Korg KingKORG

I invite you to go to the Korg website to see the details.

Otherwise the KingKorg is a pretty versatile VA with many types of filters, oscillators with three different sources: analog, noise, PCM or Line In. Each sound can be composed of two stamps and has two VAC and two LFOs per patch.  

It has a fairly effective and relatively comprehensive effects section. It has a tube which  can create very warm tones to give sounds an analog grain especially if you combine its use with a Decimator or distortion effect or a very fast LFO.

The matrix is ​​composed of 6 patches. The source patches can be the joystick, which can modulate the sound easily while playing.

It has 24-note polyphony that falls to half of that in dual mode with two bunk stamps, which is interesting.

It has one arpeggiator with 8 steps that can act on the first stamp, the second, or two stamps at once.

It has a vocoder which is very effective, but I used it very little.

The appearance of the machine is not very flattering. I especially cracked by trying it in a store because it sends in his heavy KingKorg this.

The pots and OLED displays are very nice and are not low end. The red light is quite successful, I think.

There is no Mac or PC editor, which is a shame. The only app provided is a sound manager.

UTILIZATION

This is a very simple and user-friendly machine. It is difficult to access some things, things  that are not directly accessible by a knob functions, including setting the arpeggiator and patches. For once both patches  are on so it's not really annoying while playing. But the arpeggiator modulation is annoyingly buried in a menu. It is especially annoying if you want to keep the arpeggio on automatic  because there is no hold/latch key.

For the rest of it, the programming is simple and can easily pass without an editor with KingKorg refléchi it is not necessarily what is desired as it is. You just turn the pots and see how the sounds evolve. Moving all of these knobs is very educational. You can obtain very interesting results without much effort and without being an expert in programming.

I like the ergonomics of the well-designed effects section. To program the effects, simply press the top of the knob for access to parameters in the menu window. Up to three different types of effects can be chained.

Although I found the machine pretty bad at first, I changed my mind about it. This synth is not bad at all.  I do not know if this synth is like the Krome, although the two machines are similar. But I appreciate having a VA with 61 keys.

The general use of the machine is very nice which makes this a very endearing machine.

SOUNDS

It is a very versatile VA. It can go from a piano to interesting sounding anoloque sounds to completely decimated sounds. It adapts to all styles of music.

The sound quality is excellent and it has a very high level of output. It makes great sounds as soon as you put your fingers on the keys using the factory sounds that demonstrate the potential of the machine. Here is a short video demo: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgMUauRScDs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgMUauRScDs</a>

It is an expressive machine thanks to the interactivity it offers while playing, either by having the joystick carefully programmed, or by acting on the pots. The pots are good enough to play live, but not necessarily great for sound design. There is no aftertouch, which really bothered me at first, but actually the joystick is a good compensation.

OVERALL OPINION

I have used it for more than one month. It is a machine that I find endearing for its sound, its possibilities both rich but easy to access, expressiveness live, linked to an absolutely fabulous performance of its filters when interacting with the machine.
If you limit yourself to playing the preset sounds, you cannot understand its greatness, but if you're a fan of live modulations, you will adore it.
&nbsp; &nbsp;This is not my first VA synth. I previously had a Korg R3 and a <a rel="nofollow" href="/access-music/virus-ti/?utm_source=audiofanzine&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=netting&utm_content=product&utm_term=Virus+TI" target="_blank">Virus TI</a>. The quality/price of the KingKorg is very good. KingKorg competes. In pure sounds it outperforms machines that are far more expensive. It is presented as mid-range. Its name -- "KINGKORG" -- I find just pretentious! But without hesitation, I would buy it again.

Very good analog modeling synthesizer!
- XMT technology (multiple models)
- 24 voice polyphony
- 300 programs, 100 user
- 3 oscillators, 127 kinds
- LPF / HPF / BPF (18 types)
- Multi effects including echo, phaser, rotary + all standard
- 16 band vocoder
- Simple arpeggiator
- Semi-weighted keyboard, touch right
- Audio input
- Bonus taken a CV / gate out!

UTILIZATION

All access functions are well designed, arranged in a logical and clear manner. Knobs and the switch buttons are solid. It's easy to create sounds, all functions can be accessed directly, little or no menus and submenus via the screen, brief as most analog modeling synth.

SOUNDS

The sounds are very "rich" and it sounds hot. Very accurate also. Obviously you will not find any of his trumpet, panpipes and other guitar ... The king is dedicated solely to electronic music, and he does a great job! For me there is nothing to throw away, yet he excelled in strings, lead, bass and keyboards. We can make beautiful tablecloths planing and soft

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a few months and I am very satisfied, it is not an entry-level contrary to what some think machine. Very well finished and robust, there is nothing to say on! Value / very good price. Its design is original but the color "champagne" can not appeal, I personally would have preferred a basic color like black or anthracite ...