Zoom Review: ST224 Sampletrak

History:

Purchase: I purchased th unit cash from Mars music in the Metro Detroit area. The reason I purchased the unit was to enable me to sequence songs.

What I Like About This Zoom ST224 Sampletrak: There are several thing that make this unit special. First and foremost the user interface is probably the most freindly of all the other units I have played with. I definitely like the fact that the unit is small enough to transport anywhere and set up. The smart media card also add some spunk to the unit allowing you to store alot more info without clogging up the internal memory. Another great thing about the unit is that it comes with built in effects. Unlike some of it's bigger brethren " Akai's mpc series", There are no after purchase upgrades to drain your bank account.

What I Do NOT Like About The Zoom ST224 Sampletrak: There are very few things that are undesirable about this machine. The only real kink in the unit is it's appearance. "How can a unit so small and unassuming be so versatile and easy to use?" Don't let the looks fool you though. This unit rocks!

Zoom ST224 Sampletrak Quality Rating: Construction is great! The unit withstands hours of use a daily. The buttons and knobs are beefy and take quite a bit of abuse. I refer to the unit as "Little Big Man". Zoom had a great idea by lighting the pads on the unit. When a pad is in operation it is lit. This makes editing very simple because you don't have to fumble around to find a particular pad.

Review Summary: My personal feelings are quite simple: Zoom has trough a curveball at the competition by creating a unit at a third of the price of comparable units. If these big companies don't watch out Zoom will soon corner the market for pre-production equipment.

Rating of this Zoom product: 5

This Zoom ST224 Sampletrak Keyboard MIDI Review Submitted By: One3

Review Date: 2002-03-19