New Volcas about to be revealed....

[Fourty Two]

Well, this will not help your GAS at at, but here we go...


http://www.synthanatomy.com/2018/12/kor ... -2019.html

[Lost to the Void]

I hope these lead to non toy size versions down the line.
Kinda sick of the volca paradigm.

[Críoch]

They're cool. Fair play to them!

[The_G]

I like the Volca FM, though I wish Korg would release a 6 operator full size version of it.

[Ben Kohonays]

I'm gonna sound like a grumpy old bastard now but;

Modular can be a big enough PITA with all the spaghetti getting in the way of knobs and stuff, miniaturising seems like compounding the problem. And fiddly.

Volca drum- do we really need another one? Having already released Volca Beats and Volca Kick another one just seems like admitting the first two (or at least the Beats anyway) were crap, or they were beta testing with paying customers.

Hey whaddya know, I AM a grumpy old bastard!

[Lost to the Void]

It's digital drums though, so it doesn't invalidate the previous volca percussion stuff.
Personally I'm more interested in digital drums, but the volca format is useless for live performance, it's just unwieldy, and I still think ridiculously small and pissy for regular studio use.
I don't get their persistence with this format.
electribe size or just a bit smaller would be fine.
These things are still basically toys.

[Fourty Two]

Steve, it's what it is, it's designed for thin asian fingers, not our manly meatsticks

But yeah, those two things are still more interesting to me then any of those original trilogy. They're quite ok if you run them through guitar pedals. And the fact that you can mode them is appealing to people who are into DIY. I just don't get the fact they are still investing in these but completely screwed up (and pretty much burried) whole electribe line. Elektron became king in what Korg was doing very well: Grooveboxes.

Yeah, but I would take that modular thingy for a spin. Seems interesting to me.

[Lost to the Void]

Steve, it's what it is, it's designed for thin asian fingers, not our manly meatsticks

But yeah, those two things are still more interesting to me then any of those original trilogy. They're quite ok if you run them through guitar pedals. And the fact that you can mode them is appealing to people who are into DIY. I just don't get the fact they are still investing in these but completely screwed up (and pretty much burried) whole electribe line. Elektron became king in what Korg was doing very well: Grooveboxes.

Yeah, but I would take that modular thingy for a spin. Seems interesting to me.

haha, I do have big fucking hands.
It`s not about that though, I mean grab a knob (with tweezers) on the fly when shooting around kit, and the bloody unit is prone to move, unless you mount it in one of these silly Volca rack stand things.
At least the roland boutique series is kinda usable, volcas are so fucking small it`s ridic.
They are good units, Korg is on fire in general, it`s just the format.
Electribe size units would be perfect, or even a little smaller like the newer electribes.

Even worse though, Teenage Engineering. I`d love to have a decent sized version of the pocket operator tonic version. That would be my ultimate drum machine.

[Ben Kohonays]

It's digital drums though, so it doesn't invalidate the previous volca percussion stuff.

Hmm, I suppose that's fair enough.

I don't get their persistence with this format.

Built to a target price. All those people that start with cracked software, or even paid for software, these things are to tempt them into hardware. "It's as cheap as a VST!" Then once they get the bug some will move on to more expensive purchases.

[0dd]

Built to a target price. All those people that start with cracked software, or even paid for software, these things are to tempt them into hardware. "It's as cheap as a VST!" Then once they get the bug some will move on to more expensive purchases.

Yup. Third world hardware. They're the only pieces I could even consider.

[Skullrattler]

False economy! It is better to save up and get better stuff.

[buonacc]

Built to a target price. All those people that start with cracked software, or even paid for software, these things are to tempt them into hardware. "It's as cheap as a VST!" Then once they get the bug some will move on to more expensive purchases.

i've never seen the Volca line as something that might "tempt me into hardware". they always seem like a serious compromise from what i can do with software. even "more expensive purchases" (like the Octatrack or whatever), i always ask myself why i'm wasting my time with this stuff.

granted, i started out all hardware 20+ years ago and eventually moved to software, so hardware holds no "mystique" for me.

[Mslwte]

False economy! It is better to save up and get better stuff.

said like a true veteran who has learnt the hard way

[Ben Kohonays]

i've never seen the Volca line as something that might "tempt me into hardware". they always seem like a serious compromise from what i can do with software. even "more expensive purchases" (like the Octatrack or whatever), i always ask myself why i'm wasting my time with this stuff.

granted, i started out all hardware 20+ years ago and eventually moved to software, so hardware holds no "mystique" for me.

Yeah I don't think you're their target market lol. Probably more the young 'uns who hear the buzz about analog or hardware sampling having more 'mojo' and this seems a cheap way in.

[Skullrattler]

False economy! It is better to save up and get better stuff.

said like a true veteran who has learnt the hard way

Well. I can't really prove what qualifies me to have an opinion or how long I've been playing with hardware, but Volcas are shitty toys in my worthless opinion.

[Jean Luc Cougar]

I always interpret the intention of Volcas to be just this. Toys to some, but fully capable instruments to others - in my opinion they have succeeded.

I have seen plenty of pros using them: Underground Resistance, Phil Moffa, Santiago Salazar, etc.

Personally, I’m pretty excited if this west coast Volca is real. I would love a low pass gate in my setup but don’t want to get back into eurorack.

[Revaron]

I can totally understand why people hate on them, but I think they're great. It's not meant for pros. The name is derived from volk, and they're intended to be the people's synth in much the same way Volkswagen (at one point anyway) was intended to be the people's car. Beetles and the classic campers never won any races, but they got a LOT of people from a to b, and ended up icons when all said and done. I think volcas actually live up to that. Might be that serious producers pass on them, but people with light wallets who want something to piss around with have an option. And they sound good. Fair enough really. I'm definitely interested in this drum one.

[Lost to the Void]

It's not that they aren't capable. The volcas are very capable for what you pay in sound terms.
It's just that the user experience is ass.

It's like being a guitarist and being given a 1/3 scale (child size) guitar to try and record your album with.
They almost become a non instrument in that the whole tactile user experience that so many people mouth fart about when talking about getting away from a computer becomes redundant.
A soft synths with decent midi controller is a much more fluid and esaboe experience in comparison.

Personally there are a number of things about some of the volcas that has made me want them, but always when trying, the sheer fiddle of them, being so small and having teeny teeny knobs (and minijacks) etc, just makes it a pain to do stuff.

Of course you can do good with them.
A good musician can use anything.

The fm volca still tempts me.

[WOLF!]

A instrument without a decent form factor and/or interface is only half as much as it could have been.
BUT for the price-tags the volca's have it's not fair to complain about that.
I must say I have heard decent sounds and tracks coming out of Volca's but I don't have the urge to own them because of what I've written above.

My kids are interested in music and I see myself buying the Volca's for them when they are a bit older.
My oldest daughter is turning 9 in a few months. I've already bought her a Yamaha DJX; that seemed to be a nice unit for her.

The fm volca still tempts me.

If I'd ever buy a Volca (for myself) it would be that one. The interface is kinda like a DX7 when it comes down to programming.
I already have a DX11 for a few years so I'm covered on the FM side.

[Jean Luc Cougar]

If I find a Volca bass for under $100, I will probably but it just to have a simple piece for acid w/ slides.

Volca Kick hits HEAVY. Almost too big tbh.

If this West Coast one is real I will prob buy it.

I would by the FM but only 20 patch slots doesn’t really work with how I use FM (ie: surf a ton of presets then tweak) - I like the sound and that it has a velocity slider.