KORG KR 55 PRO REVIEW & 6 THINGS U SHOULD KNOW
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Paul Tyson takes a closer look at the Korg KR-55 Pro. This video is a followup to an earlier video where some of the limitations of the KR-55 Pro were not fully explained. The 6 reasons why this product does not meet "Pro Standards" are listed - starting at the 12 minute mark.
Korg knew exactly what they were doing with this drum machine. The whole point is they weren't trying to be all of the other drum synths out there. They were not trying to make a dm that had highly variable synth sounds, ethernet, midi, etc. You can buy that machine from Roland for two and a half times the price of the KR55. This is exactly what Korg wanted it to be - walk up, punch a couple of buttons, and have a very well designed drum sound start playing right away. The extra features Korg DID choose to add, offer more flexiblity than most of the target demographic will ever use. I am right in that target demographic, 58 years old, play music very frequently, don't gig out anymore (too much hassle, have lots of other rewarding stuff in my life like kids and wife), don't want to spend a week learning how to get a few good sounds out of an electronic device. That sort of learning comes much easier to younger people. So, to all of the reviewers on the internet and elsewhere who "know" how Korg missed the mark: I really think you are wrong. Signed, Boomer.
Sorry Boomer - but I'm definitely NOT wrong. They should never have named this product "Pro" - as it is clearly NOT for recording professionals. This is a low-end entry level product that (like I said in the review) is best for garage bands or recording basement rehearsals where no control of mixing (after recording) is needed. I've been doing home recordings using Cubase since the early 1990s and I've tried many, many different solutions for multi-track recording over the decades. As I mention in the review, I was disappointed to see that there is ZERO ability to control volume levels on the various instrument tracks AFTER they've been recorded. That is a HUGE bummer. No way to get to the individual track layers as WAV files because it overwrites the individual tracks with a "Composite" track where ALL tracks get "sandwiched" into a single WAV. If you look at my replies to some of the other folks in the comments (above), you'll see detailed responses regarding "what solutions" I ended up using instead.
Perfect for the non-tech musicians needing a rhythm machine like in the old days. Still a large market for it.
I bought this at a reduced price. It will be perfect for my DAWless doodling and if i want more versatility i can just plug in my zoom drummachine in the mix. Good and fair video review.
Great review. I'm looking around right now for a DM - thanks for sharing your honest opinions!
I tried the unit. As a standalone drum machine to play along with it is pretty good and it'd be worth it for a third the price and include the foot-switch. I'd drop the instrument mixer as it's too limited to be useful and drop the record function as again too limited to be useful. Add at least a midi clock sync. Refine the chain creation process (allow edits). Then you'd have a practical, well priced bit of kit.
Here’s the issue for me - at this point, you can buy an AKAI MPC One for roughly twice the price..... and you’ll get something soooo much more powerful. Literally 1000 times better and more powerful. For me, that’s a no-brainer. Spend another $300 and get a far better product.
@@typhoolin I liked with the Korg that you can have a real drum sounding groove going and easily trigger a fill or change variation. With the MPC One I guess you can do it... after finding and importing suitable loops? But yes, the Korg was priced way to high for what you get compared to something like MPC One. At least with an MPC I can use a midi pedal and not have to by the Korg one!
Great video! Your explanations and presentation are very informative - without the bs. Thanx!
Thank you - sorry if I was sounding negative - but I was sooo disappoiinted in KORG. Korg is a legndary Synth manufacturer - just like Yamaha, Roland and AKAI and others. I was hoping the KR-55 would be my answer - but it fell far, far short. The solution I found - which works great for my purposes - is the AKAI MPC One - for approx $700. AKAI MPC turned out to be almost flawless - with about 1000 times as many features compared to this Korg KR-55. Easily -
Thank you. The lack of post recording processing and no midi gave me the all the reasons to pass on this product. The best part of this product was the sound quality of the drums themselves but the lack of versatility overrides that.
WOW! Brutal honesty....very refreshing....thank you.
Thanks Randall. Since the time that I created this video, I've purchased the Headrush Looperboard - which is very powerful. I have also purchased the Zoom LiveTrak L-12 Recorder - which is also awesome. The AKAI MPC One is the latest addition to my home recording arsenal. Lately, I've been using the AKAI MPC One for all of my MIDI recording (drums, keyboard parts, basslines, synth leads, melody, etc)..... then record all of that into a stereo track on my Zoom L-12. From there I record vocal and guitars, electric bass, background vocals, etc. using the Zoom L-12 LiveTrak. This is an awesome recording workflow that is super powerful.
Hey Paul, nice review, however I think you forgot you are dealing with a more analogue device. It is not even supposed to have an SD card input. Therefore USB, MIDI connectivity and mixer functions are out of the question here. What you call professional in fact is digital. In my personal opinion this machine does its job which is to provide programed rhythms and variations. The rest of the functions are just a plus. The down side I would point out though, is the cost.
I now have the closest thing to perfection - at least for my applications in home recording. I use the AKAI MPC One as my primary looper and drum machine, synth/sampler and it has been the most awesome experience. AKAI MPC has ALL the features I've been dreaming about (and more). I've got it connected via USB to a Zoom LiverTrak L-12 Digital Mixer and this combination is ALL digital connectivity (no analog cables involved for device connections) - ALL USB. It has turned out to be incredibly powerful. A dream come true - truly!
Yes but analog it should be able to sync to a gate or trigger signal. It’s so overpriced
I do like the sound and simplicity of this. I currently just use a general acoustic drum emulator pedal as a click track, with no additional fills or tweaking by me. It'll be weird having to actually plan my songs out ahead of time, lol
That's cool! Glad to hear it's working for your application. I ended up upgrading to the AKAI MPC One. In my opinion, the AKAI MPC family is almost PERFECTION for guys that want to do looping and easy-to-use drum pattern editing and arrangement + audio recording and song arrangement. Its the best DAW less system I've ever seen.
Heh, this is made for one or two people to have when they play live, and they can record that to listen to afterwards. The "Pro" features are for studio use. But yes, the lack of midi is weird.
Sounds great and looks the part.
This is for professional one-man-band street performers, not for amateur studios.
No. You could say that it is mainly for LIVE performance - YES. For the purpose of a basic rhythm backup during LIVE show. It is not very useful for studio recording - unfortunately.
Agreed, they shouldn't have called this one "pro".
Also, there would be variable shuffle/swing for each pattern.
I watched this video in its entirety and cannot help but think that maybe you need a rack-mount arranger unit (which not very many companies make - I think that Ketron may be the only one), a recording interface, and a mixer all in one unit. I am not sure that is what Korg was going for in this unit - but I agree that the word "pro" is used very liberally on so many products that do not deserve that designation.
I think that for the singer-songwriter, this unit would completely shine if there was a USB interface onboard. They could use the KR-55 Pro as a control surface to design their songs between this and a computer, and then carry it onstage and play a show.
I'd love to see MIDI on this unit too, but not only for MIDI sync. MIDI implementation could be added so that if I wanted to use a sequencer for the musical parts and use this unit for the drum patterns (similar to how an arranger records a full band style type thing). One track on the sequencer could be used for sending rhythm pattern/style choice MIDI program change information.
I will state that I am a keyboardist and have a bevy of different synths in my studio, including arrangers. This KR-55 Pro might interest me if I decided to NOT bring one of the arrangers to a gig. This would give me the flexibility to have backing tracks (drums) that follow me live.
I think that we may be asking too much from a unit like this. I do appreciate your review of it though and the sounds are really pretty good on it.
There is something out now days (May 2019) from Headrush called the "Looper Board" and it includes pre-recorded drum patterns - and includes MIDI connections. It does cost a lot more ($900 U.S.)...... but it does a lot of the things that I've asked for (in my video) such as 24 Bit recording and the ability to export individual loops into a DAW like Cubase or Pro Tools.
I really appreciate your Honey opinion, I would like to know Dows this kr 55 does have functionality to load external wave samples from SD card to this machine? I really appreciate your answer on my this confusion i am actually thinking to get this one for my live performance to load my drum samples. Thanks in advance my friend. And lots of love to this channel. Thanks again
Thank You. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this KORG product. If the year was 1988, then this would be a fabulous product. However, it's 2020 - not 1988. Therefore I recommend that you choose a different product. The best solution for creating drums and many other rhythmic beats is BY FAR - the AKAI MPC LIVE II or AKAI MPC One or AKAI Force. Those products are LIGHT YEARS beyond the KORG. I'm not sure what happened to make Korg engineering believe that the KR55 was a "good" product. It's just sooooo FAR behind the times! It's almost like they dug up some really OLD ideas and then made a product based around out-dated ideas. Save your $$$ and get the AKAI MPC product instead. You'll thank me later!
I’m curious after returning this unit, did you find a better replacement? What are you using for a drum machine now?
Good demo and explanation of this unit. Thanks for posting.
Thank You Strat Cat! I should say that this IS a fun unit - and it might even be a great solution for someone - but I'm still going to return it. It definitely "sounds good" - that is to say the recording quality - even though limited to 16 bit, still sounds very nice - especially the drums. Most of the tracks that I recorded for this demo have me also playing an Ibanez bass.
Thanks for sharing Paul. I think you are missing the point and intended use of the product. Korg made this product for live playing not recording. It's made for musicians who don't have a drummer to perform live with.
Perhaps - but they shouldn't be calling it Pro because it comes up short on a lot of points. I hoped for higher-level features w/ more control over the mix. Since the time I had posted this, I've switched to the Headrush Looperboard which has MIDI and a ton of other features for roughly double the price. That's a price I'm willing to pay though for an incredible tool. I've also picked up a Zoom L-12 Livetrack. Both of those products offer far more capabilities than the KR55 - albeit higher priced. I believe that I did mention that the drums are very good and the unit is fairly easy to use and also mentioned and demonstrated the time-stretch is quite clean - assuming KR55 is using either time-stretching or internal-only MIDI for the drum pattern playback speed adjustment. I also understand that the KR55 had a parent product and I think also a "sister-product" which preceded the KR55. Again, my hope is that they will release something similar but w/ MIDI for sync'ing w/ external gear and ability to double as an audio interface for DAW in the studio. This is where everybody else is heading IMO.
@@typhoolin I have one of the predecessors to the Zoom L-12 and it is amazing. However I'm looking for a small portable drum machine that I can use live. If this had programmable rhythms it would be the answer. As it is I'll have to get an Alesis SR16 or similar. SR18 takes batteries... however IMO has worse sounds than the old 1990s SR16.
And Alesis has MIDI.
@@fecklessmovies - I have Alesis SR-16 and have been using it with the Headrush Looperboard. That's a pretty powerful combo which allows me to change the BPM after the recording. Using the Alesis as MIDI Master Clock and stepping on a footswitch to trigger both the Alesis and the Headrush. It's cool and Headrush is way, way beyond the Korg on multiple fronts when it comes to an all-in-one recording devices. Of course, there are many approaches to loopers. Also have the AKAI MPC Pro One - which, like the Headrush Looper, includes lots and lots of features and capabilities. Both AKAI and Headrush, as well as the Zoom Livetrak Series on multitrack recorders are far beyond the Korg KR55. Sorry Korg! You guys missed the boat on KR55!
Hi
I am looking for a unit that can do a basic four on the floor kick with tap tempo and live velocity control via foot switches
Do you know of any hardware unit that can do this ??
Thank you
That bass tracks I just heard are included in the rhythm patterns?
hey Paul! do you think this would work well as a dedicated realistic drum machine? I've been looking for one to plug into my 16 track recorder
It seems to be adequate as a drum machine. The drum sounds are very realistic and the included beat patterns are pretty good. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer the ability to edit your own drum patterns - so you can't make up your own beats, nor can you "edit" the existing beat patterns - which is pretty limiting. Also this KR-55 doesn't have MIDI or USB - which is unforgivable! Korg really messed up BAD on this! If you just need a basic drum machine, save money and get the Alesis SR-16 which came out back in 1992 and is STILL a fantastic machine that offers WAY more features than the Korg KR-55. The Alesis is also STILL available new at Guitar Center or Sweetwater for $150.00. They also have the Alesis SR-18 - but most people seem to prefer the older SR-16 model. Both have MIDI, great drum samples and easy to make your own beats from scratch OR "edit" existing factory supplied beat patterns. Skip the Korg. There are far better "recording solutions" out there such as Zoom LiveTrack L-12 or AKAI MPC One.
The question I have is this. Are there any differences with the number and types of drum patterns between the KR-Mini and the KR-55? Does one have more than the other?
Thanks
Great video! Thank you.
Good, Honest review.
Real shame you can't program your own beats. It's great that it takes AA batteries, like a lot of things these days. Makes life much easier, esp for busking etc.
Check out the AKAI MPC One! It is pretty darn powerful and a lot less $$ than the MPC LIVE. It comes with a pretty decent assortment of excellent (modern) drum kits and you can totally program you own beats - plus it does full MIDI Sequencing and can act as an ASIO compliant audio interface. Very powerful arrangement capabilities and excellent sounds including some nice electric pianos, synths and bass sounds/programs. Plus it records independent tracks to SD Memory Cards, has USB - can act as USB Host or vice-versa.
@@typhoolin MPC one looks great, but that is in a completely different league price-wise 😁. I used to have one of the older MPCs (mini version) but it was quite complicated to transfer the samples and get it set up how I wanted. Probably a lot easier with the latest ones.
@@fecklessmovies - I got my MPC One - which is the latest model for less than $600.00 (U.S.) by using the 15% OFF discount at Guitar Ctr. - that's only $290.00 more than the Korg KR-55. In other words, not quite double the price. Considering what you're getting for the $$, the AKAI absolutely leaves the KR-55 in the dust.
Other weak points include the inability to program one's beats
At least a bank of user programmable slots with machine generated variation and fills.would suffice
Drum and percussion output would be wonderful allowing for volume control and mixing.
Midi sync is a horrible oversight.
Perhaps these options can be added by a replacement chip/circuit board.
I have seen persons retrofit a Linn drum in that way.
The Latin and Afro-caribbean and Cuban rhythmic options are lacking
Hopefully Korg will see these reviews and create the new machine or a new company can offer the upgrade.
Akai and Alesis have programmable machines with variations and fills.
Agreed. The idea itself is cool. I like the general concept. The provided beats cover a lot of ground + you can change the tempo for each beat. You can chain various pre-built beats together with fills and stops - then overdub on top. But a huge oversight (besides No MIDI anything) is that there is NO way of controlling "track volume" - after recording. So - it's a "one-shot" recorder with overdub. It has "Punch-in / Punch out" but I had a non-favorable experience using that feature. So - apparently no thought went into "mixing" before mastering to stereo WAV. I dunno - but it appears they came up short on this one.
Hello have gleaned bunch of help from your video. Ther is not a lot of help info and the a manual is very vague. I am trying to figure out how to record a "live" song with a rythem track but all I can get to play is the click tract and not a actual them.
You start by chaining the Patterns together - into a Song. You program Songs in the KR-55 using the method I'm demonstrating in this video. Once you've got your drums, you move on to recording instruments, voice, etc.. You can record either single instrument, then overdub (like guitar track followed by bass track) - or alternatively record multiple (2) instruments simultaneously. My biggest complaint to Korg is that the "tracks" (wave files) become "sandwiched" together and no way to keep the layers (overdubs) as their own unique WAV file. Once you make an overdub, you lose the ability to control volume for each layer of overdub. That is a major issue and for me it's a showstopper. Its fun to use and sound great - but lacks many features that "should" be there - such as MIDI and USB - and independent Volume Control for each track. Hope you are able to get it working the way you want it to work!
That seems pretty nifty. A pity does not have midi. That would have made it perfect
Good review, very useful for how I want to use it. I definitely see your criticisms; I think if you use it with a DAW, that would solve quite a fee of them, right? And if you want to play without a DAW, I think you'd need a small mix panel?
Final question: what did you eventually settle on?
Sorry for the delay responding to your question BaoBao. Since the time I had posted this, I've switched to the Headrush Looperboard which has MIDI and a ton of other features for more than double the price. The Headrush Looperboard is super powerful - many levels beyond this Korg unit. Headrush offers MIDI Input and Output. For my projects I use an external drum machine (Alesis SR-16) with MIDI Out into the Headrush Looperboard MIDI In and it works great for recording song ideas. For longer recordings, I've also picked up a Zoom L-12 Livetrack - as the Headrush Looperboard is not great for full-length song recording. The LiveTrak L-12 does not have MIDI - however it does have BPM setting + automatic recording on Input signal detection. This means that it's possible to transfer the resulting multi-track recordings and then "Sync" those tracks in a DAW. Both the Headrush Looperboard AND the LiveTrak L-12 offer the ability to act as an ASIO Compliant Audio Recording Interface - allowing WAV files to be sent to DAW for processing or final mixing. Both of those products offer far more capabilities than the KR55 - albeit at a higher price.
@@typhoolin very nice critique. And you're right far too many limitations. I would love one of those headrush loopers. I'm still using my RC 50. Still does the job. And if anyone is still interested in this who who still use it. The MIDI timing does work. Roland just made it so it would only work with boss or Roland drum machines. I think that's a bit dodge. Works perfectly with my TR-09, TR8. Awesome groove on your gat! Nice! Very nice tone too 👍
@@New_Zealand_Music Sorry for the delayed reply my friend! Thank you for the compliments! That's cool. I bought a Headrush Looper board - which is definitely many, many levels above this Korg K55 - except the issue w. Headrush was that it didn't (doesn't ) support MIDI file Import/export - even though it does have MIDI In and Out connections. I ended up using the AKAI MPC One for ALL my projects for the last 18 months. AKAI MPC is exceptional for both MIDI pattern editing, looping and arrangements as well as awesome waveform audio recording and multitracking.
Great review Sir!!
Thanks Paul. You helped me NOT buy this. The idea is in the right direction but some major oops
Good review, except I don't think that you realized that in this case, pro only means that it's an upgraded version of the old one from 1979 or so...
Perhaps the way to get around the separate volume thing would be to step programme the drum track and record the different tracks on whatever Cubase/ protools system your using then mix the volumes to taste, then load the WAV back onto the SD card and play the WAV through the Korg. Would this work?
In the Korg promo video they show the musicians plugged in and monitoring through a mini PA. so the volumes come from the instruments. Not ideal but usable for an acoustic gig...
Oh, one more thing... have always been a big fan of Digitech up until they decided not to update the Jamman software for Windows 10. Will avoid anything Digitech in future...
@@Ninja1963
in the promo video they are not playing, watch the guitar strings, they are not moving and they plug in their instruments whilst the ''musicians''are playing which would cause a buzz when inserting the bass for example, the audio is NOT in sync with the video, it's a con job.
Does this only have pre programmed beats, or does it have pads for you to make your own beats like kick drum and snare individually?
It only includes pre-programmed beats. Unfortunately it isn't possible to make your own beats. The included beats are decent and useful and the are 2 variations for each of the 24 beat patterns. It also includes 2 "Fills" for each pattern and the each pattern can be set to any tempo you like without any noticeable degradation in sound quality - which is one of the best things about this unit. All of the above being said, it's still not enough to place it into the "Pro" category.
@@typhoolin that is pretty important info which isn't immediately obvious about this machine. Makes it very limited. It is really a bontempi organ drum section. A very nice one, mind you. I love the look of it. Shame it can't have user programmed beats.
Its the top of the Stageman 80 on a little box
Thanks very informative. The negative issues you list are a pity as the drum sounds really good for a small package.
So what drum machine would you recommend to practice or jam fo a guitar player. If it could plug in in my guitar jack auxiliary input it would be a plus.
The system I ended up with is the AKAI MPC One - which is about 10,000 times better than this Korg KR-55. It literally obliterates the Korg on 100 different levels. The drum sounds on AKAI are way better and they've got literally hundreds of Drumsets to choose from. Forget about Korg KR-55 - which seems like a throwback to 1978 and get the AKAI MPC One or one of the higher level AKAI MPC models - like the MPC Live 2.
And yes - you can record track after track of guitar, bass, vocals or anything else on the AKAI - and the AKAI doesn't compress your tracks into a single WAVE file the way this Korg does. It's simply no comparison. AKAI did it the RIGHT way and Korg - tried to half-ass it and ended up with a weird throwback to 1978. No thanks Korg.
@@typhoolin Thanks for the feedback. I had the AKAI MPC on my radar.
*The only weak Point is no MIDI-Sync !*
Actually - there are numerous other weak points - including no control over track volume (for each recorded track), no support for Mics that require Phantom Power, no USB and several other major weaknesses
@@typhoolin can you include those several weaknesses in the video or comment? sounds concerning. thanks
its amazing BUt 24 patterns limit is a deal breaker and yes it is in no way PRO. Its very nice tho and looks fun. They are onto something. It has great potential. It needs more styles/ patterns and needs programability. I do love the attachable pedal..that is very good. Needs more work but a very solid start. Get on it Korg I do like what ypou have started
Agree completely Mike. The concept is excellent - but needs to expand to include (at least) basic volume control for each track AFTER the recording has been made - and should also include (I hope) a "Master Volume for Drums" - which would allow me to control the drum volume independently from my guitar, bass, keyboard and vocal tracks AFTER recording those tracks.
Thank you !!!
Kick ass Charvel.
Thanks much John! I found it hanging on the wall at a local guitar shop. I traded a nice looking G & L Ascari (plus some $$) to get this Charvel Desolation. I played it for about an hour before I decided to buy it. Could not believe how great it played and sounded - one of the closest to perfection that I've ever felt on the fretboard. The guitar is neck-through-body and it has locking tuners plus active pickups. I actually sold my 2004 Gibson Les Paul because it just didn't deliver (in my opinion) when it came to "the feel" and "the sound" - but this Charvel Desolation has blown me away - far beyond my Les Paul AND (believe it or not) it's made in China! But that is also why the list price was $595.00 and not $1795.00. Thanks again!
Hi and thanks for your video. It was very helpful in helping me make a decision. The one question I have, is other than the ALT beat, is there any way to differentiate between the chorus and verse of a song? For example, I have see drum machines that when the pattern goes from verst to chorus, it will basically keep the same beat, but switch to ride cymbal instead of high hat. Is that possible? Thanks in advance
Switching from Hi-Hat to Ride Cymbal (or vice-versa) is what the ALT button does. Therefore each of the 24 Preset Beats has an ALT version. You chain the beats together into a Pattern using the Chain / Playlist function. That is where you tell it whether you're using the standard beat for that measure or the ALT beat version. Each of the 24 patterns has 2 Fill options (A and B). You assign those fills to the measures in the same way you assign ALT beats. Once you're done assigning beats to the measures to make a complete pattern for a song - that essentially is referred to as "Song Mode" and that's when you begin recording over top of the drums (over-dubbing). Easy to use this machine - but unfortunately very limited. It DOES sound good though! Drums and recorded tracks sound very good.
@@typhoolin Thanks Paul, I appreciate you answering my question - that is very helpful - all the best and thanks
Nice vid ! So can u create ur own beat w fills brake etc to actually create a song from start to finish ? Nd change speed of tempo?
Thank You Strat Tone! The KR-55 includes 24 basic Patterns (beats) - and each Pattern has optional fills and breaks that can be inserted or called up on-the-fly. The Patterns can be linked together to form a song - complete w/ breaks and such. You can't really make your own beats though. You would need more like an AKAI MPC or AKAI or Alesis Drum Machine to make completely fresh beats. This unit (KR-55) will NOT allow you to make your own beats in that way. But it handles tempo change - on-the-fly and quite nicely - with no noticable degradation in sound quality.
Paul Tyson yup noticed its patterns to b adjusted to complete a song if u had too!! Not bad ty👍🏼
Thanks Paul! Thanks to your review, I didn't buy it. I kindly ask you if you can tell me about the best products, just with those important specifications that you indicated.
Since the time I had posted this, I've switched to the Headrush Looperboard which has MIDI and a ton of other features for more than double the price. The Headrush Looperboard is super powerful - many levels beyond this Korg unit. Headrush offers MIDI Input and Output. For my projects I use an external drum machine (Alesis SR-16) with MIDI Out into the Headrush Looperboard MIDI In and it works great for recording song ideas. For longer recordings, I've also picked up a Zoom L-12 Livetrack - as the Headrush Looperboard is not great for full-length song recording. The LiveTrak L-12 does not have MIDI - however it does have BPM setting + automatic recording on Input signal detection. This means that it's possible to transfer the resulting multi-track recordings and then "Sync" those tracks in a DAW. Both the Headrush Looperboard AND the LiveTrak L-12 offer the ability to act as an ASIO Compliant Audio Recording Interface - allowing WAV files to be sent to DAW for processing or final mixing. Both of those products offer far more capabilities than the KR55 - albeit at a higher price.
Also - more recently picked up an AKAI MPC Pro One. It's got a LOT of horsepower.
Hi great video I heard that you said that this is standalone product that's not requiring a PC and it's great news for me to hear that I just have one quick question. I'm using a tascam DP 24 portal studio and I'm wondering if I'm able to connect this machine this Korg drum machine to my tascam using the quarter inch inputs and outputs.. would I be able to successfully use this beat machine on my tascam and record onto the tascam?
It should work fine if you are just looking to make drum beats and feed (record) those beats into tracks on your Tascam DP24. Stereo 1/4” outputs from the KR55 would go to stereo 1/4” inputs on the Tascam. Looks like Tascan doesn't have "Stereo Input(s) - so you will need to use 2 tracks on Tascam to get stereo from KR55 - into the Tascam.
Also - as you can probably see in my video - I wasn't that happy with the KR55 - so my general recommendation would be get an Alesis SR-16 for half the price if you just need a drum machine. The recording capability of the KR55 is not needed since you already own a Tascam Multitrack
@@typhoolin thank you! Much appreciated! 🙏🏼
@@ricardogonzalez-om4gn - you're welcome! Also investigate the AKAI Drum Machines. AKAI and Alesis are both excellent choices for drum machine / rhythym beat maker. Both Alesis and AKAI have better beat creation tools and better arrangement capabilities compared to the KORG KR55. The AKAI Drum Machine is called Rhthym Wolf that can be found used for $330.00 - see one on EBay here > > > www.ebay.com/itm/Akai-Rhythm-Wolf-Analog-Drum-Machine-And-Bass-Synthesizer/124584875995?hash=item1d01d657db:g:N3cAAOSwXChgKK-e Another alternative drum machine is AKAI XR-20 - very powerful MIDI capable - here's the link to that: www.ebay.com/itm/Akai-XR20-Beat-Production-Station/393139779020?hash=item5b88f4f5cc:g:26QAAOSwV4FgLtSF
hi Paul - thx a lot for your dense, clear and well-founded evaluation of this gimmick :-)
- me being a multi-instrumentalist with main instrument drums was almost ready to by one mint sample of this toy (for additional joy in my music room @home) in eebaah 2day,
- but with things that I don't know yet, I alway check and double-check via gewgl juutjuub & forums ;-)
- will have a look through what other videos you published ^^
- sunny gtx from the Lake of Constance, Swiss-German border (nope, no wall :-D =) )
Thanks for the nice comment! Glad I could save you the time of trying it then possibly returning it. I'm STILL searching for the ultimate multitrack recording tool - and haven't found it yet. Currently Iooking at Zoom LiveTrack L-12 and L-20 - which seem to have the right idea as far as "control" when mixing - and quick recording of song ideas - but alas - no built-in drum patterns/rhythm machine. Those would need to be recorded as "audio" and thereby losing some of the flexibility that is available when using a PC/Mac based DAW w/ MIDI Sequencer / i.e. MIDI pattern editing. I'm a longtime Cubase User. DAW is super powerful but somewhat overkill for basic recording when you just need something fast and easy.
Maybe Korg will come out with newer and more powerful version? I hope so - because the basic idea is a good one.
Thanks for the heads up will stay away from this unit.
Can you create your own beats ? or your only limited to whatever is in the machine..
It's limited to the beats that are included. You cannot program your own custom beats. You can change the tempo - and you can "chain" beats together to form a "Song". For variation, each beat has an "alternate" as well as 2 options for "fills". Very limited - but I will say that at least the drums "sound" very good and realistic.
Paul Tyson thanks for answering, I kinda figured that🙁.
Im already invested now, I ordered the Alesis strike amp 12 drum amp/speaker to run it through.
good for drum class/// expensive box tho
Is it difficult to program?
It's not that difficult to program - however, other systems like AKAI MPC or that type of thing offer far more for only a little more money.
Yikes that Katana sounds terrible in this video. The Korg sounds pretty interesting actually. Reminds me a lot of the drumkits from Korg Gadget Gladstone
Well- the mix probably isn't the best either - but yeah that's the Katana going line Out to a separate stand-alone recorder. As far as the KR-55 goes, let's be blunt - it's a so-so product. Defintely not great - and missing tons (yes LOTS) of features. I'm not sure why they (Korg) thought this product was a good idea. I've literally seen better ideas 35 years ago than this. If I were working for them, I'd want to have a discussion w/ the product development team and ask them why they made this product. It's very good for sound and ease-of-use but not very good for features and integration w/ other pro audio products which use MIDI, USB and other industry standards which are completely absent in the KR-55. Sorry Korg - this product is definitely "Not Pro".
Thanks for your reply and your really thorough demonstration and review. I really like to see how much fun you had playing the guitar. Sorry for probably coming across a bit harsh about the Katana sound. It almost sounds to me as if it was recorded without a cab simulation enabled, but i am probably wrong. No big deal really. Your overall video presentstion is great though.
You are very right about the Korg not being a pro product. Mind blowing how this is a drum machine that has no midi nor usb and no way to sync it to external gear. Especially in the day and age with so many ways to hook up and sync equipment together. Korg really drops the ball there as you said. Even my ancient Boss DR-5 has midi in/out and still communicates well even over an USB-midi interface. I hardly ever use that horrible sounding machine anymore though since i completely moved away from hardware drummachines, and have all my drummachines now on my iPad. Tons of great and very affordable fully featured pro drummachines on iOS that all sync together with DAWs using Ableton Link or midi clock. And the benefit of music apps on iOS is that they cost a fraction of their counterparts on PC or Mac. So maybe it is something for you to look into if you still want a compact solution that is fully featured, affordable, expandable, mobile and very user friendly. I even use the Positive Grid Bias FX/amp software or many other amp simulation apps on my iPad combined with a plethora of DAWs, synths, rhythm apps, AUv3 effects etc etc all on one small device. It is a complete mobile studio that can record guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and anything you desire on it. Fully midi and usb compatible with external gear as well. Even can record my Helix or mixing console directly into my iOS DAWs over usb for instance. The possibilities are endless and saves me a ton of money and space not having to buy a lot of hardware gear anymore. I even have tons of Korg apps on it that appear to have better features than this Korg KR55.
You were right by sending this product back to where it came from 😉
Love your videos. Keep up the great work. Very enjoyable and informative 👍👍
@@EdBMetal Thank You very much Ed!
Is it MAC compatible for its Wave
I think so - but I think Mac's primary sound file format is still AIFF. The Korg definitely makes proper PC WAV files though.
I have opened .WAV files on my Mac that I pulled off of a EHX looper. You would just need a SD card reader to transfer the files from your card to the computer since there is no USB on the unit. The SD card readers are very cheap now. I could see using this to generate .WAV files to be transferred into a looper as drum loops. Looks like a simple product. Only issue is that, for the price, even used, you could get a much more sophisticated machine. If you want to limit yourself intentionally and stay away from advanced features to keep it simple, this would be a good choice.
I bought this thing and never use it, I really don’t know how to, I thought it was a programmable drum machine.
Yeah - it's actually a recording system - albeit very, very limited in terms of capability. MY final conclusion is that if you need a simple drum machine - just go with ALESIS SR16 for $150.00 and if you need a highly sophisticated drum machine go UP to AKAI MPC Series. I have an AKAI MPC One ($699) and it blows the KR55 into the dust. Literally 1000 times for power of the KR55 for only $600.00 versus $320.00 for KR55. Easy decision.
@@typhoolin Thanks, guess I’ll sell it on Craigslist.
Esta drum machine não tem nada de "PRO". Não tem como fazer os ritmos de usuário. Não ajusta o volume de cada peça de bateria/percussão. Parece que a KORG tinha tudo pra criar um grande produto, mas parou no meio do caminho de desenvolvimento.
can u use in logic?
No. This unit does not include MIDI - nor USB. It is not capable of any type of MIDI. The only way to use this with Logic Pro, would be to copy the WAVE files that are recorded to the Korg - but as you can see in my video, the KR-55 fails to even address the most basic need for recording "individual tracks". Once you start over-dubbing tracks, all the tracks get "sandwiched" together - into a single WAVE file - which means that the KR-55 is basically useless for anything more than garage band/basement band recording tinkering. And even in that regard, the Zoom LiveTrak Series of recorder/mixer are 100 times more powerful than this.
@@typhoolin thank you for telling me this, any recommendations for hardware drum machines as good, that you can record into logic?
@@user-uq8lw9uw2d - Best thing that I've found over the last few years are these two items - AKAI MPC One and MPC LIve II - epsecially if making beats and drums is highly important to you. AKAI also makes something called AKAI Force which also appears to be awesome - but it costs more like $1500+ . If you told me that multi-track recording was your primary goal, then I would recommend the Zoom LiveTrak L-12 or L-20 - which are combo mixing boards with multitrack recording and mixing capabilities - but does not include a drum machine..... just a basic click-track metronome.
beeessttt
Oh boy, Is it not a bug...its a fieature... L G M
This drum machine has no MIDI, no sync possibilities, I bought it by mistake, I never could think that such a product do not have midi nor a Usb sync possibility. Absolutely useless for me!!!
Tino Bisagni i can imagine that dude. One assumes products like this nowdays have midi
Sell it to me