KORG Volca Sample is iOS only to transfer samples? WTF Korg?

I knew the unit didn’t sample on its own, but I didn’t know it was iOS only. That’s pretty stupid. They should have at least given you a way to just connect usb to a windows machine. I still think it’s a cool device, but I have no plans of ever getting an Apple product.

The KORG volca sample is a fun-looking sample “sequencer” – it can play back, modify, and mangle pre-recorded samples in a step sequencer. But it requires a dedicated iOS app to do the actual sampling.

That makes for a mixed bag, straight out of the gate. As KORG says:

“The new volca lets you recapture the excitement of the first generation of samplers, in which any sound — vocals, spoken words, ambient sound, or glitches — becomes material for your creations!”

– right, but then it leaves out one of the best things about those hardware samplers, namely – sampling.

With that disappointment out of the way, the volca sample otherwise is full of some cool ideas. Let’s have a look at what it can do.

The heart of the beast is the sound parameters, which you can then map to individual steps:

Sample select, start point, length, hi cut

Pitch: speed, envelope, attack, decay

Amplitude: level, pan, attack, decay

And you can motion-sequence each of these.

There’s also per-sample reverse and reverb, plus overall reverb mix and swing.

The “Analog Isolator” gives you bass and treble controls. (UK-style, that’s “Analogue Isolator” on the front panel.)

via KORG’s Latest volca sample Sequences Sounds – But You Need an iOS App to Add Your Own Sounds – Create Digital Music.