The highest sampling resolution is 48 kHz at 24-bit, but you can also sample at 24, 12, or 6 kHz or use the decimator effect to reduce the resolution and/or bit depth. You can get anything from better-than-CD quality to lo-fi dirt. The onboard effects sound pretty good to me; they are much better than the effects on the Korg Electribe ES-1 MKII sampler I used to own. As for the included ROM sounds; they are mostly useless-- some beatboxing one-shots and loops, some keyboard sounds, and a few others miscellaneous ones. Of course, you will mostly be recording/loading your own samples.

The microSampler is great for working with one-shot samples (e.g. drum hits) or loops. The sequencer is simple, but it is adequate for making rhythmic patterns. You can slice a loop using the auto-next or key-gate sampling modes, which is useful if you want to do something like creating a drum kit from a loop. If you want to use the keyboard to play pitched samples, however, the microSampler is very limited. The microSampler cannot do multi-sampling, so most samples will sound crap if you play them more than an octave above or below the root note. Also, the sequencer can only sequence one keyboard part per pattern. You can adjust the decay and release of samples, but not the attack or sustain, which is kind of a strange omission. I would say that the pitched keyboard sampling features are adequate for doing little experiments or putting down a harmonic or melodic idea quickly, but most types of instruments will sound crap on this compared to even the most basic software sampler or rompler. The 21 effects are quite useful and really open up the sound design possibilities-- a multi-mode filter with a dedicated, tempo-syncable LFO, stereo compressor, 4-band EQ, decimator, several delay algorithms, reverb, various modulation effects, etc. You can only control two effect parameters at a time, but you can choose which two to assign the knobs to. Since you can only have 1 effect per bank, the re-sampling feature is tremendously valuable. Re-sampling enables you to apply an effect, re-sample, apply another effect, etc. and even tweak parameters as you are sampling, which makes some really wild sounds possible. The keys are very small, but they are velocity-sensitive and the feel better than a toy casio. No pitch or mod wheels, but you can use a pitch wheel if you plug in an external midi keyboard. The included gooseneck microphone is a really great tool that will let you get started recording your own samples right away. One other great feature is the free software editor that you can use to transfer samples between the microSampler and your computer via USB. It's very easy to use and is a vast improvement over samplers like the Electribe that require you to copy samples to a media card and load them into memory, etc. Because you cannot use media cards, the storage is somewhat limited, but I expect that it should be big enough for most applications.

The interface is simple and intuitive. Everything pretty much works as you would expect it to.

The build quality seems decent. The plastic case seems durable and the knobs and buttons are recessed to prevent them from breaking. The audio ins and outs sound okay, and the backlit LCD screen looks nice. Overall, I think it is a well-built little unit.

This product is a great value. It is definitely superior to the other hardware samplers in this price range, and can even compete with the more expensive MPC's.

It's kind of ugly looking, but the flashing buttons look cool in the dark. To many people, the microSampler (like the other "micro" keyboards from Korg) probably looks like a toy, but this is absolutely a professional-level product that is great at what it does.

Music student and hobbyist

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Jam at home/Record/Guitar/Synths/Drums Pattersn/FX - since early 70's!

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