Korg Volca Beats

I gotta be honest. I'm a guitar player who's looking to experiment with some different stuff and didn't really know what to look for in a drum machine. So I did my research and my criteria was quite simple:

- Affordable
- Sounds ok
- Enough features to keep me interested, but not be overwhelmed
- Looks good (yeah, call me shallow, but the Volca Beats is now in my living room and my wife and I love the vibe!)

The Korg Volca Beats checked every box, so I decided to pull the trigger.

Sure, it's simple, the built-in speaker doesn't carry much weight (not sure if people expect something else from such a tiny speaker), and it's not filled with crazy sounds, but I'm impressed with the vibe I'm hearing out of it. From hip-hop to post-punk, it sounds great and I'm quite happy with the purchase!

Pros: Everything I mentioned before.

Cons: I honestly miss a speaker output to connect to a PA without having to deal with that tiny and flimsy headphone output; And I wish that the cables were connected from the back, not the top.

Still, solid 9/10 for the Korg Volca Beats!

I got this for the sound. I always loved the very early analog beatboxes so I got what I asked for.

Pros:
- The sound.
- Easy of use.
- Super portable.
- The sounds sit into the mix really well.

Cons:
- This should cost way less for what it is.
- The snare sound. It sounds really ugly. Even mini-pops had a way better snare sound.
- Mono output. Don't expect any panning options. This is really unacceptable.
- The firmware update method is simply ridiculous.
- The sequencer steps are rather limited.
- The structure looks weak.
- No usb connection.

I bought it, sampled it because I couldn't pan individual sounds and barely use it since. The samples produced are great though.

the korg volca beats is a drum machine. you can sync it to other's in the volca range.
it has a 16 step sequencer and you can also program the volca beats on the fly to create magic, dynamic rythms.
it does not come with a power adaptor (which is a shame) but it does come with 6 batteries so you can have fun straight out the box.
it has 6 analog sounds that you can manipulate pitch and decay, including kick, snare and two toms, and 4 pcm sounds (clap, claves, agogo, and crash) that share a pitch control.
personally, i think the volcas are the best thing since sliced bread, and for value for money, at 100 quid, is outstanding.
you cant go wrong with this.

Keeps impressing me with their quality build synths, semi-analog, that are fully affordable to a starting out musician like myself. I loved the way I took my beats out of the box, pressed the power button and was lost for two hours in playing with the little thing. It took me somewhere else for sure. I haven't used it in any of my songs though, mostly because I've had a hard time figuring out what kind of music I want to make. But someone who doesn't know anything about synthesis I think it's a kind of a way to start - especially if on a budget. But eventually I think it's safe to keep the money and collect for something bigger. Because the honeymoon phase with volca honeys didn't last very long.