quality sounds in a half-rack unit. The display is huge for the box's size,

and the color can be changed from amber to yellow-green. There are two GM

banks, four Program banks, and four Combination banks. You can layer up to

EIGHT sounds in a single Combination; you can create monster pads and

evolving sounds with this. The manual is complete and easy to understand.

simply *HUGE* pads and ambient sounds that evolve into a smile on your face,

look no further. If you've always plinked around on the old X and W series

of synths, but could never justify the $1500+ pricetag JUST to have a few

of those cool sounds, this is the box to get. If you're into techno, this

is *NOT* the box for you. The 'technoish' sounds in this box are very

weak, and there is no resonance in this unit either. But if you're a fan

of large, lush pads, sweeping landscapes, and great new age sounding

instruments, then this is what you need to get. With the 384 combis,

and the 384 programs, you'll be in heaven thinking of new songs you can

write with all of these sounds. I was even surprised on how good some

of the programs themselfs are, just being 2 sounds combined together.

Just make sure FX Follow is on for the channel, otherwise you'll be

happy, but not in awe over this unit. That is one major flaw. It ships

from factory with the FX follow off, so you just

hear the raw sound with no effects implimented made special for each

combi or program. Once you turn on the feature buried deep in the edit

menu, you'll never turn back. So if you're tired of all the new techno

boxes coming out (JV8000, AN1x, CS1x, Nord Lead, JV2080, etc.) and

want something different for a change, this is the unit for you, especially

for it's low low price. Even if you're looking at a decently priced

multimedia box for your PC system (Mac or Windows) the sounds are far superior

than a CrapBlaster could even dream of being. Check it out.....

X series synths), it really stands alone in many ways. First, it was

built with the sequencer user in mind. Combis must have all programs on a single

channel, but you can have multiple Combis in Multi (default) mode. This is great

for folks who like to compose with several thick, layered sounds. The GS and XG

emulation is nice if you like downloading sequences and you don't have a Roland

or Yamaha GM box. The sounds are pretty much standard Korg fare...not necessarily the most authentic

acoustic instrument reproductions, but everything sounds thick and meaty. The

piano program has a nasty sample break (between C2 and C#2 I think), so I'd avoid

it. The sound effects are a hoot, and I particularly like the organs. The Combis

are lush. The drumkits are pretty average. The synth comes packed with gobs of programs, but the organization is pretty random,

partly because of the GS and XG emulation. A breakdown of patches by category

in the manual would be very helpful. The effects are the same as the N, 0 and X families, which is to say you can assign

two effects for all 32 parts, which can be limitting, particularly because so many

of the factory sounds rely heavily on them. That said, the effects sound good

and are completely programable, with some limited external modulation capability. This is a whole lot of sound generation for the dollar!

1) only 2 outputs - really needs at least 4 to get the best out of it

2) no insert effects

3) sound quality is not brilliant ( a combination of the aux

input and a noisy power supply)

4) the most fustrating arrangment of sounds - over 100 different

banks. The manual lists the sounds by number rather than type

so you spend hours going through the banks looking for the

best bass/piano/horn, etc

5) only way to upgrade it is with a daughter board eg. dbxg50 however it does have some incredibly good sounds in there

just wish I could find them :-)

in M1, 01W, X3, N3 in one small, easy to carry, grey box. I use it with my software sequencer and in live performances. With 32 part multitimbrality,

64 note polyphony and 2 effect processors it really rocks. You can creat extremely complex performances by combining 8 programs together. Each program can contain 2 diffrerent sounds (multisamples).

I especially like the new age pad sounds, the alto sax, the leslie hammond organs and the pianos. It also has some very strange sounds which could make you wonder what the heck it is and some cool sound effects (bass slide, footsteps, heart beat etc).

I wish the sounds were more properly organized and that it had the ability

to add effects to aux input like Yamaha MU series.