Zoom RT-234

Not an incredible amount of features. and the few it does have arent very easy to get to. its only got MIDI in, no out or thru. audio out left and right. pretty basic.

Price paid

$100

UTILIZATION

Id give it a higher score for usability if i could figure out how to turn the touch sensitivity off. hitting the pads at the same velocity twice in a row is a real pain in the butt. the step sequencer is good but its easy to mess up. luckily its easy to fix as well. the tempo choosing button is just weird. arranging songs is simple but takes some planning. I just use my computer for sequencing it which gets rid of that nasty velocity problem.

its ok, but i would find something else to gig with. the audio out is touchy (bad sauldering i hear) Power chord is easily knocked out and the buttons are tough but like i said not easy to hit the same twice.

SOUNDS

Overall the sound quality is ok for what it is. its got some really good live drum kits, but honestly i only use a couple of them. the hats are generally way to loud. the techno and hip-hop kits are ok, but i could see them getting old quite fast. the bass sounds tho are spot on. i cant stress enough how cool the bass is on this. very poppy and realistic or smooth and synthy. you cant do much tweaking tho so there is that. you can use 3 kits and a bass program at once.

OVERALL OPINION

I like it ok, and if it were lost id miss it, but i would get something with sampling next time. maybe if it were cheap id pick up another.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003)

Like I said, this thing is fun to toy around with on the train or bus or whatever you ride to school / Work. Its nice to just mess around with. It Has NO midi out, so thats pretty weak. Line in is nice if you and some friends wanna rap, or let him bust it out on guitar. Midi In, 2 outputs, 2 types of effects, Comp. EQ. and Reverb types. You can make quite a few. Its nice to be able to assign all the pads to what you want, including panning and pitch. I think this was geared towards rock musicians, and the Speaker Boxx to hip hop. Not for trance. No orchestra kits, either. One would have been nice. Battery Powered.

Price paid

13,900 YEN

UTILIZATION

Nuts easy to use. Crazy simple. I havent even touched the manual (Wouldnt help, I wouldnt understand 30% of it, bought in japan) So Simple, havent used it with midi yet so dont know how easy that is. One other thing, almost everything is BACKWARDS. Volume turns backwards, well it seems it does, just awckward placement I guess. Naming is weird, alphabet goes from bottom to top instead of top down.

Well, ive dropped it a few times, I got mad and chucked it onto my bed, bounced and hit my wall, it works fine. Connectors seem a little flimsty though. The Volume knob is easily taken off... Kinda weird.

SOUNDS

This is a Extreme begginers drum machine, to say the most. I bought this thinking I would have something with better drum sounds than a yamaha psr 1000, because those are not so great. Totally wrong. This is a fun unit to toy around with. Sound is...not this units specialty. The Bass sounds are pretty week. Not much variety. The Square and Sine have pretty much NO USE for what this unit is capable of. Only good bass sounds I thought were the Acoustic, Dark, Finger, Synth 1 and Lo Sine. Lo sine is to weak on the lowest octave though. Good that you can change through 3 octaves. The effects are probably the best part of this. Pretty customizeable, good for what it is I thought.

OVERALL OPINION

Fun and loving but pretty useless. But it for fun, I recomend dont buy it at all :P not worth the 150

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Quantity ( 1-, 2006)

Drum purchased in 1999: all jack connectors.
Internal memory (hélas. ..)
Screen reduced to its simplest expression (4x8 digit)
Snesibles pads of good quality and good sound
The system has the ability to run a piece with a footswitch, very useful on stage.

UTILIZATION

Ah, hours headlock on this bike! It was a time when owning a PC and use it were things futuristic.
I programmed a lot of songs on this machine. I got there, but always with a sense of progress overnight in a maze hands tied behind his back!
Locate in one piece was a big mess ...

SOUNDS

The sounds were excellent.

OVERALL OPINION

That was my one and only BAR, I keep it as a museum piece. I keep the instructions carefully, because later, nobody could believe that programming drum tracks without a screen to identify, nor any way to backup after spending hours on it, to thank you for the slightest false manip (two specific keys and touched the curtain that was general for all the pieces!)

Trs not double for that kind of maneuver, but I'll try to be clear and concise.

between an "in" to connect a guitar or bass
Stereo headphone output volume rglage + noise
MIDI input and output
two output jack
sensitive adjustable pads
possibility to use three sets of drums simultanment (or plutt combined) + a bass track
99 preset "factory" and 99 "user"
adjustable tempo
cursor to change custom settings
power

UTILIZATION

Use:
The only real probme actually comes from the edition of the songs by itself. Indeed, less than ProCD increments in a same song and have a notebook ct o all parties there is enough embtant (to be polite) program. Not complicated ... embtant.

Nothing to see, for example with the BAR "embeds" the BOSS BR1180 chvre makes you become after one hour of use. L is simple enough, but because of little things, you lose some time. For example when you're not sure I chan certain patterns, the process starts of the beginning of the song and redo everything in dfile "rel time" in gaffing a good o merdouille (o the usefulness of the notebook and the pen but also to work on bits of songs). That said, I'm a bit of nature and ngligent rencle I often put my nose in the manual prfrant understood by me even then, it may be that I do it as handle all APRS-but hey, just ...

We can also assign patterns to the pads but I never tried. You can not set a pattern for a single measurement ... aid would have a much sometimes.

The instructions could not be clearer and amrita to be emphasized. The handling is done in record time. Not need to be a programming expert.

There is a combination of keys that must be trs attention "function + delete" or "clear" (I do not really know) the consquences can be dramatic: erase ALL user patterns and songs! ! It happened to me twice and I almost throw by the window. It owes its survival to the fact that it was not for me. When you look in the window apparatre message "clear all" flashing, it is too late.

SOUNDS

The sounds are good and trs trsralistes for the price! Nothing wrong if it's an effect on some kits you can not zap (delay or reverb). In such cases the sounds are not really neutral. The cymables and especially charl open sound really good and can be modified using the cursor. In fact, this slider has at least three functions if my memory, change the height, volume and ... I do not remember.
There are a few all styles of music, from Techno Rock, to Hard or Hip hop.
No effects ditables (unfortunately). Pans are fixed but the instruments in the kits are DIFFERENT rpart in the sound spectrum. IDAL t have to have some instruments out of spares but this price is it just possible?

The pads seem to me well but plutt c'tait my FIRST TIME with this type of BAR and I had no point of comparison. Some concerns Ractive using the "rec / play" good but nothing serious.

OVERALL OPINION

In résumé to pay the price (1400frs the new era) c'tait unbeatable. In fact when my friend called me to tell me what he had invested and what price j'tais plutt doubtful. After 2 ½ years of use I am inclined plutt say it's a good product issue report trs / qualitprix / decision-head.

We used an old Yamaha RX15 and also an old Yamaha workstation (V50) and frankly c'tait day and night. I t thus the SR16 for an era c'tait but not me so I bought ply with the requirements of the moment. No regrets. Today, I have to buy a ganda and j'hsite between RT 323 and sister always SR16 to Alsis I have always found much about the sound but I do not know the all. Besides, if someone could give me a user review on this product, I thank in advance.