Raul a hobbyist user from Maryland USA writes:. I had only had the Z1 for 2 weeks but I have played with it since it first appeared in the stores. I, too, considered the initial price too high and I did not purchase one until the "blow-out" prices arrived to clear the inventory. (Never buy anything new right away.
- Korg Z1 (1997) Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Synthesizer 61 keys: 12 voices based on MOSS physical and analog modeling synthesis. Listen to demos or read full review.
- I just acquired an expansion DSPB- Z1 board for my Z1 but without the I've emailed Korg UK/Ireland support and if they reply I'll post the info.
- Thank you for purchasing the Korg Zl Multi Oscillator Syn- thesizer. About the Z 1 's backup battery explains how to select a Program or MultiSet on the Z1.
- Programming the Korg Z1 Synthesizer. While I have excessively done synth programming in my youth, I rarely find time for it nowadays.
- Korg's new Z1 does -- and for well under £2000. In this, the first UK review of the finished instrument, GORDON REID laughs wildly and plays lots of chords.
You will probably get a better deal later). What impressed me in the stores was the amount of "squelchy" resononce you could get by turning the front panel knobs (it will take your head off if you are not careful - especially wearing earphones!) What impressed me when I bought one was how much fun the polyphonic sequencer can be especially if you midi the Z1 up to other instruments. What annoys me now is the lack of left or right cursor buttons to navigate the viewscreen so I have to play with the knobs for a long time to get where I want to go even for basic operations. The most important annoyance is the one second lag time before loading new voices or performances.
If you intend to use this thing live and need to change programs, you will be very upset. Get something else. The sounds are wonderful and the Z1 is well supported by Midiquest Editor Librarian and others (there is even a freebee on the net for PC users). Pro-rec has three banks for the instrument, Korg has two extra banks on a card and Patchman Music has one bank for wind instrument players.
This is not a whole lot of programming support out there apparently so you will need to do some tweaking of your own. I was able to get the 16 bank 4 Meg ATA PCMCIA flash rom card from Synchrotech in Los Angeles for $70 plus $8 for 3 day shipping. Their phone number is (213) 368-3760. Their fax number is (213) 368-3765.
I mention this because the sales people in my area are completely ignorant about where and how to get this storage card and it wasn't easy to find on the net either. The two bank Korg sound card is still available from Korg according to their latest "Proview" magazine. However Korg gives no phone number in the magazine or on the net. (Wonderful user support, buy our stuff but don't bother us afterward). When you sequence with the Z1 you should be aware that it is sending out continuous midi time clock signals from its arpegiator unless the set the arpegiator control parameter to "ext" (external control mode).
I have had my Z1 crash once whereas it made no sound and nothing in the manual would have helped me get it working again. The "Zimmer" web site for the Z1 told me about the emergency boot procedure. You hold down both switch one and switch two next to the X-Y pad while you power up the machine. This will initialize EVERYTHING. The procedure to restore your factory sounds is in the manual.
I wish the Z1 has the memory power to store your X-Y settings but it doesn't. I also wish someone would come out with another Vector Synthesizer because this X-Y pad will not record X-Y movements. But in spite of its limitations and because of its wonderful sounds and arpegiator, I am glad I bought one. Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Feb-22-2000 at 17:19.