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keykrazy « Great Gear for Those with G.A.S. (e.g. multi-instrumentalists, et al) »
Published on 01/18/15 at 10:00
Value For Money :
Excellent
Audience:
Advanced Users
It's interesting how the Roland EF-303 has a bit of a love/hate following; this reminds me of Behringer gear, the Korg KARMA, or a Yamaha DJX. You can certainly read the spec's elsewhere, so i'll try to keep this short and ignore said specs.
Bottom Line, i think the person who'd get the most out of this is one who already has a wealth of gear. In my particular case i already own about 30 keyboards/synths (not even counting the rack stuff!), melodicas, monotrons, mandolins, ukes, guitars, etc etc et al ad nauseum. I remember when i got this thing i just didn't know what to do with it for a few months and was kinda bummed 'cause it was, well.. yet another piece of gear that might sit around unused and i'm getting a little tired of buying crap that just *sits around*. (Yeah, i know that might sound a tad neurotic!) It seemed pointless to run an Electribe or something through it as why couldn't i just use an effects pedal for that and save a little space?
Eventually the EF-303 ended up being a big part of one of my larger rigs at home. It sits among a great bunch of gear and i usually just run my laptop's audio through it (so that the laptop's audio gets the whole "home stereo system" treatment of big booming sound, etc.) For a while i just fooled around with treating YouTube videos' audio with the effects. Nowadays i like to use that laptop cable (i.e., 1/8" to RCA connectors in the back of the 303) and just plug WHATEVER in there -- monotron, mp3 player, drum machine, synth, etc. I also keep a mic on a little tabletop stand hardwired in the back as well. Sh*t! I am just now remembering that that's what that mic has been sitting there for, LOL !!!
I suppose this thing is a bit of a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" in that you ahem, only get so much effect-wise. That being said, having all these effects in one box -- and a good bit of control over them -- is much more than i would have dreamed of 20 years ago. Tap-tempo-sync'ing of the effects is something you don't always get on some synth/sampler workstations even now, and when you you throw in the TB-303 emulator and vocoder effects it still seems like a real no-brainer purchase to this guy.
I got mine for about $125 off eBay in 2014 and now that it's found its place(s) i am extremely pleased to have it. People seem to be shedding them on the 'Bay right now so you can probably find one for less if you're patient enough to watch them for a few months...
Have Fun! ^_^
Bottom Line, i think the person who'd get the most out of this is one who already has a wealth of gear. In my particular case i already own about 30 keyboards/synths (not even counting the rack stuff!), melodicas, monotrons, mandolins, ukes, guitars, etc etc et al ad nauseum. I remember when i got this thing i just didn't know what to do with it for a few months and was kinda bummed 'cause it was, well.. yet another piece of gear that might sit around unused and i'm getting a little tired of buying crap that just *sits around*. (Yeah, i know that might sound a tad neurotic!) It seemed pointless to run an Electribe or something through it as why couldn't i just use an effects pedal for that and save a little space?
Eventually the EF-303 ended up being a big part of one of my larger rigs at home. It sits among a great bunch of gear and i usually just run my laptop's audio through it (so that the laptop's audio gets the whole "home stereo system" treatment of big booming sound, etc.) For a while i just fooled around with treating YouTube videos' audio with the effects. Nowadays i like to use that laptop cable (i.e., 1/8" to RCA connectors in the back of the 303) and just plug WHATEVER in there -- monotron, mp3 player, drum machine, synth, etc. I also keep a mic on a little tabletop stand hardwired in the back as well. Sh*t! I am just now remembering that that's what that mic has been sitting there for, LOL !!!
I suppose this thing is a bit of a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" in that you ahem, only get so much effect-wise. That being said, having all these effects in one box -- and a good bit of control over them -- is much more than i would have dreamed of 20 years ago. Tap-tempo-sync'ing of the effects is something you don't always get on some synth/sampler workstations even now, and when you you throw in the TB-303 emulator and vocoder effects it still seems like a real no-brainer purchase to this guy.
I got mine for about $125 off eBay in 2014 and now that it's found its place(s) i am extremely pleased to have it. People seem to be shedding them on the 'Bay right now so you can probably find one for less if you're patient enough to watch them for a few months...
Have Fun! ^_^