Vox Continental on sale at Sweetwater

[Scazbot]

I was going through and checking the specifications on some different boards and I noticed this: Vox Continental . Not very relevant to those of you who aren't stateside but I must admit the Vox Continental at a price point of $999 is definitely worth drawing some attention to. I have one of the 73 key models and its a great little board. I just wanted to make sure if someone was in need of some of the varied things this board does well they knew about this bargain.

 

Note: it is "on order" at Sweetwater, so you'll have to wait a spell. But that's a heck of a deal no matter how you cut it.

[Fleer]

Finally that price level arrived stateside. Still one (3) of my fav boards, with 10GB of Kronos quality sounds, a great keybed, nutube and metal build. 

[GRollins]

I'd like to note that this is a perfect example of something that I've pointed out in the past:

 

Anyone who posts a thread about something at Sweetwater is okay. However, if the thread title said "Zzounds" or "Musician's Friend" or some other retailer, that would be judged bad and the thread would be taken down.

 

NOTE: Do not take this post as a request for this thread to be taken down. Do not take this post as a complaint against Scazbot. It's only to bring out the rather blatant double standard where Sweetwater can do no harm, but if someone mentions another retailer, they are warned against seeming to promote said retailer and told that there were times in the past where people...blah, blah, blah... Yet, somehow, Sweetwater is exempt from this sort of policing.

 

When I had the temerity to bring this up in the past, members gave me grief and said 'the rules are clear' and 'when have you ever seen such a post?' and other such attitude. Well...here's an example! (One of many, truth be told.)

 

I was once chastised for posting something about a product on Musician's Friend. Well...okay...but at that same time, there were not one, but two other threads making members aware of things at Sweetwater. Those threads were allowed to stand, but mine was taken down.

 

Again, I am not saying this thread should be taken down and I'm not trying to get Scazbot in trouble. I, myself, am not likely to want a Continental, but there might be members here who would like to know about it being available. I'm just saying it's a wee bit hypocritical, that's all.

 

Grey

[drawback]

I don’t know what’s going on with that price, as it hasn’t been matched anywhere else. I saw it a couple of days ago and was slightly disappointed since I’d just ordered a brand new one off a Canadian retailer’s online site and it’s scheduled to arrive at my door in a couple of days.
 

I was able to negotiate a very good price with free shipping, and after doing the math it comes out acceptably close to what Sweetwater’s would be after international shipping, duties, brokerage fees, two sales taxes and then everything factored into Canadian dollars.
 

Needless to say, unless a US retailer has a massive discount, or they stock items impossible to get up here (eg. Motion Sound) it’s pretty hard to justify for me. But I check prices on all sorts of items all the time, both locally and internationally. I don’t mind saying Sweetwater has the most comprehensive information and visuals of any retailer in the world. 

 

Back to the board, I arrived at the VC for an easy, quality instrument for both casual and pro use. It has all the aspects I’m looking for, except USB audio (which is more a convenience than necessity). Thanks Fleer & AnotherScott for their opinions on the VC. Fingers crossed I’ll be duly impressed!

[ElmerJFudd]

Hmmm. Korg was blowing out the Opsix last season. Maybe they just built more VCS for the holiday season than was needed? The Vox has been updated before.  Maybe another tweak imminent? 

[jejefunkyman]

The VC is indeed a very nice board 🙂 I'm still very happy with mine (The Orange version). So very nice sounds in such a lightweight package!

The new version has brought some slight improvements which I wish would also be implemented on the old version (namely the possibility to store EQ settings in a scene). But as I usual, Korg doesn't care about the existing users, so... anyway...

Unfortunately also, they have not implemented the possibility to have independent octave setting on splits.

 

[conundrum]

3 hours ago, drawback said:

I don’t know what’s going on with that price, as it hasn’t been matched anywhere else. I saw it a couple of days ago and was slightly disappointed since I’d just ordered a brand new one off a Canadian retailer’s online site and it’s scheduled to arrive at my door in a couple of days.
 

I was able to negotiate a very good price with free shipping, and after doing the math it comes out acceptably close to what Sweetwater’s would be after international shipping, duties, brokerage fees, two sales taxes and then everything factored into Canadian dollars.
 

Needless to say, unless a US retailer has a massive discount, or they stock items impossible to get up here (eg. Motion Sound) it’s pretty hard to justify for me. …

Some retailers are listing it as “discontinued”. Not that Jam (korg.ca) would care about discounting them this much, anyway.

The duty alone often kills the deal of importing, never mind the shipping. Why have a duty attached anyway? What keys manufacturers in Canada are there to protect?

 

Sweetwater wouldn’t be allowed to sell to you anyway, unless you shipped to a US address and forwarded or picked it up yourself. And then you’ld have to send it to the US for warranty.

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, jejefunkyman said:

The new version has brought some slight improvements which I wish would also be implemented on the old version (namely the possibility to store EQ settings in a scene). 

Actually, I'm not so sure (likewise the ability to store the on/off status of the tube). The site used to say that, it doesn't any more. And there's no separate manual for the black version, AFAIK. Which makes me think there was no change in capabilities after all.

 

When I saw this post, I was tempted. I have sometimes wished I still had mine, and was thinking, with those two new enhancements, maybe it was worth getting it again. I had set it up to use it in an unusual way... I used the panel controls for patch creation, but at a gig, I wouldn't use them at all, I'd cover them completely so that all that was exposed were the keys and the patch select buttons, allowing me to put the keys from the board above it very close to its own keys. If these patch buttons could also recall the tube status and patch-specific EQs, I'd be that much more enticed. I'm happy with my PC4-7 on bottom, but on many gigs, I only need maybe a dozen sounds on it, and I wish I didn't have to lose all that depth to it. I still have my old Privia option, it's just quite a bit heavier than the Vox. I'm thinking I might use the Casio CT-S500 for this scenario, despite its lesser (but still quite usable) EPs compared to the Kurz or Vox, and having only 61 keys.

 

Back to the change in their web site, the wayback archive shows this description through 2022 (check the last sentence):

 

 

but now that last sentence is gone.

 

 

I assume they made that edit for a reason. :-(

 

 

[Scazbot]

My main excitement with this post was the price finally coming stateside as Europeans had access to this price point at various times over the last 3 years. I purchased my first VC from Andertons in 2020 and what attracted me to it was the unbelievable price ($1,016 all in shipped to the USA). Places like Thomann have sold this in Europe for a very similar price and I think people in the US (maybe Australia because it seems like y'all can never catch a break with imported goods) never saw the value in this board but Fleer has the right of it. Sweetwater being a reputable company with quality service makes this very enticing and I think I'll be picking up another one. Though, a small part of me does hope that perhaps they are getting ready for an updated re-issue of this product. Either way, there are a lot of cats on here who are looking for a solid, well-built, light-weight board to play in a band and for the price I wouldn't recommend much else unless you strictly wanted weighted keys.

[jejefunkyman]

@AnotherScott hum ok. It’s very strange that they would have initially promoted this feature if it was not included in the product 🤔Unless it was a mistake on the website. It would be interesting to know from an owner what’s the truth. Also if the product was not improved, then why ask for a higher price compared to the previous version (beside the increase of component costs). 
On a side note, my only complain with the VC is that I have some slight scratches on the painting. Sure I’m heavily using it, but I wish it would be a bit more durable. But it’s a very minor issue. 
 

[MPN21]

8 hours ago, GRollins said:

... Anyone who posts a thread about something at Sweetwater is okay. However, if the thread title said "Zzounds" or "Musician's Friend" or some other retailer, that would be judged bad and the thread would be taken down...

 Monopoly is never good for consumers.  I used to get a lot of emails and phone calls from Sweetwater.  I had to tell them not to call my cell phone.   When sales people contact you, well, I'm sure sales is on their mind.   I usually shop around and try to find the best deal in a number of aspects.   That's why when I see something on Amazon, I compare it with other online and local stores.   Quite often, I find better prices at Walmart (Walmart even delivered for free the same day!), Home Depot, B&H (for electronics, sound gear, and instruments), Kraft Music, and so forth.     After I saw the VC on Sweetwater, I immediately went to B&H to purchase one; I use their store card and they pay the sales tax for you when checking out.  Then I pay off in the 1st month.   Anyway,  their price on the VC $1,600.   The Sweetwater sales is through March 13.  I have decided to wait a week or so and see other stores are doing.   In the meantime, I've been watching some YT demos of the VC.   I need to find more about their tone-wheel emulation as it doesn't sound that good.   

[ElmerJFudd]

Many shops will match an advertised price.  Perhaps SW’s price won’t be unique for long.  I mean they are advertising this price on an order of stock that hasn’t arrived yet.  

[AnotherScott]

5 minutes ago, jejefunkyman said:

@AnotherScott hum ok. It’s very strange that they would have initially promoted this feature if it was not included in the product 🤔Unless it was a mistake on the website.

Yeah, that's the theory, a mistake on the web site. They never specifically promoted this feature AFAIK, it was just the one sentence on the web site, which is now gone.

 

5 minutes ago, jejefunkyman said:

It would be interesting to know from an owner what’s the truth. Also if the product was not improved, then why ask for a higher price compared to the previous version (beside the increase of component costs). 

...I don't remember how it was priced and when, but at least in the U.S., the earlier version appeared to include the stand and sustain pedal and the newer version does not, so that should have actually pushed the price down on the black compared to the red...

 

1 minute ago, MPN21 said:

 I need to find more about their tone-wheel emulation as it doesn't sound that good.   

I think I may have the answer as to why the VOX CX3 does not seem as good as the Kronos it was derived from. I thought it was just that they happened to pick patches that didn't use the settings I prefer. But something I saw online said that the Vox CX3 specifically emulates the 70s analog CX3 organ, which if true, would explain why the tonewheel organ emulation is not as good as what you can get on the Kronos... i.e. because that wasn't even the goal.

[sagetunes]

I had to do it. I'm a happy NE6 73sw guy, but have always had a curiosity/lust for the Vox. Did it!

[drawback]

2 hours ago, conundrum said:

Some retailers are listing it as “discontinued”

Which ones? I've just checked the usual suspects in the US, Canada & Europe.

 

2 hours ago, conundrum said:

Why have a duty attached anyway? What keys manufacturers in Canada are there to protect?

Customs duty, not excise duty. My bad for pluralising the word.

 

2 hours ago, conundrum said:

Sweetwater wouldn’t be allowed to sell to you anyway, unless you shipped to a US address and forwarded or picked it up yourself. And then you’ld have to send it to the US for warranty.

Yes they can, and no matter where it's purchased from, it would be a manufacturer's warranty.

 

1 hour ago, MPN21 said:

I need to find more about their tone-wheel emulation as it doesn't sound that good.   

 

Interesting to see (and reading AnotherScott's post about using the original tone-wheels, not the later CX3) but regardless of which new keyboard I was looking at, I planned to be using B-3X iOS anyway. So for everything else, Vox has me covered... at least in theory (but you know how that goes, 😉).

[conundrum]

34 minutes ago, drawback said:

Which ones? I've just checked the usual suspects in the US, Canada & Europe.

 

Customs duty, not excise duty. My bad for pluralising the word.

 

Yes they can, and no matter where it's purchased from, it would be a manufacturer's warranty

Acclaim was one. Long and Mcquade for at least the 61 key. As far as I can see, only the 73 is available to order, but not in stock. If that means it’s *actually* discontinued, don’t know.

 

6% duty on electronic keys. That’s in addition to sales tax.

 

Whenever I’ve checked, US websites state they can’t ship new Korg products internationally.

 

Warranty is only valid within the country of sale, at least according to Jam (Korg Canada) and Korg USA.

[drawback]

We've been talking about the 73 key (check the link in the OP) so I guess that's where the discontinued came from. I haven't seen a 61 in awhile, so yes, I have to assume it faded away. Acclaim and the others have the 73 arriving within weeks. 

 

Obviously I didn't try to order the VC from the US, so if I had, I may have been confronted with a notice. I have bought stuff from them before so didn't think that Korg would be the exception! I do know that Thomann's doesn't send many products to Canada, but I thought that was more a North American issue than specifically Canadian. That said, there is no Thomann.ca but there is a .us site so that's how they get around it (?). 

 

The warranty thing is completely new to me, and actually a mystery as to why they would care where it was bought if it was originally distributed from their factory, but there ya go.

[conundrum]

Korg is *highly* protective of their distributors.

 

The "arriving within weeks" thing of course doesn't necessarily mean it's discontinued, but that and the heavy discount in the US is sus.

[Stokely]

If price is competitive, I like ordering from Sweetwater due to the their warranty.  I used it with a mixer and they ended up replacing it 8 months after purchase.  I did have to pay shipping back, so that would be pricey with a keyboard.

Otherwise and for used gear I buy from Guitar Center due to being able to return locally.  If I buy again from them I'm considering a multiyear warranty, something I usually do not ever buy but my last used keyboard developed an issue six months after purchase.

In other words, it's not all about price--within reason, they need to be in the ballpark--when I pick a store.

 

--

This Vox is tempting but it has too many limitations and doesn't really fit in my current rig.  Not enough features to be a primary board (IMO) and I have an SK pro as a 2nd keyboard obviously focusing on organ but filling in with other sounds where needed.  No aftertouch means I wouldn't rationalize it to be a studio controller  

[octa]

VC at this price is real tempting. I'd like to try this keybed, the EP's, Dynamics knob velocity adjustment and the tube saturation. But I'm already set (and broke) too, with SK Pro or Keylab Mk II on top of NP5 73 or YC88 + MacBook Air. 

 

Yep, the Sweetwater 2 year warranty is appealing and being able to return to local Guitar Center is too. Just to mention another vendor, Alto Music being tax-free draws me in often. I've called them a couple times and they're quite responsive too. 

[MPN21]

5 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

I think I may have the answer as to why the VOX CX3 does not seem as good as the Kronos it was derived from. I thought it was just that they happened to pick patches that didn't use the settings I prefer. But something I saw online said that the Vox CX3 specifically emulates the 70s analog CX3 organ, which if true, would explain why the tonewheel organ emulation is not as good as what you can get on the Kronos... i.e. because that wasn't even the goal.

Thanks for the explanation.  I was reading the other thread on the VC.   Over 500 posts there.....   Certainly the VC is attractive but if I have to use any of my plugins for better tonewheel, I will pass it up.    

[drawback]

25 minutes ago, MPN21 said:

Thanks for the explanation.  I was reading the other thread on the VC.   Over 500 posts there.....   Certainly the VC is attractive but if I have to use any of my plugins for better tonewheel, I will pass it up.    

Depending on how far you're looking for better tonewheel emulation, you might have to pass up on everything out there in favour of a virtual model. In which case, the best of the other attributes (AP/EP/Extra Sounds/Action/Interface/Action/Price) argues strongly on the side of the VC. At least that's where I landed. 

[Fleer]

Happy to see they still include the Vox V861 volume/expression pedal. That’s a very nice one indeed, a rebranded Korg XVP-20. 

[CyberGene]

I see that on some of the synth patches, one of the assignable controls (the last two LED touch strips) can be used for portamento on/off. But is it only on/off or can the timing be changed in more degrees?

 

I read that the Hammond emulation is not really top-notch (and as @AnotherScott explained it's because they didn't emulate a real Hammond but instead emulated their own CX-3 clone from the past which in itself was not a perfect Hammond clone) but how bad/good is it? Is it closer to the better clonewheels or rather closer to the rompler organs?

 

Finally, what's the included expression pedal used for? Can it be assigned to desired parameters, e.g. filter cut-off on synth voices?

[Stokely]

The CX3 seems to be kind of divisive.  I owned an actual CX3 v2 for a bit, I returned it after 30 days because it double-triggered something awful.  

Sound-wise, it was ok and the leslie was...ok.  My friend and I A/Bed it against his old VR760 v-combo (using the Roland VK8 engine) and I think we both slightly preferred the Roland.  So a fair bit better than most romplers but not as good as my Nord Electro (I know people here don't like Nord organs much) or B-3X or a Hammond SK pro.  Somewhere in the middle.   I don't much like the cx3 overdrive.

Then there's the factor of: is the Kronos cx3 even as good as the real cx3?  And is this Vox emulation of a cx3 the same thing or another variation   

[jejefunkyman]

I'm personally fine with the B3 emulation of the VC, but I'm not playing organ centered music. I think the most annoying is not to have all the options available for Percussion and Chorus/Vibrato settings.

I believe though that with the various included presets, one can find what he likes.

Also, I recognize that these LED drawbars, though very convenient, are not so ideal for intense on the fly drawbar manipulation. The user experience is of course much different than with real drawbars.

Otherwise, with the dynamics control and valve drive knobs, you can get some pretty decent tones IMO.

But I know it's personal so I won't try to convince anybody that it is a very good B3 emulation 😁

[CyberGene]

I'm currently trying to sell my CP88 (which might not even be possible where I live, so it may take a lot of time) mainly due to travel weight and looking at either lightweight hammer action keyboards such as YC73, CP73, Numa X 73, or even semiweighted ones such as the YC61 and VC. If only the VC had audio interface... If only the YC61 was 73-key with that action...

[AnotherScott]

12 minutes ago, Stokely said:

I owned an actual CX3 v2 for a bit...Then there's the factor of: is the Kronos cx3 even as good as the real cx3?  And is this Vox emulation of a cx3 the same thing or another variation   

It's more confusing than that... For tonewheel emulation, the original CX3 (1979 analog) was a good portable emulation for its time, but it was also in a way its own thing. Kind of the way we would have said that the piano sound of the Korg M1 or the Yamaha CP70 were great at their time ("Finally, something we can carry that sounds like a piano!") but in hindsight, we recognize that, compared to today's far superior piano emulations, those weren't quite as close to the real thing as we considered them to be at the time... yet they are still good, and appreciated for their own unique character.

 

The v2 CX3 (2001 digital) was closer to the sound of a tonewheel organ than the 1979 version was. Kronos CX3 is a port of that sound engine, with additional enhancements. 

 

The Vox Continental description pages say, "The CX-3 tonewheel organ sound engine models the sound of the KORG CX-3 combo organ." And there's the question. Which one? Somewhere, I thought I saw a reference to it modeling the original, but I can't find it now, and maybe I'm mistaken. And even then, you can't believe everything you read on the internet ;-) - not even if it comes from the manufacturer, as appears to be the case with the disappearing reference to being able to save EQ and tube status with presets. So I'm not sure. That's why when I mentioned it a few posts ago, I said "if true." I don't know this for a fact, so please don't use my post about this as some kind of authoritative determination. 

[jejefunkyman]

@CyberGene: you already know that the perfect board doesn't exist, right 😄

[jeffincltnc]

I think the Korg Vox has an identity crisis that people who don't research gear may just look at it and assume it's more of a niche product to clone transistor organs than its palette of a bread and butter EPs, APs and other sounds includes.

 

I always looked at is as kind of a sibling to the Grandstage which is also now out of production.

 

Maybe there is a new family of performance products coming in the sub-$2000 price category from Korg at NAMM this year to replace the VOX Continental and Grandstage.  They did seemingly make an investment in acquiring the brand, styling and use of the VOX name, though.