Zoom MRT3 - Need advice

[tommymac]

I'm on a budget as far as drum machines go, and I stumbled upon this little gizmo which runs for $99. Does anyone own this or has anyone played enough to tell whether or not it's worth buying? Should I continue saving for something bigger instead?

All I want really is realistic, diverse sets that I can play in real time for recordings. No matter how many preset samples, I doubt I'd ever use them.

 

[Krakit]

Oh GT, someone here needs to hear from you!



Carl

 

[GT]

I'm on a budget as far as drum machines go, and I stumbled upon this little gizmo which runs for $99. Does anyone own this or has anyone played enough to tell whether or not it's worth buying? Should I continue saving for something bigger instead?

All I want really is realistic, diverse sets that I can play in real time for recordings. No matter how many preset samples, I doubt I'd ever use them.

Tom,

I have the Zoom 123, I think it's my fovorite of the whole line, simply because the pads are laid out much closer together.

This means you can hit two pads at the same time, with one finger.

From what I've heard, I think most of the samples are the same, on all the Zoom machines.

Carl said he has the 232, which adds smart card storage, seems like a good idea.

Carl, get into this!!

GT

 

[Krakit]

Well, I really like my 323, but it cost considerably more than $99.

One of the things I like most about it is the assignable footswitches. Not just one but 2.

This is ideal for playing with your machine in real time. I set up the footswitches for either, kick drum and closed hi hat, or when I am jamming with it, I use the switches to switch between drum loops.

As for the sounds, they sound as good or better than anything that I heard in the price range.

It also has bass guitar sounds that you can program or use the loops that come built in.

I really don't use the bass guitar aspect, I'd rather play the bass parts myself.

Carl

 

[GT]

Well, I really like my 323, but it cost considerably more than $99.

One of the things I like most about it is the assignable footswitches. Not just one but 2.

This is ideal for playing with your machine in real time. I set up the footswitches for either, kick drum and closed hi hat, or when I am jamming with it, I use the switches to switch between drum loops.

As for the sounds, they sound as good or better than anything that I heard in the price range.

It also has bass guitar sounds that you can program or use the loops that come built in.

I really don't use the bass guitar aspect, I'd rather play the bass parts myself.

Carl

Hey Carl,

Must be kind of a funky feel, using a foot switch for a kick drum pedal?

Is the foot switch velocity sensitive, or one volume?

Agree the bass lines are best left, just for fun, although they aren't really too bad.

GT

 

[Krakit]

If I couldn't play my own bass lines (either with a real bass or a keyboard) I would use the internal bass all the time. The sound is about as good as most synth modules or keyboards have to offer. I just like to get funky and human with the bass, which is hard to do with a program or a loop.

However, I might program bass lines for sketches, since with the MRS-4, it'll save me a track until final mix.

As for using the pedals, I'm not really a drummer, so I'm not used to a bass drum pedal. No, the pedals I use are open/closed so there's no room for velocity sensitivity, it just triggers the drum at the volume set. Although the onboard pads are velocity sensitive.

When I get a bit more ambitious I'll trigger the RT-323 with drum pads that I have kicking around somewhere.

Carl

 

[Krakit]

Tonight I plan to take a second honeymoon with my Zoom RT-323.

I'm printing out a PDF of the manual right now (easier to read than that blue ink manual that came with it).

After re-reading the entire manual from cover to cover I'm going to spend my usual book reading time, playing with it ala batteries and headphones (so as not to desturb the missus).

I'll let you know what rediscoveries I make tomorrow.

Carl