Korg Forums

Hello All,

I am new here, and pondering buying a microsampler.

I have used a very old but reliable zoom sampletrak for many years and recently upgraded to a SP555, which has many good features (mostly its effects!) but when it comes to actually making loops its pretty awful!

Obviously it has been designed for users to drop pre-cut loops into it through a usb. Im sure its very good at this...

Anyway...I still want to upgrade and dont want to use software, does the microsampler work as it should and are the edit functions capable enough to make loops without pops. If you start trimming loops to get rid of the pops do they start to drift? Is it quite intuitive or does making a loop flow take lots of fiddling around?

Can you sample a loop and then read the bpm of it? or does the machine have to be pre-set with a bpm before you start sampling...some of the tutorials are fuzzy on this.

All the whiz bang stuff looks like loads of fun, but I am after a sampler that actually samples well! I know I am a little old fashioned and should just get ableton...but I really dont like using software!

From reading round the forum it seems that the other main gripes are, the software provided is a bit fiddly. The midi functionality can be difficult to master and the "loop pedal" functionality that is hinted at on tutorials doesnt really work. None of these are a massive issue for me....are there any other potential pitfalls I should be aware of before purchase?

Any thoughts on this would be hugely appreciated, I was burnt before with the SP555 and I cannot afford the same mistake again!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice.

Some loops seem to pop for no reason, others are fine. The software does enable the envelope to be altered which can eradicate them.

I'm currently without my DAW which I was using to augment the MS.
so - having relied on it entirely for the first time- the main gripe I have with the it is not the fiddly dials, or loop clicks but the small amount of non flexible memory. It's all too easy to use it up. Resampling is not the entire answer as then the samples are fixed.

It seems to me there just isn't an ideal sampler out there yet - sampling software is more competent but less intuitive & it's CPU hungry.

Anyone using the Microsampler live is either very brave or incredibly skilled.. Having said that many aspects of it are good - someone said its nearly great & I agree. I just don't think any OS upgrade will sort it entirely - a pro version would be ideal but it's then going to step on the M3's toes.

Dont buy it until the firmware has been fixed.