Kaossilator Pro - the Pro is a joke!

[BeatsfromDP]

I see this device mostly as an idea creating tool with good sounds build in. The fact that you can power it on and have a groove going on in about a minute or so is very important aspect to this device. And if you have something you like, then you can export the loops to a daw, arrange them and keep them if they fit or use as placeholders and build your song up from there and replace elements as you will, maybe even record some more KOPro in top of it.


But I'm happy with my KOPro the way it is

I totally agree with this. It's actually easier for me to get a song idea by starting with the Kaossilator/KPro instead of my Triton. I don't usually build 15 layers on one bank, I record out into my MPC or DAW and use the good ideas I get from the KPro, then build on that with the Triton. I'm personally happy with it and would be even more so with an undo function, but I have to say it is a step up from the original Kaossilator to me just in the fact that I can SAVE.

[darthballs]

Don't get me wrong, I see the pros and cons for it but I think it's unfair to expect the world of pro-audio in one box for £300.

No but that's the problem.. it's not unfair at all to expect it because it was very possible. Korg was allllmost there.. we're talking about very minor details that a couple more months of development time would've solved 99% of the complaints out there.

Things like loop bouncing, song mode, midi, arp-patterns, it's just code. Hell, they could've copied some OS code from the KP3 to shut some people up.

Things like undo, 32 beat sampling time, that's a super cheap upgrade from a production standpoint. Yea, you're doubling the memory, but you're doubling a tiny amount (512 megs is what keeps getting thrown around, I don't know how accurate that is). That costs pennies for them. Just to flatten half of the complaints and lost sales of this unit - and it was very easily predictable.

Yea, for what the unit can do it does it fine, I guess, but also remember this is a second iteration of the product. They completed the first experiment, the Kaossilator has been out for 3 years. They should've known better by now.

[Mr36]

I think the reality is, though, that no manufacturer, Korg included, wants to produce the perfect device. It may sound silly but if they had, in fact, ironed out all these problems and created a do-all device for £300, it would have a massive knock-on effect for not only their own sales of other devices but sales of other companies. And while you might think that is good for Korg, a company needs its rivals to be competitive.
The technology that is available for the manufacturers to use is never the technology they actually release. They have to leave themselves somewhere to go.

[Bowmoney]

anyone who hates their KO Pro is free to sell it to me for $200!

[m4m]

all the OP said plus why on earth are there FX if it's only for the audio in?
i want to flange or loop and roll or granulize the whole mix like on the kp3, i get the no overlap, but there are limits in my own humble opinion, again, just a software switch, as they SOOO wanted to use KP3 bodies they even had the super important gate/rhythm switch using the send/return(and badly placed) switch

[dersleeper]

Hi Folks!
3. The s**t with overwriting Loops by accident:
The recording Button is NOT activated and you play on the pad and activate/mute the Tracks. Then you realize that your Loops are messed up with short Overdubs. And you didn't saved to CARD before!!!
This is so BAD. Why does it overwrite though the record-button is not pressed? No DAW does such things!

It does that because it's supposed to.
Pressing REC and selecting a track is not the only way to record (it IS the only way to record from line/mic-in).
The other 2 variant are:
-Holding the loop bank button down and then play something on the pad.
or
-Play something on the pad and THEN press the bank button at the specific points you want your playing recorded to the bank.

You don't have to use the REC button to actually record non-line-in stuff onto your banks.
It's not a bug it's feature.

[4dnightmare]

Regarding the comments that electronic music requires a computer - did Gary Numan have a computer when he recorded all those fantastic songs in 1978-80?

[4dnightmare]

I ended up putting together kind of a cool setup - I have the old Electribe drum machine running the MKII Electribe. Then the MKII running the Dave Smith Evolver. Then the Evolver going through my KP1 ($65 on E-Bay!). Coming up with some good sounds.....the Evolver going through an echo is pretty surreal....

[salamanderanagram]

to quote myself, quoting myself (because apparently you can never be *too* clear)

" i said making purely electronic music without a computer is crazy IN MY OPINION."

if it were 1980 obviously i would feel differently. different times, different tools. nowadays you can get so much power out of a computer, not to take advantage of the bang for buck ratio seems crazy, *to me*. you want to do it, go ahead. i never said that electronic music "requires a computer."

get it straight.

[4dnightmare]

Wow, this thread is intimidating to us non-tech folks. Let me pose this question: I was considering the Kaossilator Pro and I would be using it strictly in the instrumental sense. I don't DJ, I don't use cards or my computer (except to upload finished material from my Fostex). I've been creating sounds with my little Kaossilator for a couple years and love it. For instance, I'll create a background with my electribes and Evolver and then freestyle with the Kaossilator on a separate track to be mixed in on my Fostex. So for someone like me, would the Pro still be a significant upgrade? I'm gonna have to shift things significantly in my budget (like selling my old Kaossilator!) to come up with that kind of money, so I want to be sure.

[4dnightmare]

Oops, just saw the post above mine. My apologies if I misinterpeted you, but

if you want to be serious about making *electronic* music, trying to do so without a computer, is frankly crazy IMO.

makes me think that your opinion is I can't be serious in 2010 about making electronic music without a computer. My opinion is that I can. Is that getting is straight?

[Mr36]

I agree wholeheartedly that you can make serious electronic music without a computer but I think Mr. Anagram's point and opinion is that with the ease, sophistication and immediacy of making music with computers, there's little need to look elsewhere and make life more difficult for yourself by not using them.
I do understand his viewpoint but still feel that computers are not needed, they can just make life easier.

[4dnightmare]

Well said. I apologize again - I certainly didn't want to start a confrontation as a new member. I took it too seriously that it was said you can't be serious without a computer (pun intended!). I've recorded more than 400 songs onto a Fostex and have a process that I'm very happy with. I'm playing live shows in the Seattle/Tacoma area, have a record contract, had songs on a few label compilations and have collaborated with other musicians in five or six different countries. So it works for me. I was just curious about this new gadget.

[Mr36]

Well, I bought one because I make electronica-influenced rock (or rock-influenced electronica) and wanted to get away from the computer, as useful a tool as it is, because I hated having to use a laptop live. It just seems to take the edge of what I'm doing, making me think that the audience is just thinking that it's easy because I have a laptop there. Because, to be frank, I think that often when I see bands/artists using laptops on stage.

[salamanderanagram]

again this is just *my* opinion.
if you want to be serious about making music of any kind (by which i mean, producing a final, mixed and mastered track with proper levels and EQ), i think you need tools like good EQs, compressors that support sidechaining, good saturation, reverb, an easy way to place things in their proper audio space using panning and automated control of parameters, etc etc etc. you may not need *all* of those things, but you're certainly going to want a lot of them. you could do it with a huge crazy complicated rig, but at this point in time i don't think you'd be saving yourself any time, hassle, or money doing so. *proper* professional level hardware is far more expensive than a computer with some relatively cheap, way more versatile software.

in conclusion, in this day and age, it seems rather crazy *to me* to not use a computer. just my opinion.

"makes me think that your opinion is I can't be serious in 2010 about making electronic music without a computer. My opinion is that I can. Is that getting is straight?"

no. you can be serious all you want. i just think it's crazy. i hope that clears it up!