Korg Kaossilator

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

Programs: 100
Program Categories: "NOTE" Sound = LEAD: 20, ACOUSTIC: 10, BASS: 20, CHORD: 10 "SE" Sound = SE: 20 "DRUM" Sound = DRUM: 10, DRUM PATTERN: 10
Musical Scale Patterns: 31
Key Range: ±12
Types of Gate Arpeggiator: 50
Connectors: LINE OUT jacks (RCA phono jacks), PHONES jack (Stereo mini phone jacks)
Sampling Frequency: 48kHz
DA Conversion: 24-bit Linear
Power Supply: four alkaline AA (LR6) batteries (6 V)
Battery Life: approximately 5 hours (with alkaline batteries)
Included Items: Owner's Manual, parameter sheet, 4 AA "test" batteries
Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.17" x 1.14" x 5.08" (106 x 29 x 129mm)
Weight (without batteries): 5.43 oz. (154 g)
Options: DC4.5V AC adapter (sold separately)

UTILIZATION

I play sythms/samples/beats for a pop/indie style band from time to time. It's something different from my usual jobs of guitar/producing. I really have a lot of fun doing this and I'm always on the lookout for new toys to use. I already own a few Korg products including the original Kaoss pad. I decided to get this just to see what I could do with it. The best part about these units is that you don't need a computer to make it work, which is a must for times when you don't have a laptop or yours goes down. Sure it doesn't have a keyboard but the patterns and scales make that an unneeded accessory. It's made to work on its own and it doesn't really integrate well with other units.

SOUND QUALITY

I've got to admit, this is a really fun thing to play with but in a real musical situation it can quickly become a headache. It's pretty limited out of the gate. Short looping, no sync ability, and the sounds that come stock are all you get. Kinda lame. It is really easy to use, however there isn't much depth to what you can do with it since it can't sync. The sounds are pretty decent on their own. Some are duds, but every unit is going to have that problem. Overall you get what you pay for in sounds.

OVERALL OPINION

Here's the bottom line. I can't really use this at a big show because it can't work with other gear. If I have a quick gig and no way to transport my usual synth rig, I can use this thing in a tight minute for most applications and some quick acting to go with it. For emergencies it's kind of a life saver although I've been in that situation before and I'll usually just spring for a Kaoss pad or even a micro korg or something. This is more like a second option, to be truthful. The real shame is how much better this unit could be if it had one or two extra features. But the fact that it doesn't really reduces it to more of a toy than an instrument. Still I have had a lot of fun with it, even though it's never helped me much in the professional sense.

This unit has no keyboard but instead has a X/Y touch screen pad. Most patches only allow you to go up/down three octaves max, but you can set the Root note so you can go up and down the full range of octaves. There are a ton of sounds in this guy that range from noise efx, pads, keys, bass, drums, and ARPS and sequences. Unfortunately, the editing features on this guy are really weak. Essentially you can only change the key and the scale( major, minor, chromatic, glide, etc....) of the patch and add an arpeggiator/gate function. The main controller is the touch pad. All the other buttons change patches, edit patches (very limited), setup the looping device and trigger the Arp/gate. The only connections are RCA outputs on the back and a headphone jack (with volume) on the front. I read that the polyphony was 12, but when looping, I can create as many loops as I want it seems and I don't have 12 fingers to trigger 12 sounds at once, so I'm not sure how important that is.

UTILIZATION

Editing is achieved by pushing different buttons then using the main knob to change the selection. There are very few ways to edit a patch so I guess by default that makes it easy. Yes, the setup/config is very easy. I had to reference the manual on how to loop record, but I thought the manual was poorly written. a 1 minute tutorial on youtube got me going real quick.

SOUND QUALITY

The sounds are not "realistic" in the sense that the piano patch sounds like a piano. The sounds are very good though. They definitely have the Korg "Shine" and the pads sound pretty big and lush. The drums are pretty good and the noise EFX are really awesome. The touch pad is actually very acceptable. It has a great reaction time to my fingers and with enough practice, you can start to really "play" the device and actually hit the right notes when you want to. There is a delay mode that adds a decent enough delay, and there is a ARP/Gate selector which is really nice except you can't edit your own Arps. They are all preprogrammed as well. I think there is a place for all of the sounds if you do electronica. I run this device through some EFX pedals (mooger foogers, distortion, chorus, etc...) and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this unit is its very small but packs a huge punch in the way of sound. People are always intrigued by it whenever I bring it out. The big downside to be is the lack of Midi and the limited amount of patch editing. I paid only $90 for this guy and I am very happy about that. It sells new for much more, and I probably wouldn't have paid full price for it as you are pretty close to getting the PRO version which is much better. The precision and quality of the sound is really good with how small this little guy is. I give that a 9 out of 10. I have used the Korg KP3 before and I definitely prefer the larger touch screen, but this little guy is still a gem. At the price I paid for it, I would definitely buy it again. If I had to pay full price, I would save up and get the Pro.