About the Korg Z1

[balma]

Is this a good synth?

I mean, I'm about to make my last purchase and run totally out of money (FP is guilty! ) 'cause I'm investing all my life on music, anda selling my life to VISA.

there is a KORG Z1 on $1000 now on EBAY. It looks in good shape, but I'm totally ignorant about this synth features.

I already have a MOTIF, KARMA, PHANTOM, EX5, JUNO 106, and a Virus B comin' on the way. I produce electronic music.

Can the KORG Z1 fit with my gear?

Wich thing can U recommend me under $1000 to spend on Christmas? Be open with your advice and thanx!!!!

 

[THM]

I'm afraid $1,000 is expensive for a 2nd hand Z1.

It's a great synth - especially for ambient-style pads. However when I see the other synths you have I'm not sure that the Z1 will give you a surplus value. Just a thought...

 

[balma]

I think this is gonna be my last purchase and I won't buy anything until 2005.

I'm not an expert on gear since in Costa Rica there aren't too much options, so I ask for advice of synths under $1000, vintage or desktop. I hate rack models.

The music is electronic, but trance oriented. I have good acoustics wth Motif, some, mmmm, let's say good VA with the EX5, nice house chords and harmonies with Phantom 88, and great weird sounds with the Karma, and cool arpeggio functions.

I feel a great lack of crushing or deep basses (like that one People Think to havin sex) that go inside your bones, fresh leads (those with high and clear filters that sound very good on a fast arpeggio).

All this stuff is controlled with MIDI cables. I don't work on studio or with computers, so I need solid timing.

 

[MusickMan]

I have a Z1
on the bright side :
• like THM said it's great for pads
• it can generate some serious bass
• the synth engine is very powerful
• some oscillators models are exclusive to the Z1 (and the oasys card I think) like the comb filter oscillator which is amazing for pads, strings and punchy stuff as well
• all the knobs are assignable
• as a controller I think it's pretty good and you get the XY pad
• every program is user rewriteable
• great FX section
• you can control over 80 parameters in real time

on the downside :

• some stuff sounds very digital, the sync osc sound for example
• the envelopes are not as fast and snappy as some other synths I have
• it takes forever to change programs and it mutes the previous program
• it doesn't respond very well to large sysex dumps
• 256 programs only unless you get a memory card
• the presets are dated
• you can't sync delay time to tempo

overall I think it is a great synth but keep in mind it's not a trance machine right out of the box like the access virus, my guess is korg tried to nail more styles with the Z1, so you'll find some pianos, rhodes and organ sounds

other nice cheapie synths to consider would be,
• waldorf microwave xt, I recently scored one for us $600 and it's a great sounding synth, very cool IMO
• roland JP8000, great for trance oriented stuff
• yamaha AN1X, around ($450), perfect for your genre and some other stuff as well, it can be a pain to edit sounds without a computer though
• don't forget the clavias, the nord modular price has dropped, you can score a new one for about $900

 

[balma]

I have a Z1
on the bright side :
•• you can't sync delay time to tempo

overall I think it is a great synth but keep in mind it's not a trance machine right out of the box like the access virus, my guess is korg tried to nail more styles with the Z1, so you'll find some pianos, rhodes and organ sounds

other nice cheapie synths to consider would be,
• waldorf microwave xt, I recently scored one for us $600 and it's a great sounding synth, very cool IMO
• roland JP8000, great for trance oriented stuff
• yamaha AN1X, around ($450), perfect for your genre and some other stuff as well, it can be a pain to edit sounds without a computer though
• don't forget the clavias, the nord modular price has dropped, you can score a new one for about $900

I have also the tempo/delay sync problem with my EX5, I know you have one, and I'm thinking on selling it, maybe I can put other $500 to those $1000 so I could see other options. The timing is awful, I tried to sync the EX5 with my other stuff and it seems imposible, MIDI clock optional board for EX5??? that's an urban legend, I couldn't find any!.

There is one dusty JP8000 on one store here in C.R., is about $700. I have used the JP8000 a lot, I love it for its pannel full of knobs for twist, great. I played it 4 years ago, I don't remember about MIDI functions.

And about the Yamaha AN1X, is not similar to the EX5????


the clavias seems one good option for the sound I'm looking, and the price is acceptable, I'm gonna look them.

In Costa Rica, nobody hsa a MOOG, or a CLAVIA, or a VIRUS.
NOBODY!!!

 

[MusickMan]

the AN1X is a 10 note poly analog modelling synth with very fast envelopes (faster than the EX5 VA synth), the EX5 has a 2 note poly version plus all the other goodies you already know about, what is it that you can't sync ? the sequencer or the arpeggiator ? I don't use the EX5 for live performance but there's a parameter ( that I forgot ) that lets you sync to midi clock, I've done it in my studio and it works...

while the AN1X and the JP8000 are very nice, they are 2 part multitimbral

And the clavias have no onboard fx, the nord modular does have chorus, phasing and a very short (around 2.6 ms) delay but that's it, no tempo delays and no reverb, but great sound

 

[THM]

I'm a very huge JP-8000 addict too (I have the JP-8080 rack) but indeed its biggest shortcoming is multitimbrality: only 2-part, and even only monotimbral when layering parts. That's a shame for such a good synth. Its fx section is poor too, but imho the sound is that good that it often (e.g. the bright infamous trance supersaw strings or leads) doesn't need any fx.

 

[balma]

I'm gonna check the AN1x, the price is OK. Also, I don't know the Clavia label, but I'm interested on the Nord Lead.

The pattern function on EX5have some cool features, for example, you can determine the lenght of each track by separate, not like other pattern sequencers, where you can adjust only a global lenght of the pattern. The groove effects are really cool, you can adjust several pattern parameters like velo, gate, trans,timing, string, etc without recording another pattern.

I have been using the EX5 to control a sampler. But after 10-15 loops, you start to hear the innacuracy of the clock of EX5. I put all the synths to play at the same time with the same BPM, but the EX5 doesnt match after some loops. The clock loses 0,01 bpm aprox on each loop.

The arppegio BPM cannot be adjusted on fractions. This is a problem if you want to sync it with a sample of 130.10, the fractions cannot be specified.

Despite that, last month I've been experimenting with the EX5 sync succesfully. To solve the BPM problem, all U have to do is change the pattern, if you're in patter 01 just press 01 again each 3 or 4 loops and the BPM will be corrected. The problem with the EX5 clock is the loop function, its crap.

thanx for all the information guys.

 

[jeskel]

just a word about the Z1... it's used by people like KMFDM and Orbital. So about your "electronic music" concerns, that might help youmaking your choice!

 

[Samplecraze]

MusickMan, global page, midi receive-switch it to midi on and all parameters will receive clock messages, but you're right about the delays, however I got by this by using a simple tempo to bpm convertor, long winded but did the trick.

1000 is way too much as you can pick them up in the UK for about 700 dollars.

The XY pad is excellent but nothing a Kaoss pad can't do and more BUT the sub osc for me is the king on the Z1, love it. You can step edit the arps as well and save the templates and sync them to clock.

Hunt around, they are worth it if you can get Soundiver as the incrementation on the Z1 is either by single increments(*****) or the dial whizzes around so fast that to get the exact bpm on the arps is a nightmare.

Best of luck.

 

[ki_cz]

The z1 owns, period. I sold it once, and had to back out of a deal on ebay because I couldn't stand to lose it. Not only does it have killer pads, leads, basses, but it also does a great 808 emulation and the zoop stuff is just straight up wacky. There is basically limitless modulation possibilities, 5 user defineable knobs (which can each control several parameters) and it seriously just sounds great. The sync osc (as stated) sounds pretty digital, but there's like 10 other oscs that you can use on this thing and even the sync osc has some great uses for some wacky digital stabs. They are going for cheaper than $1000 right now (usually around $600 on ebay I think) but I really do think that they are going to pick up in price soon enough, it's definitely a classic, it's a great synth, period.

 

[balma]

The Z1 has a really great design. Actually I'm following the tracks of this thing....

I'm happy with the plus that the JUno 106 gave to my music. I think I'm gonna invest on another vintage. But there are so many. I won't spend more than $800.