ko2 and microsd card questions

wok · Post by **wok** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:15 pm

hello
since today i have an ko2 it was delivered with the new 1.08 firmware.
i made some tests and get nice results thanks to the helpers of the higher handbook.
but i don´t have a card to save loops and tracks.
i have read, that it depends on the numbers of files how long it will last to load saved files.
so some question to the more experienced here
do you think it is better to have smaller cards and more of them or one bigger card organized with this "spezial" filesystem?
is it better to buy faster sdhc cards, or does it not matter, because saving and loading is so slow , depending on the ko2 hardware, that there is no difference between a fast and a slow cardspeed?

how long does it last to save a loop?
are both loops saved or does it depend on which loop is activated or can i decide what pattern i save?

is it somehow possible to load the loops on the fly (letting run loop 1 and loading to loop 2 or the other way) ?

a ko2 without sd card is only a quarter ko2
my wish is an usb to midi host on the ko2 and some soundediting funktions this is what i really miss.

thanks for your answers and sorry for my english, but i tried my best.

silvercue · Post by **silvercue** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:21 pm

you have to have a card or the KO2 is pointless IMHO.

MicroSD cards come in different speeds (classes), 10 being the fastest I think. However, I use class 4, which is slower, cheaper and just fine for the KO2 because the loops you save and load are so small they load in a second anyway.

The cards save a lot of data - I use a 2gb one in my KO2 and a 16GB one in my minikp2. Get a usb connector for your PC and it is just a file storage system - not heard that files don't last before.

When you save it save both banks, so if one is blank it saves a pair and when you load that pair one bank is blank. Otherwise it saves both banks and loads both banks. I am sure by re-naming files on your PC you could mix and match, but no point as far as I can see.

necroscope · Post by **necroscope** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:37 pm

For me the card is pointless, because except for general messing around I'm recording straight onto my computer, something anybody is capable of doing today.

But if you are using the KO2 as a portable on the go machine (it's obviously kind of intended for that, I just don't use it that way) then you should have a card.

I just completely disagree with the idea of the KO2 not being "whole" without a card.

If you're playing it on a bus, or at work or something get a card. Or if you are using it in a live music situation.

If you're at home and have a computer available why not make your life easier and record that way? And at the same time not be limited to 2 tracks..

I know that wasn't the TC's question, I just suggest that anyone getting the KO2 think about how and where they will be using it. Maybe you don't need a card, save some money if you don't!

wok · Post by **wok** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:07 pm

a cheap 8gb sdhc card costs about 3-4 € so money is not the theme!

working standalone it is wonderful if you can save your single steps i mean so you can make some faults and have your former loops

i even don´t now if you can play your samples directly from the sd card and playing to them or do you have to load them into a loop?

and i have another question if you shutdown the ko2 and start it again all your preferences are set to default is there a posibility to get started with your own preferenzes?

silvercue · Post by **silvercue** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:19 am

you can do that by saving many loops (one layer at a time), but what I do is save loops that are quite simple - maybe a hookline and bass on one bank and a sybmol or light drum on the other. I load them and then layer on top "live", if you know what I mean. That way I can have simple clean loops, layer one side and still keep a simple clean one for building up and breaking down tracks.

As for preferences - I think the saves will keep the preferences you had loaded at the time....it definately saves arp etc. Not so sure if it saves the others yet as I am still learning and the manual is awful.

wok · Post by **wok** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:40 pm

i have now a card and tried a bit
but it is not so like i hoped, i am not possible to change the loops on the fly without a loading break.
this means :
running some loops and loading the old ones doesn´t work
the ko2 stops for a while load the new saved files and and than i have to push the layerbuttons to start again playing loaded loops.

or do i something wrong?

in the handbook i posted some pictures from the filesystem of the sd card.

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 509#490509

silvercue · Post by **silvercue** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:28 am

no - that is how it works, you cant slip other loops in from the card on the fly as far as I know.

I don't find it a big problem as I keep my saved loops very clean - usually a LD and Bass on one and a cymbol on the other and build up and down from there. Simply deleting them and creating new sounds on the fly.

silvercue · Post by **silvercue** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:48 pm

necroscope wrote:For me the card is pointless, because except for general messing around I'm recording straight onto my computer, something anybody is capable of doing today.

What program are you using?

afromonkey · Post by **afromonkey** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:58 pm

If you aren't sure which program to use yourself, you could try audacity, it's free and easy to pick up as you go along.

tubamancha · Post by **tubamancha** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:57 am

excuse my jumping in with a related question; Can you delete individual files/songs that you've recorded? I don't see any way to do this and think you may have to just fill the card up and always have the option of reformatting.

wok · Post by **wok** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:50 am

you cadelete the files on the computer the ko2 saves always the files on the latest place
the other way is formatting the card with the ko2

TheoW593 · Post by **TheoW593** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:19 am

You can definitely delete Saved Loops or Master Recordings, just laod them up in the Audio Player and press "Delete"

Gary_Rock · Post by **Gary_Rock** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:52 am

I have found that I need to delete both loops (even if nothing was actually saved you need to delete the two files) or else the load screen starts to tell lies about the files in the dir.

I fixed this issue once I'd broken the files on the PC by copying one of the other empty loop files and renaming them into the missing files positions. But this implementation is a little bit half assed IMO.

Also (I think) that if you record extenal sound to an 8 bar loop bank, you only get 4 bars - has anyone else found that?

tubamancha · Post by **tubamancha** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:54 am

Theo, so you can 'load' your loops over to the master recorder and then delete them from there? When you load them to the master recorder it takes them off the looper?? Thanks though for that I'll try that!

Gary, sort of related of course but what you're saying about deleting the seperate banks is also interesting. I don't think I've done that every time sometimes just turning off the KO2 for instance. --The times that my bank loops were from files i had previously saved and loaded up from the loop files...those times i wondered at first if 'deleting' would lose them forever but no they are just copied so to speak.

I'll check out what you're also saying Gary about the banks being 4 bars when you go to sample externally. I'm just wondering though do you need to re-switch the bank back up to 8 (as you do if you delete one of the banks mid-song to start over with that bank) when you go to sample/record externally? Only that if the bank had just been deleted it goes back to 4 bars default. ....maybe that's not it though i don't know. Thanks though guys for the feedback!

Gary_Rock · Post by **Gary_Rock** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:47 pm

Firstly - You delete audio files by previewing the files on the SD card in the Audio Player - not the recorder.

Also note that these are the saved files that you made by saving your loop banks and not the loop banks contents which are volitile memory (like you computers RAM that is cleared when you turn off the power and is empty when you start up the machine).

Every time you go to the save option you get two new files on the SD card. If you save more than once you get 2 new files each time!

Then if you delete a file I am saying that you need to want to get rid of its pair too.

Or if you are deleteing one loop you use the delete key on the front to blank the loop (but for some reason keep its file) - then save (creates two new files) - then delete the old files in the Audio Player screen or on a PC. This house keeping is all a bit of a ball ache and you'll probably end up with thousands of files in no time at all! I am tempted to use a external recorder for recording things I want to keep and just save the settings files (the empty loops) on the device itself.

I hope that makes sense coz its a pain to describe and even harder to explain why they made it this way!

Gary