Zoom RhythmTrak 234 Drum Machine

Manual is slightly pigeon english in places, as i've noticed with other zoom products, but once you have the basics of the machine you are away, and it's fairly intuitive. Presets sound excellent, it's got a vast bank of drums sounds i've recorded straight rock and techno on it and it and it makes the bar. editing patches once you're familiar with the setup is easy..it's just geting there in the first place

i've never found cause to use the sound jammer fx on the unit other than for play, so can't really say whether they're of practical use of just novelty. it has no capacity for memory cards, which did become a problem as i ran out of space, but this was after a considerable amount of use (you can program in 100 diferent patterns). i've subsequently bought a 323, but am not as keen as i am on this model. keys are velocity sensitive, which is somethign to bear in mind if you're looping a small clip, as it wil stand out as being repetitive

sounds very realistic. good for every style i've tried

never had a problem with the unit, never used batteries so don't know how quickly they drain. it's had a glass of wine spilt on it and still works fine. i'd be happy to use it at a gig without backup

never tried

would buy another and well worth what i paid, but that's due to age, brother bought one for #200 5+ years ago. i've got a rhythmtrak 323, SP808 roland sampler, numerous guitars, roland vs1880, to name a few

This machine is very easy to use. The pads are decent and respond to velocity well. I never had a manual, but things are still very easy to figure out without a manual. Making drum patterns can easily be done at a fast pace which is very important to me.

I'm not sure what is the polyphony of the unit, but I sometimes make drum n' bass that uses lots of percussion and drum rolls at 190 bpm and never had any problem with notes dragging or note cutting off. There are not any built in effects, but some drum samples already have an effect on them that sometimes actually sound good. This machine is so close to being great rather then being good, but simple stuff is left out like there are not any labels on top to show you where the outputs, volume, or headphones are located? This unit has MIDI in but, no MIDI out or through. The on-board sequencer is good, but I use my RM1X step sequencer to sequence the ZOOM sounds. You can use up to 3 Midi channels which is a plus ( some reason on most drum machines you can only use one). It would be nice to be able to make a user kit, but you are able to use three diffrent drum kits and a bass sound on a pattern which is still cool. The 234 responds to midi control changes .... on time... a $150 drum machine that responds to midi control changes .............on time! Thank you.

I have worked with many drum machines, but this might be the most realistic that I have ever heard. It seems that many sounds are repeated in diffrent kits ( but seriously how many different drum and procuusion sounds do arist use on there albums. If you run one sound through a good effects processor you might come up with 10 or more completely diffrent sounds). The 808 and 909 sounds are not that bad. The Percussion is great. They are actually punchy suprisingly. I control my 234 with my Rm1X and it responds to velocity, pitchbend and pan.The Zoom 234 and Korg ER-1 are my drum machines that I use at this time. They complement each other well. When the ER-1 lacks realism the 234 steps to the plate and visa versa. Bass sounds on all drum machines are lacking. I let my Yamaha SO3 and EA-1 handle that area. This box sounds like a $400 drum machine but for only 150 I am overwhelmed!

I would use this on a gig cause I never had a problem with it during my 2 years owning it

Never dealt with them

If I lost this unit I would buy it again. For the low price you cant go wrong. You cant find this kind of realism in this price range. The only thing I wish was diffrent is a Midi out and through imputs a couple of more cymbals with a longer decay and ride symbols.

VERY easy to use. I'm an acoustic guitarist with no knowledge of synths. Multitrack software packages I have bought for my PC have only served to confound me, but this thing is so easy to use. You should read the manual once, then have a play. You'll only need to refer to it to browse the different drum kits and sounds. Have a pen handy though, you'll find one thing you like, like the toms on drum kit 46, and if you don't jot it down, you'll be searching for it like a Holy Grail for ever more.

Good poliphony for me, because I don't programme sounds so there are 3 drum kits in the background at the same time - at least not playing the same notes on the same beats. Might regret it not being expandanble, but had it 6 months and no regrets so far. Never used MIDI, but easy to sync with a electric metronome. Bear in mind I am a technophobe and am impressed that it stays in time throughout the whole song. Easy to programme beats, add a snare here, take away a tom here. Pressure sensitive keys are great too, allowing you to get a real natural sound, like on the ride cymbal (ding-DING-ding-DING) and the drums are in stereo, so a fill on the toms sounds like you are sitting in the middle of the kit, which sounds GREAT as a backing track. Good from bongos to kicks.

See above, mostly, but the drums sound very real. Some kits have a bit too much reverb. I'd prefer a bigger selection of kits with the ability to add my own effects, but with 123 kits, I'm not complaining. Some things are missing, like a really wide jazz ride cymbal, as a lot of the cymbals tend to fade a little quickly, but they still sound like cymbals. I'm not into drum and bass or rap or garage techno, but there are plenty of sounds there. You can also change the quantise, or beats per bar, so if you're not so quick on the keys, the machine will put the pad hit closest to the beat you meant to get. On the other hand, if you're confident, you put the quantise to the highest level and you can get the syncopation you want with rolls, backbeats and everything

Very reliable so far. I was a little worried by reviews of crashes and it scares me not having outboard memory or a backup PC or media card function, but I bought it second hand on ebay and it had been posted to me in a shoebox and after 6 month's use it's been nothing but reliable and held all the programs and songs I've written.

Never used it. Website navigation not great, but very easy to use.

Put basically, this makes me wish I was a better drummer, because it highlights my own limitations and lack of imagination. I'd rather that than have a machine which I outgrow because it can't do everything I want. This machine sounds natural and helps me grow as a musician, helps me think beyond the confines of a guitarist and makes me stand back and look at the song as a whole. I showed this to a mate who is into his techno DJ stuff and he said it was better than the desk-sized stuff he was paying #200 for ten years ago, I you know I'm not going wrong for the money. If it was stolen I'd buy one again. Anything more advanced would be too complicated. If you've got a good ear and want flexibility combined with good sound, portability and ease of use AND value, this is it.

This is my first time with a drum machine, and I found it easy to work with. No hassles, read the manual (good manual by the way), follow the examples (always the best way to learn, the examples are thorough and cover everything).

The polyphony is more than enough for what this was designed for: 32 Notes. The Pad action feels solid and is very responsive. The velocity sensitive pads work fine and are very intuitive to work with. MIDI IN only wich is really too bad. It has no internal effects, dare say that is really not necessary. The on-board sequencer is very easy to use and is very flexible and straight-forward. I'll give it an 8 because of no Midi out, but at this price range, it has some great features.

The sounds is where this unit really shines. The drum sounds are really, really good. It is worth buying it just because of that.

A lot of the sounds are repeated simewhat. Some of the drum kits are (apparently) combinations of sounds . Which is actually quite nice, because how many "different" drumkits do you need anyway? The importante thing is that the drumkits have good combinations in all drumkits.

It feels solid enough to use at home, or in the studio. I wouldn't take mine with me on the road. Guess I'd be worrying about it all the time.

Never dealt with them

It is a valuable piece of hardware, great for getting good, solid, professional drum sounds without the "hassle" of a live drumkit. Even for the least drum-oriented individuals it's easy. I though that I was useless in the drums (real drums) but I'm actually quite good in programming it.

Want a good drumkit, with great sounds and that has no par in the market for this price/quality/functionality? Get it. If not, get it anyway, it's excellent value for money.

My first two fx pedals were zooms. At the time I thought that there editing functions were fine and easy to use. Then I upgraded to a boss gt3 and found out that the boss editing procedure is brilliant and that the old zoom pedals I had, by comparison, were stone age and very limiting. So, sticking to history, my first drum machine is a zoom. I chose it because it was inexpensive and based on te revies on this web site, seemed to be the best deal for me. I do love it, it has definetly opened up a lot in terms of sitting in my room making home recordings. I think the editing is fine, but I expect that some day when I upgrade I will discover just how easy drum editing can be. As it is now there are several features that probably could be better, or simply less time consuming. Creating drum patterns from scratch can be awkward ad annoying. This is particularly evident when trying to desing fills, which I still have yet to figure out a good way. It would have been great if it came with some fills that one could screw around wirth. Over all the ease of use is reasonable, how ever I would recommend it mainly for recording. Trying to use it in a live band situation would be very tedious and probably not much fun.
The presets themselves delighted me, as I am used to midi drum sounds, which, while some aren't to bad, do not compare to the enhanced quality of the zoom patches. This is the overriding high point of this machine - really very decent drum sounds. The best ones are the regular live type drum sounds. The techno and jungle is little more than a misguided nodin such a direction and if your looking for groove or high tec weirdess keep on searching. This machine is desinged, as far as I am concerned, to excel as a unit for home recordists to add realistic drum sounds to their projects. The sounds are especially good for poppy rock and inde (which is what I do). I; don't think the heavy metalish sounds would be adequete if that's what your after. For the money this unit sopunds great and is relatively easy to use. (the manual is a little weird and vague at times) I give this product a seven because the sound quality that you get for the money deserves at least that.

No expansion capabilities, no effects (a real bummer). It does have midi capabilty on a limited basis ( see some of the other reviews from people who use midi). Effects would have been great, as would some way of editing them. As it stands this unit is mainly a one shot non upgradabe deal that performs well just out of the box, but when you've exhausted its potentil, you'll need to move on. That's ok though. For myself, and many other home recordists, I expect to get a good couple years out of this thing before my affection for it dries up like old toothpaste. Then I'll get something better and probably keep it in a corner collecting dust. We'll see....
A rating of 1 indicates that the features (as defined by the prompts on the website ) are very liited.

This is the catagory where this baby really shines. Not only are of the preset patterns and the sounds usable there is also some cool amount of flexibility to be had with this unit. One can easilly- very easily - change a drum patterns sounds, and each patch (which is a couple bars of a preset groove) has three drums sets. This sounds complicated but works out easily in practice and affords the user a considerable amount of creativity and flexibility. As many people have mentioned the bass sounds are not that great. I had no intention of using them when I bought it ( I already have a bass and it is much easier just to play a line along to the drums than go through the tediousness of "bass playing" with the machine.) Take my advice - forget about the bass programs.
The machine is actually decent at reacting to playing style. It has touch sensitie pads that work quite well. It's even possible to do a drum roll on the snare pad, which is a lot harder than you think, and impossible in most midi situations where the drums are created with a mouse or even a keyboard.
As I said before, in my opinion, this unit is best suited to pop, rock and similar generes. It works best in situations with repetitive drums (like pop music) that don't have to much variety. Although it is possible to program just about anything into the machine - wild drum rolls, solos, or numerous small fills and touches - it does not lend itself all that well to these things. For this reason I would not under any circumstance recomment it for jazz. Jazz needs to be open, varied and alive with small gestures. This machine is all about creating a descent sounding foundation for a song. I give this guy an eight because for the money the drum sounds are surprisingly good!

So far my experience has been flawless. No crashes, no anything. Everytime I turn it on it is exactly as I left it, and it has never had any problems in the months that I have owned it. Be that as it may, I use it only in my little "studio". It never moves of the shelf, never gets picked up or dropped and once I put the cord in the rear jack for the first time it has stayed there. In short, it gets good treatment, and for good reason - One look at this machine and you know it is not road worthy. In all ways it appears fragile and delicate. The houseing is a thin plastic, the pads are small rubber deals that i'm sure will brake with in a year. In my experience ( I have owned two Zoom pedals) Zoom products are flimsy and will also break something with in a year. Both the pedals that I owned broke in some way, usually one of the foot toggles (I didn't want to use the word "pedal" again to avoid confusion) brakes and then all the patches accessed by that pedal are "lost". I expect it is only a matter of time before one of the touch sensitive (ie delicate) pads fails to respond. Knowing this I bought the product anyway - afterall it was cheap and so even if it only lasts a couple years I will be happy with what I did get out of it. ( I will probably have out grown it by that time anyhow)
I give it a five because for me it has been great, though I would not recommend it for live use.

N/A I have never had to use it - thank god!

Over all this unit is an excellent value. Mainly because of the big bang you get from the relatively small buck. I shopped around extensivly before I purchased this guy and although there are undoubtedly better machines on the market they are also much much more expensive. I give this a nine because of the bakg for the buck. I hesitate to give it a ten because I have a feeling that a better product exists somewhere for similar money. If it doesn't I can think of enough ways to better this unit that I hesitate to claim its unassailable virtue.

Its like anything else. You read the manual and learn it by playing it a lot. Easy. Not too complicated.

No memory card sucks but of course they have a new one that takes smart media.

I think the bass sounds are just awful. They are only good for music like in that Eddie Murphy movie - "Beverly Hills Cop". There are no truely DRY sounding live drum samples. Also very limited Electro/hip hop stuff, but the ones that are there are great with really deep bass. The pad sensitivity is good too. In a few years those Eddie Murphy bass sounds will be retro and this thing will be kick ass for bass lines too

I was standing onstage in Rome, Italy - An audience of 600 or so people included famous jazz musicians, beautiful boys, our exotic and very enthusiastic Italian booking agent. We are the headliners, its 1am.......this is our time. I reach down and turn on the power to my ZOOM 234 (which I purchased new and had owned for approximately 1 and 1/2 years) and the lights filcker. On..............and then off. Forever. This was not a good show. BECAUSE my NEW drum machine was definitely NOT very reliable. Don't tour without two or three of these things.

No problems there.

easy to use

polyphony ok
no effects
midi in only

most sounds are fantastic
best to use with a computer based system that triggers sound
I used it via my computer for all songs at my website
http://robertdarby.iuma.com
DON'T TRUST THE 234's INTERNAL MEMORY

my 234 has corrupted twice in the last 3 months
ruining all my live patterns it really sucked
because it happened within 24 hours of gigs.
DONT TRUST THIS MACHINE IF YOU USE IT'S ONBOARD MEMORY

yet to sort that one out
don't hold out much hope

I would replace the 234 with something reliable for live work
and just keep it for the studio .
i also own a pc with LOGIC
and a AKAI DPS 16 and a yamaha sy 35 synth
ovation acoustic, yamaha electric guitar, fender twin amp

This drum machine is VERY easy to use. Originally, I bought a Boss DR-5 because it has piano sounds, but returned it because it was too complicated! The Zoom 234 manual is too simplistic, almost as if it was written for a school child, but I like things to be easy. I wish the ports (jacks) had labels on the TOP of the device. Velocity sensitive pads can be tricky to get the exact same loudness every time. I like the way the pads are large & spread out. One bad thing: it's easy to accidentally erase your creative work.

It has MIDI in, but no MIDI out. The polyphony is great. It does not accept cards/memory etc.. This drum machine is priced $100 cheaper than most others, yet has alot of good features. If you want a fully loaded luxury car with leather seats then you're gonna have to shell out more bucks. If you're a professional, then you may want to consider the Zoom 323 instead.

The drum sounds are very realistic... much better than the Boss DR-5! The Zoom 505 pedal got bad reviews for being noisy and sounding kind of muddy. Musicians need to forget about that and see just how good the Zoom 234 (& Zoom 323) sounds! This is a good device for rock & jazz. The Boss DR-5 is good for corny music.

Although someone here wrote about the unreliability of this unit, I haven't had any problems with mine.

I've never had to deal with Zoom or Samson. I want to get the foot pedal for this unit. I believe it allows you to strip off the bass (leaving you with just drums).

I found that prices vary quite a bit from one store to the next! You should shop around for the lowest price as the smaller stores seem to have the highest prices. Brook Mays music store had the best price in my area. If my Zoom 234 ever got lost, stolen, or damaged I'd probably buy the better model (Zoom 323).

The presets are fun to listen too when you first buy it. But most people want to program their own, so the presets are ok. The manual is well written and tells you all you need to know about the machine and how to operate it. You can't edit patches, but it has 4 tracks. 3 drum tracks and a bass track, so once you create a pattern you can change the drumkits on any track as well as change the bass track to another bass sound and get alot of different combinations from the 124 kits and 50 bass programs.

The polyphony is 32 which is more than enough. It doesn't have any effects, but you can solo each track out and record it a digital sequencer as a seperate track or the entire drum mix and add effects or if using a hardware mixer live, you can patch in your favorite processor on the drum channel 's Aux input. No big deal right?!
It has Midi In only which admittedly sucks, but with midi in you can send midi into it from a keyboard/hardware sequencer/software sequencer etc. that has midi out.
The pads are easy to play, so you can drum in realtime. select how many bars you want your pattern to be (1 to 4) and hit play and record at the same time and it will loop around forever as you play drums and bass (overdub) till you like what you have. You can also step record. It will record one step at a time with rests. If you make a mistake, just hold down the pad for the sound that is the mistake while also holding down delete and it will delete that pads sounds. If you record in 4/4 time signiture, you can copy the pattern to another user location and change the time to 3/4 or 2/4 for more creative possibilities. Lots more.

Most sounds are very good, a few are not. The 124 kits are made from (don't quote me) but like 74 different sounds. Many are repeated in kits. More variation would have been good, but you gotta look at the price, so I'm not complaining to loud. Great for Rock and Pop, good for Funk and HipHop. Ok for World using percussion.
Most Bass sounds will ring out for as long as you hold them. You can also program each pad to any note. Drum sounds ring out in a natural decay and are not cut off by the next notes in any way.

3 yrs and never a problem in the studio. I have never dropped it, but I think it would survive.

Never used it.

If it were stolen, I would want another or possibly the new 323.

It's very easy to use. The manual is not as good as it can be.

Great polyphony, bass too. It hasn't got built in effects. You can't create your own drumkits. You can't edit the sounds.
It has no MIDI OUT so when you ran out of memory you have to delete songs.

I has some realistic sounds. The problem is that the close hi hat is very ugly and you can't choose another one.

Bad

Very bad

It's useful to play live when you haven't got a drummer with a real drum. I used on stage many times and it works fine.