Product: Suzuki XG-1 Unisynth
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
04/21/2007
at
03:44am
by
Jon Ingram
Ease of Use
:
9
The XG-1 is very simple to use... It is really nothing more than an FM-sounding ROMpler with six uneditable voices (guitar 1, guitar 2, synth, vibes 1, vibes 2, and brass) which are all VERY cheesy, plus after so many years, the fret board has become a bit touchy, as well as one of the strings. It also has bass and drum accomp. with 3 different bass voices and several typical drum styles (waltz, swing, etc.) with individual volume controls for each as well as a tempo and main volume knob. The thing is really more of a novelty item, but it is still really fun to play with and I have managaed to find uses for it in my music... I got it as a "hand me down" so it didn't have the manual... and yet I still have the original pick waith a Unisynth logo on it... haha.
Features
:
6
Not sure of the max. polyphony of this device, but let's just say there's enough... There are no built in effects unless you count the vibrato bar as a "manual" effect... and it is so bad sounding it actually manages to sound cool/weird. The XG-1 (Unlike the XG-1M) has no MIDI whatsoever, but the strings (which are triggered with piezo discs, just like in drum pads) are touch sensitive... And I have read that it is possible to modify them to implement MIDI output.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
4
It reacts okay to Velocity...
the instruments... yeah... they are typical 80's cheese sounds... that could be "good" or "bad" depending on what you're after.
On it's own, it's pretty "blah" but I've made some great sounds when hooking it to a chorus and digital delay... honestly, I think it's best suited for "wtf" music... or maybe just Electronic stuff.
There's no ability to create slides/hammer ons... and the fret board can be a pain sometimes...
Reliability
:
5
Well, since it's lasted this long, I guess it deserves something... the thing really is rickety and frail though... you could HUG it too hard and it's crumble into pieces... and over the years it's had some problems (mainly with the fretboard, strings, and power supply socket) I'd gig without a back up as long as I were really careful with it... but I'd rather have one at home just in case.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never tried it.
Overall Rating
:
6
I suppose my rating will be a bit biased, but I still have found this thing to be useful, if not just fun to play around on... I'll try to be fair and give it a "fair" (in terms of use as "professional" in-studio equipment)........... 6
but for everything else, it should be at least a 9...
