Anyone tried the Korg Toneworks PX4 / PXR4 ?

[bduersch]

I've seen the ad for these Korg boxes (featuring Vai, Satch, and Petrucci) and it caught my attention. I like the promise of a small headphone-type amp with built in modeling and FX, but just wanted to see if anybody here had some first-hand experience with either of these units.

I'm drawn to the convenience of the PXR4 with the built-in recorder, but am somewhat concerned that they'll skimp on FX and models in order to make room for the recording capability. Then again, I'm sure the PXR4 may be more than flexible enough to meet my basic jamming and recording needs.

--B

[Pryde7]

Hey!

Check out the Korg Website for some interesting sound and video samples. This thing sounds impressive! A great practice unit, I must say.

Have fun
K

[RSVampire]

pretty sweet little box.

[mike777]

Man even I haven't had the opportunity to check it out yet! -LOL I'm dying to! I have a PX2 which was severely blownaway by the PX3 and the PX4 does A LOT more! I dig the sound of the PX2 quite a bit and I think it sounds best when plugged into the AUX IN jack on a shelf stereo system. No Joke. I use it when I'm staying over my fiancee's place. I like to tinker a lot and the PX4 has a lot of things I'm very interested in.

Mike 777 Haug

[gkelm]

I picked up a PX4 recently...pretty cool unit, It does not have the quality of amp models & tone as a POD (or J-Station, etc.), but it has a few other goodies--the rhythm unit is fun, as are some of the unusual effects. Best of all, I like its tiny size. It certainly has it's place, and I think it has recording potential.
Greg

[lhrocker]

The PX4 was soooo cool that I had to get a PX4B for my bass. The sounds are great, and if you think of it as just a practice box, you're missing out. The sounds and fx are clean and can be used for demos and such.

Plus, where else can you get such sounds that fit in your pocket!!!

[Kremlin]

Hmmmm I have a POD 1.0 right now but the rythm thing on the PX4 makes it sounds awfully tempting...

[cowcowcow]

is PXR4 = PX4+4 tracks recorder? anything else?

[gkelm]

I sat down with my 7 string and plopped the PX4 on the coffee table while my wife was switching between the tennis match and the P. Jennings special. I must have plucked delightfully for an hour or so with the acoustic simulator...sounds pretty good!
Greg

[jonrayl]

dont own one yet, but I have to say its currently my favorite toy at the store. Plug in, chug out a riff in the Jam mode, do leads for as long as I can before I get overrun with customers... lol

[musicdr]

Thanks to this thread,I just picked up a pxr4.Unreal the amount of things they can fit in such a small package.The clean tones are quite amazing,the dist. are usable for my purposes.A digital 4track with usb interface,a great idea.Now I can record all the ideas I get and dump them to my computer for later reference.Funny,I got a 24tr studio in the other room,but it's being used for our bands cd.Then I bought a zoom 10 track to noodle around on,now its being used for pre-production.Finally I have something I can use just for me

[bduersch]

Hey, it only took 2 months, but I finally picked up a PXR4 today at the Mars "going out of business" sale. I've only had a couple hours to play with it, so these are my initial impressions:

1) Sound quality is pretty good. Certainly not as good as my ol' J-Station, but there are lots of amp models/effects to choose from and lots of parameters to tweak. As with almost everything digital, the built-in presets are sub-standard, but with some modification the patches really come to life. Great cleans, great heavy/crunch tones--in-between tones are a little lacking. Acoustic simulator is decent. Has built-in patches for bass, voice, keyboards--haven't had a chance to audition any of those yet. Sounds good through headphones but really sings when plugged into a stereo.

2) Recording features are pretty good as well. Lots of options available for overdubbing and bouncing tracks--you can squeeze far more than 4 tracks onto this with a little planning. Built-in rhythm section is great for spontaneous recording--probably not flexible enough for full-blown composition.

3) Ease of use is okay. Takes a while to get the hang of the order in which certain tasks must be performed (e.g., to record guitar you must arm the track, then assign FX to the track, then tweak the FX, then perform the recording). Most of the buttons have dual functions--at least everything is clearly labeled. The menu system, which is nested several levels deep, is cumbersome but at least it's logically laid out. Display has a lot going on, but isn't necessarily overwhelming. After a couple of hours, I know enough to assign FX, record & bounce tracks, and perform basic mixing functions.

4) Net, this thing is awesome. Sure, there's a small tradeoff in sound quality and flexibility, but c'mon... look at the size of it!! To have this many amp models and FX, a drum machine, and a 4-track digital recorder in something that fits in a shirt pocket is nothing short of amazing. I'm gonna start taking mine to work so I can record tunes on my lunch break. I'm sure I'll also take it with me on weekend road trips--even if I don't record anything, it's great for general (quiet) jamming.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts. Tomorrow I'll probably work on recording a couple more tunes, and with any luck I'll be able to export them to MP3 (the PXR4 has a USB jack on it for connection to a PC) and I'll throw them up here for y'all to take a listen to.

--B

[sniperfrommars1]

ive been a fan of korg products for a long time. Ive got an ax1000g and it sounds amazing imho. the presets are awful though. Id like to pick one of these up especially for the practice value they have, and the record parts on the fly thing would be great for my songwriting skills. Whats the going street value of these right now????

[musicdr]

Around 4 bills.A bargain if you need a portable studio.