Korg Forums

[roblabs]

Before I begin, my background, briefly:
I currently own and use the following: EA1, miniKP, K01, KP3, Monotron, Casio CZ101 and some other unworthy of mention yamaha midi keys, DS-10+


So, I just got a chance to try out the iKaossilator today on the iphone4 and wanted to express my thoughts on it, compared with the other kaossilators.

Firstly, it was pretty much as intuitive to use as any of the other Kaossilators, "buttons" were laid out pretty logically, albeit some (like the actual sound bank selectors) seem too small. Also, it lacks the tactile sensations of hitting a physical button (for some reason, using the Korg DS10+ does not produce the same feeling in me...perhaps its the stylus that makes the difference?...and for the record the iphone is impervious to many styluses, it seems. fingaz only). Maybe the iPad version will be better in this regard.

Next, there's a good choice of sound programs to choose from...150, I believe. The chords seem better than those on the K01 - much softer and "dancier"....there's a really nice wobble bass SubBass (cant remember pgm #) thats essential for jungle and dub, etc...the drum kits seem richer than those on the other kaoss units, as well. But, alas, no unlimited layering, as you are now confined to only one sound per bank (5 total). On the plus side, the iKaossilator produces a visual effect similar to the Quad's: You can see the motion of what you record. This makes it easy to recreate what you do, especially on other sound banks (say if you want to match the bass to the melody, for instance), especially since the lights are color coded based on what type of program you select (synth lead, acoustic, bass, etc).

But to me, where the iK really, really shines, is in its ability to swap voices AFTER you've recorded the phrase. Its seamless and can be a cool effect if used judiciously and carefully. Its also a great way to audition other programs you wouldn't normally play.

One more thing, no gate arpeggiator at all!

Recording is just as simple as it is on any of the other kaossilators. What's nice is how smooth you can switch between the banks and record one phrase after another. But as I mentioned before, these sound bank selectors are just tiny circles. They don't have the presence that the Banks on the KPro and KP3 have, but then, real estate is limited with such a small screen. Also on that note, you can flick a bank up to solo that part (only 1 bank at a time can be soloed, something that should be remedied in the next patch/update) or down to mute. To unmute or unsolo, simply flick again in the same direction. Very, very nice for breaks.

Saving is nice. Why? Because once you save a group of programs, along with the motions sequenced, you can mix and match with other banks from other groups. I suppose one can make Ableton like songs this way. Its a bit, too, like the pattern screen on the ds10+, in the sense that you can jam out picking out patterns.

Oh, and I forgot to mention another very cool feature: Each bank can have its own pattern length. You can set each one individually and differently. So your bass can be on 16/16 whilst drums are 32/16. Unfortunately I didn't have any time to appreciate the wide ranges available, as I mostly just worked with 8 and 16 beats. But just know that any beat length you were able to work with on the other kaossilators can also be used here, and then some. You can also apparently quantize under the Tempo Menu (Did anyone figure out what 16/16T and 8/8T were?), but again, I did not venture too far in this area.

So, overall, my impression of the iK was that its definitely something
different. Its not exactly fair to measure it up against the K01 and KPro, because each is different in its own way. Its more accurate to say that it is yet another Kaoss incarnation. As usual with Korg, they'll remove a feature, but add another. So while tools like the Gate Arpeggiator go and features like layering are slightly diminished in scope, Korg wisely adds in key improvements to the Kaossilator line with voice swapping, Solo/Muting capabilities (another upgrade needed? Volume Mixing), and an assortment of new beat lengths.

Too bad this isn't hardware, cos it sure is nice to mess with. For the price, its a real steal --i didn't even mention the fantastic sound quality that comes out! I also forgot to mention that this goes great with the miniKP--thats how I started using it after a while....should be even phatter with the KP3!

[dswo]

That's a thorough and fair appraisal. I think where there's room for disagreement is about the sounds -- which is maybe not surprising. I find myself preferring the KO1 patches. Is this because I'm used to them? Partly. But some of the new patches are just poorly executed; I would nominate the new Flute for this category.

[roblabs]

dswo,

[m4m]

only thing i miss to sell my k01 is a noise sweep(64) which was left out completely,(and the vocal synth with looper(75 IIRC))
other than that, i'm in love with that app
_________________
esx1, kp2, kp3, er1 mkII, mini kp, kaossilator

[Comokanu]