Zoom RhythmTrak 123

Pretty easy to use, for a drum machine that is.

It has all the features ou would expect from a cheap drum machine

Thats where this unit shines. before I got It I tried the boss untis which sounded quite dead and fake to my ears. This is a lot more lively sounding. The bass sounds are ok, not great but usable for practise.

ALSO, I read an article by th Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist who said he uses this unit live for keyboard sounds. Bass patch 22 or therabouts is a surprisingly usable keyboard sound, put distortion and delay on it and you have the sound from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs "maps","rich" and "Y-control"

Overall I would say this is a bargin for a cheap, usable drum machine. Im not sure if I would ever use it with a band though, I would probably want somehting with a bit more programmable features for that. But for practise its great.

The presets on the RT-123 are "OK", but no more. Editing patches is the typical pain in the drum machine difficult as any other. It is nice to be able to play in real time though

30 voice polyphony with touch sensitive pads. Also has a footswitch jack. There is no expansion capability in there and the sounds are static -- cannot be changed/added to. It is apparently MIDI controllable, but I have not tried that yet nor will I ever now -- I just gave the thing to my brother because I got the Boss DR-880. Now there is a proper rhythm machine!

The sounds that are in there are pretty good really. For practice (I am a guitarist) it is an excellent tool I think, but I don't know how good it would be for recording purposes. I prefer digital signal path there which again led me to the DR-880. Still, the sounds in this machine are pretty good overall -- much better than the Alesis SR-16 IMHO. The sounds in the DR-880 are light years ahead of this though.

I had it for two years without a hiccup. Good marks here and it's a good thing because Zoom's website all but denies it ever existed in the first place!

You're kidding right? Like I said, Zoom's website doesn't even list this unit as discontinued. It's as if it was never there at all. Very strange indeed and one of the reasons I don't generally like Zoom, but I digress.

Overall, for a practice tool or even throw together ecording duty this unit isn't bad. I liked it fine for over two years until I saw the Boss DR-880 and that sealed this little bugger's doom really. No worries though as my kid brother is now one drum machine richer because of it. I will rate this respectably because it is a decent machine for what it is. If you can pick one of these up on EBay or somewhere used you could do a lot worse I think.

presets only get me in the ballpark. I always have to modify everthing to get what I want but it's easy and fun to do anyway. Manual was not the easiest but gave me the basics ok. This thing is like learning to play another instrument anyway.....practice.

Polyphony...duh? Keyboard pretty good except the snare pad gettin' bit touchy. Don't use effects or expansions...just straight up.

some stuff I get from this thing....wow! other times I just can't get what I'm looking for. Not enough range and what's with all the jungle crap? Guess I'm an old hippie....using it for 50's $ early 60's rock with the string bass setting.

Great reliability....so far. Don't gig with it. Not enough memory for my stuff. Who gets by on 10 tunes for a gig???? Crap design on the memory buffers. Should have dumped 2/3 of the presets to make some space for tunes....

N/A

lost....another fer sure...been playing rock for 40+ years and it's a joy to have a backup band in a can...dream come true. As mentioned, the memory sucks donkeys but I beat that problem....just record it onto the pc and burn it on a CD. That's how I gig, off the laptop into a 100 watt keyboard amp.

This was the reason for buying it. First I wanted a Boss dr-202 but I didn't get along with it. The rt-123 is such a great help because it's so easy to play with.

The sequencer is very very good although it is non-visual. 1/256 note resolution and 32 note polyphoy! Unfortunately all sounds are static - nothing is twakable. The velocity-sensitive pads a worth to be mentioned: You can even adjust the velocity - great! Groove-play mode is extremly useful. Unbeatable for its price.

Yes, here we are: Some 808 and 909 like sounds are really okay. Many many natural drumkits - makes me suppose the rt-123 was made for rock guitar players. Some of these drum kits sound sooo cheesy and cheap. Nevertheless most of the drums and FX sound very high quality. No noises. Yes, all in all the rt-123 really sounds good. You have to use external effects to get really interesting drum tracks. Bass sounds are crappy except for one sub-bass.

Compact an built like a tank. Very High quality pads as I mentioned before. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years now. No problems so far. I suppose it will last forever if trated carefully.

Yes they answer e-mail when necessary.

I still love it. Most interesting results come out of a strange combination: I use a zoom ps-02 for static effects which which is one way to make the rt-123 sound really fat and interesting. Another way is using my Korg Electribe-A synth as a dynamic effects processor for the drums. This combination produces sounds that makes a standalone electribe-R or mc-505 drums sound like crap. Very good machine - no regrets.

Right out of the box found this very easy to use. Manual filled in the holes. Building songs was a bit tricky in trying to remember the various user presets

Great drum sounds, almost any kit desirable (except for jazz as mentioned in other reviews). Touch sensitive keys, step programming, real time programming all very nice. Bass mute for when I am playing bass. I wish it came with drum mute to record just bass parts without reprogramming presets

Stock sounds for most styles. Great for use in my home studio. For the most part better sounding than most soundfonts I loaded into my Audigy 2. Midi control works well for using with sequencing programs

Do not gig, but so far reliable (1 year old). Sits on my desktop. Needs occasional dusting

Visited Samson/ZOOM website. Downloaded manual in PDF form. Wish they offered the presets in midi form (Velocity and volume info included) for using with computer sequencer. So far had to do this by hand

For the home hobbyist, this machine exceeded my needs for the price. Lacks features of the BOSS but costs half as much

Very easy to use once you go through the manuals. but i found that the drum pads are in disorder manner, as I find it hard to get my finger played.

I dont find the bass rhythm useful, as it got only 3 chord to be played continually with.. I dont use midi, as I am into anolouge kind a stuff

The sound of the drums give a spectrum of impressive detail. Very good for playing duo or aucoustic (Not for gigs or live presentation), tough this machine is small it gives out very distinctive sound.

Not for live presentation, and I may say that the default drums do not include "fill-in". Good for beginner and amatures who wanna start a self-recording album

Catch us if you can?.. whooah they must be fast in their cutomer support too

If it is stolen, I will find another one to replace but not RT-123. Maybe with much fuller features and capabilities.

Quite easy to use and edit new song patterns. The presets sound good and cater for all my requirements. The manual is dead easy and I havent even bothered with it much, it's very 'plug and play'.

It feels very good with touch sensitivity on the keys. I particularly found the bass notes brilliant, because you can programme each note and play a melody with each key in any order. The sounds are very very realistic

Again, with touch sensitivity, its very realistic sounding, and with so many sounds etc, it is very very good

I gig a lot as a guitarist - and play in a number of duos. This machine has provided my rhythm always. There is one small hickup though when playing live - there is a few milliseconds of latency when you start a rhythm with the footswitch. This is a real pain when playing a song and you want to stop then restart the machine during a song. It is nearly impossible to snap straight back into it.

Reliablity wise - the 123 is solid and very robust. Mine gets treated like a guitar cable in my gig box and always produces the goods.

Never needed it in 5 years

Its very good, but using it live is just not quite right, I have bought an alesis SR-16 too, which is awesome live, but much more limited in sounds. I want a drum machine with live fills via footswich. Unfortunately the 123 isn't it! but for the money it is great and in my studio it has its place.

I use this as a source of drum sounds via MIDI. It gives me the drum sounds I need, when I need them.

I can only comment on this from the point of view of it's MIDI capabilities (or lack of), as I use it in a MIDI rig. Although it only has a MIDI-in, this is more than enough to use the machine a drum sound module (as I do).

One thing you can do via MIDI is "tune" kits by using pitch-bend. The bass sound can also be panned around the stereo image - something that the machine cannot do by itself.

I love the live kit sounds on this. Before I had the Zoom I used to use heavily EQ'd 12-bit samples in my Roland sampler for my drum sounds. No need to now - this machine has everything I need.

My music tends towards Depeche Mode/Prodigy style dance/rock music, so I use the big rock kits and the "techno" kits in equal measure, and they fit what I do perfectly.

I don't worry about the pads or patterns on the machine at all, as I program everything via a MIDI sequencer (which gives me access to the all percussion sounds that would normally take up a second kit if I used the machine standalone).

I've not gigged with the machine,but am planning too. I don't expect any problems on the reliability front.

Never needed to call

I love the sounds on this, but would probably replace it with a MRT3 if it was ever lost or stolen, simply because the MRT3 has the same sounds, but allows user programmable kits.

its easy to use

for what it does its good.....i know nothing about polyphony and midi.....i just use it to create my own rythm sections for blues-grit-rock instrumentals i do at home. i mostly record to tape live with it. once i was aclimated to the pad layout it was easy to play the kits.

its acoustic kits are realistic and i guess the shit hop kits are but im no expert on that stuff so ask someone else.

i bought mine new (demo) and here is my problem. samson service blows freakin' balls, man!!!!! i sent it in to be repaired for the second time and they have now had it 2 months. the first time i brought it in to where i bought it, it came back in worse working condition.

samson sucks. they get your money for the product and once theyre paid they couldnt possibly care less about whether thier cusomers are satisfied.
this is the 3rd thing zoom ive owned and it is the last.....oh yeah, did i tell you that they suck?

i love it when it works but that is a very little window. i really am dissapointed in zoom because other than their guitar effects their stuff sounds good. i love this little big drum maker but it would need to properly function in order to be useful.

i give zoom and samson a big old fat F for this!!!!!!!

they should be stoned with nerf balls until paralasis is achieved.

I can see how a beginner might have either a hard time or an easy one with this beast. The manual is clear enough, at least if you're used to nightmares like those from Roland or Korg. Some of the limitations (i.e., you can't create your own drum kits) may result in an easier learning curve for the novice.

I haven't maxed out the polyphony on this yet, but a drum machine is usually pretty forgiving. The FX are part of the 'wet' samples, so you can't, say, apply a global reverb to a kit. Since your home studio provides for this though (it *does*, doesn't it?), hey, no big deal. The lone MIDI 'In' has turned this into my main source of drum sounds. If there were a MIDI out, one could take advantage of the ease of drum machine programming and then dump it into the sequencer. Oh well. The ability to assign patterns to pads and fly them in and out whould be a hoot for techno-types.

These drum sounds are changing my life. The snares - so many that go far beyond 'usable', clear to 'inspiring'. Certain sounds that suck on other machines or modules are very convincing, esp the foot-closed hi-hat and some of the toms. (I'm a good drum programmer, but now I bet I can finally fool people into thinking I mic'd up an acoustic kit.) The misc. percussion (latin, etc.) are okay, but it's the kits that kill. If you like the snare on one kit and the hats on another, just assign them 'A' & 'B' and have your cake. The bass sounds are varied and versatile, but I don't expect to need them. Funny, no deep 'LA' 70's snare among all these, but I've found a deep, open sounding snare that would work well for a ballad. No brush sounds, but some nice electronic drums, and some very good ride cymbal/ride bell combos are spicing up my recordings. The velocity-sensitive pads would make this a viable thing to take to a gig if you couldn't get your drum kit there. Just takes a bit of practice. Monstrous Zeppelinesque kits abound. Some of the sounds respond to dynamics (i.e., the reverb sublty gates itself when you hit soft, then kick in when you play hard.) Surprises await, too. This must have been designed by people who hated the way drum machines sounded, and wanted to redeem the genre.

The stereo outs are a bit dodgy - I sometimes have to pull out on cable just so to get both sides of the stereo image - likewise with the headphone out. Probably just an anomaly, but something I'd like to get fixed.

ZOOM (Samson, actually) seems to have discontinued all their drum machines, and a bunch of other stuff. You'd have to join the Yahoo! Zoom Drum Machine group to get any support, I guess.

If something were to happen to this, I'd replace it with another Zoom with MIDI out and programmable kits. It's one of the best $100 investments I ever made, though. I've been usuing Zoom stuff since they put out their first guitar processor (the one you couldn't wear on your guitar strap, despite the hype), and it's the sound that keeps me coming back for more. I tried this out on a whim at Sam Ash in Miami, and fell in love. I'd been frustrated with my drum sounds (even installed Abe Laboriel Jr. in my old Roland JV-880); this was the cure.