Re: DL/AM-8000 vs Vortex?

[Dpcoffin@aol.com]

Among the many messages about the Korgs, someone asked:
<<I'm intrigued by all of the comments over the years
about the Vortex, but was completely unaware of the
Korg products until the recent letters.>>

I've had a Vortex as well as these Korg pups, so here's my $0.02:
There's really nothing like a Vortex--it was uniquely endowed with clever 
and
musical tricks (morphing, odd beat ratios, etc...), and many interface
weirdnesses and annoyances, never since duplicated. The Korgs can be 
similarly
described, but the tricks (and weirdnesses) of course are different.
The DL's strengths, IMHO, are its delay lengths, the stereo capability, and
the preset rhythms in ping-pong multitap mode. I haven't much explored its
modulation options, which are pretty rich, because the AM is there to do 
that
kind of thing. IT'S strengths, for me, are modulation and resonance. It's 
got
a good complement of filters, phasers, flangers, shifters, dopplers, mod
delays, and ring mod'ers, most of which can really sing, oscillate, and
bubble, using lfos built into the algorithms in question. Unfortunately, it
has no global lfos, BUT it does have FOUR exp-pedal inputs (seems to 
require
Korg EXP-2 pedals...EV-5s don't work well), and does  have pretty good MIDI
implementation, as well as mucho routing flexibility--plus the reverbs are 
not
at all bad, and they're in addition to the two identical FX blocks. For 
more
detail on both units, be sure to check out the Korg website, and my 
reviews of
them at harmony-central.com.
I believe Guitar Player Mag also reviewed them positively, as did Sound on
Sound Mag, which usually has old reviews available at their site.
Musician's Fiend is currently selling each one for $350, which is $30 less
than best price I had previously found. Retail is $600. 
Be glad to answer any more particular queries if I can...I don't believe
anyone looking for a powerful looper or a creative loop mangler would be
disappointed with these badly-marketed tools.
dpc