Thoughts on the N1?

Posted by: vicg

Thoughts on the N1? - 11/16/98 12:52 AM

I just played the N1 today and was not impressed. I'm hoping that it was just the cheesy headphones that they made me use. All of the stuff I read about it makes it sound great. What is your opinion of the sounds and sound quality. I have an old M3R and this just didn't seem to have the same "punch".

Thanks
Posted by: HellPope Huey

Re: Thoughts on the N1? - 11/27/98 08:13 PM

I'd suggest taking your own headphones next time, for starters. A lot of them sound like
$#@! Good ones will tend to give you a pretty fair picture of what you'll get on tape. Korgs tend to sound pretty rich out of the box, so whoever let you demo it wasn't on the ball at all! Korg also "ports over" many of their better sounds when they make a new model, so I'd be surprised if they made a stinker these days.
A lot also depends on what your end use will be and how much programming skill you have. Usually, a few minutes of tweaking will bring a lot of the current sounds into line with your tastes. A little filtering or a slightly longer envelope can often make it ring the bell. I suggest you give it a 2nd try in any case; its always good to sleep on it and go back later, which is true of ANY audio experience.
"Punch" can be a matter of simply knowing how to sharpen the factory sounds here and there. My 01 didn't really have a great piano in the presets, but when I combi-ed a pair of them with a bit of string bed in the background, it sat up & roared! Give it another listen & THEN decide.
Posted by: bobengel

Re: Thoughts on the N1? - 11/29/98 06:56 PM

Well, I got an N1 after my old M1 finally broke down. I connected the N1 to my stereo system and I think it sounds pretty good. The N1 has extra ROM compared to the N5 so it has its own piano, organ and other good sampled sounds. It's certainly superior to the M1. I don't think typical store headphones do justice the the full capabilities of synths. Ask the dealer to connect the N1 to some good speakers for a better evaluation.
Posted by: Paul Hampton

Re: Thoughts on the N1? - 12/01/98 10:49 PM

I JUST got home with my brand new N1 and I am very impressed overall. I had a Korg X5DR module before this, and the sounds are the same, only a lot more of them, and the new N1-exclusive piano is good. For the price, it's a great intstrument - I really miss having 88 weighted keys after 8 years of using my old M1 as a master KB.

I love this thing!! :-)