Hi,
Here follows a small review of the new Karo KSL as requested.
I downloaded the KSL from Karo some days ago. Both the downloading process and installation was a piece of cake and far more convenient than waiting for the CD to arrive in the mail.
What quickly became very obvious to me was that Karo have really put a whole lot of work and efforts in the KLS release. As far as the quality of the programs & combis, they are all "top notch". And although there are some additional/extra variations of certain types of combis, these are fully justified by the signifikant difference they add to it.
The new KSL are in general extremly well programmed/balanced and therefore makes a perfect starting point for further editing if desired. When it comes to "legato" strings I usually prefer a combination of crisp cellos and crystal clear solo violins combined with a Oberheim/matrix pad and/or other analog sounds neatly balanced/panned in the background and with each sound set to a spesific keyzone etc. And of course, that's how most of the combis in the KLS already comes like and in many cases one just have to use the outside controllers who are already set up to adjust eq. and other parameters.
Given that the keyboardplayer have good knowledge about "harmonization" and knows how to take advantage of the potential in these combis, it should be fully possible for him to perform a advanced piece in realtime that could easily have been mistaken for the "real thing" by almost any listener without firsthand knowledge to the instruments in question or the concept of orchestrating. Also, by inserting extra timbres here and there during the performance and within a certain keyzone (french horn, another solo violin or cello etc) one can easily create an further illusion of a complete orchestra. For performing either classical music or other types of music live, or for recording/sequensing more complicated arrangements that includes strings, this library is no less than unique. For fast solo passages or typical staccato strings there are also plenty of great combis and programs to choose from.
In short, this is probably as good as it gets and the KSL is undoubtedly the very best string library that is available for the Oasys given it's total RAM capacity of 2 GB. The price may seem a little high at first but in my opinion some of the programs and combis are worth the price alone and the sample CD comes with 256 combis and 640 programs. In other words, this is really a "must have" for any Oasys owner out there.
KARO KSL Symphonic Library:
http://www.karo-sounds.com/web/ksl_e.html
-Tiger
Guitarist / Classical pianist
Oslo, Norway
--------------------------------
Korg Oasys 88 + Karo Philh. Strings & Symph. Library/ Spectrasonics - Symphony of Voices
Roland Fantom G6 + ARX-01
Yamaha Clavinova CVP-309PE
Amps: Marshall 2205 + 2210 w/1960A cab. Marshall Mode Four + cab. 3 x Marshall SE-100.
Effects: Roland SDE-2500, 2 x Roland SBF-325, Alesis Midiverb II. DOD 250 & Cry baby 535. Pedaltrain 2 incl. Voodoo Lab PP2+ etc.
Guitars: 3 Fender Strats, 2 w/HS-3 & YJM pics. 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 desert burst. 1 nylon classical guitar
Wireless: Line 6 XDR95 & Relay G30 (digital units)
Recording: Roland VS-2480CD incl. MB-24 meterbridge, all 3. part plug-ins available, mouse, 22" widescreen, 160GB Backup system.
Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A Mk II. Samson Resolv 65a.
Mics: AKG C 3000B, Shure SM 58, AKG 240 headphones
Other: Boss DR-880, studioracks, patchbays, vintage effects from the 70's & 80's.
Review of the new Karo Symphonic Library for the Oasys
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
Thank you Tiger 789 for the review, very good of you 
sounds like a good sample CD set/download. On a side not, how do they compare to the Roland fantom strings? (I suppose they will be "better", but the Fantom is well know for its excellent strings, especially the Expansion cards which won't work in the G version I don't think?) - as well as the OASYS of course.
Reason I ask this is because you turn a Roland.Korg on, and the strings are all there "tailored (or not) to your needs. Whereas I get the feeling the KARO Symphonic stringswill need a bit of "work", and setting up" to get good results, which will probably be better - in the right hands of course;)
Thanks once again.
EDIT: Hey david!, Tiger waits nearly 2 days for a reply - and ends up getting TWO replies in 2 minutes
Tony
sounds like a good sample CD set/download. On a side not, how do they compare to the Roland fantom strings? (I suppose they will be "better", but the Fantom is well know for its excellent strings, especially the Expansion cards which won't work in the G version I don't think?) - as well as the OASYS of course. Reason I ask this is because you turn a Roland.Korg on, and the strings are all there "tailored (or not) to your needs. Whereas I get the feeling the KARO Symphonic stringswill need a bit of "work", and setting up" to get good results, which will probably be better - in the right hands of course;)
Thanks once again.
EDIT: Hey david!, Tiger waits nearly 2 days for a reply - and ends up getting TWO replies in 2 minutes
Tony
KORG KRONOS 88-Korg D3200-Casio Privia PX-830BP-KAWAI RX-2 Grand Piano
Sequencing: KRONOS/Cubase/Cubasis/iPad air2
JOHN 3:16
Sequencing: KRONOS/Cubase/Cubasis/iPad air2
JOHN 3:16
Hiya there, Tony!:DAnthonyB wrote:
EDIT: Hey david!,
How are you doing, mate?
True.Tiger waits nearly 2 days for a reply - and ends up getting TWO replies in 2 minutes
You know, I dont surf the internet so often lately,
but I do appreciate *any kind* of review about anything related to music production in general, and any article or review related to the OASYS in particular, so I wanted to thank Tyger as soon as I saw his post.
Take care my friend,
and happy Xmax for you and your loved ones!
Regards.
D.
D.
Thank you guys for the nice words. I appreciate it!
Yep, the Roland Fantom G strings are good and probably better compared to most other workstations within the same price range. Besides, the Fantom G also have some great "Oberheim" type pads that sounds amazing plus many other cool sounds (about 2.000+) and some of these again are really great. And we all know the other things that makes the Fantom superior vs. almost any other workstation out there so I skip that.
That said, I am afraid that any comparison between the Fantom (with or without expansion cards) vs. the Oasys loaded with the KSL is not "fair" to the Fantom, to say it gently. Besides, the previous string exp. cards for the Fantom x-series can't be used on the new G version which uses the new "ARX" type. Instead the Fantom G comes with many of the best strings from the previous exp. cards stored in ROM. Among other things the smaller/regular workstations doesn't come with sufficient RAM (for some reason) needed to contain samples of similar quality like the KSL. Although the Fantom G with the latest O.S. now can use a 1 GB RAM module (which I have installed) it is primarily ment for recording lots of audiotracks to the sequenser and/or for doing long sampling in either mono/stereo at 44.1KHz. Both parts are straightforward but importing "third-party" samples on the other hand is not, even though most libraries are at 44.1KHz. Good thing though is that you can store everything incl. recorded samples and audio on a 8 GB USB stick since the Fantom have no HD. Likewise, the same content can also be transferred back and forth via USB to your computer and edited there.
Although the Karo Philh. Strings sounded good the new KSL is in a whole different league. Plus, what was good about the KPS seems to have been improved many times in the KSL. And the KSL are (as we know) not an "overhauled" version of the KPS but contains for the most part brand new samples. Also, by checking out all the combis and programs one can easily tell that the Karo guys have some 30+ years of programming experience because you will probably find yourself only doing some minor adjustments to your favorite combis besides adding perhaps some extra timbres or muting others if preferred. And if so, just save/load your own renamed PCG version of the KSL the next time. Of course, not all of the 256 combis and 640 programs are just as interesting as the others but I guarantee that you'll find the right instrument from the "string family" that you are looking for because there are so many individual great examples of every instrument and each one with different expression. And again, the quality is superb.
-Tiger
Guitarist / Classical pianist
Oslo, Norway
--------------------------------
Korg Oasys 88 + Karo Philh. Strings & Symph. Library/ Spectrasonics - Symphony of Voices
Roland Fantom G6 + ARX-01
Yamaha Clavinova CVP-309PE
Amps: Marshall 2205 + 2210 w/1960A cab. Marshall Mode Four + cab. 3 x Marshall SE-100.
Effects: Roland SDE-2500, 2 x Roland SBF-325, Alesis Midiverb II. DOD 250 & Cry baby 535. Pedaltrain 2 incl. Voodoo Lab PP2+ etc.
Guitars: 3 Fender Strats, 2 w/HS-3 & YJM pics. 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 desert burst. 1 nylon classical guitar
Wireless: Line 6 XDR95 & Relay G30 (digital units)
Recording: Roland VS-2480CD incl. MB-24 meterbridge, all 3. part plug-ins available, mouse, 22" widescreen, 160GB Backup system.
Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A Mk II. Samson Resolv 65a.
Mics: AKG C 3000B, Shure SM 58, AKG 240 headphones
Other: Boss DR-880, studioracks, patchbays, vintage effects from the 70's & 80's.
Yep, the Roland Fantom G strings are good and probably better compared to most other workstations within the same price range. Besides, the Fantom G also have some great "Oberheim" type pads that sounds amazing plus many other cool sounds (about 2.000+) and some of these again are really great. And we all know the other things that makes the Fantom superior vs. almost any other workstation out there so I skip that.
That said, I am afraid that any comparison between the Fantom (with or without expansion cards) vs. the Oasys loaded with the KSL is not "fair" to the Fantom, to say it gently. Besides, the previous string exp. cards for the Fantom x-series can't be used on the new G version which uses the new "ARX" type. Instead the Fantom G comes with many of the best strings from the previous exp. cards stored in ROM. Among other things the smaller/regular workstations doesn't come with sufficient RAM (for some reason) needed to contain samples of similar quality like the KSL. Although the Fantom G with the latest O.S. now can use a 1 GB RAM module (which I have installed) it is primarily ment for recording lots of audiotracks to the sequenser and/or for doing long sampling in either mono/stereo at 44.1KHz. Both parts are straightforward but importing "third-party" samples on the other hand is not, even though most libraries are at 44.1KHz. Good thing though is that you can store everything incl. recorded samples and audio on a 8 GB USB stick since the Fantom have no HD. Likewise, the same content can also be transferred back and forth via USB to your computer and edited there.
Although the Karo Philh. Strings sounded good the new KSL is in a whole different league. Plus, what was good about the KPS seems to have been improved many times in the KSL. And the KSL are (as we know) not an "overhauled" version of the KPS but contains for the most part brand new samples. Also, by checking out all the combis and programs one can easily tell that the Karo guys have some 30+ years of programming experience because you will probably find yourself only doing some minor adjustments to your favorite combis besides adding perhaps some extra timbres or muting others if preferred. And if so, just save/load your own renamed PCG version of the KSL the next time. Of course, not all of the 256 combis and 640 programs are just as interesting as the others but I guarantee that you'll find the right instrument from the "string family" that you are looking for because there are so many individual great examples of every instrument and each one with different expression. And again, the quality is superb.
-Tiger
Guitarist / Classical pianist
Oslo, Norway
--------------------------------
Korg Oasys 88 + Karo Philh. Strings & Symph. Library/ Spectrasonics - Symphony of Voices
Roland Fantom G6 + ARX-01
Yamaha Clavinova CVP-309PE
Amps: Marshall 2205 + 2210 w/1960A cab. Marshall Mode Four + cab. 3 x Marshall SE-100.
Effects: Roland SDE-2500, 2 x Roland SBF-325, Alesis Midiverb II. DOD 250 & Cry baby 535. Pedaltrain 2 incl. Voodoo Lab PP2+ etc.
Guitars: 3 Fender Strats, 2 w/HS-3 & YJM pics. 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 desert burst. 1 nylon classical guitar
Wireless: Line 6 XDR95 & Relay G30 (digital units)
Recording: Roland VS-2480CD incl. MB-24 meterbridge, all 3. part plug-ins available, mouse, 22" widescreen, 160GB Backup system.
Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A Mk II. Samson Resolv 65a.
Mics: AKG C 3000B, Shure SM 58, AKG 240 headphones
Other: Boss DR-880, studioracks, patchbays, vintage effects from the 70's & 80's.
-
medusaland
- Senior Member
- Posts: 293
- Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:19 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Hi Tiger,Tiger789 wrote:Thank you guys for the nice words. I appreciate it!
Yep, the Roland Fantom G strings are good and probably better compared to most other workstations within the same price range. Besides, the Fantom G also have some great "Oberheim" type pads that sounds amazing plus many other cool sounds (about 2.000+) and some of these again are really great. And we all know the other things that makes the Fantom superior vs. almost any other workstation out there so I skip that.
That said, I am afraid that any comparison between the Fantom (with or without expansion cards) vs. the Oasys loaded with the KSL is not "fair" to the Fantom, to say it gently. Besides, the previous string exp. cards for the Fantom x-series can't be used on the new G version which uses the new "ARX" type. Instead the Fantom G comes with many of the best strings from the previous exp. cards stored in ROM. Among other things the smaller/regular workstations doesn't come with sufficient RAM (for some reason) needed to contain samples of similar quality like the KSL. Although the Fantom G with the latest O.S. now can use a 1 GB RAM module (which I have installed) it is primarily ment for recording lots of audiotracks to the sequenser and/or for doing long sampling in either mono/stereo at 44.1KHz. Both parts are straightforward but importing "third-party" samples on the other hand is not, even though most libraries are at 44.1KHz. Good thing though is that you can store everything incl. recorded samples and audio on a 8 GB USB stick since the Fantom have no HD. Likewise, the same content can also be transferred back and forth via USB to your computer and edited there.
Although the Karo Philh. Strings sounded good the new KSL is in a whole different league. Plus, what was good about the KPS seems to have been improved many times in the KSL. And the KSL are (as we know) not an "overhauled" version of the KPS but contains for the most part brand new samples. Also, by checking out all the combis and programs one can easily tell that the Karo guys have some 30+ years of programming experience because you will probably find yourself only doing some minor adjustments to your favorite combis besides adding perhaps some extra timbres or muting others if preferred. And if so, just save/load your own renamed PCG version of the KSL the next time. Of course, not all of the 256 combis and 640 programs are just as interesting as the others but I guarantee that you'll find the right instrument from the "string family" that you are looking for because there are so many individual great examples of every instrument and each one with different expression. And again, the quality is superb.
-Tiger
Guitarist / Classical pianist
Oslo, Norway
--------------------------------
Korg Oasys 88 + Karo Philh. Strings & Symph. Library/ Spectrasonics - Symphony of Voices
Roland Fantom G6 + ARX-01
Yamaha Clavinova CVP-309PE
Amps: Marshall 2205 + 2210 w/1960A cab. Marshall Mode Four + cab. 3 x Marshall SE-100.
Effects: Roland SDE-2500, 2 x Roland SBF-325, Alesis Midiverb II. DOD 250 & Cry baby 535. Pedaltrain 2 incl. Voodoo Lab PP2+ etc.
Guitars: 3 Fender Strats, 2 w/HS-3 & YJM pics. 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 desert burst. 1 nylon classical guitar
Wireless: Line 6 XDR95 & Relay G30 (digital units)
Recording: Roland VS-2480CD incl. MB-24 meterbridge, all 3. part plug-ins available, mouse, 22" widescreen, 160GB Backup system.
Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A Mk II. Samson Resolv 65a.
Mics: AKG C 3000B, Shure SM 58, AKG 240 headphones
Other: Boss DR-880, studioracks, patchbays, vintage effects from the 70's & 80's.
Thank`s for your review of the KSL in the name of the entire KARO team
Best,
Kurt
You're welcome. The pleasure was all minemedusaland wrote:Hi Tiger,
Thank`s for your review of the KSL in the name of the entire KARO team
Best,
Kurt
-Tiger
Guitarist / Classical pianist
Oslo, Norway
--------------------------------
Korg Oasys 88 + Karo Philh. Strings & Symph. Library/ Spectrasonics - Symphony of Voices
Roland Fantom G6 + ARX-01
Yamaha Clavinova CVP-309PE
Amps: Marshall 2205 + 2210 w/1960A cab. Marshall Mode Four + cab. 3 x Marshall SE-100.
Effects: Roland SDE-2500, 2 x Roland SBF-325, Alesis Midiverb II. DOD 250 & Cry baby 535. Pedaltrain 2 incl. Voodoo Lab PP2+ etc.
Guitars: 3 Fender Strats, 2 w/HS-3 & YJM pics. 1 Gibson Les Paul Standard 2008 desert burst. 1 nylon classical guitar
Wireless: Line 6 XDR95 & Relay G30 (digital units)
Recording: Roland VS-2480CD incl. MB-24 meterbridge, all 3. part plug-ins available, mouse, 22" widescreen, 160GB Backup system.
Monitors: Dynaudio Acoustics BM 6A Mk II. Samson Resolv 65a.
Mics: AKG C 3000B, Shure SM 58, AKG 240 headphones
Other: Boss DR-880, studioracks, patchbays, vintage effects from the 70's & 80's.
-
Kevin Nolan
- Approved Merchant
- Posts: 2524
- Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:08 pm
- Location: Dublin, Ireland
- Contact:
Re: Review of the new Karo Symphonic Library for the Oasys
In short, this is probably as good as it gets and the KSL is undoubtedly the very best string library that is available for the Oasys given it's total RAM capacity of 2 GB. The price may seem a little high at first but in my opinion some of the programs and combis are worth the price alone and the sample CD comes with 256 combis and 640 programs. In other words, this is really a "must have" for any Oasys owner out there.
............................................................................................................
Hi Tiger,
I used in my studio, the Vienna VSL strings but, unfortunately, can hardly play it. with the KSL I am moderately sound at least as well and is enjoyable to play! For me there is nothing more real than the sounds of the KSL strings.
Hi Korgis,
we need the KARO libraries by boot up!
hope you here me
Oasys76
............................................................................................................
Hi Tiger,
I used in my studio, the Vienna VSL strings but, unfortunately, can hardly play it. with the KSL I am moderately sound at least as well and is enjoyable to play! For me there is nothing more real than the sounds of the KSL strings.
Hi Korgis,
we need the KARO libraries by boot up!
hope you here me
Oasys76
-
medusaland
- Senior Member
- Posts: 293
- Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:19 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
AMAZING 256 combis and 640 programsmedusaland wrote:Thank you Kevin, Tiger & Oasys76!
bye VSL buy KSL
no, it's a joke ...
every good library has its place! KARO of course knows the Vienna VSL.., but we have created with the "KARO KSL Symphonic Library" a masterful performance to which we can be proud of...
All the best,
Kurt
Happy New Year OASYANS!
Oasys76