Why the Korg Pandora PX5D is Awesome :)

NorioDS

I love my Korg. It's just so good for my playing, I can't praise it enough. Since selling my Roland Cube last year, I felt really lost and almost stopped playing guitar because setting up the PC everytime I wanted to play was just too much.

Anyhoo, so I got my Korg about 3 months ago (or maybe more, I'm not sure) and now I practise daily because I just plug in, stick on my headphones and play along to one of the backing tracks.

I love it so much that I think no guitarist should be without one so I recorded a short sample of me playing over one of the included MIDI backing tracks to "show" you guys how cool it is. Check it out here: http://gfsa.s3.amazonaws.com/1/doef-doef-jam.mp3

It's a doef-doef backing track, just to be a bit different but, don't worry, the Korg has some metal, some rock, some blues, some funk, some jazz - a little everything for every one ?

Also: tuner, metronome, basic synth, auto wah, different cab selections, different types of distortion (fuzz, high-gain US, overdrive, etc), delay (slap, echo, clear), reverb (very configurable). You can plug it into a PA, headphones, your amp (different settings for different kinds of amps - it compensates)

I love it and I'm CERTAIN I'm not yet using it to its full potential!

Once Ubuntu was set up properly (Ardour, jackd, realtime kernel) it's just a case of plugging the Korg in, starting Ardour (which in turn starts jackd), adding a track, arming, pressing record and jamming along ?

Of course, you can record straight guitar or you can record yourself playing along to the built-in stuff, or you can take the bass out of the built-in stuff and just jam to the drums alone. Quite a lot of options.

So please ignore the recording levels and things, I just plugged and played. Didn't bother with separate tracks or anything.

Enjoy!

http://gfsa.s3.amazonaws.com/1/doef-doef-jam.mp3

PS: That guitar sound was taken from one of the built-in presets (54: NMPLEAD) and modified to suit my tastes. (Lowered the compression, changed the distortion type (from fuzz to high-gain US), removed the reverb, and decreased the noise-reduction -- POWERFUL stuff! ?)

inflames

Norio, I', really glad you enjoy your Korg effects unit.
I had the Korg ax5g and was very unhappy with it. Sold it in the end and now use the Line 6 DM4.

I'm glad to see that Korg upped their game.

_-L-_

WantzChas

I really like your playing. Sounds like a fun addition to have. What do they retail for?

Ray

Yip, I've been looking to get something like this. I have had my eye on the JamVox but I think I must do some more research here.

NorioDS

inflames wrote: Norio, I', really glad you enjoy your Korg effects unit.
I had the Korg ax5g and was very unhappy with it. Sold it in the end and now use the Line 6 DM4.

Is the AX5G for acoustic guitars? I remember there also being a PX4D but it's not as kick-ass as the PX5D.

Apparently, the D in PX5D stands for dual as you can use it for electric guitar and bass guitar. Some of the effects for bass guitar are just out of this world. I don't play bass but, still, they sound awesome ?

WantzChas wrote: I really like your playing. Sounds like a fun addition to have. What do they retail for?

Thanks much! I cut the clip just before I started fucking up ?

The pity about the Korg is that few people seem to stock them so you'll have to ask your local music store to get a price for you - I don't know off-hand. I picked mine up second-hand for R2,800 (thank you Francis!)

And yeah, it's LOTS of fun. When jamming to one of the tracks, you can just let it loops and jam till your fingers won't move. I hate having to play with a PC every 5 minutes because my jam-track ended so I love this!

Ray wrote: Yip, I've been looking to get something like this. I have had my eye on the JamVox but I think I must do some more research here.

I've never heard of the JamVox but ja, do your research. The PX5D came out early last year I think so there could be better stuff out in the same price-range.

Squonk

I think the Pandora is the perfect practice tool for any guitarist, especially the Jam tracks and the phrase trainer. I was torn between this unit and the Pocket Pod. The korg for all it's extra features and the Line 6 for it's tone.

I got the Line 6 and sometimes still wonder if I did the right thing. Anyway at least I can still get the Korg.
Enjoy Norio, it's so lekker to just plug in to the headphones and not disturb anyone.
?arty:

NorioDS

Squonk wrote: I think the Pandora is the perfect practice tool for any guitarist, especially the Jam tracks and the phrase trainer. I was torn between this unit and the Pocket Pod. The korg for all it's extra features and the Line 6 for it's tone.

I got the Line 6 and sometimes still wonder if I did the right thing. Anyway at least I can still get the Korg.
Enjoy Norio, it's so lekker to just plug in to the headphones and not disturb anyone.
?arty:

Definitely, Squonk. I play in our bedroom all the time and Tanya doesn't mind at all ?

I must say, the tone I get out of this Korg is quite impressive. I can get some really convincing blues, jazz and high-gain sounds. It's really quite impressive. I can't compare it to the Line 6 because I've never tried one but it beats the crap out of my Cube if that's anything to go by ?

Keira-WitherKay

i owned the acoustic version of the pandora..... a while back.... which was great BUT it was noisy and i even did the research on net ... and many others experienced same prob so it wasn't just a flawed unit....

so unfortunately there is a white noise that lies beneath the ACOUSTIC VERSION ONE i can't speak for the electric one.... but the quality of reverb and effects were awesone and all in one tiny box....

so yeah i dumped mine soon after buying it cos of the white noise since i wanted to line it out live... and the noise level was way too unacceptable for pro standards ..... but i loved it to bits...and guess if you slap overdrive on it the white noise won't be an issue ...and for rehearsals it's awesome......(us acoustic guitarists rehearse unplugged heheheh so useless as a practising tool for us heheheh)

but i loved the design and hope they fix the white noise problem.... if they do i will buy one again...it's awesome...packed with high quality effects and the size and weight of a pack of cigarettes...isn't that just way cool.

peace and light
Keira

NorioDS

Keira, no white noise on the PX5D at all AND it comes with some noise reduction in case your set of distortions, etc, go a bit overboard ?

I'd recommend you try the latest acoustic one and see how it goes.

NorioDS

Oh and I came here to correct myself. It retails for around R2.3k and I got mine from Francis for R2k. My bad!

So ja, it's VERY affordable peeps. Go get one ?

Griffin

Agree. Wonderfull piece of technology. I was suprised how small it was (I ordered one without seeing it - leap of faith)

My only gripe is that I cannot use it connected to a PC. Stand alone running on battries it is great and very quiet. Plug it into a USB and I get a high volume 50Hz hum. It may be my guitar. It is a Squire Strat. I took the connector plate off and there are two thin wires running to the connector with no sign of any shielding or earthing so I suspect the rest is probably horrible. Did you have any noise problems?

NorioDS

Try face your guitar (and thus your pickups) AWAY from your monitor. Depends on your monitor. My LCD doesn't give me issues but I imagine a CRT would.

If your USB cable is too short, you get really handy extensions which should give you an extra meter or 2. Of course, your guitar cable should be long enough for you to leave the Korg on your table/PC and play a meter or 2 away from it.

I haven't had any hum issues with the Korg but definitely have had with my STUSB10 goedertjie!