I'm all for limitations, and don't expect a relatively inexpensive product to be on par with a hugely expensive one. But I think I'm feeling a bit of buyers remorse after buying the new electribe sampler.
1: The sampler part of the unit is less sophisticated than a middle of the road sampler from the mid- to late 90's. No visual representation of the sample for editing? Are you kidding me? No real levels indicator while sampling? No way to preview a sample before loading?
2: The system architecture is possibly even more dated. Loading, saving, exporting etc is slow and cumbersome. USB integration with PC/mac terrible.
I could live with all that, but unless I'm mistaken (which I hope to god I am) there is no way to save entire Pattern Sets, so you're stuck with one single "default" set, and then have to load each individual pattern for whatever song you happen to be jamming on.
I've been tearing my hair out for two days trying to figure out how to save sets, and then suddenly it dawned on me that this seemingly is not possible. Why would anyone in their right mind release a product with that kind of limitation? I'm simply flabbergasted.
If I've misunderstood something, please let me know....
Cheers!
Is the electribe sampler a bad joke?
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
You pretty much hit the nail spot on regarding the archaic limitations and system flaws, but you *can* save sets. Basically, after working for the session go to Data Utility and choose Export All Samples, then again Export All Patterns. This will give you two files on your card that will load as the default every time you power up. These files can also be saved on your computer for later loading.
Keep in mind, you have to do the above process every time you work, unless no edits have been made. Think of it like editing a document; you have to save changes in order for them to be permanent.
I have some good free sample collections available if you want to try out the save/load feature. PM me and I'll give you links.
Keep in mind, you have to do the above process every time you work, unless no edits have been made. Think of it like editing a document; you have to save changes in order for them to be permanent.
I have some good free sample collections available if you want to try out the save/load feature. PM me and I'll give you links.
Visit https://ghostwrittenclips.com for a FREE pack of robot-war/mech/cinematic fx samples. =)
I'm very relieved to hear that. This makes all the difference in the world for me. I bought an Octatrack when they were new, which I sold because it was extremely complex, buggy and there was not much help online. Today I've been watching Octatrack tutorials, which actually explain it really well, and I was just about to decide to buy a new one tomorrow. So you basically saved me close to 1500 bucks. (though, after watching all those videos, I suddenly got som gas for it again...maybe in a few months 
Thank you so much for your time!
Thank you so much for your time!
I've been wanting an Octa for years. I have tons of gear, and so much has come and gone, I could have purchased one a long time ago.. But there is always something ahead of it in line. As you say, maybe soon..axs wrote: after watching all those videos, I suddenly got som gas for it again...maybe in a few months
Four years ago I uploaded this video, "I Don't Need an Octatrack", attempting to satiate my gear lust with an ESX, EH2880 and a toy keyboard. =)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3eW_RZE4Ys
Visit https://ghostwrittenclips.com for a FREE pack of robot-war/mech/cinematic fx samples. =)
So I tried to save a "pattern set", by doing as mentioned - export all pattern.
And yes it does save it, but when I quickly created another set and saved the new on, it only over wrote the previous one. So I'm still stuck with only being able to have one pattern set...
What I meant was the ability to save several different pattern sets. One isn't enough for me, and I can't see how it can be enough for anyone, really...
And yes it does save it, but when I quickly created another set and saved the new on, it only over wrote the previous one. So I'm still stuck with only being able to have one pattern set...
What I meant was the ability to save several different pattern sets. One isn't enough for me, and I can't see how it can be enough for anyone, really...
Yep, terrible. You have to drag the old folder to the computer somewhere.axs wrote:One isn't enough for me, and I can't see how it can be enough for anyone, really...
If this was true they wouldn't have removed every single groundbreaking feature, regarding live performance, present in the old Electribe units. It was these that made them legendary for live use, and most of the valuable features are gone._INTER_ wrote:Apart from cheap hardware, they basically focused too much on making this a "live" machine.
Visit https://ghostwrittenclips.com for a FREE pack of robot-war/mech/cinematic fx samples. =)
I usually don't get bent out of shape when buying a dud, but this one really has me kind of angry.
I would understand some of the limitations if there was an electribe pro that you could upgrade to, but this is a new version of a flagship drum sequencer/sampler. Thus you expect certain things to be a given - like modern software.
I really can't believe it. I'm sitting here shaking my head as I write this. There has to be something seriously wrong at Korg.
Back to my octatrack-plan (hopefully I can convince the shop to take the tribe back, since I will be buying a considerably more expensive product from them).
I would understand some of the limitations if there was an electribe pro that you could upgrade to, but this is a new version of a flagship drum sequencer/sampler. Thus you expect certain things to be a given - like modern software.
I really can't believe it. I'm sitting here shaking my head as I write this. There has to be something seriously wrong at Korg.
Back to my octatrack-plan (hopefully I can convince the shop to take the tribe back, since I will be buying a considerably more expensive product from them).
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musicmagus
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I make a bunch of folders on the card and move the different allpattern/allsample files to their own folders. Then you can navigate them from inside the box.
Don't get rid of the e2s, use it with the octatrack. Works great an they fill each others gaps.
I had the OT first and maybe that's why I like the E2s so much... Because I'm not expecting it to do 'it all'. Just my 2cents.
Don't get rid of the e2s, use it with the octatrack. Works great an they fill each others gaps.
I had the OT first and maybe that's why I like the E2s so much... Because I'm not expecting it to do 'it all'. Just my 2cents.
Is it a bad joke? Well, this forum has quietened down a bit recently, but there are still plenty of people around here who would gleefully agree with you. Ok, it doesn't have all the features that you want it to have. Surely that's the case with virtually all pieces of hardware? One person will think these missing features are essential and their omission renders the box useless. Others will just shrug their shoulders and say "Whatever..." People will happily give you long, exhaustive lists of features that the new Electribes SHOULD/MUST have. Others will just accept what they've spent their money on (maybe reluctantly at first), learn the limitations of the machines, then maybe... i dunno... adjust the way they work a little? They are then largely free to make music with the new Electribes, either as part of a larger setup or using them on their own. And maybe even have a little fun in the process. They are far from being perfect but even further from being useless.
I think it really is as simple as that and please, absolutely no offence is intended.
I think it really is as simple as that and please, absolutely no offence is intended.
If I'm not listening to music, or if I'm not making music, then I'm probably thinking about music.
Volca Sample, FM, Beats, Kick. OP-1, Monologue, Pocket Operators. And an ipad.
Volca Sample, FM, Beats, Kick. OP-1, Monologue, Pocket Operators. And an ipad.
No offense taken. I appreciate what you're saying, and as mentioned initially I was prepared for limitations. I just would never have imagined these types of limitations. I thought the biggest problem with the sampler was stuff like it not having song mode, only realtime recording of motion effects (mostly) etc.
I wouldn't have thought in a million years that the operating system itself would be so "old", for lack of a better word. People at Korg would have to be living under a rock to not to have noticed that the whole premise of modern musical equipment is: either an analog/retro route (modular, analog synths etc) or taking advantage of flexible digital solutions. One could say a product like the Roland synth JDXA - with some analog and some digital is an example of trying to combine both.
And of course Korg knows this, yet somehow they deliver a product that incorporates the exact issues that the whole market has been fleeing from the past 10 years: tedious menu diving just to accomplish basic operations, lack of "intelligent connectivity", incomprehensible system architecture, very slow loading times, a very limited effects section with very limited parameters for this type of machine (take a look at what the Octatrack can do - at least 2 separate effects pr channel with a degree of tweakability that is mind blowing. As mentioned, I wasn't expecting something quite so elaborate, but honestly...). From what I can gather so far there isn't even an effects send level option to the master effect, so it's simply on/off pr channel.
And don't get me started on the sampler aspect of this box - it is after all marketed as a sampler, yet is really just a sample player (Seriously, I could do equal to or more sample editing with my mid-90's EMU sampler whopping a big 8 MB hard drive than with this thing).
At some point the omissions are so glaring, yet under-communicated, that at least I feel I've been tricked into buying something that never should have made it to market.
Here is my theory (which is only a theory, and of course should be taken with a grain of salt being as I'm still slightly fuming): Korg has a great ideas- and design department, but an inexcusably incompetent "tech" department. So when the ideas-folks invent something initially cool and ground breaking, they inevitably have to deal with a gang of people that don't share their vision, but simply are "doing their job". Anything radically "new" or complex is met with "Oh, that is impossible, we don't have time, man power etc". But the ideas people try to coax and push them into stretching themselves a little, and the result is a process of watering down the initial concept, a long series of compromises, buggy results etc. The problem is that now the "thinkers" have invested so much time, that they have to keep moving forward. Ultimately they capitulate once the "shop" has created something that they can make look good during a presentation in the board room. "This is a great new version of our legendary electribe, see the cool blinking lights? The kids dig that. Here's our good friend DJ-payola to show you what this thing can do. "Wow, oooh". Of course none of the executives have ever so much as touched any electribe, so they have no way of evaluating the product beyond it looking and sounding good.
At the risk of sounding like an aging anarchist, this is exactly what's wrong with a lot of todays decision makers. They don't have first hand experiencing making or using the products their companies are producing. Who cares if the tech guy digs an operating system out of a dusty old box in the basement initially intended for a "cutting edge" sampler in 1983 that never got finished. That's just innovation and cost cutting. Good job!
I bought the Korg Kronos when it came out, and in a way experienced the same thing (to a milder degree): A series of seemingly irrational decisions for such an expensive flag ship product, stuff like bad/lacking DAW-integration, a screen that was too small, crappy manual (for such a complex piece of kit that is actually a big problem), bugs, few in depth online tutorials. And what's up with the wave drum not having midi? They say it's because midi isn't sensitive enough. Bulls***. It's because the "shop" can't be bothered to figure out a good solution. Imagine what that drum would be with good midi...
And that's the problem I sense with Korg - churning out new gear with a short wow factor, but which no one loves. Look at elektron: it's a cult. Roland has completely reinvented itself, also delivering "inexpensive" products, but usable ones that can continue to be part of your set up in many years to come.
If you've made it this far, thanks for listening. Sorry for ranting, but now I got it off my chest, and will attempt to somehow incorporate the electribe into my music making.
Cheers!
I wouldn't have thought in a million years that the operating system itself would be so "old", for lack of a better word. People at Korg would have to be living under a rock to not to have noticed that the whole premise of modern musical equipment is: either an analog/retro route (modular, analog synths etc) or taking advantage of flexible digital solutions. One could say a product like the Roland synth JDXA - with some analog and some digital is an example of trying to combine both.
And of course Korg knows this, yet somehow they deliver a product that incorporates the exact issues that the whole market has been fleeing from the past 10 years: tedious menu diving just to accomplish basic operations, lack of "intelligent connectivity", incomprehensible system architecture, very slow loading times, a very limited effects section with very limited parameters for this type of machine (take a look at what the Octatrack can do - at least 2 separate effects pr channel with a degree of tweakability that is mind blowing. As mentioned, I wasn't expecting something quite so elaborate, but honestly...). From what I can gather so far there isn't even an effects send level option to the master effect, so it's simply on/off pr channel.
And don't get me started on the sampler aspect of this box - it is after all marketed as a sampler, yet is really just a sample player (Seriously, I could do equal to or more sample editing with my mid-90's EMU sampler whopping a big 8 MB hard drive than with this thing).
At some point the omissions are so glaring, yet under-communicated, that at least I feel I've been tricked into buying something that never should have made it to market.
Here is my theory (which is only a theory, and of course should be taken with a grain of salt being as I'm still slightly fuming): Korg has a great ideas- and design department, but an inexcusably incompetent "tech" department. So when the ideas-folks invent something initially cool and ground breaking, they inevitably have to deal with a gang of people that don't share their vision, but simply are "doing their job". Anything radically "new" or complex is met with "Oh, that is impossible, we don't have time, man power etc". But the ideas people try to coax and push them into stretching themselves a little, and the result is a process of watering down the initial concept, a long series of compromises, buggy results etc. The problem is that now the "thinkers" have invested so much time, that they have to keep moving forward. Ultimately they capitulate once the "shop" has created something that they can make look good during a presentation in the board room. "This is a great new version of our legendary electribe, see the cool blinking lights? The kids dig that. Here's our good friend DJ-payola to show you what this thing can do. "Wow, oooh". Of course none of the executives have ever so much as touched any electribe, so they have no way of evaluating the product beyond it looking and sounding good.
At the risk of sounding like an aging anarchist, this is exactly what's wrong with a lot of todays decision makers. They don't have first hand experiencing making or using the products their companies are producing. Who cares if the tech guy digs an operating system out of a dusty old box in the basement initially intended for a "cutting edge" sampler in 1983 that never got finished. That's just innovation and cost cutting. Good job!
I bought the Korg Kronos when it came out, and in a way experienced the same thing (to a milder degree): A series of seemingly irrational decisions for such an expensive flag ship product, stuff like bad/lacking DAW-integration, a screen that was too small, crappy manual (for such a complex piece of kit that is actually a big problem), bugs, few in depth online tutorials. And what's up with the wave drum not having midi? They say it's because midi isn't sensitive enough. Bulls***. It's because the "shop" can't be bothered to figure out a good solution. Imagine what that drum would be with good midi...
And that's the problem I sense with Korg - churning out new gear with a short wow factor, but which no one loves. Look at elektron: it's a cult. Roland has completely reinvented itself, also delivering "inexpensive" products, but usable ones that can continue to be part of your set up in many years to come.
If you've made it this far, thanks for listening. Sorry for ranting, but now I got it off my chest, and will attempt to somehow incorporate the electribe into my music making.
Cheers!
I can only compare with EMX. The removal / downscaling of some features that really hurt me have just marginally to do with live performance. Mainly step edit and sequencing. But also shift notes / transpose, copying inside pattern, 8 bars, keyboard pads (+showing octave and note), song mode, ...If this was true they wouldn't have removed every single groundbreaking feature, regarding live performance, present in the old Electribe units. It was these that made them legendary for live use, and most of the valuable features are gone.