There are a lot of features for the money. It came with 24 bit onboard effects processor, wav;aiff files import, 8outs, and 64mb of memory. This is only a few features that I was pleased with. Some features that need some work are the time stretch (forever and a day to finish), small lcd screen, and the sequencer.

Price paid

$600

UTILIZATION

The ease of use is not hard. I figured out the basics using the "Getting Started" manual, which was simple to understand. The user interface, like I said before, could have been bigger. This would have allowed for less button pushing to scroll through options.

I have never used this machine at a live gig. I have read that it is not to dependable live, because of the Os bugs, freezing up, so forth. I have not had a problem with it yet.

SOUNDS

The sound quality is great. There is a feature that allows to lower the bit of the sound from 16 to 8 bit. I don't know if it is a true bit degradation. I came across an effects called turntable that brings up the bottom end of my base kicks and makes them thump hard. I was very impressed with the effectsboard. Both hip hop and techno can be created from this machine. The onboard sounds are geared more towards electronic music, but it gave me a chance to practice manipulating sounds and so forth without permantly changing the rom sound.

OVERALL OPINION

It is my first sampler and so therefore I am going to love it. By itself it can be a bit frustrating because of the sh*tty sequencer. However, I use it my Roland XP80 or MPC 60 for sequencing and use the ASR-X Pro for sampling, resampling, flipping, reversing, and tweaking sampled sounds. It does it's job beautifully and I would definitely buy another one if mine were ever stolen or broke.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown (January 2-, 2002)