Korg ESX-1 Electribe SX

The ESX has a very intuitive and easy to learn interface. To do basic functions you will be up and running in no time. For more advanced functions, full integration (MIDI-wise) with other stuff expect to spend a few good days going through everything.
The presets are fairly acceptable suprisingly. Almost every piece of equipment (samplers/synths/etc.) I have ever owned has come with some real junk loaded in their memory. There are some presets I will keep, and others (mostly the voices, and some of the synth sounds) I will erase to free up space.
Editing is pretty darn easy, especially once you familiarize yourself with the machine. Very good setup for live editing/performance, maybe not as extensive as one would like for a studio, but I bought mine for live use anyways.
Once again, Korg has made a very intuitive piece of equipment.

This thing is primarily useful as a rhythm sequencer (sampler of course), and for sequencing basic synth parts. The 16 pad step editor is pretty basic, although it has many options that can add more complexity. I personally like working via this interface for most applications, so no complaints. The step pads also double as a keyboard that is somewhat useful. I use it to program note patterns to send to other synths (mostly my dave smith instruments mono evolver desktop). I also use the keyboard for playing some things live, although I will admit that it is not as sensitive/responsive in that sort of situation, and using an actual keyboard/controller is better.
The appregiator is kind of fun (in reverse mode) for live jamming and improv. I have put mine through hell, and although it has lost some sensitivity it still works pretty decently.
Memory-wise this thing stinks. BUT, for the price one can't ask for too much. I think it has adequate memory to play a set for a live performance, as I haven't hit a wall yet with it. If I were to hit the wall I can say that loading time from the flash card leaves something to be desired. Speaking of that, flash card? Good/Bad idea Korg. I wish it just had USB 2.0 capabilities for transfering samples and a little more memory up front.
MIDI-wise this thing is pretty standard, i.e. nothing out of the ordinary. I like using it to control simple parts on other things. I don't use an external/software sequencer for it obviously b/c it is good at that job.
The effects on this are pretty decent for an All-In-One box setup. The are digital, and the proce3ssor is a little limited. I.E. if you run multiple sounds through an effect sometimes they do volume things you may not expect which just shows that the processor is not handling each sound + effect separately. It is nice that they let you use three, and chain them different ways. The only improvement I could wish for is that they let you have multiple sets of three/pattern (sometimes you need two or three for one sound and two different for something else at the same moment; so it can't be dealt with via motion seq).
The main thing I have been enjoying are the tubes. Tube preamp pedals alone sell for upwards of $200. Run a line into this thing voila! Add some nice warm fuzz/distortion. Heck, I even run my bass guitar into this and jam with some down tempo trippy beats and it really sounds great. Same for synths. My live setup on occasion is just the ESX and my Evolver Desktop run into the ESX. One line out to an amp, simple.

No aftertouch or anything expensive lie that, velocity/gate work. Some of the samples (this is a sampler, people forget that) are good, some bad. Korg seemed to actually try some in putting together the default bank, which I can respect (considering not everyone will be satisfied by every sound).

For me, this works well pretty much any genre of dance that I aspire to work on (lo-fi detroit'y, jazzy stuff, tech-house, minimal tech, speed garage, and of course breakbeat material of ANY speed). I also like using it in a live dark trip hop set with others. It actually sounds pretty good with live instruments. It is also nice because I can do a lot of good motion programming at home to keep the song/beat patterns sounding fresh and non-overly repetitive, while I play a live intstrument as well as jam a little on it live.

The effects are what I would consider very good for the price range this is in, and that it is bundled in one unit. For example, the delay/reverb are definitely not a substitute for a tape echo and spring reverb tank, but considering using those in a live setup is a little bit of a pain unless the reverb is built into an amp (plus tape echos are getting too expensive to use outside of a home/studio). Surprisingly even though I have noticed some little things I dislike about some of the effects, in a live setting they do the job, and sound pretty good. One of the first things that I noticed, is that if you just plug this up to a big professional sound system and play one of the preset songs (which I recommend taking the time to go through to find the ones you like and to see different ways to use the effects etc., then take the time to erase all of them) cranked up nice and loud it will sound seriously good. Maintaining this quality is reliant on you being able to obtain high quality samples.

Overall I think in terms of expressivity, Korg has made a pretty useful tool for live performance. Some of the effects are not perfect, and the processing of the line in signal (as well as getting a clean signal [this is one of the only pieces of equipment I get line noise probs on]) could be a little better.

Overall, I will say that this thing is built pretty well. The case is metal and tough, and looks nice to boot. The knobs are cheap, one of mine is loose (like a tooth) and another one must already be wearing out because it gets drift constantly (switching me from one section to that one all the time....drives me f'ing nuts; need to hit it with some cleaner). I have dropped this, and nothing broke (the knobs were already messed up), not even the tubes.

I have gigged without a backup. Having a backup would be a waste, because for that much money (over $1000 for two new) you could have some other expensive piece of equipment that does backflips. This thing has most of the functions of some really expensive stuff for half the price, treat it as such, make better music through machine abuse. Pick up the pieces later.

I have not dealt with Korg. We will see about that drifting knob.

I see it kind of as a blend between an MPC, which I have owned, (minus the awesome drum pads...) and a software like Ableton (the effects versatility, tweakability, good for live use), minus being an Apple nerd (or an MPC'asaurus rex). MPCs are becoming seriously outdated feature/price-wise; AKAI IF YOU READ THIS: TIME TO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER (sorry for the rant). The ESX may be slighty limited compared to these memory-wise more powerful distant relatives, but the ESX is fun and combines a lot of positive elements into one unit.It is totally worth the $350 I paid.
If it were stolen I would be mad, violent, in denial, but then via 12 steps I think I would come around and buy another (used).

its actually alot more powerfull than people would give it credit for....its not in the same category as say a mpc or roland mc groovebox, but it has its own sound which is great!!, the valves are great!!, the timeslice is great, effects are all great....abit more options with eq would of been good as well as more memory!!, and more keyboard parts...though if you get the emx as well then thats that problem solved, i think if they build another one they should address the memory issue, as well as some type of usb connectivity with companion software

lots of them, i would like to upgrade memory but dunno if u can...?

not really something that will give realistic results with all instruments....but depends what your after

solid as a rock

was good for me

its been a while since i 1st got this thing and wrote a little review. Since then i actually traded my esx1 (and $200) for a mpc2000xl wit all the extras) but i missed my ESX and HAD to get another one (and the EMX NOW (-:

I would say the patches in it are decent enough considering they are presets and for some reason companies dont do their best at them, but the drums are all great, the synths are usable and the vocal samples are gay, but hey i actually reversed one and had it in a beat and it sounded cool with delay all over it and auto panning...So its as usable as you are creative. You CAN delete all the sounds in it if you wanted to and make room for your own. I got one of those little USB smartcard reader-writters and loaded up my ESX with some great samples off some sample cds (email me at sharade@juno.com if you need any sample cds, I have over 1900 titles) and after loading some good drums in it ive made some of the most lively beatas ive ever made. i do breaks and rock and it does some crazy stuff with loops that ive never seen any sampler be able to do so easy and stay in time.

manuals good enough.

the FX in this thing are awesome. i even ran my acoustic guitar thru it to get some awesome tracks out of it. and with the motion sequencing, it plays back all your knob movements which is neat and once again never seen something do it so easily and not mess up on play back...like it recorded the audio and not the movements,,,

the sequencer is a sequencer...not like i d use it for everything but i dont use nothing for everything. But i tell you that mixing this, an EMX, and RM1X, and XP80, a JP8080, a Waldorf Q, and an mpc2000 and youll find out whats been making the hits and club bangers for the last few years,

Just being able to do so much motion sequencing to me makes it very expressive. Not very realistic sounding until you get the feel of it...you can do some nice real sounding bass lines in it after you get used to those knobs and motion recording...again

works great for the rock and breaks i do,,,

well the 1st one i had that i traded for an mpc went out on the dude 2 weeks after he traded me, it NEVER acted crazy with me but it did go out for some reason...then again hes a major drunk and probably spilt beer on it or something, so dependable to me. i dont gig cause im too A.D.D to really finish any music...

na

yeah i did get another one so i love it. been doing electronic for almost 10 years (OMG!!) and i ve used or owned everything under the sun and think this thing is highly under rated. It has so much potential in it it is insane, a for sure club bangin beat machine...but off course it isnt good for everything.

i wish it loaded sampleds faster , thats the only thing id make better

it helps me make music some times. i use it for arpeggiator and getting simple beats going fast.

Using Version 1.02 (I think). Preset sounds: I have both praise and criticism: I like all of the drum sounds and most of the one shot samples. Some of the voice and SFX samples are pretty lame. However you can always delete what you don't like and create your own samples. Here's the funny part... I deleted all the samples I thought were boring, cliche, etc. only to discover that I was using some of them in the patterns I had already composed! This means that there is enough sample editing capability to mangle cheesy samples into something rather interesting. The manual is very well written and easy to access.

9 tracks for one-shot samples, 2 monophonic synth tracks, 2 stretch tracks, 1 slice track, 1 accent track, one audio in track which basicly mutes and unmutes the input signal (and applied effects). Keyboard action is nonexistant but that isn't how I use it anyway. Buit-in effects: some have criticized certain effects (reverb, etc.). Some of these effects are a little cheesy but I like them anyway. Stereo delays are great. I'd like for there to be more sampling memory. I ran out quite quickly, thus explaining the need to delete some preset sounds. It has MIDI ins and outs. The sequencer is very easy to use and is quite reliable. In terms of usage, it has the vibe of the old-school drum machines from the early 80's. I would have thought the lack of polyphony would be a limitation but that doesn't bug me.

The best feature on this machine: You can edit the preset patterns! It has always bugged me when some of the older groove box machines maxed out your memory with presets that you can't even change. (Way to think Korg!)

This machine can sound as good or as bad as you want it to. I love the tube drive feature. I have worked with both preset sound and sounds I have sampled from the input jack and they all work well for what I need. They call it "Electribe" for a reason. It sounds modern yet tribal. Probably because it best suited for complex layered rhythm a monophonic melodic elements (very African).

My only complaint here is that sometimes my effect settings change inexplicably. I just have to reset them but it's a little annoying.

Never contacted them.

I really like it. It isn't useful for all applications but nothing is. I also own a Yamaha Rm1x. This unit serves a completely different function from the Yamaha in that the Korg is sort of like composing via sound collage vs. the traditional compositional method of note and rhythm placement in a timeline. The harmoinic limitations are obvious but, again, that doesn't bother me since I have other devices suited for that.

I would be extremely depressed if it were lost or stolen and I would purchase it again.

I really like mangling the cliche presets into something weird and great. I can make music that sounds totally original with ease. Overall a fine product.

Using the 1.0 o/s which works fine but can be a bit slow when doing some functions such as deleting samples or saving samples. But I dont have a problem with it.
The presets showcase the range of styles that can be produced on this unit very well some of them are worth saving to study and break down how certain fx were achieved.
The editing is the best Ive seen its like using a hands on synth but instead your manipulating samples.
There are a few good bass sounds and some clean one shot instrument sounds. The manual is excellent and very easy to follow, so you can reference certain functions as and when you need them.

This has eveything you need feature-wise maybe they could of included a wave edit screen but due to the fact there is a knob for every feature including the start point of the sample its really easy to manipulate this by ear.
A usb port would have been an excellent addition and perhaps digi I/O but aside from this the unit gets the thumbs up. The fx are quality not exactly rack-mount but they sound good, and they really add to the overall production quality.
The main downside is that in real-time recording quantisise cannot be turned of to the highest resolution for entering notes is 1/32.

This unit sounds excellent it has a clear,warm and thick tone.
I use this unit for hip hop beats and this unit serves me well, the filters are smooth and warm.
But as it is a sampler obviously if u put in good sounds then ur half way there but the fx and sound manipulation on this unit are such that you can take almost any sound and make it into something usable.
The good thing about this unit is that due to all the real time recording features such as motion sequence you can play the unit and make things more expressive, and program in changes and progressions that bring the music to life.

This unit is built with a solid metal case the only weakness may be the tubes, but the machine seems solid as far as timing of the sequencer.
Ive had this unit for a month and no problems or crashes so seems very dependable but it does get hot after about 20 mins of use but this has not yet interefered with the operation of the unit.
I have not yet left the unit on for hours on end and prefer not to but i'll see how it goes.

I called korg once with a query and they neva got back to me, lol but i figured out the answer myself but I have not really dealt with them in any great depth and hopefully wont need to.

At least they answered the phone.

This is a very inspirational unit for a sample-based producer this is the ideal bit of hardware, I hope korg release an o/s update to make saving and deleting a bit quicker.
They also need to allow the quantise to be turned off so you can put notes wherever you want.
If it were lost I would be pissed but would get another one as I paid ??300 which is a good deal for this unit.
The only major weakness is the real-time recording issue but there things you can do to offset this weakness.
This unit has put the fun back into music-making it allows u to create alot of tracks quickly with professional results.

easy as turning a knob. really if you've worked with this style of sequencer / groovebox before, you know how it works. if you haven't, well it doesn't take long to figure it out.
that's one of the main reasons i purchased it, because it's suited for improv / experimenting.
i've kept the manual around for times when i need to access one of the machines more "esoteric" functions. but once i figured out how to do something the first time, it's so easy that i didn't need to reference the manual for that function again.

the two "keyboard" parts are monophonic, which is obviously the biggest drawback. the esx-1 is geared more towards being a rhythm sampler.
a good number of effects, all of varying sound quality. personally, i'm not looking for silky-pristine quality sounds all the time. i like the dirt, and the grit... so all of the effects are fine to me. the delays / ring mod / decimator are the best of the lot in my opinion.

it's a sampler. the quality of sounds depends upon the user.
some of the pre-loaded samples are nice... kicks, snares, some of the tribal drum loops.
this machine is quite expressive however. almost every parameter of the sound/sample is controled by the onboard buttons and knobs.
24 tracks of motion sequence recordings... basically meaning that for any given pattern, you can have the motion of up to 24 knobs recorded and automated.
as for the filter... i don't really know much about how it compares with older synths' filters (moog, oberheim, etc.) but i do know that it sounds quite expressive to my ears. if resonance is 100%, you will definately get some thick, self-resonating frequencies shooting out at you!

i've only had it for 2 months, so we shall see...

I use this with an E-mu XK-6, Korg MS2000, and my PC. This machine has opened a wealth of possability and expression for me. i am a "hands on" kind of person, so this suits me well. i've been creating some great psychedelic / ambient / glitchy music in one of my projects and this thing aids immensely... especially in a live setting.
I like to try out equipment in the store as much as possible before purchasing. I played the sampler for about an hour on 5 seperate occasions before buying it. each time i did, i kept creating new sounds/textures and my interest never began to wane... that's my ultimate gear test and it passed with flying colors.

this machine will probably not do everything that you want it to by itself. (although if you were limited to just this, with some creativity, it certainly could be) - but as a rhythmic-oriented sampler... it is awesome.

A monkey could figure out the basics of this thing, but the more you do with it, the more you discover the capability of the machine and the endless possibilities. This thing is crying out for experimental techniques. The ribbon control and arpeggio slider are SO much fun to use! Killer for on the fly, improvised drum work. The manual is pretty straightforward. If you've used samplers/drum machine's in the past then this is a piece of cake with a really fun interface. The knobs are fairly sturdy, but I found the slide controller and frequency cutoff knob getting a little loose since they are used more frequently.

Plenty of FX, but only some are good. It's an awesome MIDI controller, especially if you utilize the ribbon and slider controls. The smart media format is fine for a sampler in this price range. The sequencer is very easy to use, but you have to have your samples just right or they may click between patterns. It's lacking a fade in control/button, and you have to fade in samples with a frequency sweep or a motion sequence, which is kind of a hassle. Of course, there's a fade out but you can't really control the shape of the fade, so I guess this thing has issues with fading samples in general. No expansion options and the memory is pretty feeble. You can use up the memory quick if you like long samples. If you go with stereo samples, forget about it. It takes up TWICE as much space. You will not have enough room to do more than two projects at a time, maybe one.

Great dance music tool i'd imagine. House, trance, all that 4/4 stuff. I'm sure you can use it for anything though. I've made some interesting stuff with it and I don't even like dance music. The effects are just ok. The BPM delay is great. The decimator, grain shifter, and ring mod are pretty cool. But the flange/chorus, reverb, and distortion are lackluster. I was hurting for a nice lush reverb. I've heard much better from other hardware and my PC. The "keyboard" buttons aren't all that playable but they get the job done. Works great with an external midi keyboard. The motion sequence function for recording on the fly FX and EQ tweeks is killer and easy to use.

As mentioned, some of the more frequently used controls were getting a bit loose. My AC adapter burned out after 6 months. A new one from KORG was $40 plus shipping. Then, 10 months after the warranty expired, it glitched out and never returned. The electronics shop in my town said the only thing they could do for it would be to replace the motherboard. I took great care of this thing, it died. Will go with AKAI next time and cannot recommend this sampler if you're looking for reliability.

The website is pretty. The AC adapter I ordered from them was overpriced. They have a list of authorized service shops on the site, but no direct contact for equipment malfuctions or warranty claims. The shop they listed is the one I went to.

Get an AKAI or keyboard workstation. For the price, it's not bad. But spend a little more and you can get something much better. That said, this is a lot of fun to use and sounds pretty good. I used it a lot when I had it. I do wish it hadn't died.

The ESX-1 is quite simple to use. The presets give a basic idea of what can be done with this piece of equipment, and they sound pretty good. The sequencer is very simple to use, but due to the fact that on this piece of hardware, you can only break a measure up into 16th notes with a swing algorithm applied to it, I find it very limited. The manual is very well written and explains all of the functions in good detail. It is very easy to use but I feel that Korg has made it just a tad too "dumbed down" to make professional music with as a standalone device.

I believe the ESX-1 has 12 part polyphony. The 16 pads are used to play back the samples at different pitches in keyboard mode, which unfortunately can only be used as 2 of the 12 parts. Then there are 2 'stretch' parts, which play back loops to match the BPM of the pattern or song being worked on. There is a 'slice' part which can play back a part 'sliced' up by the device, such as a drum pattern sample in memory. The other 7 parts are all one shot 'drum' parts.

My major problem with the ESX-1 is that 2 parts to play pitches back at is very limiting. The product can resample a loop, so that it will free more memory up in a pattern for keyboard parts again, but it is really difficult to make something sound very musically rich on this device due to this limitation, in my opinion.

There are many onboard effects that are interesting and useful - Lo-fi distortion, band pass filters, oscillators, a grain shifter function, a compression filter, just to name a few. They are very easy to use. I have to mention that the reverb function does not produce a great effect, which was disappointing for me.

The ESX-1 can use SmartMedia cards to store and load samples, patterns, and songs. Transferring samples to memory by smartmedia is a slow process but it gets the job done. Plus there is a normalize function on the device , so if the samples are too quiet it will bring them up to levels consistent with others on memory(nice function!). The device has MIDI in, out, and thru, you can assign any of 16 MIDI channels to any or all of the 12 parts, and the ESX-1 even receives pitch bend messages! The major gripe I have is that, unlike a professional sampler, samples played back at various pitches while the ESX-1 is in 'keyboard' mode can not be played simultaneously. For instance, if I MIDI my keyboard to the ESX-1, and use the external keyboard to play back samples that are stored on the ESX-1 at differing pitches, I can only play one note at a time. While this isn't absolutely horrible, it definitely limits an artist!

The sequencer isn't bad, but it is so rigid that I don't even use it. I tend to use the ESX-1 now for playing samples back at different pitches and recording them into a more advanced sequencing program such as Sony Acid Pro. Possibly for a sloppy dance track it would be OK, but for professional music tracks this device's sequencer is unacceptable. The reason being that there is only 16th note quantization, and although a 'swing' function can switch where the note lands in the measure, there is no real fine-tune control of what is being recorded or played back with this sequencer. The sequencer may be easy to use, but for someone who is trying to make music that will sound professional solely with this device, forget it.

The sampler isn't bad on the ESX-1. It does a pretty good job of playing back samples accurately and true to their original form. Good enough to use the samples on a professional song. However, it isn't a perfect sampler, and some of the qualities of sound are lost in the process of transferring the samples to the ESX-1, normalizing, and playing them back. It isn't enough to make me give up on it, though. You can really make some neat sounding instruments using the ESX-1, which is what I love about it. I've found that it can really express a full and dynamic range of sound depending on what onboard effects and samples are used, and it doesn't take all that long to work out an instrument that sounds great using this device. The ESX-1 is very nice in this area.

I'd say you could use the ESX-1 for any genre of music if you are creative with it. I personally use the device for hip hop, drum and bass, break beat, and dance music, and it works out great for these genres if I use it for it's strengths. The onboard effects contribute greatly to the power of the sound coming out of the box. There are so many effects that can be combined and tweaked together to make a completely new effect that it is mind boggling. And they can sound very nice if used carefully.

Another great thing about this hardware is that when a keyboard is MIDI'd up to it, the samples will play back at different velocities depending on how you perform on the external keyboard! This is one of the most useful features of this device. When MIDI'd to an external keyboard, it's pretty close to doing what a much higher priced sampling keyboard can do.

This hardware is solid, I would only worry if I dropped it in a puddle or spilled a glass of milk in the vent holes near the top. Very reliable, I would take it anywhere without a backup.

I've never had a problem with this device, but there is a lot of support as far as information and such on Korg's website. I can't really comment on Korg's customer support, since I've never used it. (I still have a Korg DS-8 keyboard that works perfectly, Korg's stuff has always been very well made in my opinion).

I have to admit, if the device was stolen I'd be upset, but I wouldn't be another one. I'd go for an Akai MPC sampler, or even a Fantom or Triton sampling keyboard. It's barely worth what I paid, but I am getting good use out of it. I've been making dance-oriented music since 1999. I also own a Korg DS-8, a Boss Sp-505, an MC-303 and 09, a couple other cheap samplers, of course a computer with Acid Pro, Cubase, various VSTs like Halion.
I love the fact that I can use it as a powerful sampling sound module when MIDI'd with a keyboard. I hate the fact that the sequencer is so limited that I can't make professional music on this device by itself.
A friend of mine was selling it because he's getting out of the music making game, so I bought it hoping it could fill in for something like an MPC, but I regret it a little bit now. Although it is a useful device.
I really wish you could sequence without quantization on this device, and also play up to 12 keyboard parts, not just 2 out of the 12. If it had those 2 features I believe it could stand on its own as a powerful sampler sequencer.
It helps to make music if I use its strength - playing samples back as instruments using an external MIDI keyboard. If I try to do anything else with the ESX-1, it gets in the way of making a professional sound.
I am grateful that I found this used at a cheap price, and that it does have some pro functionality.

It's a pleasure to use...eventually. The set up time for pro use is long. It took days to delete all the preset patterns and sounds. Loading samples in one at a time off your Smartcard takes forever too. Once you're set up though, it's easy as pie. Envelopes and filters are tricky to control sometimes. Not that they're poor quality, it's that the sweet spots are very small.

I got this unit to fill it with realistic drums, not dance stuff. Love some of what it does, but other things lack. First off, the drum pads are way too small to play comfortably, then the "keyboard" is even worse. You eventually get used to it though. The sequencer is solid meat/potato. Good timing if a little rigid. Auto-quantize needs to have an OFF setting. Playback should be what I played. No append feature sucks but you can cheat around this in the lovely, beautiful song mode. The song mode allows you to add so many unique nuances to the tracks that it really brings the production
level up. This is a feature I always wanted and am happy to have finally. Arpeggiator is a strange set up. It's alright and occasionally useful. I wish however, that the slider and touchstrip were assignable to other functions. Extra outputs are nice to have.
Metronome clicks are the loudest, earsplitting cracks you have ever heared with no adjustment besides routing them out the individual outs. The monophonic keyboard parts are lame and poorly triggered for some reason. The stretch parts for loops are fabulous and time out wonderfully.

The tone overall is warm and powerful in the midrange.
It's great for Electro-rock. It can be too warm though. It's really hard to get any cool digital sounds out of it. The effects are for the most part terrible. If you have a bunch of stuff going on, a little of the effects is alright, and I like that you can configure them in multiple ways. But the algorithms themselves are bad. The EQ which should be the cleanest and simplest has some sort of constant hiss built into it. The compressor has a volume problem and the distortion is some other effect altogether. The tubes lend a nice sound though. I would like to experiment with replacement tubes for richer sound. The Modulation bank is excellent and gives you a lot of options. Filter bank is basic but quite respectable. I should mention that transitions between parts are exceptionally smooth as others have stated. This counts for a lot and gives it that extra sheen.

Body is very strong. Knobs are pretty decent, though I worry about the main alpha-dial encoder wearing over time. Tubes will probably need maintanance. Software seems stable, with no lock ups. I plan on playing out with it.

OS upgrade available from Korg website. Please make another update that fixes the FX!

It probably seems like I'm being hard on this machine. In reality I love it. It's hands down the best groovebox type item I've used due to the high capacity sampling, friendly sequencer and unique sound. I got it to be a drum machine with loop player, and that's what it is. It's not quite a workstation because you will want to layer better synth sounds over it. Also the sound spectrum it outputs, while pleasant, is too limited to use by itself. For those of us not blessed with the parents to buy us Alesis Fusions it's as good a sampling beat machine as you can get for the price. I considered the E-Mu PX-7 because I wanted the realistic drum sounds, but since this can hold my own sounds I can use it for more than one record. ASR-X may sound cleaner but no Ensoniq software is stable. It's a nice simple, up to date sampler with a few quirks that you can work with depending on your goals. It's fun and kind of more than the sum of it's parts.

Ease of use- it's an Electribe; it's a textbook example of easy use. The manual is quite thorough, not nearly as condescending as the manuals for the Yamaha AN200 and DX200. Feature-wise, it's a grand improvement on the Korg EM-1, and just as easy to use if not easier.

Il n'y-a pas Polyphony. The button action was stiffer than the Korg EM-1 types- the more plastic Electribes. Not as cuddly, but it'll hold up more over time. The knobs are fine, nicely waited; you can almost forget they're plastic.

The effects are easy enough to use, but more later on that.

The cards work fine, like MUCH FASTER than Korg ES-1 or Zoom ST-224, but there could be more saving options. I mean there's ENOUGH, but more would make certain decisions easier. It's erasing sounds that takes too long.

And of course the sequencing is the soul of ease. Actually, the "last step" option is the most flexible thing you can use, especially if you dig nontraditional measure-lengths.

As with any sampler, it's what you put in that makes it sing. The only sonic parameters to criticize are the filters, modulation and effect.

A full ADSR section wouldn't have killed anyone. The filters aren't as rich as Roland's, but much more precise. You can get some of those trendy car commercial and Stereolab results.

The effects: most are good but that reverb... geh! Whomever allowed that should be deported to Singapore and caned.

The valvetronix tubes do give some warmth and a nice effects boost. That's not just a light-up item.

Very dependable, but you've got to respect the tubes. Leave it on too long, under clumsy conditions, and it could overheat.

My experiences with Korg tech support were brief and dealt with the Korg Kaoss Pad 2 (just some questions), but they seemed pretty swell actually.

Were it lost or stolen: Very probably. I might trade it in for a Roland Fantom S, or a Roland Sp-404, then I'd know for certain. It's a definite boost to my music-making capacity.

My current synth rig is simply the Korg ESX-1, an Alesis Micron, and a Roland PCR-50 midi controller. If you know where to get your samples, that's all you need for analog work.

It took me an evening of becoming familiar with the interface and now it feels quite comfortable, consistent and easy. Just about everything can be tweaked while a sequence is running, so it's really great for live. The use of the lights on the buttons really provides effective feedback once you get used to how they work. I gave it a quick sync test with Cakewalk and that works great as well, so as a studio add-on it's quite effective as well. I think I'm using a late version OS (haven't figured out how to check yet), as there was an addenda page to the manual describing a new play level feature (came out with 1.01). After an evenings getting familiar, I really feel I understand this product pretty well, unlike a lot of other gear I have that I've used for months or years and still feel I haven't much familiarity with it. On the other hand, I do like knowing there's power there that I can delve into when I need it, the reason I bought the SX-1 in the first place was for more instant-gratification with regards to getting some really good rhythm tracks down with ease.

Effects-- somewhat of a mixed bag. Quite a few are great, the delays, granulator, phaser, chorus/flanger, etc. are all fine. The reverb is the pits though-- it has some serious aliasing problems or something that causes significant undesirable effects when cranked up high enough to tell that it's on. It's unfortunate too, as reverb is a critically important effect (especially for me, as I do surf-jazz). At least you can send the voices to four separate outs and effect them externally. It would be nice if the aux outs could be used for effect sends, with the "dry" signal also going out the main stereo outs, but I'm not sure if you can send a voice to both 1 & 3 outs (for example), or have to pick just one. The three simultaneous effect layout is pretty flexible, though more than once now I've had to swap them around because I decided later I wanted to chain two and they were in the wrong slots for that. The main effects filters and EQ is a bit redundant however, as each voice has it's own filter-- while nice, I'd easily trade them all for a usable reverb. Also, it appears there's no sample data in/out via MIDI, you have to do it via smartmedia, which means you'll need a reader for your computer. Nowhere do they tell you how big a SM card you need to dump the whole machine-- they spec the storage in seconds of sample time not MB and I've never seen a SM card that is spec'ed in sample-seconds. And consequently, there'll be no such thing as integrated sample-editor software on the computer, as it won't be able to d/l the samples over MIDI. Further, SM cards currently max out at 128MB, so here we have a sampler box that has 128MB max online storage without swapping cards, since you can't hook up your 160GB PC to the box for direct sample storage. The "tube" effect seems to be pure gimmick, not unlike putting an 11 on volume controls on guitar amps. The heaters don't light, if they're wired in at all I'll bet they're probably using the filament connections as a resistor just so they can say they actually are connected to something. All I can tell really, is it gets quite a bit louder-- like a "gain" control, I don't notice the "tube warmth" that I am quite familiar with having restored several old tube radios, TVs and stereos. But I didn't buy it for that, and having some extra kickass gain ain't a bad thing. The arpeggiator is pretty weak as well, in my opinion-- though perhaps less so if I hook up an external keyboard. The operation of the ribbon controller and fader can be swapped, but either way trying to get good sounding things out of them, even with some of the more interesting arp scales is pretty tough as the control over timing is nonexistent-- one selects note and the other duration (or at least, seems to), the notes incessantly trigger at rapid fire intervals, so you have to dance on the ribbon to keep the firing from being way too mechanical. Despite all this criticism though, I do really like the machine and wouldn't part with it-- it's one hell of a powerful rhythm box which is just what I needed for my setup. I'm giving it 7 here, mainly due to the lack of decent reverb and direct-to-PC sample transfer.

Default drums are pretty nice, and there's a couple of interesting effects, but the vocals are throw-away (even if Hip-Hop is your game, you'll probably want to use your own and not these anyway), and it's a bit weak in the other instruments-- I don't even remember seeing a piano, and of the half-dozen basses all but two were pretty annoying. But what the hey, it's a sampler and I'll want to use my own anyway, though I *really* wish it was easier to get them from my PC to the box... The internal samples do show you that you can really get a boatload of samples in the thing though, and I checked the memory use and it said about 100s of sample space still available, so with some planning you can really fill this thing up with an impressive array of sounds. What kind of music? BEAT oriented, as what the thing is really, is a monster rhythm machine with melodic capabilities-- while you can use it as a sampler-sound-module, you only get polyphony by using separate voices-- just fine for a super rhythm box but not for a general purpose sampler. I was impressed by some of the "realtime" recording though, despite the fact that it appears to be totally "step" oriented, I was able to put it into record and "play" the keyboard buttons and see that it correctly would store arbitrary note-on/off positions so you can get mostly whatever note durations you need to get your sound. Sequencer programming is very easy, fun and powerful. Haven't tried the "motion" record yet, but I expect that should add significantly to it as well, I'm pretty sure you can multi-pass several motions over it so you can concentrate on getting just one effect or filter right, then go back and add adjustments on another, etc. up to something like 24 tracks worth. Sample fidelity sounds great--, except for reverb as I said, the effects are quite useful.

It runs REALLY hot. The powerpack is a 3000W low-voltage AC supply, so this thing really eats up the juice. And there's no fan, so it does worry me a bit (especially since a previous reviewer had problems with that). Since it's under a 1Y warranty, perhaps I should keep this thing turned on 24/7 and make sure it's REALLY burned in good-- solid state circuits rarely fail after they've had a good burning in, and there's no moving parts so it could last forever once it has had a good burning in. Mine's only a day old so it's too soon to tell really, but it's gonna get a lot of use in that 1yr warranty period both because it's a whole lot of fun, and because I want it to fail sooner rather than later if it's going to. Case is really sturdily built though, as long as you don't back your SUV over it it'll probably take a fair amount of abuse...

Dunno... I think this is the first Korg box I've had much to do with (though I drooled over a Triton for awhile)...

Well, there's nothing like it at the moment that's quite as easy to use for both designing and performing rhythm of a wide variety of styles-- while the demos show off the decidedly hip-hop, it is by no means limited to that. It probably doesn't have quite the oomph to do say, a complete Amon Tobin or Tipsy piece all by itself, but it'll get you most of the way there if you can shoehorn some of the elements in as drum samples. Fortunately, it's REAL good at switching from pattern to pattern in realtime, so you don't have to pick 12 samples for a whole song and stick with them, you only have to stick to 12 per pattern which could be as short as one measure. The "slice" part is a pretty interesting concept which I've played with a bit and expect will really help to layer sample perk-loops over the top of sequences and be able to selectively silence hits within that loop for nice variations. That you can do timing other than 4/4, such as 5/8 or 7/8 is a big plus for me, as I'm into jazz, and I think this and the blue "analog synth" version are the first that provide that capability (I was totally blown away when I found that so many of these things were stuck on 16-- did none of these guys ever take any music lessons?). All in all, a very powerful and flexible unit with lots of sample, pattern and song storage. You could probably do a whole dance gig just with this one box, but I'm looking forward to combining it with lots of things-- several synths and my guitar in particular.

I usually wouldnt do some review on something but this thing is so amazing I have to let any one out there wonderign if its worth getting that it is 100%. I've had about every kind of groove box, sequencer , work station what ever and never has one been more easy and fun to wrok with. Not to mention productive. Its insanly easy to use cause theres a button or knob for everything.

THe features couldnt be better. FX are awsome, LFOs, OSCs, everything is good enough. I went and got a 64 MB smart card and a cheap smartcard reader - writter right away and its awsome . I have a million sample cds ( email me at SHARADE@JUNO.COM if you need some new sounds for your ESX) and i'll throw in a cd, pull it up with CdXtract if its not in wav, save a sample drop it on the smart card , pop out the card pop it in the ESX and pull it up and go crazy with it. It can easy do the stretch function which i wondered how good it would do but its really simple and works dead on.

I've never been able to be so expresive with anything. And Ive got or had everything (not to sound stuck up but i have) After laying down a simple beat, loading some samples and starting to use the motion sequencer on the filters, LFOs and everything else, its amazing how expresive this thing can be. Ive never been so impressed with a little box that can make your head spin with a little creativity.

I have had it aobut 2 weeks and got 2 of the bestter songs ive ever produced coming out of it. Ive got the EM1 and EA1 sequencing a MicroQ, Nord Modular, JP8080 and a few others and the music is just pouring out of it. I always wanted something that could load a sample and do what it does with it and cant express how professional it does the job on this mission of mine....playin

So far so good.

NA

If it were stolen Id go get another one and beat the person dead with it and then go get another one... Been playing for over 10 years but doing the Dance stuff for about 5 years. Not gonna list everything I have cause whatsthe point this is on the ESX and its more fun and productive than Cubase SX with every freakin VSTi in the wprld loaded on it.

Fairly simple to use right out of the box. Dance oriented presets are somewhat complex, demonstrating a fraction of what it can do. Editing is a breeze once you know the knob functions. Keep in mind, always save your edits before changing to another pattern, or say goodbye to your work. Manual is in-depth, (maybe too much so), and helpful.

Mono polyphony, (12 part) Keyboard pads, (you can always midi up a controller keyboard if you want) are sufficient.
EFX are plentiful. Delays, (great BPM settings), Mods, (all nice but phaser is Rezzy at higher settings, Distortions, Decimator, Ring Mod, all work great for sound creation. Reverb has a kind of feedbacked delay at longest setting. Nicer if you back off the balance a bit. EQ's & filters also very handy.
Standard midi connections. Sequencer is fine and flexible enough. Simple to use.

Instruments sound good for a sampler this size. Anything that sounds bad, can be resampled until it sounds good. Or, simply make your own samples. I wish there was a users site, where we could DL & UL sounds created by other users. It works well in any type of music depending on your application. I play acid jazz, space rock, punk, acoustic classic rock, and ambient Improv, and use this suckah heavily. It reacts to my playing the way I want it to according to my programming. Velocity and aftertouch are not readily available but can be created through clever programming.

So far, so good. Korg products have always been well made.
Gig without backup? Well, I do, but I'd rather not. If the price drops significantly, I will get another.

Haven't dealt with either the company or problems at this time.

The price could be lower and will drop as the technology surges ahead. I'm playing now for 35 years and own a fairly extensive amount of gear, (GNX2, Gr-33, Pro-Mix01, Kaoss Pad, DR.770, Micro-Korg, Electrix Mo-FX and Warp Factory, Vintage Keys Module, Boomerang, Behringer Vintager Amp, Tech 21 Power Engines (2), LBL Eons, and various other items.
I love the ooomph!!! that the drums deliver on this unit, courtesy of the Tube feature. They stand out with any type of music I play. Nothing that I really hate, sorry.
I wish it had a lower price tag, but it's a trendy item right now and priced accordingly. It is totally a creation tool and very helpful in music making. Hear something in your head? This box will get it out. Creating drum sets from scratch can be a little time consuming, so one suggestion is use the preset kits, replace what you don't like and tweak them into personalized kits. This is a great live performance tool that I would replace quickly if stolen. Hopefully, that won't happen until the price goes down.

Great manual, simple machine, great presets but perhaps a couple more keyboard parts would be nice

No polyphony but the sampler lets you take a chord and play it up and down if you're really bothered about his sort of thing. The keyboard as others have said is a second function of the step keys which is not too bad to use after a bit of fiddling. Sometimes the pressure sensitivity is a bit hit and miss but then if you wanted a good keyboard you would have bought a keyboard, right? The effects are multitudinous and powerful - the mod delay is perfect for flipping your synth from left to right and make it sound like you've got more parts then you actually do! Plug in a mic through the line in (or your laptop/sampler/voice recorder/mic cable and brick or whatever) and use some of the mods (talking mod/pitch shifter eg) to mess up some vocals.

In regard to expansion the line in is potentially a lifesaver allowing your imagination to really go mad! When playing live I've switched between my laptop, a mic, an electric guitar and a bass to make plenty of mad sounds.

The sequencer is so simple to use and the realtime aspect allows you to make great rythms on the fly

Hell this doesn't sound realistic but then I didn't buy it for that! The modulation controls and the fact that you can record the knob twists allows expressiveness to the degree of insaniy - try whacking a fast and deep pitch modulation on part thats playing most of the time - e.g a keybord part and then use the arpeggiator to make some crazy scratching sounds.

You can do so much from driving industrial to squelchy organic infected mushrooms-esque noises - I got this primarily for trance but have since made all kinds of breakbeat/ downtempo ambient things as well.

As mentioned above the on the fly editing aspect makes it really fun to play and in this respect it becomes much more of an instrument than a tool. Changing a pattern as it plays, saving this (whilst still playing) seamlessly flipping to another pattern then flipping back to your newly saved pattern can make stuff seem really organic and constantly changing - which of course it is!

I'm using my ESX with an iMic, an iBook G3 600, a sony microphone and internet access for lots of samples! This more than makles up for it only having two keyboard parts.

The stretch parts I find a bit cumbersome and I am yet to find a decent use for the slice part - I personally would rather an extra keyboard part at the expense of one of the stretch parts but this is my preference - I'm sure lots of people think these are great!

I've been using my ESX solidly for about 2 months and have yet to suffer any issues. Sure I'd gig with it. Plus its built like a brick shithouse.

No need as of yet...

If it was lost or stolen I think I might for experiment's sake use the insurance money to buy an EMX (the non-samling sibling of the ESX) since I haven't really made too much use of the sampling features - again this is my preference rather than anything against the ESX which frankly kicks ass. I'm considering buying a Korg EA-Mk II to add a bit more synth to my set up - which I would argue is the ESX's single lacking feature.

This is my first tentative step into electronic music and I cannot put across how much FUN I've had with the ESX from remixing The Battle Hymn Of the Republic and God Save The Queen to Making lengthy ambient nonsense.

This is a fantastic thing that can twist the hell out of anything you choose to put through it producing powerful and complex sounds.

For an experiment try setting cho/flg to effect 1 and the send this effect to all of your drum parts (at least 4 is good). Then record motion sequence random or otherwise twists of the cho/flg effect edit knobs. You will be amazed at the sound that will emerge.

If you don't know much about making electronic music this is a great way to learn if you have 500 quid knocking around.

The presets - they are (for a machine of this price) quite excellent and much better than some other boxes I've heard recently. You can easily put your own sounds in (from a SmartMedia card or traditional sampling and once they are in there, there is a lot of editing and shaping that can be done to make the sound your own. The manual is quite a help too and you won't need to read it too many times before you're flying around this unit and hitting out some banging beats!

The polyphony is enough for this kind of machine (though it would have been nice to have a few more voices), but if your making any kind of urban music, you won't find it too much of a problem (just listen to the Kelis album "Tasty" and you'll know what I mean!). The SmartMedia card slot goes upto 128Mb, which (again) is enough for most users, but the best feature of this machine has to be the sequencer, which gets your ideas down fast and doesn't get in the way of the creative flow.

Unlike some other people who have posted a review on here, I think the preset samples and patterns that come with the machine are very good and much better than some othe "groove boxes" that come with naff sounds that don't cut it in a mix and patterns that would be more at home on a home keyboard than a professional dance product! The onboard effects are very creative when it comes to actually changing the sound of your samples and the results (rather than just being a gimick that will date rapidly) are actually usable, which is what matters. The arppegiator and ribon controller are great too.

The unit seems very solid and well made. I've never had much of a problem with Korg gear in the past (unlike some other companies I could mention, but won't!), so yes I would gig with it.

Having dealt with Korg many times, I would have no worries about customer support as they have always been great in the past.

I would buy it again if anything were to happen to it. Compared to the Roland SP-606 for example, it's a much more exciting machine to play with and (I feel) far more creative (okay, the 606 does have the advantage of USB, the D-Beam controller, a larger memory and graphic waveform editing too, but (to me), it feels a much less exciting machine to use and not quite as phat-sounding as the Korg when you start turning up the ESX's built-in tubes). I've been using kit like this since the late 80's, and it's by far one of the best of it's kind. It doesn't get in the way of what ideas you may have and it's just so hands on compared with similar products from other companies. If Korg ever made an "extreme" version (more polyphonic, built in synth from the EMX-1, USB, more outs and so on), I'd buy it without question. All in all, the ESX-1 is an excellent product from Korg.

so rad, so easy

sweet features

sounds great once you have deleted all of the lame korg preset sounds

soooooo pissed off with this thing. i got a floor model and it died within about 2 months. it seems to overheat or something, i worked on it one day for about 12 hours, turned it off when i went to bed, turned it on when i woke up and it didn't boot. korg gave me a refurbished one after 3 months (losing all of my work), wich just died from the same issue tonight. grrrrrr never use it for more than 4 hours at a time. never gig with it and don't trust it to boot up.

korg always seems fine, though it did take a long time for a repair.

still angry about the heat issue if that what it is.

If you're familiar with x0x style sequencing or have used the original electribes, the interface will be second nature. It's probably the most intuitive piece of gear I've ever owned.

Others have listed what it can do. Basically, if you take the ES-1, fix everything that was wrong with it, and add several new features that you wish had been on it to begin with, you have the ESX-1. Unlike most samplers, it's not an end-all/be-all solution, but it works great as a sample-based drum machine with 2 monophonic synth/texture/noise/whatever parts thrown in - I plan on using it as a compliment to a Nord Modular G2. It's also excellent as an effects unit, as you can run mono or stereo audio into it and process it with a filter/LFO and the effects send as well as gating it via the sequencer. Overall the feature set is excellent, especially if you use it primarily for rhythm programming and monophonic texture.

It's a sampler, so junk in = junk out. The processing sounds excellent, and they've upped the sample rate to 44kHz. Really it sounds as good as you want it to.

It seems a bit more fragile than the ES-1, especially considering the tubes, but it's still built like a truck. Obviously you don't want to throw it out of a 10th floor window, drive over it with a dump truck, or spill a 2-liter of soda on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it survived all of those things either. I'd gig with it in a heartbeat. I've read stories of software failure in previous electribes, altho I've never experienced it myself.

Haven't had to deal with them, and I've owned 5 or 6 pieces of Korg gear.

For $675 you get an incredibly versatile sample-based drum machine, sample mangler, and effects unit. I've paid more for each of those individually. Another easy-to-use product from Korg, and unlike most of their other recent releases (ms-2000/micro/electribes) the feature set is pretty impressive. A very usable piece of gear at a good price.

I am using the first OS, tonight I intend to grab the latest OS form the mentioned japan site. The manual is usable. The preset sounds and preset tracks were pretty good.

The polyphony is previously mentioned. I midi either one or both keyboard tracks to my synth (Yamaha CS2x), then I stretch a break beat (Big Fish, Acid Loop, etc..) and slice a percussion sample. The other drum parts hold drum or synth hits and mic samples (voices, pans, etc...)

I works for House, Hip Hop, Drum&bass, R&B, etc... Again, there is no velocity sensitvity. I like the effects and the sequencer. It is just like Fruity Loops. I got it because I am not inclined to turning LFO knobs with a computer mouse. In fact, I sold my comuter and sound card (M-Audio 4x4)- too many parameters.

It has never failed me yet. It is very portable. One thing, my unit is very noisy- but is does fade in the mix (7). Also, use a XLR transfomer on the 3 and 4 aux channels.

Never called them.

If it was stloen I would try to get a unit just like it with balanced and less noisy outputs. It still ranks above the BOSS SP-505 unit- which is the only sampler in this pice range. But all and all it it has some great features for a small home studio.

using the newest version 1.1.0 i believe. i had to download the newest os from korg japan wich fixes a few problems with the original os. the preset sounds and patterns were actually alright they have all the basic samples and patterns for the modern dance hiphop scene. but i have cleared almost all the samples out to put in my own. i have only saved a few patterns to see how they were made. editing samples and patterns is a breeze using this thing is really great and easily laid out, very simple to use. the manual is alright it tells you the basics, it even gives you some educational info on sound and sampling.

the polyphony is mono with the ability to layer two keyboard 'parts'. the keypad is allright. not velocity sensitive or pressure sensitive the arpeggiator slider/ribbon controller is a nice touch that i hope gets updated with new os versions, ie being able to use both on the drum parts. the effect are incredible. they aren't the greatest but they sure are powerful and handy. the grain freeze is pretty cool. the distortiond and bit reduction rock and the compression is very usable. they are really simple to use and assign to the samples. it has a smartmedia drive for importing/exporting samples saving or loading patterns and songs wich works without a hitch and is much faster than the es-1. it has midi in/out/thru with a syncable clock wich i have not tried yet. the sequencer is dead easy but it is basically 4/4 16ths with the ability to place the ending step of the pattern and 128 steps. much has improved over the other electribes. great for live use and improv.

this is definitely a dance oriented machine. but it will do hiphop or other electronic production music. iam using it for some really noisy breaks/beats and heavy basses and it works great. the tubes really give my sound punch and depth. and the effects and filters/lfos twist the hell out of my samples. there are plenty of knobs to tweak and tons of things to do in a live situation. i think it sounds clean and can be pushed to the edge of noisy depending on the feel you are going for. it is a great improvement over the es-1 but i think a serious studio producer would not be too impressed. i don't mind. i think its great and have done some good sounding stuff after just a couple of weeks getting to know my way around it.

it has been reliable, no crashes or hiccups. no problems to speak of. the resampling feature has been improved with the new os. the body is all metal. seems like it could take some bumps.

never had to deal with korg. but i had to go to the japanese site to get the upgrade and i think the american site still doesn't have it.

if i lost it or it got stolen i would get another. it was definitely worth what i paid. i thought it would cost more actually. i really enjoy this machine even though it has limitations. i did not think i would buy another piece of gear after setting up my computer with music software. now i only use it to get synth sounds and clean up my samples to be exported to my sampler. i have been playing for 9 years and have owned plenty of sequencers, samplers, synths, and effects processors including tons of other 'groove' gear and all of the other electribes. not too long ago i opted to sell it all and setup a computer to replace it. i love the fact that every time i turn it on i come up with something. i like messing around on it and experimenting and i like sequencing with it and making new tracks to play along with. i hate the fact that you can only trigger the drums with the arpeggiator. you should be able to adjust the pitch and then you would be able to heve even more options to make sick sounds. i hate the fact that the indi outs cannot be put through the effects. it helps me make things easier for making music.

The whole point of this is ease of use! You can do all sorts of things on it that would take a great deal of time to do with a rack sampler or software. Editing is as easy as it gets. This encourages experimentation. Great for a beginner, a minimalist, or as a supplement to a larger hardware-based studio. You software folks will probably stick to Fruity Loops and plug-ins...

The preset samples (all eraseable) include some very useful drum samples and some not-so-useful voice and synth samples.

Polyphony is 12- 7 drum samples (one-shot), 1 slice part (ala wavesurgeon or reason), 2 stretch parts (that adjust to tempo via timestretching), and two keyboard parts that allow pitched playback from the buttons or via an external keyboard. These all do what they're supposed to do but the keyboard part is pretty limited (it's monophonic, has very limited looping facilities, and does odd things when you play it legato (envelopes won't retrigger)) and is intended for basslines and leads. There is also a accent part and an audio in part (for gating external audio, which can also be run through the effects) but those don't count as polyphony in my book.

The built in effects are pretty nice for this type of box. Editing of them is limited but they sound good and are easy to get useful results from. Motion sequences add a whole new dimension to these (see below).

Expansion is limited to smart media for storage (up to 128 mb, which is a big improvement over the es-1). It syncs to midi clock (not time code, unfortunately) and can trigger/be triggered over 3 midi channels (one for each kb part and one for everything else).

The sequencer is most of the reason for using this. It's XoX style, up to 128 steps (16 X 8 bars) per pattern. Incidently you can set a last step which allows odd time signatures unlike the earlier electribes (IIRC). There are also up to 24 motion sequences per pattern. Motion sequences are a way of recording knob tweaks, so you can change delay times, pitch etc. on the fly and record the changes into the pattern. These can also be edited in step mode. Swing and accent can be turned on/off for each part as well.

It's a sampler. Drums sound full and punchy and the bass end is there. Sampling rate is now 44.1 khz. instead of 32. No down-sampling to save space unfortunately, but there's 245 seconds mono and that's probably enough. (And you can resample through effects for lo-fi sounds and to save polyphony). Effects are not classy- in your face is a better description- but work very well for electronic music. The delays are smooth and the distortion goes from subtle to not. There is also an extra pair of stereo outs.

A word about the tubes- they do add a little something when used sparingly (mabye 9-10 O'clock on the knob), but don't get too excited.
There's a bit of hiss on the main outs too, but nothing you'd notice in a mix.

Seems well made for this sort of device- case is metal. Knob shafts are probably plastic. It's small- make yourself a case if you plan to gig with it. The es-1 has a good rep for reliability and I imagine this will as well. Same basic button and knob construction.

Would I buy this again? Sure.

I've been making electronic music for about 5 years now. One year seriously ;-). I;ve migrated away from software and towards the hands-on feel and reliability of hardware. Harware makes playing live and jamming more creative and interesting too. Samplers have always been a problem for me...a rack sampler is an invaluable tool (I have an A4000) but just isn't very inspiring. The es-1 concept of a tweakable sampler paired with a drum sequencer intrigued me but it just wasn't flexable or powerful enough. The esx1 fixes that. I do things on it that I would never be bothered to try with a sequencer and a rack. And it's way fun and cool to use live. You can get semi-improvisational with it and mess with the sounds. I'm giving it an 8 'cause it's not the most powerful sampler out there...in fact, in terms of specs (polyphony etc.) it's one of the LEAST powerful samplers on the market. But if you "get it", it's great.