Are er1 mk11 any where near as good as emx or esx?

[theonlyvard]

Hello I have been trying to get and esx or emx of ebay for 2 weeks with no sucsess the bids keep going to around £250. I have noticed that the older electribes are on "buy it now"s for only £150. are emx esx worth the extra £100?

I got a max buget of 250 but would much like to get it for less.

Thanks for any help

Ed

[NickZoll]

Hi, I've never had the older one but from what I heard about them synth versions are pretty good. Of course they have less sythesis types than emx. Have no information about samplers since was never interested in them. Personally I would not buy drum versions because even emx drum samples are out of date unless you want to use it as a sequencer.

[sl23]

EA-1 is an analogue two part monosynth. Sounds are great, especially when compressed. Though more limited in sound variation.
ER-1 is an analogue drum machine. Excellent variations.
EMX-1 has 409 PCM drums, and a 5 part synth section.

EA-1 has delay and chorus for both parts.
ER-1 only has delay FX across all parts.
EMX-1 has many types of FX x3.

ER-1/EA-1 sequencers have 4 bars.
EMX-1/ESX-1 has double that.

Personally, I wish I kept my ER-1 and EA-1. But the EMX-1 is still fantastic, with a downside, the synth sounds aren't, in my opinion, that great or varied, but are more so than the EA-1. But I prefer the sound of the EA-1 synth.

The ESX-1 has more parts and memory than ES-1, same FX and sequencer as EMX-1, but lacks drive on filter, which I thought was mean! If you get the SD versions, good luck, it'll be easier to transfer data to your PC and back.

I doubt you'll be disappointed by getting the Mk 2 ER-1/EA-1 as they are even better, more varied according to reviews. I had the originals and thought they were brilliant, though a tad too simplistic. I loved the delay and chorus FX these boxes had, still to this day I miss that!

[thesigma]

I wouldn't buy an ea1 today, it's really a limited two part VA mono synth.maybe if it was dirt dirt cheap, like under $50 US.

The ESX is definitely worth the premium over the ES1, more samples time, more fx, the ability to pitch two parts and play keyboard style, and two stretch parts. You also get LFOs and filters on every part. Oh and ES-1 samples at 32khz, which isn't necesarily bad, but you likely have to convert all your samples, and they have to renamed to 00-99.

The ER-1 covers ground that no current electribe does, yes you can synthesize drums using the EMX synth parts, or E2, but the ER-1 is much better suited. In fact I bought one a few months ago, despite owning an ESX and EMX. I like it better than my Volca Beats too.

I hear a lot of people say the EMX drum sounds are dated, but you can tweak them a good bit and layer them, though obviously the ESX is a sampler you can put whatever you want in it. The EMX is a limited synth, far better than the EA-1 though and very useable. The ESX is definitely still a good buy, IMO.

[theonlyvard]

Well I am hoping to use it primarily as a drum machine and perhaps a midi sequencer too.
I am currently using a microkorg, a kaossilator pro and a volca keys. I don't to touch my computer when using the electribe. (main reason i am selling my spark, also can"t clock sync well). So which electribe is best for drums and perhaps sequencing a volca at the same time, the cheaper the better.

[markxl1]

look at the videos on you tube

for me, emx1 (smart media) is the best value for money out of all the electribes.... you can get an emx2 for similar price too

you will get bored of 1st gen electribes very quickly.

If you have an ipad, then gadget is about £20

[sl23]

Best bet seems to be esx due to 8 bars and you can use any drums you want.

[apapdop]

As mentioned before, ER-1 is a unique sounding drum machine that is hard to replicate by any other means. It can do bog standard drum machine duties and go way, way off the wall if that's your thing. It can't store mute settings in a pattern, which is a real shame, but it sounds fantastic. Your Volcas will sync to it via MIDI, but you'd have to create the actual Volca sequences on the Volca itself or on something else other than the ER-1.

[sl23]

Yeah but any drum machine is limited. The esx isn't limited. If the op wants I can supply many samples from my long gone ER~1. These can then be used in an esx to almost replicate an ER~1. Granted, it's not the same, but I sampled many variations at default pitch with and without FX. It's a good trade off in my opinion, and you get more FX to mangle those analogue drums!

[thesigma]

Cant go wrong with the ESX asa drum machine. as a sequncer it is limited but can work, you could sequence two monosyn ths with the Keyboard parts.

ER-1 is unique and a good buy if you want Analog type drum sounds, if you need "realistic" sounding drums go with the ESX. Like I said I own both, and recently purchased the ER-1 so clearly I thought it still offers something usefull today. (the fact that it was only about $100 US helped too)

I've had good luck finding decent prices on guitar center used section, if your in europe not sure how that would work but I was able to get my ESX1-SD for 250, like new in box. that was a couple years ago n ow they seem to have had a resurgance in price after the E2 came out....but yeah look outside Ebay too, it's not the great deals all the time place it used to be.....

[theonlyvard]

Thanks for the help everyone I'll keep fishing around and try to get an esx. Hope u all have swell days :3

[sauce]

.. the ESX .. as a sequncer it is limited but can work, you could sequence two monosyn ths with the Keyboard parts.

Interestingly enough, even though the sequencer is mono, if the outboard synth has enough polyphony (i.e. the OP's Mikrokorg) a bit of release in the amp envelope will blend the notes nicely. It doesn't really sound like a monosynth, if you know what I mean. I used to travel with a couple vintage Roland racks, sequenced with my ESX, and it filled out the mix nicely. Also, using volume modulation, I was able to run the outputs of the two Rolands summed into the input of the ESX. Using the "EXT IN" instrument, I could modulate the volume of the input against a couple single-cycles in the ESX keys part and get some huge, evolving padscapes. It was very nice.

[slug]

I think this is a weird poll, the ER1 is probably the only one that does something unique with its nice simplified drum synthesis aimed parameters, so there was definitely so really moot when talking about spending more on EMX/ESX or new electribes. I can't vote because none of the choices apply for me.

I quite liked the ER1, the only reason I sold mine was the difficulty dialing in precise parameter values.