Korg D12

Bought at Sam Ash in New York City in 2001 for $899.

I had researched digital recorders for a substantial amount of time before deciding on this unit and I was very happy with my choice. At this price in 2001, you would usually get only an eight-track digital recorder, and the then-new Tascam 788 was a contender. But this Korg offers 12 tracks, the ability to bounce tracks, a streamlined cassis (just over half the size of the bulky 788), and very intuitive menu designs. With only analog 4-track experience, I was able to do most of my recording without referring the manual. Excellent sound quality, especially given my limited recording techniques and equipment. ($29.99 for two microphones!)



There is limited internal hard-drive storage and add-on drives are very expensive (Most recorders in this price range now offer at least 20GB of internal storage). The cursor button leaves much to be desired, trying to make one button do the work of four. Backup of your data to CDs is incredibly slow. One of my epic tracks (8:33 in length) takes over half a day to backup and often came up with a "drive error" 95% of the way through, requiring that you erase your CD-RW and start the backup again. That was horrible.

Also, the D12 came down in price in 2002 to $699, and then Korg discontinued it altogether in favour of the larger, more sophisticated D1200. Customer support for Korg is awful -- I contacted them four times with questions and only got an answer once.

Very high. The silver finish on the recorder is easily scratched, but it does look gorgeous. The faders are sensitive to the touch.

I love this recorder, but after recording one album's worth of material including alternate takes and outtake tracks, the recorder ran out of space. Research pointed me to a 73GB Glyph drive, but it costs several hundred dollars. This is a major minus to the recorder. Nonetheless, I still use the D12 a lot and my experience with it is predominantly positive. I've learned to accept its shortcomings the same way I would forgive the flaws on my favourite guitar.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the D12 because I like Korg stuff (X5 keyboard) and it had 12 tracks for the same price as most digital 8-tracks. I paid $850 at Portland Music Co.

I like what everybody else likes about any digital recording unit. Its digital. It has a ton of virtual tracks and the effects unit is good. ie, preprogrammed parametrics that boost/cut highs/mids/lows, compression, reverb etc. I'm not incredibly interested in learning proper frequency values and such. I just sometimes want to cut or boost ranges. Its easy with the Korg. I also bought a Yamaha CD-burner for it and it hooked up instantly. It also has a cheap little mic built in for using it as an "Oh crap I just wrote a good song/riff and I don't want to forget it" recorder. Cleaning up tracks and copying/moving tracks is pretty easy, as well.

Phantom power might of been nice. The trim knobs are a little sensitive but I think this is a problem for mine alone. They jump up in volume(?) at small twists of the knob. ie, "touchy". The "undo" function works well but confuses me sometimes. I have to listen to the track to see if "undo" actually happened.

It seems a little "wimpy" as far as construction. The yamahas and rolands feel real. This feels like a toy - a damn fun one, though.

I would absolutely by this again because I think it records as well as others and it is often a little cheaper. Sounds I get are usually pretty warm and and I don't have too many nice extra gadgets. Just a condenser mic, a nice acoustic guitar and a pod line 6. My bass is an old bitty and my electric was made by my brother. So, I am really happy with this thing.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Let's go! Even if the product is no longer manufactured I give my impression for those who would take it into OCCAZ

Below are the constructors spcifits:

Recorder Section:
Tracks:
96 tracks (Including virtual tracks),
12 tracks simultaneous playback,
4 tracks simultaneous recording @ 16bits,
6 tracks simultaneous playback,
4 tracks simultaneous recording @ 24bits
Recording Format:
24bit/16bit uncompressed, 44.1kHz
Recording Time:
16 bit recording 19.5 hours 9.8 hours recording maximum/24bit maximum (one track, When IS 6 Gbyte hard disk used)

Maximum Storage Capacity:
Internal + External 1.000 Gbytes x 7 drives

Songs:
100 per drive

UTILIZATION

Use gnrale trs simple. Even if you did (like me) never touch this kind of machine, there is no problem, we quickly freelance main functions, and discovering wonderful with other pain-free as and. This machine has filled with features to make life easier for hard working zicos, read the manual and do not pass cot!

Machine trs many think.

Machine stable, no crash in ending for two years of use.
Oh yes, she refuses to Get You Started once, but bad because I connect the SCSI cable, so it's my fault!

Easily carried in a bag through Delsey style ... Lightweight. Despite his pace a bit Fisher Price, with his plastic shell, this is a solid gear.

Good manual, rarely short on precision and clear up.

Only 6 gigs of hard drive, I find it a little short ...
12 tracks is okay, but if you stack the tracks to magnify the sound, even when it djust ...
Menfin, we can always merge ...
Only 4 inputs, TRS is just to record a live band .... even if I did. So if you prvoyez record full of people at the same time, it will srement turn to a more couillue machine.

SOUNDS

As on all machines conccurents, found exactly what we jou. So if you take good t be good. If you have t bad, well ... delete and start again

Good effects on the whole, even if I issue a personal qques Reserved for guitar amp simulations and distos. Hard to get good sound mtal ... I do not know about other styles of music.

The reverbs and delays are good.

OVERALL OPINION

Thanks this machine, G is making progress in hallucinating my components and arrangements, I do not regret the purchase in any way, even if the era, the price made me a little scared. .. But silent justification.

Perfect for work alone, but also in groups: for example, can compose a piece alone, then burn different versions: without battery for a drummer, singer song for free, etc ... Buy a machine of this style will make you move ... and your entire group. Everyone works better and more efficiently. More PRO, what!

Couraging Trs well for models and DMOS good ... If you have any good ides, they will be returned without a problem on your skeud. You can dmarcher rooms, labels, whatever you want.

The sound level is, however dmo ... Despite my best efforts, the sound is still quite sluggish electrical and ... a pro could do miracles, but if your like me you autodidacques, do not expect to have a sound studio. Recorded with two DMOS G, obtained by work a bit o clear sound all the instruments are audible.

On OCCAZ. has to turn around 500/600euros ... Of the ball. I think it's a good machine, and no problem is the comparison against its competitors.