All user reviews for the Zoom ST-224

What effects? 22 Personal effects I like, and I love the control knob with its !!!

What connection (Audio, MIDI, digital ...)? 1 twelve o'clock jack (for use with a sequencer it works nickel)

Is there an editing tool on Mac / PC? Yes ZMF producer, I was using there is not very long but I prefer to manage everything from the ST224

UTILIZATION

The general configuration is it simple? Extra easy, I find

The manual is clear and sufficient? I have a photocopy of the manual D / E, it is clear and well illustrated

Editing sounds and effects is it easy? very accurate for the "start points" and "end points" especially with the "special" key

SOUNDS

The effects and filters are effective? I like the effects of this little sampler, especially its high pass filters, low pass, and its resonance

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you use it? I buy in 2005 to "backpackers tek" I waited to have my first Korg ER1 mk2 to use it properly ....

What thing do you like most and least? as> it makes little toy while it is a great toy, the less> audio jacks on the back are fragile ...

How would you rate the quality / price? 100 € I am especially pleased that in 2014 I always used !!!

With experience, you do again this choice? I am an amateur, but I like my little sampler, I would do the selection without problem!

I purchased th unit cash from Mars music in the Metro Detroit area. The reason I purchased the unit was to enable me to sequence songs.

There are several thing that make this unit special. First and foremost the user interface is probably the most freindly of all the other units I have played with. I definitely like the fact that the unit is small enough to transport anywhere and set up. The smart media card also add some spunk to the unit allowing you to store alot more info without clogging up the internal memory. Another great thing about the unit is that it comes with built in effects. Unlike some of it's bigger brethren " Akai's mpc series", There are no after purchase upgrades to drain your bank account.

There are very few things that are undesirable about this machine. The only real kink in the unit is it's appearance. "How can a unit so small and unassuming be so versatile and easy to use?" Don't let the looks fool you though. This unit rocks!

Construction is great! The unit withstands hours of use a daily. The buttons and knobs are beefy and take quite a bit of abuse. I refer to the unit as "Little Big Man". Zoom had a great idea by lighting the pads on the unit. When a pad is in operation it is lit. This makes editing very simple because you don't have to fumble around to find a particular pad.

My personal feelings are quite simple: Zoom has trough a curveball at the competition by creating a unit at a third of the price of comparable units. If these big companies don't watch out Zoom will soon corner the market for pre-production equipment.

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

THE EFFECTS ARE WRONG TO MY SENSES

In memory, I put the cards up to 16 mo, I'm not above essay!

Level utility pc edition, apparently you can put the samples directly from the PC to the card, I personally never worked aa!

UTILIZATION

Using very simple if we take the time to spend a few hours on it like on any machine

This is sometimes a little hard to get a good loop seen how to edit sound.

For the manual I downloaded from the Internet in English and it's pretty simple, except for MIDI or there is no explanation of the fawn to send samples in loops (but I think after many trials that this function is not dispponible, shame about a sampler)

SOUNDS

Yes

OVERALL OPINION

Used for 2 years and one year as a group, I pay 150 euros, while the price just as effect module is interresting, because I rather like its effects.

To send some samples in groups, not bad, again shame about that complicated or impossible to connect a pad for drummers!

effects:
timestretching very well!
phaser ok
enancher ok
flanger ok
filter ok

good converters

there is a utility for PC edition (I do not know if works on mac)

UTILIZATION

configuration very simple (if you know a little sampler, see the special MPC: some fawn load / save is similar) and the manual is clear enough.
edition of the sounds / effects is very easy: start / end samples very intuitive.

I find it very useful and precise the "pitch scale": playing with a purpose and time stretching (see above), we arrive at unexpected results for this price (and others)! we is not at odds roland vp9000, but the st224 do very well this whelk.

opportunity to resampling (also) the reasons (!)

opportunity to make the sampling as it jue a pattern (!)

possibility to import. wav or. aiff samples (I succeeded without problem, I read well the manual)

SOUNDS

very good sound.
This little machine is incredible.
good dynamic as well.
its "dark" "dark".

OVERALL OPINION

I for 2 years.
It surprises me every time.
I bought it on occasion but frainchement it plays well with the boss sp303 (I also): the two have a very good sequencer but hurt!
more: st224 has the pitch (and other) that the sp303 does not ...

the most:
pitch scale, resampling "total" sampling "live", timestretching, copy / paste fast shuffle / quantize (incroyable!! more: we just change it live!)

Cons:
Little timing for each song in echaintilloner: around 60 sec for each project ...
-MIDI: a will, but as quelqun has already said, in steps ONLY gate ...

For the price(especially what they sell for used)the features are fine. So I base the high rating on the features to value scale. It has the capabilty to create complete tracks all on it's own,but sequencing these songs with good results takes time to master.This is of course if you plan to use the internal sequencer.Most will opt not to. For trasfering samples to your computer via smart media this is a very good sampler to get because of it's nice full sound. Midi is pretty bad though.

Price paid

$300

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use.Very intuitive user interface,and the manual was a breeze. The sequencer is easy to use,but very basic.If you resample sequences you can retrigger them as the song mode is recording,and you can make songs that way.

I don't gig,but it's very reliable,and pretty robust for such a small machine.

SOUNDS

It's a sampler,but one with character. Nice warm punchy sound.Probably the most slept on sampler for drums. Spend some time resampling with effects,and you'll see what I mean. Highest sampling rate is 32khz,but that's fine for drums,and in most cases I don't need more.

OVERALL OPINION

I like it's grittyness,and ease of use so I can't part with it.

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

The features are great. I can still get around its lame sequencer. I have created a certain style making beats on it that I cant do with an MPC or anything else I know of.

Price paid

175

UTILIZATION

Easiest thing to use. And a million secrets that you will learn on your own.

Its good for the price. Its less than 2 pounds and lighter than an ES-1 and built about the same quality as an ES-1. Its good.

SOUNDS

Sound quality isnt the greatest for samples. But But messed up high pitch resamples come out in great quality. Its good enough for me.

OVERALL OPINION

Its very close to my heart! I just fried it so I am getting a new one very soon. VERY fun to create on. But its not for everyone. Some people dont like it. If you like strangeness at a budget cost, get it. If you want hip hop, trip hop, electro, get the ES-1. But know that the Zoom has 22 effects and alot of secrets that the ES-1 doesnt have. BUT the ES-1 has an awesone sequencer.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown ( 7-, 2003)

Price paid

150EUR (used, but w/ ac adaptor)

UTILIZATION

I just tried it without looking into the manual when i got it home, i found that theres nothing i needed the manual for.

the in-/output level and the edit 2 knob could have been better. rest is fine.

SOUNDS

Well i think with the flanger more quality and less range would have been *something*. but nothing to complain about the rest

OVERALL OPINION

Well im a reggae selecta. i was looking for something to fill with lickshots and use as effector. and maybe for to start producing some riddims later on. i think thats about the device i wanted.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: arsonist (January 2-, 2005)

It's a damn shame there's no MIDI out (could it really have cost THAT much to add? I've had this open and there's definitely enough space in there) and it's also a shame the pads are not velocity sensitive. If this machine had these 2 features it would have sold by the boatload. More memory would also have been nice, but to me that wasn't as much of a loss as the other features. Having said all of this, it's still a great machine, and more than worth what they can be purchased for these days.

Price paid

US$500 (in 1999!)

UTILIZATION

Undoubtably the greatest aspect of the Sampletrak - I'm yet to come across a more intuitive sampler, and I must have used dozens.. I took it out of the box and within about half an hour I pretty much knew it inside out. The speed at which you can go from sampling to chopped-up, looped, and assigned-to-pad sounds is unparalled by anything else I've used. The onboard sequencer is average, but more than adequate for sketching out ideas.

The knobs feel a bit cheap, but are solid enough and remove easily enough if any crap gets under them - still going strong 7 years after purchase, and it's been all over the place and subjected to a fair bit of mistreatment and over-zealous use so I can't complain. One LED above a pad went out a few months after I bought it, but I suspect that was due to some mistreatment while loaned to a friend (hmmmm...).. build quality overall is just fine.

SOUNDS

For such an inexpensive unit (when it came out, at least) the sound quality is good - 32kHz max sample frequency seems to represent everything I've used it to sample just fine, but then I deliberately avoid using it for any sound with a lot of top-end.. I have other kit for that. What I REALLY like it for is lo-fi drum and loop crunching, for which it excels - when you want a sample to sound cheap, rough and nasty this machine is one of the best ever - at lower sample rates it's sound is reminiscent of the some of the Akai and Roland samplers of the late 80s and early 90s. This is the main reason I've kept it all these years, why I'll never give it up, and why I probably won't bother buying another 12-bit rack sampler again. Oh yeah, and the Resampling option is kicking.

OVERALL OPINION

Despite some of the issues I've mentioned above, I love this machine like very few other pieces of equipment I've ever used - over the years I've owned about a dozen or more samplers, and this is one of the only ones I couldn't bear to part with. Detractors will tell you it looks and feels like a toy, and this is EXACTLY what I love about it - it's fun and simple to get into, and just begs for you to play it.. what them fools don't tell you is that it under it's 'My First Sampler' facade there is a proper studio tool with and endless array of applications to a creative user. Gets my vote for 'Most slept-on sampler ever'. I like my MPCs etc, and rely on them enormously to do my thing - but the Sampletrak is a machine I genuinely love. Word.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: alifromcairo (January 2-, 2006)