Korg Triton Rack

Sotware version 1.5.1

Let's start saying that I'm primarily a guitar player with a personal studio, looking for the ultimate piece of gear to complete my project. Where I live these days (Argentina) options are somewhat limited, so cutting a long story short I bought the Triton Rack to serve the purpose of puting together some killer tracks.

Like some others (and even when I know my way thorugh synths) I found kinda hard to navigate the Triton. The manual (heavy as a bilbe!) uses very technical language which angles the learning curve to a whooping 90?. Might be good for a rollercoaster, not a manual, I bought this to play not to hurt my eyes! Anyway, I read on until my eyes were sore and I was in the right track again. I'm still impressed by the power of this machine...

Clocking in at 64, (standard) polyphony is OK for me. RAM on this thing is more than all my other hardware synths together, which is not always a sign of quality sound, but a string indication of its power.

Probably the most upgradable piece of gear in the market (always provided your bank account is fat enough), you'll find anything you might wish here (Vintage sounds, Dance sounds, Legacy sounds, Sampling, Extra Outputs, Extra Inputs, you name it. As long as you have the ca$h, the Korg Triton team has something for you).

Acoustic and "natural" instruments are great. Pads are fat, thick and luxurious. I do not play piano enough to say if there are better ones out there. It sounded pretty realistic to me. All analog sounds are grrreat. Electric guitars, on the other hand, are somewhat lifeless...

I think it is unfair to caompare this unit with a sampler, so I'll refrain to do so. IMHO if you're into hardware synths, this one smokes the competition these days, hands down.

If you're into pop, electronic, new age, ambient, progressive, hip hop, trance, dance, etc. this will suit you. I play a mixture between industrial and metal and suited me fine! The onboard effects are beyond good, provided you're proficient enough to tweak 'em a little.

Best in class.

Looks pretty solid. I selected to own the rack version (aside of running out of space) for reliablity, that's how solid it looks...
Why giving it a 9? Soemthing I did learn is that nothing is indestructible (those of you out there with little kids know what I'm talking about)

No need so far...

If it were stolen, I'd purchase another one immediately (OK, I'll save some money first for a while).

I bought this Rack to serve the purpose of creating some killer sounds to hook up to a keyboard, and use that as a contoller. Upon buying it i found it abit hard to navigate my way round. I'll admit i'm no genius in any sense with this sort of thing, but the manual uses abbreviations and very technical language which could baffle most people. The rack itself though is easy to navigate though, and i have had no problems, although doing certain thing like fiddling about with mulit-samples isn't brilliantly covered in the manual and i had to blindly fumble my way through things like that...

Certainly very upgradable... discincertinly so, it makes me wonder how much they actually left out in order to make some more cash.... but it certainbly has loads of features, most upgradable. Sampling, a host of midi controlling capablities etc. you get the picture: it has it all!

Here's where it really let me down. Being a keyabordist, i had in mind sounds that i could adjust, but where around the right mark for a lead keyboard. But unfortunately it lacks severely in this. The lead sounds it does have sound awful, and all the rest of the attention for sounds goes to dance/trance sounds which is really useful... They have come up with some good sounds in there, but mixed in with alot of crap really. Considering it is a sound module from a keyboard workstation, the sounds are poor.

Never a problem. To test i deleted, reloaded and switched around all the preset data, and all was fine. It is difficult to permanently change sounds inrevocably which is good, sound build quality. It's good.

Never really had to deal with them, excapt for a question regarding the Module before purchase and they answered within the hour with helpful advise. No more needed

This product was a let down after i bought it, with high expectations from Korg's usual high standard ending in a complete downer. It does help abit in making midi programs and sounds etc. on the computer sound good, but aside from that it doesn't really do much good for me. I've never been one to sit for 7 hours to create a good lead sound, i'd rather modify an already good one to my needs, but i wasn't allowed even that. I might use it at a gig or whatever, but only if somebody gave me some patches for it because really it isn't worth that much of my time.

I am using the latest software version (1.5.1).

I think the presets on this machine are outstanding. I rarely use them as they are, but instead I tweak and alter them for use. Also, there are some absolutely EXCELLENT PCG files (sounds) that you can buy from places like Kid Nepro and Pro-Rec. The Kid Nepro PCGs are outstanding and Pro-Rec is good too. There are also many free PCGs and Triton utility programs offered by capable amateur Triton owners that you can download.

This synth is not a "piece of cake." However, given the depth and capability of this synth, it is pretty reasonable to learn and use. I've had no problems.
I haven't had too much trouble editing...I find it fairly easy. However, I should mention that I had a head-start on this machine. I owned a Triton Classic 61-key for several years and learned how to do some basic programming on it. Moving to the rack took a few adjustments, but not too many. I don't use a patch editor, although I am sure it may ease the editing task a bit.

The manual is ok, but leaves something to be desired. I learn a lot by doing and going to the internet. The Triton is one of the most widely owned synths, so it is easy to find tips and helpful information on the internet about this unit.

Polyphony is 60 (outstanding in my mind, although some synths have more). The built in FX are outstanding and really complete the sound rather than sounding forced and artificial.

EXPANSION!!!! That is why I bought this synth. As I mentioned, I owned a Triton Classic 61-key, but I ran out of expansion slots! I am selling my Triton Classic and will expand my Triton rack to the fullest. The expansion roms that I have are excellent (Vintage archives and Dance Extreme). Korg sounds are simply terrific.

The MIDI spec is great.

The Rack has no midi sequencer, but it does have a multimode that enables you to sequence using an external sequencer (which is what I do). You can also use the Combination mode to sequence if you like.

This unit is the workhorse of my studio. Period.

Overall the sounds are outstanding. Granted, the pianos are horrible...absolutely horrible. However, the Concert Grand expansion card (Exb09) has some really great pianos. I will be buying that expansion card soon!

This synth will do any genre. HOWEVER, the factory presets definitely have an electronic/dance sound to them. But the sounds are editable and are versatile. I don't use the original factory presets too much any more. Instead I use my own sounds or Kid Nepro (or Pro Rec) sounds, as well as the presets from the expansion boards.

I have been a Korg owner since my first synth (Korg Poly 61M) and have owned many Korgs since. I love them and have NEVER had a problem with them (Triton Rack included). I would even gig without a backup. However, this unit could become such a central piece, if you lose it you could lose everything. However, using a SCSI interface, you can EASILY back everything up!

Never dealt with Korg (never needed to).

This is my workhorse. I could not work without it. If it were lost or stolen, I would have to get another. It is an essential...truly essential...piece of equipment in my studio.

OS Version 1.1.1. The presets are OK to get you started, but you should really spend some to program your own. It's easy once you get the hang of it and great fun too! The manual is very technical, not as bad as Roland. It's a matter of taste, but I find the manual valueable as a reference. There's much to learn with this synth, so don't expect to master it in a night.

Polyphony is 60 which is not as bad as is sounds. Each program takes up two voices. On a Roland XV with higher polyphony, a patch can take up to eight voices and often does. I've never had a problem with polyphony anyway...Effects are great, and there a many of them. You can have a lot of fun just setting up the effects - there are so many possibilities. 5 insert effects and 2 master effects is great!

Piano on its own is not very realistic, but in a mix it sounds great to me! There are many good sounds like sax, strings, pads, bass and drums. But you should really learn to program this thing yourself - you will be amazed at what can be done! Be aware that instruments sound very dry when no effects are added - but that's only the presets. I've made a bank of 64 sounds that uses almost no effects and sound great without them! I find the tonal quality of the Triton is very warm and analog and I like it!

Never had a problem. It's very strong built and I hope it will last a long time!

Korgs website is above average. They even have new sounds to download!

I must admit I would buy it again, although it's a little expensive - maybe wait for a never model? I love the sound of it and all the possibilites and fun that can be had with it. The onscreen menus are not always userfriendly, but you get used to it I guess. Compared to Roland XV synths, the Triton is less "Midi" like and has got more soul IMHO. I wish it had USB for transfering samples! I have also been using a Korg Electribe and a MS2000 and I feel that Korg products are of a very high quality and build with the user and musician in mind.

Still using 1.0.1, haven't had any trouble with it. Setup is basically like the keyboard version but with less buttons. Some functions are a couple of knob presses away, but once you get to know the machine, it's no big problem. The LCD is a bit slow IMO. The presets basically sound good. I have the vintage synths expansion, which I use a lot. If it had not been for the EQ:ing of the factory patches, I would have rated this category an 8, but since the EQ curves are completely ridiculous (e.g. Bass + 8dB, middle -2 dB, Treble + 7dB) and unusable in a recording or gigging situation, I'll give it a 7.

Polyphony is never a problem for me since I mostly gig or record audio. I've had it almost two years now, and I still haven't used it for any MIDI sequencing. The sampler is a great addition to the onboard sounds, and the reason I rate this a 9. The effects sound good to me, but I usually replace the reverbs with external devices. Expansion possibilities are really good; 96 MB sample memory, SCSI and I believe seven expansion bords are possible at the same time. MIDI-wise, I've not had much trouble with it, no stuck notes or anything.

My favorite sounds are the synth type sounds, although I find the filters a little weak. Not having a band pass filter is a pity; that would do much in terms of sound. I use it as a bread-and-butter synth, and as such it performs very well. I have not yet encountered any sound that I can not at least approximate with the Triton, and I do a lot of freelance work demanding sound design. The basic samples are mostly good, but the EQ:s mess everything up. There should've been "reverb/delay on/off" and "select category" switches on the front panel, along with the master EQ.

I've smacked this baby around quite a bit, and she's never complained about it. No problems - yet... the rotary dial feels a bit unsteady.

Haven't dealt with them.

It's my bread-and-butter synth, and it handles those chores quite well. I used to own a Triton pro-X, but it got too heavy for me. If it were stolen, I'd probably buy a Motif rack and a sampler, because I'm a gearhead and I love to try new stuff. Live, I use the Triton with my Nord Electro and Lead 3, and it fills the gaps quite well. In my home studio I also have a Rhodes mark II and an Oberheim OB-Xa, and the Triton slides in comfortably between these. If it would be my only synth, I would have to buy the concert piano expansion, though, since the onboard pianos suck.

The presets sound excellent to me, but I like almost every genre except for country and rap. However, there are a LOT of free and
commercial programs and combinations available.

I find editing the patches to be easy; However, since I also have the KARMA, N-264, and X-5, I am very familiar with the menus and editing options. There is a manual and it is thorough. There are a few patch editors around, but I haven't used any of them yet, since modifying them from the module is straightforward for me.

The polyphony is 64. The Triton Rack holds a lot of expansion cards, but I only have the MOSS board, because you can put programs and combinations into those banks without having an expansion board. There are a lot of free and commercial Triton program and combination banks available, and I think many are better than the sounds from the expansion boards.

It has a sampler feature and holds 96MB of RAM. I haven't used it for this purpose yet.

Personally, I like the Triton Rack sounds a lot, and each bank holds 128 programs (P) and 128 combinations (C). This is what I currently have in my Triton Rack:

Internal Banks A - D Triton Rack (P's) and (C's)
Internal Bank E: Kid Nepro Film (commercial) (P's) & (C's)
Internal Bank F: MOSS expansion board (P's) (a mixing of my favorites)
Internal Bank G: General MIDI 1 and 2 (P's)
External Bank A - D: Triton LE (P's) but Combi Bank D is Triton
Studio Bank A (C)
External Bank E: Kid Nepro Studio Session (P) (commercial) and
Triton Studio Bank B (C)
External Bank F: Online Sound Production (P) (commercial) and Triton
Studio Bank C (C)
External Bank G: Online Sound Production 2 (P) and Triton Studio
Bank D (C)
External Bank H: Best of the PA-80 (P) and KARMA Bank A (C)

The above should give you a sampling of all of the sounds you can put into the Triton Rack. Every patch except for the GM's can be easily modified/changed. I have thousands of patches I haven't used yet. Because of all of the presets, freeware, and commercial banks available, you can use the Triton Rack with any genre of music.

I currently have a Korg X-5, N-264, KARMA, and this Rack and I have never had a problem with anything by Korg.

I have never had to deal with Korg.

If it were stolen, I'd purchase another one immediately and have it FedEx'd to me. I also have the Korg KARMA and they make a fantastic combination - the Triton's ARP's and the KARMA's GE's. I love the fact that this beast holds an ungodly amount of programs and combinations and all are easily modified or replaced.

The presets sound good to me. Editing patches isn't more difficult than other rack romplers. In fact, the LCD is large enough and the resolution is good. The manual is very freakin' big, but that's due to the complexity of this module. It's very versitile. But I found it friendly enough, and helpful, especially when loading presets for the PCMs and MOSS.

I think this sampler/synth is as full-feature as any, though it's not up to par when it comes to polyphony (like the XV-5080 for example), but hey, how many people need that much polyphony and multitimbrality anyway? The effects are very good (not a Lexicon or TC Electronic), but compared to other synth on-board effects, they are pretty good. The module is very expandable. You can add many sound modules, ADAT, SCSI, DSP virtual synth (MOSS), etc. The MIDI implementation is extensive and well documented, but not that easiest to set up (e.g., SuperNova).

Acoustic instruments are good, but can't beat a sampler. But that's not what the synth is designed for. I guess it's more inclined toward the synth pop/rock, electronic, new age, ambient, progressive, etc. Want the ultimate orchestral/acoustic/classical sound module? Get GigaStudio; it smokes all ROMplers and hardware samplers and leave them in the dust!!! But for sweet modulated/arpeggiated/crisp/fresh sounds, this baby rock!

To my _SUBJECTIVE_ taste, I find the Roland XV series (mine's the XV-5080) sound better, both in terms of voices or effects. I feel the Roland expansion cards (both SRJV and SRX) are more well-made and thought-out. For example, Roland's vintage synths card is much better and than Korg's. That was surprising because Korg's card is twice is big. May be that tells you more about the sound engine than the wave samples.

This where I will grumble big time. I bought it brand new with the EXB-MOSS. I installed the EXB-MOSS very gently, according to the instructions, and it worked fine for about 2.5 and then it dropped dead. It would boot to blank screen and hang up. I had serviced by a local authorized Korg shop and they told me one of the micro connections broke on the motherboard and they had to solder it again. They said may be I used too much pressure when I installed the MOSS board. Hey, installed zillion cards inside PCs throughout my career and I never had problem. The board connections must be crappy to break up from a gentle push of a card.

Customer support is good. They were helpful and referred me to a local service center. The center fixed it in a couple of days. So my impression about that is good.

If it was stolen, I will buy it again. There are many sounds in there that I really like and can't let go of. The XV-5080 is probably better sounding, but it's NOT a substitute for it. I do mostly Electronic music (Trance) and it's a perfect ROMpler for that. The MOSS board is also very underrated and very impressive. Remember it's the same engine as the Z1. If you have this module and you're doing Electronic music, then the MOSS board is a must!

I just wish it were more reliable.

OS: Windows 2000 Professional.
Presets: The presets are the best I've ever heard, Korg have definitely aimed this module at the dance techno pop market, the pads are huge - I mean HUGE, you play a single preset and just wanna write a Ferry Coursten Monster... The organs are lovely, I played the M1 preset over one of my house tracks and it fitted like a dream - no need for added effects etc which is v. refreshing! (if you like John Cutler this module your bag). I can see why musicians dis this module, the sax's, trumpets and pianos (real instruments) are a bit weak but hey that's not what I bought it for - most pro studios will use session musicans anyway, which leaves the Korg for layering on top. My Roland is great for real sounds which I hardly ever use. PS. Rob Davis wrote most of Kylie's "Can't get U outta my head" using this thing...
Editing: Unbelievable using SoundDiver 3 (the Triton controls are sooo easy to use, drawing envelopes with a mouse and having a list of efx settings fill the page is better than ...) Once you've used a scrolling 19" monitor to control all setting on the Triton you'll wonder how you ever used LCD!
Manual: Easy to read and well written (10x better than Roland's!) LCD is good, a doddle with Sound Diver.

Polyphony: More than enough...
Efxs sound really thick and natural, almost as good as my Lexicon, the pads & efx fill the room :) There's loads of types to choose from and you can use them across parts and the master. The rotary speaker efx for organs is bliss, cheers Kor g.
Expansion: Get the Moss board and get a Z1 in the same box, I used to have a Prophecy (almost the same as Moss), and it sounded just like a live guitar, flute, organ etc. However the anaolgue presets are killer, leads, 303s etc. MLAN is good for future use (firewire). SCSI I think is a waste of time, I can't believe there is no FLASH option inside (samples go when powered off). I much prefer my sampler but if you aint got one, a bonus...

If you like what's emenating from the current dance scene, ie vinyl and chart CDs then it's 11/10, especially with the Moss and Dance cards fitted. If you're into rock, classical, Karaoke then there's probably other modules which would suit you better (I hear the XV3050 is is amazing for real sounding instruments). PS sound quality (48k) is unreal, my ears were in heaven, my other modules don't even come close - goes back to the age old saying, the more you pay the better it sounds.

Not sure yet cos I only had it 1 month but it looks solid as a rock.

Dunno?

I rekon 9/10 pro studio's will have one!

OS1.1.1. The presets are ok, but not great, dont buy it for the presets! I installed the presets from the Triton LE, and I think the LE patches sound a bit better. Editing is simple enough - comparable to Triton LE. I like the manual, allthough its very technical - but you will find everything you need. Only thing I don't like about the Tritons is their memory management. A piece of equipment as advanced as this, should have better ways to organize it's memory (patches, samples, combis, drumkits). You will have to update bank and program references frequently if you're going to use all the sampling, editing and sequencing features to the full. Still, it's not much different than on any other module I know (Rolands).

60 voice polyphony. I've had no problems with that so far, it depends on the type of music you make I guess. I have a MS2000R and a couple of soft synths, so I don't use the Triton as the only sound source - allthough I think it would be possible :-) The effects are really amazing, flexible and numerous. Expansion capabilities a good (I only own the EXB5 card). The number of patches you can store is very high, +1500 progs and +1500 combis. Overall, this rack has so many features that is has taken me a year to learn all of them, and still I feel like I've only touched the surface!

I think bass is extremely good on the Triton. Also like the strings, synth, electric guitars, french horn, and drums! Pianos and choirs are the Tritons weakness. Still a lot of nice piano patches can be made with the built-in piano sample - but don't compare it to a 32+ MB multisample, it's not! The EXB5 expansion board have pianos that are more convincing. I feel the Triton can be used for any type of music, although the presets are very inspired by contemporary sounds. If you need new sounds, you can just program them or use the sampler. The "modulation matrix" is pretty extensive and you can also modulate the effects! The filters are ok, but not great - only two types (LPF and HPF). Overall the sound is very dynamic!

Seems pretty reliable to me...no problems so far :-)

Have not been relevant. The web site is useful, but it would be nice with more information, downloads and general features...

Would I buy it again? I think its a bit expensive, and it has a lot of features that I don't need. I like it, but I think i would look for something in the second-hand-market next time. If it was cheaper, I would buy it again, but maybe also look for something to complement it's sound, like a JV1080 or a XV3080...

os1.1.1
sound great.new & use full.
edit is make me sick.i dont want to edit him.
manual is detail is good.
not ease of use.

very trouble to use pre-load disk.make me sick.i cant understand today techology korg need u do that.this is very poor.
i need press many page to find what i want.

sound is the best.great use full.better then my tr-rack.all the exp sound dope too.moss one i like.

i never use for gig.so i dont know.

never try.hope they nice

i only buy for this gear for sound.os is suck.espeically use pre-load disk for expboard.very very low I-Q.my friend have keyboard version then sell it to buy this rack one.after he sell rack go back to buy keyboard version.so u know.dont buy rack.u will get trouble