I agree. It is not a glorified rompler like most computer samplers, nor a loop pedal. Thank goodness.electrochrisso wrote:The only thing wrong with the MS is the people who don't know how to use it the way it should be used.
If you read the user manual PDF before you buy it you would know exactly what it was capable of, before you buy.
And for sonic capability, it has a far better dynamic range than the MacBook, like the difference between a transistor radio and a Marshall.
Instead, it does something unique, which is make the normal laborious nightmare of resampling and getting sound into your sampler not only convenient and quick, but actually fun. The keyboard shortcuts and loop hold, crazily-easy sampling functions, plus the basic sequencer, built-in microphone and effects all conspire to make it not only easy to use, but an absolute pleasure to use. Something that resampling is normally anything but - normally it's a creativity stifling hassle. Bravo, Korg engineers! This is a user interface that makes a complicated task straightforward, where basically everyone else has failed before.
Things it is not for:
1) Live performance looping.
2) Playing back huge piano or orchestra patches.
3) Tyre-kicking the presets.
If you want these, buy Logic, Kontakt, or a loop pedal. I'm not interested in any of that, although pairing microsampler with a rompler or loop pedal could only add to it.
This is a sampler's sampler. It's an answer to the creative sampler's prayers. Creative use of sampling is a mostly lost art, which had it's heyday in the early 90s with people running trackers on Amigas and Atari STs. A lot of amazing music came out of that era, and has not been repeated, because an emphasis on sampling and resampling was replaced by the mid nineties with effected presets based on basic waveforms. Much less interesting, and much more tired. The infinite variety of stabs and chopped up breaks gave way to the predictability of supersaws and 909s.
Things it is for:
1) Layering sound and effects until they're phatter than phat. And it does this EASILY, which no other sampler does. Loop hold, detune, chorus, loop the timbre, layer it on itself. Original, phat timbres that most synthesists can only dream of. Let them have their Vanguards and Access Viruses - the Microsampler can out-phat them all. Technically any sampler could, but most make it a complete and utter pain in the rear, so no-one bothers. Enter the Microsampler.
2) Recycle-style chopping and timestretching. Hello breakbeats.
3) GRM Freeze-style timbre freezing. Hello stabs.
4) Capturing your hummed or do-dah'd musical ideas through the microphone, for sequencing later. Using the tap button and timestretch, you can even make your musical idea match your other musical ideas in terms of BPM. Then arrange it all in the sequencer, and sequence actual notes over the top of it, all without losing your idea. For those of us who haven't trained in piano for 10-15 years, this is a get-out-of-jail card for getting your ideas out of your head and into a sequencer, without any hassle. To do this with a computer would usually require bollocksing around with preamps, audio editors, mouses, "save as" and "open" dialogs, and finally, assigning to keys and tracks for importing into samplers and sequencers.
6) Heck, you could even make it into a rompler, and wouldn't need anything else for pianos or guitars or slap bass. Just designate Bank A as a piano, then auto-next samples from a rompler into it, Bank B as a guitar, etc. Then, when you need a piano part, sequence it in that bank, sample it, then import it into your main bank where you're working on the track.
7,8,9,10...) Etcetera....the sky, or rather your imagination, is the limit...
I could go on and on. I could talk about how the limited number of samples available per bank is a blessing in disguise, because limitations breed creativity, and how for every limitation there is a workaround (e.g. filter LFO with note-on reset to make a makeshift filter envelope). You WANT to be limited when it comes to samples, because there are an unlimited number of samples out there. It is extremely easy to get lost in the possibilities. You don't want gigs of samples hidden in memory to get the most out of them - you want a handful at your fingertips, attached to keys.
I could talk about how this is basically a superpowered Roland W30, with the sound warping Boss SE70 effects box built in. If you're not aware, this is the gearlist Liam Howlett used to use back in the early days of The Prodigy. He would probably have killed for a Microsampler back then. The W30 sequencer doesn't even loop. He was pounding in high hats into that sequencer live, by hand. The Microsampler brings back that sort of "limitations lead to creativity" magic, if you're up to the challenge. There are no presets to hide behind. You might even have to learn some music theory, composition theory or harmonic theory to get the best out of this box.
If you're running out of sample space, set everything to 24kHz, and see if you notice any difference. People actually big up the grit of old samplers, and the old records done with them at 12kHz and 22kHz sound fine to my ears.
For those who haven't worked it out yet, creative sampling is the key to the rave music genres, and most hip hop. The sampler beats at the heart of genres like drum n bass, house and hardcore. It's far more important than a synth. The microsampler should be in every dance music bedroom studio worldwide. It's right up there with the TB303 and MPC in terms of classic gear, in my opinion, and I'd rather have it than either of these. Korg should have made a mint out of this thing, but instead they have to sell microkorgs to church groups and preset collectors. As another poster said, we're lucky to have it, as it's probably a market dead end.
In short, it is the bomb. Get them while you still can. In fact, at these prices, get three or four, in case they wear out. It's that good, and we're unlikely to see it's like again.
