DJ Effects

(Originally written by UraHellios/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Important: 10-dB gain reduction! So you must have a mixer with over 15 dB headroom if you want to have the possibility to set the track level lower. The effects are very good compared to those of a Nuo 5, a Djm 400 and a Vestax Pmc 580 pro! But you'll need some time to master all its features because each effect works on both axis, is affected by the global delay effect and can have several intensities. It's not so easy in the beginning and the first minutes can be really disappointing. Although the grid has limited resolution, certain effects use intermediate steps to produce flowing intensity sweeps. UTILIZATION Excellent user's manual and rather fast learning curve. The more you use it the more you like it. It's only weakness is that the intensity can't be set directly with the knob. Not very intuitive nor fast and you have to get used to it. SOUND QUALITY The only thing I can criticize is the 10 dB level reduction. All effects sound good and do what they are supposed to do. The sound is very good except in the headphone output. The delay effects are really interesting because you can instantly switch between an eighth note and whole note, which is impossible with most mixers that require you to switch stepwise. OVERALL OPINION Consider the Mini KP as an excellent portable effects processor. You must be aware of its capabilities before you purchase it, and once you do you must spend some time with it to make the most of all its possibilities. I recommend to plug it directly to a turntable. Value for money ratio is 10/10 with the right mixer.

The effects covered in this unit are quite comprehensive. You essentially have two categories, beat mapped and non beat mapped. The beat mapped effects include delay, echo, pan, flanger and transformer. The non beat mapped effects include Jet, zip (phaser style effects) wah, ring and fuzz. The beat effects are contolled via the "beat" section on the left. You get various division of time, a tap tempo button and a manual adjustment knob for tempo. On the other side for the non beat effects your primary controller is the "Jog wheel." With the jog wheel, you can spin your way to delicate, subtle effects to super deep craziness. You can control this unit with standard midi messages but as far as I know, no one has made a PC/Mac editor for this unit. In reality, it doesn't really need it as it is designed to be manipulated quickly and efficiently with you analog fingers. This is a digital processing unit with all digital effects. The connections include 1/4" and RCA audio inputs and outputs as well as MIDI in and out. UTILIZATION Once you get used to the layout, which won't take long (took me about an hour) you will be flying on this thing. With dedicated effect selection buttons and the jog wheel, you will be remixing your own tracks like you never thought possible. The beauty about hardware (especially if it is made right) is that you don't have much setup other than plugging in your sound source and plugging the hardware back into your PA. The manual is clear and efficient and is a good read if you won't to understand more about the effects them selves and very unique and interesting options the EFX 500r offers. SOUND QUALITY I use this mainly as an effector for my live performance set. I play various intruments (keys, guitar, bass, vocals, sampled drums, synths, etc....) in my set and I run everything into two stereo channels, one clean, and one into this. My rig is setup so that I can select at any time, what instruments are going into the efx or just going straight to the PA mixer. Therefore, everything at one time or another runs through this. As for faithful reproduction, this unit only operates at 16bit, so I feel that for live performance, I don't notice that much but for studio applications, I do notice some weakness in the sound. Especially in my vocals and my analog synths and bass. I am actually selling this unit now to purchase the EFX 1000 which runs at 24 bit and has more effects and options, including spdif in/out. I imagine this will greatly improve the sound quality of my set. I love the effects on this unit. I guess my favorite would be the delay as it comes in so handy having a solid delay with so much control right at your finger tips. The only effect I have any dislike towards would be the Wah. The filter isn't as clean as I get from my analog gear, but I can't be too upset, it is an older digital unit and in all fairness, the Filter isn't horrible, just an older digital version. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this unit is what it is, a hardware standalone effects unit. Other than the EFX 1000 (and the 500) these are the only mass produced, somewhat affordable hardware, tactile EFX units I am aware of. I am honestly shocked that Pioneer is the only one who makes something like this. In an age of computers and software, it is getting harder to find quality Hardware gear without searching for boutique manufacturers and forking over an arm and a leg. What I don't like about the unit is simply the features that are missing from the big brother (efx 1000). These include the 16 bit processing power (1000 has 24bit) and the lack of the SPDIF in/out. I paid $350 for this many years ago and at that time, that was a good deal. I am very pleased with this unit and only plan on selling it to get the "step up" model. When I bought it, 16 bit was plenty good. Now, 16 bit is dated so I can't give it a great sound quality rating, more like a 7. The only things I have come acrossed that are similar are all software (Turnado, Artillery, Stutter Edit, the Finger). All the software units are great in there own ways, but I will go Hardware any day of the week when I can. I would definitely purchase this if you are looking for something to spice up your DJ sets or if you are like me, your crazy, massive Looping performance set. In the end though, unless you primarily run MP3's or CD's for your sound sources, you will won't to upgrade to the EFX 1000.

The Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad will allow you to edit your sounds in real time with X/Y controls, it has 128 programs and you can sample right on the Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad. It has some really good effects that come stock on it, and for 330 USD makes it a must have for a DJ. There are a number of effects that are tempo based which has really helped me out during a live performance. You can also use the Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad as a MIDI controller. UTILIZATION The Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad does provide a nice and rather cool visual to it when you are using it, if you are using it in a live setting in a club or darker venue it will look pretty cool and even the people around you will feel the same way. SOUND QUALITY The Korg KP3 has 128 powerful sounding effect programs; it has all of the basic effects like reverb, delays, flangers and others. But it also has some really new and surprising effects like the analog filter and tone building drive circuit. OVERALL OPINION The Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad is well built; it has everything you need for a live show. The built in vocoder is awesome for all of your vocal effects. If you are in need of a machine that will give you full control and a bunch of FX’s then this is what you need. I have been using the Korg KP3 KAOSS Pad for over a year now and I use it at every single show that I do. It has become one of the main focal points of my setup. It is portable and very stable, it only weighs a couple pounds and it comes with a protective sheet for the touch pad. If you take care of this unit it will last you a long time and you will have no issues with it.

Square unit with touchpad. I play a little bit of everything, but not good at anything, haha. I'm pretty creative though, so this unit helps me throw some tracks down to really juice up my tunes. I wanted something to really add some pizazz to my recordings. Korg had this product out there and for $199, I loved the ability to slide out some synth tones just using my hands. There are a hundred presets, and tons of gate arpeggios for developing loops and patterns. Just using your finger to build your sounds is just the coolest things and makes adding some zap to your recordings just amazing fun. In my opinion the battery could last a little longer. Seems constructed well. I've not really subjected it to too much, though. If you can find this under two hundred, I think it's highly worth it. Check around on ebay or Craigslist and get one used. I think the MSRP is two fifty, but you can find it cheaper. Korg did a nice job making the Kaossilator fun. It sounds pretty good too! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Not rack-mountable, it has a somewhat "mixed" format, but anyway... 2 lines, 2 phonos, 1 mic (on the rear), two outputs with independent volume controls (which is great), and a nice and very effective ultra-boost button (to amplify the low frequencies). The connector for the deck's ground feels a bit crappy at first, but you get used to it. High/Mid/Low for each channel + a gain control. The EQs reduce the level quite heavily (you can almost mute a sound entirely by setting the three EQ bands to the minimum!) Built-in multi-effects (a KAOSS PAD 2 within a mixer. I love it!). 30 second sampler (four customizable samples). BPM counter (for those who use it). So, 9/10 due to the crappy ground connector (I would've given it 9.5). USE It's really easy to understand. Mine didn't come with a manual (but you can download it from their website). The manual covers a lot of topics, but it's well organized. SOUND QUALITY Excellent! High output level and very good effects (I'm repeating myself). OVERALL OPINION I've had it for two years and don't regret my purchase at all! It only lacks a third channel to be the perfect tool! Decent value for money (I got it for 550 euros, 300 cheaper than announced!). BUY BUY BUY!

The Kaossilator is Real-Time like KP3 and You can create Loops up to 4 Measures. Electronica is Loop-Based. So this is a fabulous device. It has little in the unit for FX unlike the KP3 which is loaded with FX tweak Samples. This is a fantastic device and I LOVE this thing. It can record external instruments of all sorts but You need RCA end cables to the Korg unit Kaossilator and KP3 and You'd need a dual 1/4 TS-to- RCA ends to record into these units in Stereo... or a TRS 1/4"-to-RCA ends. UTILIZATION You can export both WAV and AIFF files to the Korg units... BUT... it Exports as WAV, so if You use Logic/Garageband then You need to find online converter software like Switch to convert the WAV Files to AIFF. The Editor Software allows You to do vast tweaks and edits to the Loops You create and export them back to Korg units or keep on file once edited... BUT be aware they will be WAV Files so You have to convert them to AIFF if You're Mac Logic/Garageband. WAV is a Windows/Microsoft set-up. SOUND QUALITY It has 200 Factory Synth Sounds. and a very hip Gated Arpeggiator that You can tweak too. All of the factory synth preset sounds that come with Kaossilator Pro are great. More than you would expect to get out of an affordable piece of gear like this. Just check it out for yourself you will be amazed. OVERALL OPINION The Kaossilator is Real-Time like KP3 and You can create Loops up to 4 Measures. Electronica is Loop-Based. So this is a fabulous device. It has little in the unit for FX unlike the KP3 which is loaded with FX tweak Samples. This is fun and I think Parents ought to get this for children to play and learn Music on. Also it has a grounding screw for hooking into a rig like a DJ/VJ which a lot of hardware doesn't have.

Great sampling and effects. i cant think of anything that this mixer doesn't have in that area. Price paid $400.00 UTILIZATION Very simple to use. the manual is pretty thorough too. SOUND QUALITY Probably the very worst sound quality i've ever heard come out of a mixer. it sounds exactly like a car radio without an amplifier - no matter what trim, boost, or level configuration it would basically sound very tinny and the bass distorts way too easily. OVERALL OPINION I wouldn't dare take this mixer to a gig. the buttons seem pretty durable though. never bothered to contact customer support. i returned this piece of crap the very same day i bought it. its a shame that the sound quality is so poor because the effects are sooooo cool! i'd recommend buying the kaoss pad by itself and then hooking it up to your vestax or numark or whatever you have because the mixer on this thing is a complete joke! its light as a feather too...that should tell you something right there Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 4-, 2002)

BPM counter works quite good. Filter section is awesome. Backpanel has lots of connections even MIDI. Bass kill works better on your mixer than on this unit. $ 400 UTILIZATION To explore all the features of this mixer you will need the manual. But its well written. Mixer joystick could be better built. Nobs feel is sturdy as it should be. Backpanel connections are of good quality. Cos i bought this mixer secondhand i requested a manual from red sound and within days it was sent to me. SOUND QUALITY Noise level is a bit too high when in idle position. But this aside sound quality is very good. OVERALL OPINION For me its an essential piece cos nor my cd player or mixer has built-in effects. Quality of effects is very good (except for noise level) and effects are not as recognizable as Pioneer effects. Hard to find these days but worth cheching out ! Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003)