Korg Zero 4: Good bang for the buck?

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 5:30 pm

Both the Zero 8 and Zero 4 have come down substantially in price but I still see the Zero 8 as overkill for my purposes and there is still grumbling about audio quality/level/hiss. The Zero 4 seems to get a lot of rave reviews.

As I'm progressing to digital only for DJing from CDs, my old Pioneer work horse tank is lacking in features and I'm looking at this as the best option as I could potentially work with CDJs as well.

So I thought I would ask for user opinions. Any shortcomings I should be aware of?

thoffir · Post by **thoffir** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:43 pm

depends what you want:) i adivse to look at this thread:
http://forum.ableton.com//viewtopic.php ... c&start=15

if you can't afford xone 4d (3d has serious limitations) or you look for more compact and/or builtin effects and sampler - go for zero4.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:58 pm

The xone mixers are amazing....but also amazingly expensive and bulky. Essentially what I am looking for is something the size of a traditional DJ mixer that is completely MIDI mappable that I could throw in a coffin and nobody would be the wiser.

I've pretty much given up on all-in-one controllers/audio interfaces that are reasonable in size because they just haven't made one yet. So if I could just emulate my already existing CDJ/mixer setup but all digital I would be happy.

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:34 pm

I need to find a cheap-ass DJ mixer, that has plenty of space inside for mods. I wanna add in a bunch of midi buttons for navigation, and a bunch of rotaries for FX.

Khazul · Post by **Khazul** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:38 pm

Get a second hand DJM-800 - all the work has allready been done for you

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:00 pm

Khazul wrote:Get a second hand DJM-800 - all the work has allready been done for you

But it's not an audio interface (I think) which is lame so you'd still have to use another audio interface to route back into the mixer and could also be potentially confusing if you are also trying to incorporate other external sound sources.

i think the Zero 4 is way more "all work has already been done for you"

1zz · Post by **1zz** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:23 pm

Hi there! I'm a proud owner of a Zero 4 and absolutely love it. I use at in a ableton and vinyl set up for DJ'ing but mostly as a midi controler and sound interface. My only gripes are the knobs feel a bit wobbly and no eq on the sampler but there minor annoyances compared to all the use I get out of it.

Highly recommended!

Blip the Kid · Post by **Blip the Kid** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:54 am

I'd also like to recommend the Zero 4. Its audio quality isnt amazing but certainly quite passable. Build quality is decent. Definitely not super rugged but I don't worry about snapping knobs off either. Overall Im very happy with my Zero 4.
For the skrilla you get an Audio Interface/Midi Controller/DJ Mixer/Beatsynced Effects Unit for 800 bucks US thats f'ing hard to beat!

However I will mention that you can't use the Cue functions while any given channel is in MIDI mode. It only works in the other various channel modes. This kinda sucks if you want to do all of your mixing in the software and leave all the channels in midi mode. (There are workarounds with varying levels of usefulness)

I think you should check it out (in person) at the very least.

Thats my 2 cents anyways...

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 4:23 am

Blip the Kid wrote:However I will mention that you can't use the Cue functions while any given channel is in MIDI mode. It only works in the other various channel modes. This kinda sucks if you want to do all of your mixing in the software and leave all the channels in midi mode. (There are workarounds with varying levels of usefulness)

Please explain. When talking about DJing "cue" could mean 1 of 2 things, either as selecting the sound source going to the headphones or as the start point of a track.

I'd like to be able to do both but as I am seeing currently I am also going to have to use some kind of deck controller(s) because nothing has it all, at least in reference to controlling more than 2 decks at a time. And with that said I am looking more to use this with Traktor than Live so I'm looking for traditional DJ style functionality.

As far as audio quality I'm seeing this as mainly a DJing tool and not for producing music. I already have more than enough gear on that end. So I don't know how much the audio quality is going to matter on loud systems, other than obvious problems like hiss, distorting, or drop outs.

Blip the Kid · Post by **Blip the Kid** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:58 pm

The bottom line is that the MIDI mode cuts off the headphone cue. So lets say you want to use all 4 channels in MIDI mode and then map the shit out of Traktor...well now there is no way to cue anything in the headphones unless you switch the channel mode. (This does make a little audible pop thru the speakers btw) Now all that being said if you're only interested in using 2 Decks in Traktor you're totally good. ie Use Channel 1 and 4 in Audio mode so you can Cue and use the FX on each. And then use Channels 2 and 3 in MIDI mode and you've got 16 Knobs, 2 Faders, 6 Buttons, 2 Mute/Kill Switches and the Crossfader to throw MIDI at Traktor.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 1:17 pm

Well that's lame. Part of my point here is to use 4 decks, not 2. What if you run the tracks in hybrid mode?

Blip the Kid · Post by **Blip the Kid** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 2:07 pm

Hybrid mode gives you the Headphone Cue and the Channels EQ. Plus 4 Midi Knobs and a 2 Way Kill Switch that will give you 2 Midi CC's. But Audio/Midi mode kills the channels FX section. I just fired mine up and really payed close attention to what was happening when i switched modes. i remember hearing a pop (think of switching a channel on a guitar amp) but i just tried it and all it seems to be is a dip in volume. So switching it around can almost act like a gating effect. Im not sure why i was remembering a popping noise from it but anyways its not impossible to switch modes on the fly ... it'll just take some fiddling to get into it. Im not a DJ so this thing is just a big hunk of glowing kit that I use mainly for an audio interface / midi controller.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:03 pm

When you say kills the channel FX section do you mean the per channel effects but you can still use the global effects and assign which track(s) the global effect goes to including looping?

This still sounds like the best option but it's good to know and I'm surprised by the limitations you are mentioning.

Blip the Kid · Post by **Blip the Kid** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:22 pm

Yeah exactly the Master FX are always available and assignable to any or all of the channels. I'd say overall the Zero 4 is a very capable unit but like many other things it has its quirks. Let me know if you have anymore questions

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 3:35 pm

Thanks for your help. I haven't read anywhere about the different track mode limitations and that's some really good information to be aware of.

Korg Zero 4: Good bang for the buck?

Korg Zero 4: Good bang for the buck?

Zero 4

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