Korg Volca Alternatives

Olivander12 · Post by **Olivander12** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:32 am

Hi guys,

I am looking for a cheap drum machine/groovebox, which is great for jamming. I just want to play around with it on its own, so it should sound decent and interesting enoguh without addtional gear. Also, it should not be that expensive, my budget is about 200 bucks.

I did some investigation and found the following devices, which I think fit my needs:

Korg Volca Beats (only 16 steps

)

Korg Volca Sample (I have to wait until it is clear whether one really needs an iOS device or not. It has a song mode so it is better for stand alone use and a sampler has naturally always very varied sound)

Monotribe (only 16 steps as well, no pattern save function)

Akai Rythm Wolf (My favorite option at the moment. It does not sound that great, but I think that you have more options with the Wolf than with Korg Volca Beats and the Monotribe. It has 32 steps, saves various patterns and features drums plus a synth)

Old Electribes, Er.1 or Es.1: Too expensive

What is your opinion? What is your recommendation? I am open for other devices than the listed above as well.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:03 am

How about a Yamaha AN200 or DX200? I have the latter, which is FM synthesis. It sounds awesome, but I've really only used the FM part (both units have 1 synth part and 3 drum parts).

Another option could be the Roland SH-32, but it's probably not the kind of "jamming" unit you're after. It does sound good, though.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:26 pm

I think the Volca Beats is terrific for jamming. Literally, you can lay down a pattern or change it up in seconds. I've not found this ease of use and fluidity with any other drum machine so far. the 16 step limitation is annoying, but if you have a sequencer you can overcome this (I use mine with an ES1).

I don't know about that Rhythm Wolf lol. Its sound leaves a lot to be desired, and don't even bother mentioning its synth.

Its possible the Volca Sampler might be usable without an iOS device, assuming its also made to work with iTunes or someone makes a hack for it.
Then, that might be a good option for you, too. You can even sample the Beats' drums. You'd get more sonic possibilities with the Sampler for sure.

Of course, you can wait for the new electribe to come out, those drums on it sound fantastic so far!

Olivander12 · Post by **Olivander12** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:35 pm

roblabs wrote:I think the Volca Beats is terrific for jamming. Literally, you can lay down a pattern or change it up in seconds. I've not found this ease of use and fluidity with any other drum machine so far. the 16 step limitation is annoying, but if you have a sequencer you can overcome this (I use mine with an ES1).

I agree, but I am basically looking for one cheap toy to play around with. The Volca Beats is great, that's true! Nevertheless, I think that it does not deliver that much variety if used alone. I

I don't know about that Rhythm Wolf lol. Its sound leaves a lot to be desired, and don't even bother mentioning its synth.

It does not sound that bad at all. I watched some demos on youtube and I eventhough the kick is not that great it still delivers some decent tunes. It costs 200 and offers a lot of things the Korg Volca Series lacks. It has 64 steps, saves more patterns, has a resolution of 32th notes, has some drum pads, etc.

Its possible the Volca Sampler might be usable without an iOS device, assuming its also made to work with iTunes or someone makes a hack for it.
Then, that might be a good option for you, too. You can even sample the Beats' drums. You'd get more sonic possibilities with the Sampler for sure.

This is my biggest hope at the moment, to use it without iOS.

Of course, you can wait for the new electribe to come out, those drums on it sound fantastic so far!

Well, I am going to wait until the new Tribes are out, but from what we all know I am probably not going to buy them. Korg seems to focus on machines which are not intented to be used stand alone from a producer's perspective. There is no song mode, pattern lenght has been reduced and Ableton Live support has been added. I have a PC with Maschine, it is great. But one DAW is enough and if I am not able to produce complete tracks on the Electribe, then I dont need it. I know, I am a bit dogmatic. I want to keep my music making process easy and simple. A hardware setup with 4 machines or even more is not my type. I want one machine (electribe/pc) doing everything or one hardware device satisfying my hardware needs.
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Re-Member · Post by **Re-Member** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:45 pm

Olivander12 wrote:I know, I am a bit dogmatic. I want to keep my music making process easy and simple. A hardware setup with 4 machines or even more is not my type. I want one machine (electribe/pc) doing everything or one hardware device satisfying my hardware needs.

The problem here is your budget. There's really not a lot of options for $200 that offer full, stand-alone song production. The only thing that comes to mind is the Roland MC-303, haha. You get 50 blank user patterns that can be chained into 10 separate songs, plus the ability to improvise a lot of things. If you are willing to save just a little more (about $225), there's the Korg EM-1, which is more fully featured. They will probably drop down in price even more though once the new Electribes come out.