KVR Audio

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:51 pm

Look at the wee babby synth, awww, it's so cute! Look at his little knobby-wobbies and blinky-winky lights!

Seriously though, I don't get how anyone can hate on these things. I love complex synths with lots of options, and I like medium and even simple synths, but then there's this. Just enough features to be interesting, but not so many that you'd feel sad you can't save a patch. Something you could play in the ad-breaks or boring parts of TV (let's face it, that's most of it) but also use as a characterful sound source in the studio.

Didn't see the point in the Beats as I've got beats coming out of my USB port, but the Bass and Keys, that I can make time for! I could use 99% of the featureset without even looking at the instructions, partly because I'm familiar with synths, but mostly because of Korg's design chops. These things ooze fun no matter what you do with them.

Normally a lack of pulsewidth waveforms and filter tracking options would bother me - they're certainly the only features I really miss with them - but expecting them to be there kinda misses the point. These are simple and affordable folk instruments and will go down in history.

Build quality, too, is suprisingly good. They really do feel quite solid, much more than I was excpecting, and they look, well, adorable. Even the mini form factor somehow seems like a positive. I'd take these tiny parameter-hugging knobs over the big "intelligent tracking" encoders of the Analog Four any day!

Side note edit: BTW, while these were out of stock in most places in the UK, these were actually going for over the RRP second hand on Ebay. They're that grabbable!

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:04 am

They're extremely basic synths which is fine and with that price I guess there's no point to complain, but the thing that really bothers me is the single envelope generator.

dune_rave · Post by **dune_rave** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:27 am

Seriously - these are just toys

With a vsti plugin equipped with layers, arps, effects, filters, mod matrix, preset handling etc... you can do so much more.

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:50 am

With comparable patches, these "toys" can sound very nice, much nicer than most of your sophisticated plugins, and I doubt anyone cares about your spaceships to oranges comparison.

ChiTown24 · Post by **ChiTown24** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:06 pm

it was the lack of accent or swing programming on the sequencers that tempered my desires. Because of that I'll wait until they're common enough to get a better deal on the used market. already seen some deals {not ebay} but simply didn't have the dough.

they are cool though. also good mod/bending candidates. they're prohibitively noisy on club sound systems though, this might be improved with some chip/circuitry tweaking. it remains to be seen.

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:15 pm

the more i read about them, the more they seem unappealing... lots of user problems it seems...possible down to cheap build...

the 303 type emu was really the only one i was interested in....but not that much, even less so now.

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:57 pm

Yes, the lack of accents is a bit of a downer, but there are ways around it, i.e. using a triggered square LFO to make the filter pop up at certain points. You have to get creative with these cut back synths. When you've got a bare minimum to work with it makes you think on your toes, and I like that.

And the fact that you can grab and play these anywhere just makes it that much sweeter.

plastic · Post by **plastic** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:26 pm

I didn't try the volca bass (i cancelled the preorder because i was tired waiting after the 3rd month) but the more i'm listening at it on youtube the less i'm impressed somehow. i'm leaning to a xoxbox instead actually. not for accents, but for pure tone. i cant put my finger on it but theres something about the volca sounds, lack of beef or muddyness, i dont know.

commuter · Post by **commuter** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:27 pm

the more i read about them, the more they seem unappealing... lots of user problems it seems...possible down to cheap build...

the 303 type emu was really the only one i was interested in....but not that much, even less so now.

Seriously…for that price…there's absolutely nothing negative to say about them..i paid 135 euros for the bass…For that price , i accept all the (relative) limitations!
I don't see it as a 303 emu at all= With 3 oscillators , sometimes it has more to do with a Moog or a MS20 than a 303.
I'm not using the internal sequencer that much.
As a 3 oscillators analog sound module sequenced by Ableton LIVE, i think it's absolutely fantastic ( and i've owned or tested loads of analog synths…)

I know a lots of people here, like the Arturia Minibrute for example... I like the filter on this thing, but i absolutely hate the envelope …For snappy /punchy analog bass, i prefer the Volca any days!! (that's my humble opinion of course)
Yes, i love it, of course i'd like a few things like a noise, key tracking on the filter , volume for individual oscillators….but common!! it's cheap as f*ck and fun!!

i can post sound example if you want….i did a few demos with it ; including a depeche MODe cover .

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:41 pm

commuter wrote:
the more i read about them, the more they seem unappealing... lots of user problems it seems...possible down to cheap build...

the 303 type emu was really the only one i was interested in....but not that much, even less so now.
Seriously…for that price…there's absolutely nothing negative to say about them..i paid 135 euros for the bass…For that price , i accept all the (relative) limitations!

Im not talking about limitations, im talking about faults, such as audio bleed thru the sync cables, and MIDI sync not working correctly etc etc

i would love to demo a Bass unit myself soon, i like the idea of it, byt reports like that put me off...

commuter wrote:
the more i read about them, the more they seem
I know a lots of people here, like the Arturia Minibrute for example... I like the filter on this thing, but i absolutely hate the envelope …For snappy /punchy analog bass, i prefer the Volca any days!! (that's my humble opinion of course)
I have the MB, envs are fine here, great for bass and perc sounds...

commuter wrote:Yes, i love it, of course i'd like a few things like a noise, key tracking on the filter , volume for individual oscillators….but common!! it's cheap as f*ck and fun!!

exactly, its cheap, so i have no gripes about features

commuter wrote: i can post sound example if you want….i did a few demos with it ; including a depeche MODe cover .

go on then, i like DM

commuter · Post by **commuter** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:54 pm

ok, here's a few demos

this is a just can't enough cover loop (just the intro) ( this is for a "one synth only" contest with some friends )
Everything is Volca bass, including the drums (not great drums because of the lack of a noise generator)
no effects, et….pure Volca bass multi tracked in Live

https://www.dropbox.com/s/danh88sfgn3jq ... ca%202.mp3

Here's various sounds tweaked real time (techno stabs etc….) with just a bit of Ableton live's reverb and delay

https://soundcloud.com/commuter/volca-b ... ious-sound

I think it shows , that it can do more than 303 emu

oh!! just can't get enough , bass only :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kt180uwmdz5te ... 20Bass.mp3

i love this synth!!

edit :

one more 303 style emu ^^

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h28vozdscwzwu ... filter.mp3

ChiTown24 · Post by **ChiTown24** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:09 pm

Kriminal wrote:such as audio bleed thru the sync cables, and MIDI sync not working correctly etc etc

there's a {user} fix for the audio bleed issue if I'm not mistaken, and firmware updates should address midi sync issues. there's already been firmware updates, but I haven't read or heard what's on the update log.

the philosophy behind these entry level korg analog units of late seems firmly pegged in giving the user plenty of scope for DIY improvements, enhancements, and in some cases fixes. anything that falls under the scope of a hardware 'fix', such as the audio bleed, I would expect to be addressed in later builds, and firmware updates when it's an OS issue. though some issues may stand on the border between 'fault' and 'limitation'.

it's another reason I'm happy to wait a while to jump aboard the bandwagon, quite some issues should be sorted out by then. and quite some units should be available on the used market when people realise there's no accent or swing

and yes, the bang-for-buck is good and they're fun - I want them! - but making such patently obvious overtures to the roland 303 & 808 and not including accent or swing is a big miss IMO. one might even be so bold as to say a big fail. if one were so inclined

Kriminal · Post by **Kriminal** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:26 pm

Yes, i agree, no accent is a big minus...and you cannot even automate the cut off via MIDI to somewhat compensate

Still, wait and see eh.

burkowitz · Post by **burkowitz** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:21 pm

a while ago i was thinking it would be cool to have a bunch of ultra portable little battery powered electronic music devices that you could take around with you in a backpack and i dunno have a little mini performance to your friends while having a picnic in a park or something. I was thinking of stuff along the lines of a gameboy with nanoloop (or a new gameboy DS with that korg DS program) a casio VL tone or SK-1 or something along those lines.. like build a little setup along the lines of battery powered, and ultra portable/small.

This was just an idea I had.. but yeah when I saw the volca series I immediately thought they would be great for someone who had this kind of a setup in mind.

But really if I was going to get a new piece of gear for my at home studio (rather than for some ultraportable concept) I would rather pick up a second hand Electribe EMX-1 or ESX-1.. It probably wouldn't be that much of a difference in price when compared to a new volca, and you'd have a lot more features to play with.

jay101 · Post by **jay101** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:10 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THU7puT0 ... tWsvbqGvBw

Volcas are just adorable