Korg Volca FM ... [details about 'smart' midi cable to solve MIDI Velocity issue inside]

[foosnark]

Looks like it's been released -- $160 street from pretty much all the US retailers I've checked except Amazon.

Even at that price my spouse might start giving me the side-eye if I get myself new hardware every week, so I'm holding off for a bit. More time to explore the Atmegatron and TB2 before GAS kicks in again.

[Daags]

if its release is imminent in japan i hope the new customers take to youtube with demos to whet my appetite until may.

[DodgingRain]

Mine shipped, supposed to be here Monday.

[nortotron]

I like the look of the FM.

I do like my Sample.

[akozlov]

Does not respond to note velocity or Volume CC (7). I was so hoping to use it with WX-5...

[foosnark]

Weird... apparently it responds to CC 29 messages to set velocity, but ignores velocity in Note On messages. That's annoying.

[Daags]

ya, they'd want to sort that out.
not a deal breaker... but quite annoying if you want to sequence it from other gear, as i do.

[foosnark]

Or even just play it expressively. I think I'll stick with FM8 then.

[akozlov]

Maybe they could fix it in the firmware update? I filed a support request about this at korg.com.

[aimm]

Anyone knows when it is available in europe?

[Daags]

Anyone knows when it is available in europe?

Anyone got any idea ? I guess I'll put a pre-order in now ...some retailers don't have a date, though I saw one UK dealer state expected date of delivery was early August : - /

[aMUSEd]

I don't get why anyone would get this, it seems so limited in terms of voices (4) and expression, even compared with something like the Yamaha Reface DX which at least has 8 voices and seems a more complete recreation of the original even if it is a bit more expensive:

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/yamaha-r ... Gwod30QC5w

[Daags]

I don't get why anyone would get this, it seems so limited in terms of voices (4) and expression, even compared with something like the Yamaha Reface DX which at least has 8 voices and seems a more complete recreation of the original even if it is a bit more expensive:

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/yamaha-r ... Gwod30QC5w

you're looking at it from the wrong perspective. you are looking at it from a FM synth perspective. You should look at it from a Volca perspective. It's a Volca, that happens to be FM flavoured.

if what you are looking for is an FM module for your studio, and nothing more ... then naturally there are better alternatives.

[akozlov]

I don't get why anyone would get this, it seems so limited in terms of voices (4) and expression, even compared with something like the Yamaha Reface DX which at least has 8 voices and seems a more complete recreation of the original even if it is a bit more expensive:

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/yamaha-r ... Gwod30QC5w

I was hoping to use it as a portable sound module for WX-5 wind controller. Yes, it is 4 only voices, but it has 6 operators, as opposed to only 4 in Reface DX. Unfortunately, the initial incarnation won't work, and I would not hold my breath for a fix: even if some people are complaining about note velocity, nobody complains about unsupported Volume CC 7.

[Daags]

i pre-ordered mine .... should have done it ages ago, it seems. but i thought stocks would 'normalise' quickly after launch and I could just order one after reading rave userfeedback reviews. i only imagined the first round to be snapped up quickly in pre-orders etc. i bought all the other volcas the same way. either the volca fm is their most popular volca yet, at least as far as launch sales go, or there is something quite different about the manufacturing/distribution of this volca versus all the previous volcas in their opening months/year of sale. ymmv, but it seems very different to my previous early-adopter volca purchase experiences.

anyway, thomann say the next batch is due in june, but that it is all spoken for in pre-orders, and the next batch is in july and they say that is nearly all spoken for too....