Korg Pandora - what is the point?

[tranceFusion]

I saw a number of posts seeming to indicate it was too noisy to be useful for recording or live use. I am a little confused at the huge number of features included in what seems to be a headphone amp.

Am I missing something?

[bongomania]

I'm not sure what your question is. It models many different amps. It also has a headphone jack. Whether it does a good job is subjective.

[R Baer]

I actually love mine! It has a great synth bass patch as well as some other amp model sounds. It is a bit too noisy, (IMO, I have an older PX4B) to use for recording, but I always come up with some good grooves when ever I plug into mine. I find it a great little practice tool.

[cybersnyder]

It's a headphone amp that offers some tonal variety and you can play around will listening to recordings. Before his YouTube account was yanked, DKMarlowe used it on most of his recordings.

[lug]

It's great for practice, supplies bunches of drum patterns, can be used live as an effect, and I've heard many recording where it works just fine. Not sure where you got this "info" but it's certainly not anywhere near the noisiest effects unit I've heard.

[tranceFusion]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I'm not sure what your question is. It models many different amps. It also has a headphone jack. Whether it does a good job is subjective.

My question is.. why do you need to model so many different amps if you are simply playing it through your headphones?

It seems that many people are in love with it. Are all these people paying $200+ for a fancy headphone amp, or does it do something else?

[warwick.hoy]

I'm not sure I'd say that there are that many people in love with it. I've only seen maybe 2 threads about it in the past 2 years I've been active on TB. This thread and one recently. I'm sure there are more If I search around, but I'm too lazy.

It's a glorified headphone amp,...I'll agree with you there...but who cares how much people want to spend on their gear. Why would people spend $4000 on a bass when a $1000 bass would suffice?

[THand]

I have the PX5B. I haven't used it in a while(for reasons not related to the product), but it came with Abelton software for recording, & connects with a USB to the PC.

Seems like I had to monkey around and find my own connectors to use it like I wanted, which was to run an MP3 player into it and play along with headphones. Similar to Marlowes setup.

You can also create your own effects settings and save them. You can download special software to make this easier too. You should be able to use it live. Others have. I've done it a few times and not noticed any unbearable noise. It has optional foot switches to activate your presets while playing.

Not the most user friendly interface on this model. I bought the PX4B for my son because the interface is easier on it.

I guess whether you could have a use for it or not depends on how creative you are, and how much you like to experiment with, and record, different sounds.

There are cheaper headphone amps around if that's all you are looking for.

[lug]

Originally Posted by tranceFusion

My question is.. why do you need to model so many different amps if you are simply playing it through your headphones?

It seems that many people are in love with it. Are all these people paying $200+ for a fancy headphone amp, or does it do something else?

The PX4B and PX3B were a headphone amp, a multi-effects unit, a sampler, a simplistic drum machine, can slow recorded music w/o pitch shifting it, cancel bass frequencies of the original music and act as a 2 channel mixer.

The specs for the PX5D is as follows:
DYNAMIC PROGRAMS:
Comp, Dynaexc, Vox Wah, Wahup1, Wahup2, Wahdwn1, Wahdwn2, Slowatk, Ac Sim, Reso, Octave, Ring, Ringup, Ringdwn, Crusher, Hum>Sgl, Sgl>Hum, Hf Tone, Phasout, B Comp, Limiter, B Od, B Dist, B Fuzz, Preamp1, Preamp2, Balance, Lowcut, Fretless

AMP MODELS
Btq Cln, Btq Od, Twd1x12, Twd4x10, Blk2x12, Ac15, Ac15tb, Ac30, Ac30tb, Ukblues, Uk‚70s, Uk‚80s, Uk‚90s, Uk Mdn, Us Hi-G, Us Mdn, Fuzz, Octfuzz, Valve1, Valve2, Classic, Scooped, La Stud, Goldpnl, Jazz, Studio, Ac100, Ukmajor, Gsynth1, Gsynth2, Gsynth3, Bsynth1, Bsynth2, Bsynth3

CABINET SIMULATIONS
1x8 Twd, 2x10 Blk, 4x10 Twd, 1x12 Twd, 1x12 VOX, 2x12 Blk, 2x12 VOX, 4x12 VOX, 4x12 Cls, 4x12 Mdn, 4x12 Vin, LA 4x10, MDN 4x10, MTL 4x10, CLS 8x10, UK 4x12, STU 1x15, JAZ 1x15, AC 2x15, US 2x15, UK 4x15, LA 1x18, Combi

MODULATION EFFECTS
Chorus1, Chorus2, Flange1, Flange2, Flange3, Flange4, Phaser1, Phaser2, Phaser3, 12str, U-Vibe1, U-Vibe2, Trem1, Trem2, Trem3, At Pan1, At Pan2, Rotary1, Rotary2, Rotary3, Pitch1, Pitch2, Pitch3, Pitch4, Maj3up, Maj3dwn, Min3up, Min3dwn, Per4th, Per5th, Maj6th, Feedbk1, Feedbk2, Feedbk3, Feedbk4, Filter, Filtup1, Filtup2, Filtdn1, Filtdn2, Talk1, Talk2, Talk3, Talk4, Random1, Random2, Random3, Random4, Drone1, Drone2, Env Pit, Env Cho, Inffln1, Inffln2, Infpit1, I Nfpit2

DELAY SETTINGS
Slap1, Slap2, Slap3, Slap4, Slap5, Echo1, Echo2, Echo3, Echo4, Echo5, Clr Dly1, Clr Dly2, ClrDly3, Clr Dly4, Clr Dly5, Ppdly1, Ppdly2, Ppdly3, Ppdly4, Ppdly5, Multi1, Multi2, Multi3, Multi4, Multi5, Rvs Dly

REVERBS
Dryair, Wetair, Room1, Room2, Plate1, Plate2, Hall1, Hall2, Spring1, Spring2, Bright

NOISE REDUCTION
One program

Number of programs:
User: 100
Preset: 100

Inputs:
Guitar input (1/4" jack)
AUX (mini stereo jack)
Footswitch (mini stereo, with adapter cable)

Output:
Line/headphone dual-purpose output
(stereo phone jack)

USB:
Mini Type B connector (AUDIO; MIDI)

Tuner section:
Detection range: 27.5 Hz-2,093 Hz (A0-C7)
Calibration: A = 438 Hz-445 Hz

Rhythm section:

128 RHYTHM & BASS PATTERNS (744 Variations):
Mtronm0, Mtronm2, Mtronm3, Mtronm4, Mtronm5, Mtronm6, Mtronm7, Mtronm9, 8beat1, 8beat2, 8beat3, 16beat1, 16beat2, 16beat3, 16beat4, 16beat5, 16btsw1, 16btsw2, 16btsw3, 16btsw4, 16btsw5, 2/4 1, 2/4 2, 2/4 3, 2/4 4, 2/4 5, 2/4 6, 2/4 7, 3/4 1, 3/4 2, 3/4 3, 3/4swg1, 3/4swg2, 5/4, 3/8 1, 3/8 2, 5/8, 6/8 1, 6/8 2, 6/8 3, 6/8 4, 7/8 1, 7/8 2, 9/8, Pop1, Pop2, Rock1, Rock2, Rock3, Rock4, Rock5, R‚N‚R, Metal1, Metal2, Metal3, Metal4, R‚N‚B1, R‚N‚B2, R‚N‚B3, R‚N‚B4, Blues1, Blues2, 8blues, Bluesfl, Country, Cntrys1, Cntrys2, Jazz1, Jazz2, Jazz3, Jazz4, Fnkrck1, Fnkrck2, Hvyfunk, Jb 1, Jb 2, Njckswg, Motown1, Motown2, Motown3, Motown4, Surf, Reggae1, Reggae2, Reggae3, Bolero, Disco1, Disco2, Disco3, Gogo1, Gogo2, Gogo3, House1, House2, House3, D‚N‚B 1, D‚N‚B 2, Ska1, Ska2, Ska3, 2ndline, Fills01, Fills02, Fills03, Fills04, Fills05, Fills06, Fills07, Fills08, Fills09, Fills10, Fills11, Fills12, 3/4fils, Latin1, Latin2, Bossa1, Bossa2, Samba1, Samba2, Rumba, Afro1, Afro2, Clypso1, Clypso2, Songo, Lp Ii, Lp Iii

TEMPO:

40-240 bpm

CHAINS:

Twenty Chains; Each Chain can hold up to 16 Patterns.

Power supply:
Two AA alkaline batteries,
Allows 7 hours of continuous use (backlight OFF),
Allows 5 hours of continuous use (backlight ON),
USB Bus Power
Optional AC adapter model
(405012500/KA-193 4.5V 500ma Center Pin +)

Dimensions:
(W x D x H)
4.65" x 2.95" x 0.79"

Weight:
0.34lbs. (not including batteries)


It's a lot more than just "a fancy headphone amp".

[msiner]

I don't get why you guys are calling it a headphone amp. It seems like a basic multi-effects unit to me. The Zoom B2 can power headphones through it's output jack, but that doesn't limit it to being a headphone amp. The Pandora just seems like a competitor in the same product space as the Line6 Pocket POD units, but maybe a little more full featured. If it's too noisy, then it just doesn't do a good job, but that doesn't somehow mean that it is meant to just be a headphone amp. Maybe some amps don't like the line-level signal to the input jack and it should be used in an effects loop instead, but I don't have any experience with it.

[Swift713]

I had a very similar product from Zoom, PFX 9003. It worked really well for my hollowbody guitar but it was a bit weak in the bass range. It could be noisy but mostly when modeling noisy amps. The thing was a blast, it had a nice palette of sounds. I'm pretty sure there are some (guitar) at my myspace link below. Most of the bass is through a B2.

[R Baer]

Originally Posted by tranceFusion

My question is.. why do you need to model so many different amps if you are simply playing it through your headphones?

It seems that many people are in love with it. Are all these people paying $200+ for a fancy headphone amp, or does it do something else?

It does do a lot more, but I mostly use it as a headphone amp. In that respect, how many headphone amps have you heard that have built in drum patterns to play along with, tons of cool effects and the ability to do a pretty respectable SWR, Eden, Ampeg, Fender and Marshall amp, all at your fingertips?

The phrase trainer is pretty cool as well. Record a bit of a song onto it and you have the ability to slow it down and still have the song in pitch. Great for learning tough licks.

I have also tracked with it on numerous occasions. Some effects and patches are a bit noisy, but worked pefectly fine siting in the track. All in all, this is a very useful product that I have long since got my money's worth out of.

[ga_edwards]

It's a niche market product. Obviously you don't happen to fall into that niche. Nothing wrong with that. But Korg are on the 5th iteration, so they but be selling well.

I like to think of mine as a swiss army knife. Does lots of things quite well, darn useful in certain situations, but wouldn't ever replace a dedicated tool for each job.

[groooooove]

i thought some of the effects on it were actually really good..

[mercenarywrench]

i've gig'd with it as an effects processor. I like how it fits on my strap for easy access.

[NickInMesa]

I use my PX4D every single day as a practice tool.

I only use a couple presets, really, mostly Stufing and Stucord, something Stuhamm, the other bass presets suck and the rest is guitar.

I either use it over the beat box, which I think is rich enough, when I play scale (remember: always play over a metronome or a beat box), or I use it with my computer, from the speaker out into the PX4D, that way I can play over MP3s, Rhapsody or Guitar Pro, which has been a great tool for me to learn new song.

I can learn, practice, jam and groove into the middle of the night if I care, without bothering anyone.

I love this think. The guy from playbassnow.com (Marlowetk) used to use a Pandora PX4D originally for his videos and the sound was pretty good.

Otherwise, it's not a pro tool, no, it's practice tool, and I wish I had one 20 years ago.

[nella]

I'm a big fan of these units. I use my PX5D:
1. as a USB interface to record into Audacity, and since it has ASIO drivers it will work with programs like Guitar Rig.
2. to practice with connected to my computer with songs from my Itunes library and from YouTube or other audio off the interent
3. I throw it in my bass case with a DI box and use it into the house system at my church.
4. When I travel it is in my case with a set of headphones so I can practice.

[lug]

Originally Posted by nella

I'm a big fan of these units. I use my PX5D:
1. as a USB interface to record into Audacity, and since it has ASIO drivers it will work with programs like Guitar Rig.
2. to practice with connected to my computer with songs from my Itunes library and from YouTube or other audio off the interent
3. I throw it in my bass case with a DI box and use it into the house system at my church.
4. When I travel it is in my case with a set of headphones so I can practice.

I have always wondered if the PX5D has drum patterns without bass lines. It's not real clear in the liturature. I know some of the old guitar versions of the pandora didn't while the PX4B and PX3B did.

[nella]

Yes, you can change the key of the bass lines in the drum patterns or remove the bass line from the pattern entirely, at least in the PX5D.

Originally Posted by lug

I have always wondered if the PX5D has drum patterns without bass lines. It's not real clear in the liturature. I know some of the old guitar versions of the pandora didn't while the PX4B and PX3B did.

[lug]

Originally Posted by nella

Yes, you can change the key of the bass lines in the drum patterns or remove the bass line from the pattern entirely, at least in the PX5D.

Thanks for the info! I have the PX3B and the PX4B but wasn't sure if you could still get straight isolated drum patterns from the 5.