is there likely to be a firmware update?

beatifictatter · Post by **beatifictatter** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:15 pm

i know there are a few problems that users have agreed could be easily fixed with a firmware update, but are korg even in the habit of updating firmware?
i just had a quick look and doesnt seem like the microkorg has ever had an update....im not sure, but there are no downloads on the korg site for it....
shame if they don't at least do some of the easy fixes for the ms1....

shabby · Post by **shabby** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:53 am

the microkorg did not need one, i think. the XL version got an update after a year though

SMK · Post by **SMK** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:04 am

Oh my Gods guys...it took almost 2 years before the Kaoss Pad 3 got a firmware up date. the micro Sampler is just barely and I mean BARELY hitting the USA. Some of the magic things people are asking for are purely pipe dreams in puffy little clouds. Hell this think runs on BATTERIES!!!! what can anyone expect from that? Honestly the only adjustment that needs to happen on the microSampler is the price! $500 is waaaaaaaaaaay to high for this product. $300 is a fair price for something like this.

Really price is really the only problem. There are not enough features to justify the cost and BTW look at how limited the midi mapping is!!!!!!!! I mean at least for $500 we should be able to make this our own computer controller, you would think, right?

beatifictatter · Post by **beatifictatter** » Sun Oct 11, 2009 1:46 pm

i know a few of the OS update suggestions have been a bit optimistic, pie in the sky, admitted, but things like the ability to

'hold down the 'keyboard' button and press the sample/key that you want to spread across the keys to select it etc, and not have to use that annoying 'sample' wheel....' are surely very easy to do and without that upgrade or similar, selecting is a real pain....a lot of the other suggestions are equally as easily remedied surely....

as for price, i dont see it as being that over-priced....the roland sp-404 ex is nigh on £300....the microsampler does pretty much everything that does, and much that it doesnt, and you get a velocity sensitive 36 key midi keyboard (might not be good enough to use as a controller for computer use, but thats not really the point of this machine....) which you can spread a synth or any sample over, a 'decent' mic and the fact that it is 'all in one box'.....maybe slightly over priced but i wouldnt say by much......
only thing that really annoys me compared to the sp-404 ex is the memory..and the loading time/neccessity to switch between banks..it would be nice to be able to have a beat playing from bank a and then load bank b, bank a still playing, and add a loop from bank b and so on and so on.....i dont think the workings will ever allow that?......but i REALLY hope there is going to be some magical add-on that adds more memory.....so you could have the bones of a whole 4 or 5 minute backing track on one key and then hit up all the additional parts on other keys as you play live......dream. dream. dream

but yeah, in short, i dont think some of the update suggestions are too much to ask for....

waldorf1 · Post by **waldorf1** » Sun May 25, 2014 3:33 pm

my microkorg xl is stuck on the welcome screen?? any thoughts? what can I do? was hoping to wipe it then re-load..

lloydsmith · Post by **lloydsmith** » Fri Jun 06, 2014 2:43 pm

Agreed Beattific.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but useful as it has been, the Microsampler served me best as a gateway to better equipment. None of it Korg.

I know marketing dictates the nature of all products but I am now very wary of trusting Korg to deliver past their slick marketing.

Although I like to focus on the good things about it, In use some of the MS ergonomic failings are just pathetic and should never have left the drawing board.

My message to Korg, which i know will not be heard...Bring back the ESX1 - with analog innards, and build the casing out of metal. Stop with the toy thing, it's getting old and it is killing your credibility.

robotunes · Post by **robotunes** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:44 am

couldn't you just buy a used esx and an outboard analog filter to get what you want?

the microsampler is a gold mine of ideas for anybody with an iphone/ipad, a knob box, and the patience to figure out sysex for more live tweaking.

if that's too much to ask, a microsampler + a kp3 in external mode takes the little keyboard into new dimensions because you can use the kp3's touchpad to control two effects parameters in realtime and sample the output.

the microsampler is part of a setup, not the whole shebang (though it can be if you have decent rhythm and the creativity to use it in ways that korg didn't imagine).

in a bittersweet way, i'm glad the microsampler disappointed so many people. that makes it easier to keep my secret weapon a secret.

lloydsmith · Post by **lloydsmith** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:48 am

Yes, actually I have those and I do that - and of course it is awesome..
But the cost of refining the product was....

£400 for the MS (early adopter), £250 secondhand ESX - as they have discontinued it ( boo), £150 for a secondhand KP3... So that is £800..

No doubt that would be the price of an all in one box and that would be harder to market and sell than the piecemeal approach KORG favour, and to a certain extent I agree with them. So I have killed my argument ...ha ha

I guess I am just frustrated that the ergonomic failings were so unnecessary and the lack of development to refine the s/w rankles..It could have been killer so easily then it wouldn't have been dead in the water as a product line..perhaps..

The analog dirction KORG has taken has not yet extended beyond little boxes, cute as they are. I ended up with an Akai sampler which is a b&tch to use compared with the Microsampler but at least it doesn't have the driver issues.. And an on screen waveform display.. Not to mention the punchier sound. But actually that made me appreciate the positives about the MS more so it's all good in the end.

When I say none of my recent equipment is KORG I really meant nothing that is new. But of course Robo you are right on the button and this is a whiny post and I will shut up now lol

SMK · Post by **SMK** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:12 am

robotunes wrote:couldn't you just buy a used esx and an outboard analog filter to get what you want?

the microsampler is a gold mine of ideas for anybody with an iphone/ipad, a knob box, and the patience to figure out sysex for more live tweaking.

if that's too much to ask, a microsampler + a kp3 in external mode takes the little keyboard into new dimensions because you can use the kp3's touchpad to control two effects parameters in realtime and sample the output.

the microsampler is part of a setup, not the whole shebang (though it can be if you have decent rhythm and the creativity to use it in ways that korg didn't imagine).

in a bittersweet way, i'm glad the microsampler disappointed so many people. that makes it easier to keep my secret weapon a secret.

Hey, can you talk more about how you work with the KP3 and microsampler? Also what external controller are you using to send SYSEX messages?

ludicrouSpeed · Post by **ludicrouSpeed** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 6:48 am

robotunes wrote:couldn't you just buy a used esx and an outboard analog filter to get what you want?

the microsampler is a gold mine of ideas for anybody with an iphone/ipad, a knob box, and the patience to figure out sysex for more live tweaking.

Hi there, I just got a microSAMPLER, trying to understand it's full capabilities, currently adding it to a setup with a boomerang III looper.

Can I ask, what you mean by a knob box, and sysex? I'm very interested to learn more. I was also wondering if there was any way to control the tap tempo function externally... But I will ask that in a new thread.

advTHANKSance

lloydsmith · Post by **lloydsmith** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 11:22 am

I think Robo means utilising something like the Behringer BCR2000 midi controller.

I haven't gone that route, but keep meaning to try it out..

Something to interpret sysex values and map them to controls is what you are after.

Interestingly the MS has worn very well, better sound than Volca, better sample management than ES2. But KORG's attitude to its customers hasn't.

ludicrouSpeed · Post by **ludicrouSpeed** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:46 pm

Thanks lloydsmith for your reply. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, I accidentally didn't set notifications (expected them to be default).