oscillator to a fixed interval, but then you can only move around in thirds or 4ths or whatever. The distortion effect is really great, helps sounds cut through a mix very well. I actually am not a techno trancy person, I use this thing for flavor and color in a college age rock band. The tap tempo is a life saver here because the band never stays at exactally 117 BPM or whatever it is at the time. I can keep the tempo close with the tap tempo and then keep hitting start/stop with the huge stop and play buttons to keep the pattern in sync with the band while I do some organ or wurlitzer thing on the keyboard. It allows me to get way more sounds out of my corner of the stage. The delay is also great, simple but easy to use. The flange chorus is cool, I don't use it much though. You also get a ring modulator and a second oscillator for each part with a pitch offset so you can get the typical weird sounds with that. Also, there's two other oscillator effects-sync and decimator. Snyc aligns the two oscillator waveforms to get a similar but very different sound and the decimator basically makes the waveform boxy, so it has no effect on a square wave. It's cool to run a voice or something into the audio input and then process it with the ring modulator, sync, and decimator. You can get some really interesting, almost vocorder-like sounds. With midi, its also a breeze, I often program patterns into it from my keyboard. ONE HUGE COMPLAINT IN THIS AREA-THE EA-1 DOES NOT RESPOND TO SUSTAIN PEDAL MESSAGES AT ALL. So all those cool monophonic lines that seamlessly move about with the sustain pedal and portamento must be programmed, which rules out the use of this thing as an instrument for solos. So, I can't do any cheesy 80's shredding guitar wannabe leads. Maybe that's a good thing! Programming the patterns is quite easy, there's 3 modes. You can play them in while a metranome goes, you can program them in with the 16 step keys (my favorite way right now) or you can step record it, the hardest way. Also, there is nothing expandable about this at all.

Killer sounds! Like I said, I don't even use it for club stuff, I use it in a band with guitars and bass and drums and all, and its a dream. If anything, I prove that it is a very flexible instrument in many different styles. The Cutoff/resonance filter leaves a little bit to be desired, but it is still killer, still far better than a $300 box should have! I use it on most things I do and have been very happy with the resluts.

Nothing's ever gone wrong with it at all, its a pretty simple box. I have the gig bag for it on order just because I'm tired of taking it around in the box I bought it in. All the knobs make it something that I don't want to put anything else on top of and I really don't feel comfortable having it slide around in my trunk, though it would probably be fine. I'd recommend a bag or case or something for it, but I think its extrememly reliable, I would even consider a backup.

Never needed it.

Wonderful! I absolutely love it, I'm going to get an ER-1 soon as well and work some funky drum loops into my bands, I love these things. This thing is worth way more than $300, its the only way to go. Yamahah has one that looks like it has more features, but I don't really see the point after reading about it in Keyboard mag. I bought this as a way to get into the analog synth world cheap and I got way more.

Really easy to use.

Fantastic. Imaginatively designed, with an an endless source of new sounds. Plus lots of neat flashing lights.

The sounds are excellent - electro hell.

Very reliable.

I'd buy another one if necessary.

Presets generally sound very electronical. Maybe 5 or then patterns are rellly good. Pattern programming is very easy but in sound programming the knobs are to sensitive and you never know how will they change the sound before you try them. The manual is anoying when it repeats every time "stop the sequencer" before doing angything. In Cubase and FruityLoops you can do everything without stoping.

For this type of sounds polyfony (4+4) is an overkill. It sounds best when you use only 2 or 3 sounds at once at the most. The built in delay is global and not per part which is annoying. The pattern sequencer is excellent but the song sequencer is not. Try Fruityloops and you will know how a good song sequencer should look like.

Sounds are 100% club-dance. You will not be ashamed with these sounds. The best thing in this machine is how it reacts to your playing. This is the only type of drum-machine on which you can program patterns on the fly.

Dependable (all your patterns are stored even withou power)

I think the ES replaces it completly. It workes well as an addition to the autoaccompainmet of the Yamaha DJX and combined with the AXS softsynth. Love the programming of patterns, hate the programming of sounds. I would wish the ES had one or two parts as with the ER sythesizer.