R3, microkorg and microkorgXL comparison chart?

[speedtribe]

i think the MS-2000/MicroKorg family sounds more gritty meaning "retro oldschool analog". so i think its better suited to imitating old 80s synth music.

i think the new Microkorg-XL/R3/Radias family can be gritty, but it still sounds cleaner than old MicroKorg.

i know the XL is more improved features, but regarding just sound, I prefer the old MicroKorg's sound.

[plosive]

The Electribe EMX-1 uses MMT. You think it sounds silky? It's about as gritty as can be, in my opinion. The Tribes are great for industrial, and they are often used when "gritty" is THE goal.

yes, before distortion or wild modulations or anything else.. and the filters are entirely different. im not saying one is better than the other so relax, im just pointing out that there is a difference (specially in the filters which i forgot to mention earlier).

[xmlguy]

The Electribe EMX-1 uses MMT. You think it sounds silky? It's about as gritty as can be, in my opinion. The Tribes are great for industrial, and they are often used when "gritty" is THE goal.

yes, before distortion or wild modulations or anything else.. and the filters are entirely different. im not saying one is better than the other so relax, im just pointing out that there is a difference (specially in the filters which i forgot to mention earlier).

I see your point. I'm just disputing the characterization of MMT as silky, when in fact, the distortion and modulations are part of MMT (except for the tubes) and can produce a grittier result than the MS2K engine that lacks these effects. And I'm not in any way mad about your statement, I just disagree with that point, nothing more. It's legitimate if someone prefers the MS2K engine to the MMT, so long as they realize that there is nothing that prevents the MMT sound to be gritty, which is the result that the EMX proves, in my opinion.

[fenderprecision]

Hi all,
This is my first post. I have played the Microkorg in a couple of bands as a secondary instrument to bass for 2 years. I have recently bought the XL to replace it because I was borrowing it from a friend. My favorite things about the XL that are not on the original:

The screen is very helpful and makes tweaking the sounds more intuitive. I've been less intimidated to make the sounds "my own".

Tempo for arpeggiator - on the XL it tells you the bpm. Dealing with the arpeggiator on the original was difficult because I could never get the tempo exactly right.

The dials make a little more sense. The old one didn't seem to have as much reasoning to me. Switching A/B is still a little confusing. I work in a live setting and have to get to my sounds quickly between songs. I haven't done it yet, but I think I will put my faves in the favorites section.

USB - I haven't used this yet, but I'm glad it has it. I'm actually here to find out more about if I can download sounds from online into the XL. I haven't searched that yet though...

Overall, I'm very glad I bought the XL.

[xmlguy]

Hi all,
This is my first post. I have played the Microkorg in a couple of bands as a secondary instrument to bass for 2 years. I have recently bought the XL to replace it because I was borrowing it from a friend. My favorite things about the XL that are not on the original:

The screen is very helpful and makes tweaking the sounds more intuitive. I've been less intimidated to make the sounds "my own".

Tempo for arpeggiator - on the XL it tells you the bpm. Dealing with the arpeggiator on the original was difficult because I could never get the tempo exactly right.

The dials make a little more sense. The old one didn't seem to have as much reasoning to me. Switching A/B is still a little confusing. I work in a live setting and have to get to my sounds quickly between songs. I haven't done it yet, but I think I will put my faves in the favorites section.

USB - I haven't used this yet, but I'm glad it has it. I'm actually here to find out more about if I can download sounds from online into the XL. I haven't searched that yet though...

Overall, I'm very glad I bought the XL.

My question is why you bought the MKXL instead of the R3? Did you not know about the R3? Or was there something about the XL that you preferred over the R3?

[fenderprecision]

I only looked at R3 briefly at the store. I was pretty locked in to the XL because I was "replacing" my friend's MK. Also, $100 isn't that much, but it seemed to make a difference to me, especially considering it's my part time instrument.

[xmlguy]

That's understandable. Unfortunately a lot of brick-n-mortar stores are sticking to the list price. The R3 is only $50 more on several online vendors, and it's cheaper used, but that's not much help when you're at the store. The MKXL is still a good upgrade over the MK, so I'm not criticizing your purchase. I just wish that Korg would lower the price of the MKXL and the R3 in this economy. Korg offered $100 and $200 rebates for quite awhile on the R3, so it would be great if they did this again on both models.

[Dj Pound]

Quite honestly i dont think korg promotes the R3 as well as they do their Microkorg Line!
I bought the microkorg because i wanted a korg product and because it was the only thing i could find in that price range with all the goodies.
Not to mention i thought the thing looked f*ckin' awesome with the wood trim and all the knobs etc...

Had i known about the r3, i might of gotten it as well....But like i said, its not OUT THERE like the Microkorgs are