Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

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Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

Hi,

I ignored the Korg Electribe ES1 for years.. believing them to be difficult to use samplers.

Upon further research.. they've revealed themselves to be pretty damn cool machines. They accept a microphone, can resample internally.. have loads of FX (wasn't aware of this) and can be used as a FX unit on the audio ins. Even the green MK1 can update with the firmware of the metallic MK2 , which substitutes the wah filter for a 'more useful' per-track delay.

Anyway.. before I ramble on, has anyone here had a ES1, either MK1 or 2.. and a 'newer' ESX? And could they well me if the FX actually sound the same?

I know the ESX can use multiple FX at once. Obviously a more powerful machine. Also has a lot more features. Really cool box. Just wondering if the character of FX sound is the same as the OG MK1&2?

I really want to investigate the sound of the MK1 or 2 for a particular reason.. but if the EXS was the same FX sonically, I'd probably look out for one (know it has a better sampling rate etc..).

Since Andy Weatherall died, I've been obsessing far more than usual on Two Lone Swordsmen. Sounds daft, but I'm always wondering how Tiny Reminders was made.. and I've figured out bits & pieces over the years. I really think the first gen ES 1 was key.

It's always been of intense interest to me how teh UK/europe offshoot of electro developed. There were a lot of different grooveboxes as well as real 808s back then.. but the ES1 and its effects / resampling were probably very fucking handy. You can hear short delays & locked bitcrusher / distortion effects all over stuff / lack of filters on drums.. and there's very few things that could do that in one box at the end of the 90s. I think 🤔💔

IMO It's just as influenced by an experimental Warp/IDM sound as it is Detroit as it's indebted to the energy of jungle & techstep. Goes hard as often as it goes spacy.

I'll probably get something when the right one appears, but no harm to keep on torturing myself until then 😅😭
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by kronk »

i had the er1 for a very brief period but didnt really get on with it. the first electribe series were the first 'useable' groovebox that i remember (roland ones were total crap) - very immediate but i found that they needed a lot of processing... may have just been my taste or lack of in depth programming patience.

the second series were really good imho - i had the sampler (ESX1) and synth (EMX1) & played loads of gigs with just those two. for me the sound & functionality of those was way superior to the first series. they were very immediate too. you still see ppl using the ESX1 live... e.g mika vainio was using one for gigs before he passed. i cant specifically say if the FX are that different between the two series but for my taste the tubes made a big difference. i swapped out the stock ones for ecc83s and to me they sounded great.

regarding tls - afair they were heavy on samplers, es1, esx1, mpc60.. also a ms20, juno106, jx8p + loadsa fx

the korg ms2000 & kaoss pad are all over a lot of those early 2000s hybrid electro records too

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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by asm »

If you have an iPad try GR-16, it’s a good implementation of an electribe. Plus it has quite a nice wavetable synth that accepts serum wavetables. Plus it’s half price just now.

Also whilst I’m pimping iOS apps, look at Drambo, I’m having loads of fun with it.

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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Ben Kohonays »

Críoch wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:37 am
can be used as a FX unit on the audio ins.
I have an ES-1, I might be wrong on this, but I don't think you can just pass audio straight through.

I tried but the audio input is 'gated' by the sequencer - IOW you select the audio in as a part and highlight the steps XoX style where you want to hear the audio. I hope that's clear.

When I tried this there were clicks as the highlighted steps passed audio then closed again which made that feature pretty much unusable in my eyes. Granted this was a few years ago and maybe I didn't try enough audio sources to see if I could find something that worked, but the ones I did try were unsatisfactory.

Maybe I missed something but I don't think so.




However, that doesn't mean it's not still a great box. Fun and easy to use.

Try your best to see it in action before you buy, the main encoder can get skippy. I've also read that (think this is in regards to the Mkii) they can suffer from phantom knob movements.

Never used the ESX, I've considered getting one a couple of times but the prices seem a bit steep, you can get an ES-1 for half the price or less. Although that shows they are in demand, must be a reason for that. They do have a few advantages over the ES-1.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

kronk wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 2:12 pm
.. stuff..
The exs looks great. Extra outputs, FX & ARP. Seems like a no brainer. Not much difference in price between ES1 & esx when you consider the extra stuff you get.

Thanks S. I actually have my eye out for an OG kaoss pad. I think there's a lot of vogel-y stuff .. Michael Forshaw.. that used them. Whether it was the first wave of kaoss pads or not, I dont know.. but there used to be promo ads of the OG ER1 & ES1 with the OG Battlestar Galactica Kaoss Pad. Can't think of anything else it could be.

Korg MS2000 was something that was on the list to check out but got forgotten about. Bought other stuff instead 😅 . The seq & mods looked good on it. There are a couple of Jexus YT vids that give a nice idea of its sound pallette. Deep pads & bit-tune leads & basses. Could totally be worth investigating!

I might have mentioned already somewhere that I cracked the sound ( I believe) from Decal's Iron Fist. It's a bass growl , with some filter asdr .. then reversed in a sampler. Was Intrigued by that sound for years. So good. I think that's how some of these RGC era tracks might have been made. Sampled stabs. Reese mentality.

I really do think that I need to grab an OG ES1. I think the FX & workflow of the ESX would not be restricted enough. If that makes sense. The sample rate & FX DSP must have been improved.

Ahhh....

Mpc60. First time I ever saw one was in UK late 80s. Probably 87 or 88. My uncles had a c+w / American country rock / showband - type act. They had 2 mpc60s playing the drums & driving some rack stuff. They had the Atari 1080 & notator too.. and get friends to play & record midi for the shows. They had a music shop in London at the time & people used to come in with stuff to sell 🤔. Don't know what they paid for it all, but it was all serious money at the time.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

asm wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:45 pm
If you have an iPad try GR-16, it’s a good implementation of an electribe. Plus it has quite a nice wavetable synth that accepts serum wavetables. Plus it’s half price just now.

Also whilst I’m pimping iOS apps, look at Drambo, I’m having loads of fun with it.
Hey man, thanks for that. Looks nice.. but I'm an android guy now 😭😆
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

Apparantly.. from my research:

If you keep your finger pressed on the audio in button, external audio gets processed with the internal FX.

Alternatively, you can jam a bit of folded paper in-between the button & case.

Hopefully 🤯💯😆😎👍

Know what you mean by the gate. Its either on or off. Had it & used it often on the ER1. You can send an external sound.. or one of the master outputs (using a lead) back into itself for some skuzz. Could probably do it with the ES1 also.

Good call on the MK2. Thanks Ben. Heard those ones were made in China 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 🤣

I had a EM1 that had a bit of encoder skip. It can happen. The MK1 Electribes are cool. I think they're solid. Only problem are the pots imo. They do get wiggly. Especially the most regularly used ones. I can imagine the FX dial being a bit dodgy on a well used one.. the FX section on my em1 was mad fucking wiggly, though working perfectly.
Ben Kohonays wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:12 am
Críoch wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:37 am
can be used as a FX unit on the audio ins.
I have an ES-1, I might be wrong on this, but I don't think you can just pass audio straight through.

I tried but the audio input is 'gated' by the sequencer - IOW you select the audio in as a part and highlight the steps XoX style where you want to hear the audio. I hope that's clear.

When I tried this there were clicks as the highlighted steps passed audio then closed again which made that feature pretty much unusable in my eyes. Granted this was a few years ago and maybe I didn't try enough audio sources to see if I could find something that worked, but the ones I did try were unsatisfactory.

Maybe I missed something but I don't think so.




However, that doesn't mean it's not still a great box. Fun and easy to use.

Try your best to see it in action before you buy, the main encoder can get skippy. I've also read that (think this is in regards to the Mkii) they can suffer from phantom knob movements.

Never used the ESX, I've considered getting one a couple of times but the prices seem a bit steep, you can get an ES-1 for half the price or less. Although that shows they are in demand, must be a reason for that. They do have a few advantages over the ES-1.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by kronk »

id totally recommend the es/ex if you want "immediate", the diving is pretty restricted obv not as much as the first series but the gain in sound is totally worth it... ymmv. i get yr 'less is more' thoughts, and i fully subscribe to that myself + speaking of which and decal, as you did, all their electro stuff was done on a waldorf pulse, mpc2k + a couple of guitar pedals...

nu skool country unkle :mrgreen:

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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Ben Kohonays »

Críoch wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:17 pm
My uncles had a c+w / American country rock / showband - type act. They had 2 mpc60s playing the drums & driving some rack stuff. They had the Atari 1080 & notator too.. and get friends to play & record midi for the shows. They had a music shop in London at the time & people used to come in with stuff to sell 🤔. Don't know what they paid for it all, but it was all serious money at the time.
Haha, they sound like a right couple of characters. Bet they have some stories too.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

kronk wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:08 pm
id totally recommend the es/ex if you want "immediate", the diving is pretty restricted obv not as much as the first series but the gain in sound is totally worth it... ymmv. i get yr 'less is more' thoughts, and i fully subscribe to that myself + speaking of which and decal, as you did, all their electro stuff was done on a waldorf pulse, mpc2k + a couple of guitar pedals...

nu skool country unkle :mrgreen:
Sorry.. thought I replied to this.

I have a ESX1 SD on the way. Would have liked to have seen it in person first, but fingers crossed it's ok..

Been watching a lot of vids about it & there looks to have a lot of sound mangling potential.. be it the FX or resampling , stretching & start point fun. Was thinking of getting a 1st or 2nd version on eBay, but they're going for stupid money. Thought better value could be got for a little bit extra. A mate told me teh difference even between the smart media & SD versions. Didn't know there was 2, so looked into it & hopefully it'll be ok. Size does matter I hear. Will see.

Decal.. fucking class. Any idea of the guitar pedals.. Were they on a memory man ? It has flange on it too..often wondered what FX they had. Seen a pic from The Funnel or somewhere & they had a bunch of stuff in a rack.

Edit: A proper look at the photo

Boss delay pedal. Erm.. haha

Alesis rack something. Probably a FX. Dunno..I have a Quadraverb, but it doesn't say alesis on the back. Probably a micro or midiverb. Maybe a couple of them.

Other mystery rack things. A blue midi cable 🧐
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Think I'm probably in the last night of Phunk City vid.. Haven't watched it all, but saw my mate on the dancefloor at one point.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

Ben Kohonays wrote:
Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:04 am
Críoch wrote:
Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:17 pm
My uncles had a c+w / American country rock / showband - type act. They had 2 mpc60s playing the drums & driving some rack stuff. They had the Atari 1080 & notator too.. and get friends to play & record midi for the shows. They had a music shop in London at the time & people used to come in with stuff to sell 🤔. Don't know what they paid for it all, but it was all serious money at the time.
Haha, they sound like a right couple of characters. Bet they have some stories too.
They were.

Was watching a country music TV show last 2 weeks (not my choice) about a guy called Big Tom (an Irish phenomenon - RIP). Seen my uncle & dad doing the sound for him at a big open air thing he did in London in 1979. Ireland is random like that.

There is a record of the gig. That's them down the front in the pit on the cover.

https://www.discogs.com/Big-Tom-The-Tra ... se/5413462

They used to be the 'house band' amongst other things for the Bee Gees record label.. doing the backing on demos. My dad infamously 'returned' 2 Roland 808s that weren't selling in a shop he worked in, back down into a flooded basement.. 🤔 . Nobody wanted to buy them & my dad said they sounded shit. Shit as in they didn't sound realistic for backing a band 🙃
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by kronk »

aye, rennicks has a good archive on that time unlike most of the rest of us... that piece filled in a few gaps :)

no fancy pedals just standard boss / micro alesis stuff

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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

Mind the gap indeed. Aye, tbf.. when you look at the list of people who played at the funnel & beyond.. it really was a special time. Right at the height of classic mode for a lot of music. Hardly surprising that musical tastes got pollinated. Feel lucky to have experienced it.

Ive heard & read a lot of his Drexciya stuff. Totally, he's an archivist. Fair play to him for retaining so much detail over the years.
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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

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dublin badly needs another funnel + a licencing overhaul + a cure for a deadly virus

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Re: Korg Electribe Effects: ES1 / MK1 & 2 Vs. ESX

Post by Críoch »

kronk wrote:
Sun Apr 19, 2020 12:13 pm
dublin badly needs another funnel + a licencing overhaul + a cure for a deadly virus
Probably more chance of getting a cure for the virus!!

:lol:
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