Members thebeatcatcher Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 anyone here use one of these as a live effects box and have an opinion on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Schmeejay Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 I have one. It's awesome. Get one. Future classic. It's one of those things that hard to describe....you just gotta try it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 I've had one. RCA inputs/outputs only. The machine may clip pretty fast so watch the input signal. Vocoder's semi-useful, 303 emulation and analog drum machine are useless IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebeatcatcher Posted July 2, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 Originally posted by Yoozer I've had one. RCA inputs/outputs only. The machine may clip pretty fast so watch the input signal. Vocoder's semi-useful, 303 emulation and analog drum machine are useless IMHO. i don't need it for the drum machine, but what about some of the other effects? like the filter, phaser, flange, etc.? and is it stereo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 It's stereo, yes, but that option isn't really used (at least, I don't recall setting separate effect send values for left and right). The effects are similar to those in the JV/XP machines, I'd guess - adequate. The vocoder's borrowed from the VT-1 but I don't recall it standing out (plus you can't do much with the bands). What I just want to say is - don't pay too much for it because it's a rare box . I bought and sold it for 100 euros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sheepshears Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 im pretty sure the ef-303 has the same effects as my sp-505 sampler. some of my favorites are : Lo-Fi which is a bit crusher, sample rate reducer and low pass filter. Isolater which is a very powerful 3 band eq. Voice Transformer which as mentioned earlier is a very limited (but good sounding) vocoder. and Radio Tuning which is a band pass with adjustable bandwith mixed with a ring mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sheepshears Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 also, its worth mentioning that the modulation can be turned off in the flanger and phaser, allowing you to manually sweep them. so you get 2 comb filters too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wysiwyg Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 I was playing around with the step modulator yesterday synced with the SH-32 (set to one of the rythym banks on channel) C. By moving the slider ever so slightly you would get a different drum sound from the kit. Kinda cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Analog Kid Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 Originally posted by sheepshears im pretty sure the ef-303 has the same effects as my sp-505 sampler. Not really. Some of them like you said, true. I have both those boxes and i've pretty much gone through a wide range of Roland's FX algos in many boxes.The best thing about the EF-303 is that it has Roland's best digital filter algorithm... for instance I get a nicer resonant lowpass through this box than by going into my JP-8080 or certainly any of my other Roland FX boxes (V-Studio,SP-808EX((now, there's some great FX!)) SP-505,MC-09,SRV-3030D,V-Producer3) As for the rest of it, in so much as we're speaking about FX and not modulation, they are all pretty decent implementations of basic fx. Where they come alive (in their still rudimentary, but very useful form) is when you put a little animation in the effect.I like to refer to my EF-303 as a "Super Tremolo" and if you think about it like this it starts to make more sense. Like Yoozer mentioned, the onboard synths and vocoder are of the most limited use on the machine, so unless im using the 303 to step sequence externally i shy away from them, but because of the onboard modulation capabilities the basic FX take on a very tactile immdiate feel. I like the band splitting and the easy synching features. The sliders are all nice and the knobs send assignable CC's... that and tap tempo make it a versatile controller add on.As a Tremolo, it's pretty Super.... my second favorite use of it outside of the resonant low pass. It doesnt actually have a "Tremolo" effect on it, but look at what it does have and you can figure out how to do it. So great on organs, because you can draw the lfo wav with the sliders. Because the sequencer only handles one line you might sometimes like to route some incoming modulations to it also for other FX.Like other Roland boxes of the double digit led type interface it can be somewhat dificult for some people to grok, but it's still a very easy machine and far as the hands on tweaking goes. I'd say it's a pretty good collection of just a handful of core digital FX, but what seperates it is that it has an analog feel with stereo throughput. It's true you have to be concious of your internal headroom to start whacking off with the filter, but that's no problem... I could understand how someone might not be clipping the input and getting the overload light to come on, but completely clipping signal with the resonance off the filter and not understanding why it sounds so crappy. Hmnn, kind of like how the SP-505 filter sounds under the best of conditions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebeatcatcher Posted July 3, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 3, 2006 how does it compare to say the alesis ineko? or a kaoss pad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Schmeejay Posted July 3, 2006 Members Share Posted July 3, 2006 Originally posted by thebeatcatcher how does it compare to say the alesis ineko? or a kaoss pad? I had the Ineko for a few days and I thought it was one of the worst sounding effects boxes I've ever heard. It clips way easier than the EF-303. The Kaoss pad is probably the best for live use but it won't do some of the EF-303 stuff and it's much noisier. The EF-303 is pretty quiet. The built-in phono preamp comes in handy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ShakaCthulu Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 Like Yoozer mentioned, the onboard synths and vocoder are of the most limited use on the machine, so unless im using the 303 to step sequence externally Whoawhoa....how do you do this? I can't seem to get the 303 style sequencing to transmit (accent/glide/etc). I actually like the 303 and tishy CRish drum machine...especially when sent to a Sherman Filterbank! Definitely a great tremolo box, and a nice analog style interface....I like setting it to compression and setting up time-based dynamics. This is such a cool little box...at the 2nd hand price, totally worth it...look at how much people are paying for the Moogerfooger Murf, which operates on a similar principle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 Originally posted by thebeatcatcher how does it compare to say the alesis ineko? or a kaoss pad? No clue about the Kaoss pad but unlike the Ineko, it actually has an idea about BPM instead of a small rotary knob where you have to guess and guess again. It also has bigger knobs. The Ineko's got dirtier effects. On the Ineko, the filter is neat and the vocal formant filter is very nice (I turned a simple analog pad into chanting monks). The vocoder is useless, too . The filtered delays - they could've made 'm ideal if you'd have a 4th knob for the cutoff point. Right now the HPF delay is too HPF, the BPF delay has a cutoff that's too low, and the LPF is muddy. They all shriek distortion if the feedback goes overboard, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebeatcatcher Posted July 4, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 Originally posted by Yoozer No clue about the Kaoss pad but unlike the Ineko, it actually has an idea about BPM instead of a small rotary knob where you have to guess and guess again. It also has bigger knobs. The Ineko's got dirtier effects. On the Ineko, the filter is neat and the vocal formant filter is very nice (I turned a simple analog pad into chanting monks). The vocoder is useless, too . The filtered delays - they could've made 'm ideal if you'd have a 4th knob for the cutoff point. Right now the HPF delay is too HPF, the BPF delay has a cutoff that's too low, and the LPF is muddy. They all shriek distortion if the feedback goes overboard, though. okay, ignore my question to you in the "don't forget the effects" thread, i read it first. it seemed to me that the ineko had some pretty crazy wacky effects. i'm just looking to freak some stuff out, not really good sounding filters to dial in a tone or anything like that, just crazy stuff. BTW, i just picked up the ef-303 for $120 yesterday, so it HAS to be worth it for that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yoozer Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 I paid 110 euros for the Ineko and 100 for the EF-303. I'll see if I can record some demos that freak out . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebeatcatcher Posted July 4, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 Originally posted by Yoozer I paid 110 euros for the Ineko and 100 for the EF-303. I'll see if I can record some demos that freak out . that would be really cool. i'm into beats if you couldn't tell, i can already freak out some synth lines and such so could you tweak up a basic drum beat with maybe a bassline over it for me? that would be awesome! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dxdreamer Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 still the only dj oriented effect box that can quickly sequence a selected paremeter that will sync to the tempo!but funny... just like all other roland groovebox series... dance music uses lots stereo delays but no ... non in the pre 2000 groovebox series! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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