i recently felt in love with the Korg Zero 8 and really considering to get one. As far as i heard, they are discontinued, but I might have found a shop still having new ones or i just get a used one.
The ideas is:
I would love to route all my equipment to a centerpiece. Which is an Octatrack, Monomachine, OP1, some Guitar FX, Shruthi-1 along with Ableton and/or Traktor.
So, what i like about the zero8:
8 channel mixer with integrated sound card.
various routing possibility
midi mapping possibility
i love the space between the knobs, nice for tweaking. (Some other nice Mixers Allen & Heath Xone Series, i felt the knobs to close to each other..)
What I don´t like.
no Korg support (firmware updates etc.) due to the mixer is discontinued
i heard a lot of people reporting various issues (overheating, kaos pad issue). Some people even said, this was the reason for discontinuing this nice mixer. On the other Hand as always, People having Issues posting their stuff in forums, all happy users don´t.
I have firewire 800 port on my MBP. So i think a FW400 to FW800 cable should to the trick, right?!
MacBook Pro i7, osx 10.9
Altnernative for me would be
Allen & Heath Xone 4D → sadly i feel the knobs are quite narrow to each other.
Denon DN-X1700
Are here some Korg Zero 8 users? Can you confirm the said Issues?
Would you guys (re-)buy a Zero 8 nowadays, in 2014 or is it kind of obsolete?
I was inspired by this super nice video interview. For me, one of the best i´ve ever seen… enjoy!
i would buy again should i get back into djaying over production i only sold mine end of last year as im living in student accomodation and dont have the space for the mixer and my keyboard and synths to all be setup in nice reach of me sat at my desk
Hi monoaural.
I have a Zero 8 and a 4d
Route 4 external synths and Machinedrum through the Zero 8 with no issues.
You will have to watch if you buy one that the screen works perfectly as some settings are only available via the screen menus.
Like adding extra input gain to the channels.
There are a few posts on the Korg forums that will give you more info.
I have been trying to buy a second one for some spare parts in the future.
Also be aware the knobs are closer together on the Zero 8 than a Xone4d and the sound on the 4d wins hands down.
Hope this helps.
I have the Zero4, and I had now for a few years with little, though it does live on top of shelf since I picked up the Z2. I think the Zero series is the most under rated mixers and were ahead of its time. The FW800 to FW400, wont be an issue.
I really like the Korg Zero’s I’ve got a Zero 4 now and really like it. The only downside of the controller is that the pots sit very close to each other, I wish they would make a MKII version of the with a little more spacing between the knobs. But mixing still goes fine, since I don’t really trow around with the EQ’s.
The Zero 8 is also very nice, it offers 2 Send/Returns and some nice X/Y pad effects but don’t expect that the all sound perfect.
Booting up the mixer does take a while sometimes (don’t know why). And like the Zero 4, the knobs does sit close to each other.
But after all, very good mixers for a very nice price. They are really under rated.
hi stancollins,
actually this is a BIG help what you are just telling me.
I didn´t had a chance to have my hands on a korg zero 8, but telling from the picture i saw, the knobs looks much wider (displaced) than the ones (especially filter knobs) on the 4D which would be my alternative. Actually, this was one of the main reason NOT to get the 4D. I had the chance to have my hands on it, but everything just felt so cramped. Sure, soundwise the 4D wins hands down. No doubt. But my experience shows, that equipment which i don´t like to touch, in will not use.
I recently found a Official Korg retailer still selling the Korg Zero 8 for 795€ which comes with a 3 years warranty. Downside of of the deal, the transport which i have to pay would be almost 50€. 10 days money back. Sending it back within these 10 days or in case of service, would be again another 50€.
I could/would/may give it a try. Worst thing could happened 100€ gone.
In the End, the amount of people reporting issues about this mixer in the last years, just made my a bit anxious.
Hi stancollins,
actually this helps a lot. Good to know that the knobs on the Korg Zero are sitting close together. On the photos i found online the knobs actually are looking very comfy to reach. Didn´t had a chance to put my hands on one of this xmas tree mixer … I assume you had no issues with your mixer (knocking on wood)?
Hi monoaural
I did have a touchpad issue once but that was just where the ribbon that connects the touchpad had come loose.
Have a look on the Korg forums…There’s a big thread about the touchpad…
The problem is at there just isn’t another mixer like the Zero 8…
One thing I will comment on is I would’t buy one new for 759 euros…That’s a serious amount of money for a discontinued mixer…
I picked mine up in mint condition for £260…
Also if I’ve always found if I’m unsure whether or not I should buy something it’s a good sign I shouldn’t..That’s just my opinion though.
Anything else you’d like to know feel free to ask.
Cheers
I did not experience any problems so far. My mixing got some wear already so the little toggle switches at the bottom of the mixer are a little lose and some pots don’t have much resistance anymore. But that happens to very mixer if you use them a lot.
Hi stancollins,
thanks for your comment which i find very helpful. Yes, it is massive. So many people in the Korg Forum reporting issues, mainly about the touchpad. But apparently, there is no standard way to fix the problem. Even this guy on youtube, showing how to fix the touchpad, by taking it apart and tighten the loose come ribbon, reported after some month, that he had to order a new touchpad… so sad.
Its a shame, because as you are saying there isn’t a mixer comparable out there…
I found some guys on craiglist selling their Zero 8 for about 750 € which is waaaaayyy to much. Nearly the price for a new one…
I super agree with you. So true what you are saying, about when to be unsure about something, in most cases it means a “no, don´t do it” also in my experience. My alternative would be the Xone 4D. which i could get as second hand for about 800 €. Only 4 channels and the knobs are a bit to close by each other. This was/is my concern. In this moment there is the Musikmesse in Frankfurt. Will see what this will bring. Curious about NI 4 Channel mixer Z4 ?!
I had the chance to play around with an Zero 8. Connected it to my MacBook Pro under OSX 10.9 together with LIVE 9 /64bit and everything worked flawless. Had no issues at all. One thing i noticed though, is that the channel stripes where “bleeding” thru. So even if the fader was completely down, i could here the signal coming thru the master out (neither A nor B was assigned). Only when i assigned that channel stripe to A or B I was able to crossfade that signal completely out.
Btw, is that normal?
Overall it was super fun. I decided to get one. Now, finally, the big question.
A) getting a used one, in mint conditions, i tested it and everything works, no warranty left anymore though, for 600€?
or
B) getting a brand new one, comes with 3 years warranty, for 840€ including shipping, taxes etc.?
… I assume you had no issues with your mixer (knocking on wood)?