All user reviews for the Korg Electribe 2

UPDATED after a few days, this box is awesome !!!


Hey all,

I've been using my new electribe for 2 weeks now, so here is a short list of pros and cons for people considering buying one. Enjoy and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or if I couldn't find the tricks (please tell me I'm wrong for all the cons...).

I'm doing hardtek/tribe/trance/hardcore as a music lover, sometimes playing live for friends. Coming from EMX and different synths like TR-8 and TB-3.

Pros :
- filters (f*ck yeah, way beyond the emx toy filter), especially the acid one (considering selling TB-3) !
- attack knob, wtf, how could Korg make a synth without this before ??? on the emx I used EG/int or ramp modulation, but well, you know... (notice that when EG amp is not activated, the attack knobs modifies the filter enveloppe, smart !!!)
- synhs sound, much clearer and well defined, no aliasing
- sound is awesome for this price range, sound is very clear, and it's a pleasure to work out new sounds compared to EMX where they all sounded the same and so muddy !!! filters, attack/decay and modulation allow you to really sculpt sound now
- ergonomy is great, as usual with Korg
- knob quality
- pads
- catch mode for knobs, no more jumps in values
- 16 parts with any kind of sound and filter and pitch
- polyphony, chords !!!
- different insert FX on each part
- edit parameter for drum sounds (well, pre-defined and sometimes not so useful, but I like changing kicks texture without using an effect)
- different length (last step in a bar) for each part
- drum sound are really good, much better than I thought at the beginning, and after a few tweaks they are really great
- signal/noise ratio is one of the best I've heard... If you switch on the EMX connected to the same mixer, you'll hear what I mean
- "pattern level" function is great when working on a mix if you don't want to adjust every part level each time you notice a difference when switching patterns
- using scales in keyboard mode is awesome to create new melodies you are not used to play ! You can even play random and sometimes it's ok
- "jump" function is awesome !

Cons :
- mute mode is a switch, so we cannot use keyboard or trigger at the same time, what a shame... mute key should be a function key like emx !!!
- no way to select a part without triggering it or using "prev" and "next" button, we need a direct and quicker access !
- no step recording : you can't enter notes (or tie) with pads and jump automaticaly to next step !!! WTF Korg ??? there is no way to choose a note with the pads, you always have to use the value knob, this is a real pain !
- no "repeat" or "move" function, come on Korg, with no step rec and no repeat, are we supposed to kill the value knob in one week ?
- no "shift note" function, again, are we supposed to shift notes one by one with knob value ? this is silly !
- no transpose function (although you can use the scale parameter to change tonality, but within one octave range only, and no shortcut)
- max length of notes is now reduced to 1 step, so for longer notes you have to tie several notes... it means if you want to change a note, you have to change all of them, pain...
- arpeggiator does not do arpeggios !!! it's just a kind of rhythm toy associated with the toy touchpad... shame !!!
- one edit parameter for synths...
- one edit parameter for effects....... unusable for most of them !!!
- only one master effect
- master effect only editable with the f*ck*ng toy touchpad
- bass drum sounds are poor (except for 808 and 909, I'm selling my TR-8 right away !) and fx sounds and real instruments (voices, pianos...) are bad, but hey, Korg needs to sell the sampler version !
- bass drums sometimes lack decay to really fuck them up with effetcs or modulation (but this maybe specific to a style !)
- power cable is a too short if you want to jam comfortably sat on the sofa
- no separate outputs to route all drums into one part for FX on whole drumset (but insert FX and filters on drums compensate) or simply use external FX

In conclusion, I had really good surprises after unpacking, and after a while I was really disappointed by some weird choices from Korg, going deeper in editing and playing... But in the end, despite poor editing capabilities, sound is so awesome that I think this box could be my only one or at least the center of my setup

For this price range, the new electribe rocks !!!

I just hope Korg will be efficient and reactive with updates, because everything mentionned could be easily improved !

Have a good day, weirdos !

-250 patterns of up to 4 bars max.

-32 master effects (Kaos pad-like).

-1 individual effect per track, from among 38 effect types.

-50 gate arp

-25 groove types (you can change the groove of a track)

------PCM---------
-56 kicks

-58 snares

-16 claps

-56 hit-hats/cymbals

-71 percussion/toms

-52 synth hits/ synth FX/ instrument hits

-16 voices

-27 instruments

------SYNTH Modeling---------

-55 pre-set oscillators

------KING KORG FILTER---------

electribe/MS 20/Moog/Prophet 5/oberheim / Acid

------MODULATION---------

-72 presets

- Pattern can be saved as WAV or Ableton live projects.

- Motion sequencer (to record parameter changes)

For more details, visit Korg's website


USE

- Very user-friendly, I haven't had the need to read the manual (which is pretty brief)

- Compared to the EMX version, some important functions are missing, like the "transpose" mode and the fact that you can only record four bars per pattern, instead of eight. Plus, you only have one insert effect per track instead of the 3 on the EMX.

- The pads are very pleasant in use and they can record the playing velocity if you wish so.

- The unit is very well built, metal housing and tightly anchored knobs, it's solid.

- The filter has an endless encoder, which ideal to avoid value jumps between patterns.

- You can send MIDI data over 16 fixed channels, as well as the "groove type," which is very useful to sequence your favorite expanders.

SOUND

- For people who know the EMX version, the sounds of the electribe 2 are a continuation of their predecessors, but with more clarity, precision and warmth (even without tubes), all while keeping a very low signal-to-noise ratio.

- The addition of the king korg filter is a real plus that you can hear in the sound. You can play with the resonance of the filters without any artifacts, it's smooth, warm and round, almost like an analog filter.

- I think it's a pity that many PCM sounds lack sustain. The synthesis and modeling section also lacks some flexibility.

- The oscillator section is excellent and justifies by itself the purchase of this electribe. It gives you access to quite a few new sounds, like the ones dedicated to 8-bit, Chip tune and Dubstep.

- The fact that you can save your patterns as Live projects gives you more flexibility to work sound in a studio environment.

OVERALL OPINION

- I've been using it for almost a week now, so it's only an initial review, but I'm pretty sure this small groove box will be of good service.

- I can take it along in journeys, even on a plane with batteries, it's a sort of big musical notepad, like a sketchbook for a painter. You can easily make first drafts of musical projects with this box, which can later be worked more thoroughly in a studio environment.

- Nevertheless, I am very surprised that the patterns are limited to 4 bars, especially knowing that the song mode doesn't exist anymore.

I hope this will be addressed in an update., because even if you only have 4 actual buttons, I can easily imagine that the bars could be expanded to 8 with flickering effects, like on the keyboard mode.

- Very good value for money, considering it costs half what the previous generation did.