KORG KAOSSILATOR Pro: Now with Sampler, Effects, Vocoder
KORG has a way of coming up with hardware that’s fun to use. The KORG KAOSSILATOR, a simple, cheap AA battery-powered box packed with sound-making functionality, had already won some hearts over. Touch its X/Y pad, and the KAOSSILATOR responds with built-in synth programs and arpeggiators, all mapped cleverly to the touchpad to stay in the key range you desire.
The KAOSSILATOR Pro really appears to be a hybrid of the KAOSSILATOR and KORG’s KP3 effects/sampler box. In fact, it’s really closer in appearance and function to the KP3. Like the KP3, the “Pro” has phrase sampling capabilities and effects, so you can route in an audio source or mic, and store banks of sampled phrases on SD card. It simply combines that with the playable instruments of the KAOSSILATOR.
The upshot of all of this, of course, is that you get a box you can play like an instrument, use as an effects box, use as a sampler, or a combination of all three. And while that sacrifices some of the simplicity of the KAOSSILATOR, that could be a potent combination. For effects, you get gate arpeggiators for rhythmic effects and vocoders that work with your mic. I’ll need to get a rundown from KORG on the exact specs — it looks like the KP3 is still a beefier sampler and effects box than the KAOSSILATOR Pro. But even if that’s the case, it could be more than worth the tradeoff for getting the instrument in there, too. I know plenty of users, casual and advanced, addicted to the KAOSSILATOR; the ability to plug in a mic and use a vocoder is likely to win more.
KORG, you just won a spot on our NAMM booth itinerary. And yeah, this could be a fun box to have around or even plug into a laptop.
Sure, it seems like the easy way out – take two things people love, squish them together, and people will love the result. That can’t work, can it?
Two words: cheese fries.
Check out the full specs:
KORG KAOSILLATOR Pro
Updated: remember how I said this isn’t a KP3? Readers in comments have begun digging into some of those limitations. The “Pro” KAOSSILATOR loses some of the fun of the non-Pro model: it’s bigger, clunkier,and it isn’t battery-powered. That’d be fine, if the payoff were greater editability. But the Pro KAOSSILATOR is more fixed in its functions, even a little limited compared to the KP3. That may not dampen your enthusiasm entirely: this is still a box that does phrase sampling, some effects, and the KAOSSILATOR’s touch-playable synths. But you can see why some folks want a “KP4″ – a combination of these two devices with more functionality, not less, than the two alone. I’ll talk to KORG, probably after NAMM, to get the exact run-down on the difference between the three models, as we’re all just reading spec sheets at this point. But you can consider that a collective snap-reaction in the meantime.
46 Comments
Leave a Commentseismologist
points deducted for trajan abuse. otherwise, looks nifty.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:43 am
Peter Kirn
Trajans?
Sorry, maybe I’m just tired? ;)
January 14, 2010 @ 1:45 am
lucien
I love my KP3 and Ive always wanted MIDI support on the Kaossilator. I might be sold on this bad boy.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:47 am
capsaicin
This looks pretty sweet! I hope it’s at a good price point.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:48 am
lucien
I would have liked a KP4 alot more though……
January 14, 2010 @ 1:48 am
lucien
I bet the price is the same as a new KP3
January 14, 2010 @ 1:48 am
seismologist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87QKdOJNv8
January 14, 2010 @ 1:51 am
Brian
Peter, I think seismologist is referring to the typeface used to spell “Kaossilator Pro” which looks weird here. The box says Darth Vader, the type says classic literature.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:52 am
Peter Kirn
Ha! Indeed it is. Well, it’s not the first time they’ve used it, but yes, I get the reference now. (Damn – I missed a type geek point. I’d better go get some rest now…)
The type could say Darth Vader’s Oscar Nomination, at least, in their defense. ;)
January 14, 2010 @ 1:54 am
ehdyn
It’s smiling at me.
Fun to do overdubs on these things.
Hope it has an automata easter-egg mode.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:18 am
RichardL@PatternMusic.com
Kaossilator Pro — oxymoron?
My guess is that “pro” means spendy.
I want.
January 14, 2010 @ 2:20 am
lucien
$399
January 14, 2010 @ 2:45 am
COOLOUT
At first I saw the headline and went…”hell yeah!!!”
Then I looked at it and went…”blah” :(
After checking out the specs I’m like, “well it’s not that bad”.
I think Korg missed the boat on a lot of things:
1. Quantize or a step sequencer would have been nice…especially for drums. Why incorporate the KP3 touchpad if the grid means nothing?
2. A footpedal for recording/triggering loops should have been added since you can loop outside sources now. That alone would have made it more usable for DJs, guitarists, and other solo performers. I wonder if it will respond to a midi footpedal though.
…AND THE BIGGEST THING.
3. If they really wanted to make a splash, Korg should have added MONOME EMULATION!!! The monome apps are open source anyways…right? Imagine if you could just download and install monome apps and then use them with the Korg sounds in standalone!?!?!? That would be a major coup and make Korg the first major hardware manufacturer to work with the open source community.
Overall, I don’t think the extra sounds, storage, and vocoder are enough to make KP3 or Kaossilator users upgrade, unless the price is really low.
January 14, 2010 @ 3:24 am
djmq
Apart from the vocoder thingy, a few more basic effects would have been great. But then again, they wouldn’t want anyone NOT to buy a KP3, right?
January 14, 2010 @ 4:01 am
durk
@Peter; when i was searching for a video of the KO pro i stumbled on a duplicate of this article on some hiphop prod website: http://makehiphop.com/2010/01/14/korg-kaossilator-pro-now-with-sampler-effects-vocoder/
no link-back or CC referral. Tought i’d let you know
January 14, 2010 @ 4:21 am
durk
never mind, its a google news aggregated website, with indirect link back.
January 14, 2010 @ 4:23 am
PlSarah
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January 14, 2010 @ 5:12 am
martin brinkmann
i dont think a real monome-emulation would be possible,
since the kaoss-thing has no multitouch capabilities.
a ‘monophonic’ monome-emulation could be done though,
if it is possible to control the lights via midi.
January 14, 2010 @ 5:32 am
cooptrol
I agree with @COOLOUT. I was just about to buy a KP3 and when I saw this today I was “thank god i didn’t, maybe this is better!”. Then I read the features and went back to my KP3-buying idea..
What I would have expected from a Kaossilator pro is a sound editing capability. To edit oscillator, amp, filter and LFO envelopes for each sound for instance. With the multi led screen this is easy. Also, no prefixed sounds, but a way to load patch banks for different musical styles (what do i need trumpets for??). Fixed sounds for the regular Kaossilator is ok, but not for the Pro…
Sampler included is good idea, and also the included efx..
January 14, 2010 @ 7:32 am
basic
if i was a girl i would be creaming for the kaossilator pro :p
January 14, 2010 @ 9:18 am
Steve
You could use kaonome to make it monome-like, since I assume the MIDI spec for this will be identical to the kp3.
http://circuitbent.wikispaces.com/kaonome?f=print
January 14, 2010 @ 9:23 am
RichardL@PatternMusic.com
Ok. I’m over my initial bit of gearlust.
First off it’s not battery powered. The killer feature of the Kaossilator is that you can toss it in your pack with some headphones.
It’s not multi-touch. Hmmm. Where have I seen something about multi-touch devices lately?
…which means no polyphony except auto-chords.
It’s a little disappointing that a classic-yellow (or pink!) Kaossilator feeding into a KP3 would match or beat everything this does.
Kaossilator Pro is perhaps just a big dumb toy. Not a bad thing. But an opportunity missed.
January 14, 2010 @ 11:29 am
Anders
Hmm.. Looks promising, but why do KORG put the word “Pro” when it´s still using the crappy RCA inputs. Would love to have proper balanced inputs XLR or TRS Jacks.
January 14, 2010 @ 12:42 pm
salamanderanagram
i’d like to see if it sends note on/off messages via MIDI. i’ve already done that with bome’s midi translator and a KP3 but it would be nice to have something less hackish and faster.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
lilith
yes, do want if it sends note on/off. I’m pretty happy with my mini Kaossilator besides
January 14, 2010 @ 2:52 pm
formal
If it was $199-$250 it would be awesome, but alas, like most people have mentioned, I would rather go for a 2nd hand kp3 and a kaossilator for the actual price of this….. Somebody give me a modern “pocket” sampler and I will be the happiest kid on the block. Something like an upgraded yamaha su10 would be perfect.
OP-1 you are looking mighty fine :D
January 14, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
cooptrol
i am doing marvels with my electribe es1. old cheap hw rules.
January 14, 2010 @ 10:52 pm
Jimi
One improvement over the KP3 is overdubbing loops. I actually use a K01 with a KP3 and not being able to overdub on the KP3 is a hassle when you want to combine several synth sounds on one sample pad.
Generally it looks like a mashup of KP3 and KO1 functionality, with some features lost compared to the KP3.
However, this will be amazing for building up synth music at high speed. The physical interface of the tabletop box is so much better than the handheld style. And if they get the gater / arpeggiator right (it’s kinda useless on the K01) then we will pretty much have an instant techno machine.
January 15, 2010 @ 6:36 am
cooptrol
i think the problem with kaoss products is that they are instantly recognizeable in music. i had a minikp and wouldn’t do recordings of it’s effects cos people would notice. every neighbour has a KP or KO and if you want to stand out from the rest you have to do stuff the hard way. KPs are ideal for scratching if you’re not good with a xfader though.
January 15, 2010 @ 7:47 am
KP3Fan
@Jimi, you can actually “overdub” on the KP3 using the “Resample” feature. Check page 15 of your KP3 Owner’s Manual.
January 15, 2010 @ 11:09 am
Jimi
@KP3fan
The KP3’s resample function can do overdubbing – sort of. But if you want to add sound to an existing sample, you have to resample it into a new slot, which is fiddly. If you try and resample into the same sample slot, the sample will just stop playing. As I understand it, the new Kaossilator will just let you hold down record to add new sound to existing samples. Which is pretty much essential for building up complex synth loops from scratch.
January 15, 2010 @ 12:04 pm
graham
so sexy. now if only roland came out with an update for the sp-555!
January 15, 2010 @ 1:40 pm
Kaossilator Pitch Mod « salamanderangram
[...] while I’m at it, Korg (finally) released a full-sized version of the kaossilator. It looks like they recycled the KP3 design, which I actually like, but already [...]
January 15, 2010 @ 2:46 pm
darla haines
this looks interesting, but with a rack of synths and drum machines would this be a good choice for me? i want to sample and play with effects on my samples… i like the slice and reverse effects on the kp3, should i just get that?
January 15, 2010 @ 7:03 pm
daniel door
darla, if you’re really into that kaossilator sound and think it would in one way or another complement your rack o’ synths and drummachines, you could get it.
but the kp3 has a fine “pad motion” function that allows it to remember the way you moved your finger on the pad. the kaossilator pro seems to lack that feature.
January 15, 2010 @ 10:55 pm
Ted
I think I would prefer a KO2, still battery powered, just with longer loops and some midi.
January 16, 2010 @ 10:28 am
Snazzy Boy
It seems like Korg now stands for “We make dumb toys for morans”.
They have such awesome ideas, then they water/dumb them down, and cut corners, to the point where you’re like: “Hey Goober, what gives?!?”.
What a stinky company!
January 16, 2010 @ 2:17 pm
cooptrol
hey! the miniKP is one of the best pieces of gear for your spare money that ever existed, so watch your mouth…
January 16, 2010 @ 3:14 pm
psp memory stick
Hello
You have given good information about The KORG KAOSSILATOR.I like this and its good that it is a combination of all three.We can can play like an instrument,use as an effects box and use as a sampler.Thank you for this information.
January 18, 2010 @ 1:59 am
Koi
399$ according to Korgs homepage, and with that + knowing it will be jacked up even higher when it comes over to Europe, I preordered it, not even looking back.
Those featuers is pretty much all the things I wished the Kaossilator had. I love both my kaossilator and my mini-kp, but I have had so much fun with them, I just can’t wait to get the Pro.
January 18, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Ted
According to Electronic Musician, it’ll retail at about $460. HA!
http://blog.emusician.com/the_bus/2010/01/16/the-kaoss-pad-for-pros/
January 19, 2010 @ 8:37 am
Koi
Then I guess http://www.shopatron.com/products/productdetail/KAOSSILATOR+PRO/part_number=KOPRO/2042.0.1.1.63957.64630.64672.0.0? is wrong, either way, 60$ more bucks won’t kill me.
January 20, 2010 @ 3:48 am
Rich F @ Korg
Hi all,
Here’s a quick video demonstration of the Kaossilator Pro at the NAMM show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C_fej59BFg
January 20, 2010 @ 12:57 pm
MadTrucker
I own the KP3, and I agree that Korg has a whole seperate approach to sampling than Roland or Akai, and that’s fine, but the prob w/ kp3 is it’s reverb-on-everything way of making up for seams and sudden sound drops and other issues you don’t notice in the noise mush. It’s this data format being pushed w/o time for full development. Even when you reduce the reverb with the stupid shift-slider subfunction, it does not go away completly. Also, why is the mute/transform button removed from the KOP? It better not have that stupid reverb issue though. I plan to order one, b/ no gear is ever perfect by a long shot…except the Machinedrum…I thing God built that one…WOW!
March 2, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
Alejandro Aguerre
We must be happy about the Kaoss and Electribe tools. There are wonderful instruments to create, play and explore music. Any model, please! I know there are diferences, and we want more, ever and ever…but we can make better music because Korg. I like it all. But Im a sick guy. I love buttons, sounds…this sound world…I have an old short wave Radio Sanyo from 50 years, a sonorus beauty. What can I say about Kaoss? what a pretty invention. We are living on the future!! the life is a fantastic trip, enjoy it. With Kaossilator pro, with the common version, with acoustic or electronic purposes…Im grateful about this times. Blessings
March 6, 2010 @ 6:53 pm
Alejandro Aguerre
(I have encharged my Kaossilator Pro. I have the Kaossilator and the Mini Kaoss Pad, and I want the KP3!!!) I need more money…
March 6, 2010 @ 6:57 pm
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