Korg Volca Drum, Beats and Kick - What's the difference and which is best?

I only have the drum but from what I've heard and read, the sample may be a better alternative to the beats. The kick sounds good as a bassline too.

Why'd you mic your feet?

🤔..I wonder what these Volva dum machines would sound like, if their sounds were sampled then played back through the Volca Sample?

all volca best for techno

then volca drum it is

You don't use any Snare maybe it's because of you think that is shit (like 80 % people) but you don't know that the beat is a monster layering machine and you can search what élement can be syncronise to do a new sound. You just have to put the snare and the clap together and turn the button very precisely... you will be a new musician. Korg is the philosophy of brainfull and hiding stuff, don't forget. The drum and the new bass was just created to satisfy the client because of the dumbs people that open their beat and put the "snare mode" (in order to get the boring sound of the TR 808 that is créative and original............. ) this people don't know what we can do with almost nothing. Every thing is possible with the beat and the kick trust me. Drum is a shit to program without being depressive.... I invite any people to read about lee scratch perry, not for the style but just for the philosophy of hacking any machine to do unexpected stuff relating to their time. So let's get unexpected sound, let's renew everything !!

I bought volca beats last year. Watching this I wish I bought drums! Hopefully this helps anyone asking which is better

Had them all and sold them all

I've swapped my vDrum for vKick just a month ago, which IMO is a good bargain. vDrum is definitely a versatile FM drum machine and of course can produce sonically experimental perc sound, but the sound overall is too digital for me (I don't mean bad or thin or cold, just not my cup of tea). Besides, vDrum has only one stereo (two mono identical) mixed output, making it somewhat difficult to post processing the specific sound part. vKick is limited like all other analog synth but it does really a good job for the low-end sound. What's more, vKick is the only one out of the three that you can easily 'play' the note with via MIDI note, rather than 'trigger' sound part in the rest two, making it a great dedicated subbass sound module IMHO.

I've just ordered a beats , now I have them all,, I use them all together 10 channel mixer + volca mix & a microbrute,, endless tweaking , I only had one 8 months ago ,, contagious like covid 😎👍

I highly suggest to start hacking your volca gear. They sound much better and give you more options. Good luck and have fun.

Kick has more pleasant sound for 90's music. Drum has more sound design possibilities if you need it. Beats is quite old school and simple machine

Great stuff!

Was this guy walking on a trail of potato chips? Lol

Maybe avoid walking on gravel when you're recording to camera! Thanks for the video though, I found used volca drum and volca beats near me so this was very useful.

I agree the drum probably has the most overall and it is the "newest". The beats I own and as much as people complain about the snare, it is 1 unique, and 2 if you get the controls in just the right position, and it is sensitive, you can get a good snare sound without the mod. The Kick, well, as many trance artist's would say is the heart of your track, so for those 4 on the floor types wanting to have a kick source well there you go. Great video, thanks for sharing your opinions and putting a great video together!

I have the Drum and Kick:

The Drum has a decent selection of kits and lots of options to warp the sounds.

The Kick is extremely limited as a drum machine, but the sound can be mutated so much that it can double as a decent bass synth.

Hope this helps anyone who is still choosing.

Appreciate this bro, thanks

Of course, V. Drum is digital, as the ER-1 was before. Kick is just a good analog kick / bass for the price! Beats has a thin sound, like a 70's drum machine, maybe best for "retro" tracks. A lot of people use the V. Sample as their drum section also, as it does have that crunchy 90's sampler sound to it!

thanks for video, it helps ;)

you know what...i couldnt decide..so i'm getting both the drum and beats

Great video 😍😎😍 thumbz up 👍👍👍

Sorry for the completely n00b question, just a simple guitarist starting his journey. Are the synth notes coming from the unit too or have you created them separately?

Is the mic in your shoes? lol

Thanks!!!! You really helped me narrow it down. Volca Beats it is!!!

The Volca Drum sounded to shrill on the snare... I wouldn't say tin like. But it was something.

And the Volca Kick sounded muffled... like someone trying to call you from a payphone at a rave party. I did like much of the parts spunds... it was the muffle on the snare and kick that kinda turned me off.

vocal beat grooves the rest dont

A nice comparison, thank you. Would I ever pay over 100 Euros for just a kick sound? Probably not. The other two are cool though.

Thank you! Very cool video and I feel like you get those Volcas working!

Great Video Adam. Brilliant comparison.
Thank-you. Well done 👏🏻
ps. Kick is also great for filter blips and zaps.

great vid but volca sample probably better than all of them. Even the mk 1

Nice comparision. I own Drum and Beats. In my opinion, they are completely different instruments. Beats is more of a classic drum machine with limited sound adjustments. Very simple and intuitive to use. Drum is a complete drum synthesizer with unlimited possibilities of creation. Beats is a traditional analog machine, Drum is a full digital machine filled with algorithms - beats is just the tip of the iceberg of the device's capabilities. Completely different devices, different capabilities :) For building original sounds- Drum, for simple playing- Beats.

That crunchy beat you hear in the commentary is the new Korg Ft:Powr GRVL-01 now available at Foot Locker

Great comparisons. You got my thumbs up! But the walking while you talk . . . just chalk that up to a failed experiment. Cheers!

Think it’s pretty clear you need all 3 a 3 pairs of hands for epic builds and drops lol

Volca drum sounds the best to me

I vote beats!

Volca kick for me

I'm just getting VAS, Volca acquisition syndrome😅

i would like to buy one of them for tekno/mental/tribe and wanted to ask which could be the best for that, thank you!

Your recommendation for IDM?

thank you very much , this was very help

Would love you to do a Roland T8 vs Volca Drum and maybe include the Volca Bass to be fair ..
Love your work.
Peace

I love that he mic'd up his shoes for walking down that gravel trail. Not super annoying at all.

Hey let's play background music to go with the loud trail noise. It's not like we're going to record audio or anything...

Thanks for the video! : ) Can the Korg Volca Drum be used as a sequencer ... for Behringer Neutron for example?

Not sure where are you based, but that scenery reminded of my walks around Vaxholm & Täby in the Stockholm archipielago.

can't hear you while you walk about. how about just standing still?

Drum sounds digital, very clean (not meaning it's something bad). Beats are too flat and noisy. Kick at least have good analog punch.
Overall all would need good EQing to fit in the mix.

So what is the FM2? It says synthesizer so is it way completely different from the other versions