[Rigid Plastic] The Korg Volca Beats is a joy to use. The analog tones - kick, snare, toms, and hats - really are the heart of this little machine. They sound so fantastic and their control is minimal but covers a wide range of tonal shaping possibilities. The hats are the standout. The grain knob really has a unique element of sonic control. I bought the Volca Beats, again after having one many years ago, specifically for the sound of the hats. Programming with MIDI notes is the way to go here. You could definitely do a cool one-bar performance on this beast especially getting crazy with the Stutter function but, for my purposes, writing techno-electronic tracks, MIDI note triggering from a DAW is ideal. For fine control, I recommend sequencing your MIDI notes and then recording samples of each instrument for use with sampler instances in your DAW. This way you can adjust the phase of each sample to really gel everything as opposed to having a random analog phase to each tone. Also recording samples allows you to process each sound individually and that is really what a polished & professional sound is all about. The PCM sounds can be cool and sound wonderfully degraded at low pitch settings but honestly you can ignore them and stick to the analog section without losing ANY value to the machine. Korg has delivered almost certainly the best budget friendly analog (and PCM) drum machine with the Volca Beats.

[Rigid Plastic] Super simple, but for a fun time mixing beats it works remarkably well.

[Rigid Plastic] I love it! I specifically decided to go with the Volca Beats for three reasons - to mess with analog, to get used to a sequencer, and of course the price! Anything in the same price range or cheaper seems to be mostly preset grooves or lack a sequencer. If I ever decide to upgrade, then there are lots of options and features to choose from. But for starting out and for the price, it’s great. The volume output for everything but the kick is pretty low, so even though I do jam along with it with my guitar and keyboard, eventually I want to buy a pedal to boost the volume of it. I use it everyday though, and get creative to work around the limitations, so if you are open minded and starting out in the world of drum machines, I would highly recommend this one.

[Rigid Plastic] LOVE MY VOLCAS! GREAT PRICE, EASY TO USE! I started with the KORG Volca Beats, and quickly added the Volca Keys, then the Volca Bass. I love the way they sync. I also like using knobs and manual/mechanical manipulation, which is part of the fun of the Volca series: twirling oscillators and noise filters in real time. Build quality is decent (particularly for the money), and these devices are super-easy to use. The analog tones are versatile: fat, warm and spooky/spacey as you'd want them to be. Watch the YouTube tutorials for some great demonstrations of the capabilities of these units- Hearing is believing!

[Rigid Plastic] This is really a superb analog synth! Three oscillators and a killer filter, you won't be sorry if you buy this. In truth, this is so much more than a bass machine. It is a synth in a small package. I think sometimes it gets confused with being a 303 clone, but it most certainly is not. The price is unbelievable and you can't make a bad decision in choosing this unit. Fun for days! If anything, it is under-priced for what it is. Don't think twice.

[Rigid Plastic] Yes, it sounds amazing. The snare is not the 808 snare, but you can get some really cool sounds out of it, especially with the stutter. I usually layer it with the clap, which you can tune via PCM, and it sounds outstanding, so I am not modding it. Don't get bogged down in snaresville, this thing has a huge kick drum, stutter feature, amazing step jumping, a ribbon controller, it syncs to your DAW's external clock, and it has live motion and stutter recording. Believe me when I say it's worth every penny, even if you end up using a different drum machine, this thing is a mini beast and so fun!

[Rigid Plastic] Quick, easy, small drum sequencer with great features. The stutter knobs make this unit really cool. Just twist to add either a simple delay, or change the groove entirely. The controls over kick snare tom and hat are intuitive and quick. Can create significant feel changes very easily. Definitely see myself using this often to demo grooves, and layer into larger arrangements.