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Arctica · Joined: 12 Jan 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Ontario, Canada

If I were to find a good price on a Korg Karma, is there any reason I should jump on it, even with all of the newer synths available? Are the sounds noticeably lower in quality than modern synths? I'm just curious...with my budget of around $2000, would it be a waste to pick up a Karma instead of something more around that range in price?

Voltan · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:30 pm Post subject:

karma is pretty much a triton with the KARMA technology instead of arpeggiators
KARMA is a cool feature but if you feel you don't need it - Triton Extreme would probably do better

Stephen · Platinum Member Joined: 28 Aug 2002 Posts: 4709

Hard to speak for you, but I use my KARMA at gigs all the time.
I have the EXB 01, and 08, and I find myself using patches from those mostly.
The Extreme is a great synth, I may own one someday, but for now I'm aiming at the M3, although that's not realistic at this point.
The KARMA is fantastic for creative inspiration, so if you plan on composing give it a long look.
There are lots of aftermarket combies available for KARMA, that totally rock. EJ2, and Karmalab's are my favorites.
$.02
Smile

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karmathanever · Platinum Member Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 10402

Have to agree with Stephen. Karma is very inspirational.
I have EX01 and EX02 - love the sounds and yes, all those extra combis/programs are well worth it.

Just for fun, check out "oysterlover" (member) on youtube - his "hammond on Karma" demo is great (Karma takes a beating!!) and also his demo of Stevie Wonder's Superstious using one of the EX01 clavs is wild (and there's more). These do not demo the "Karma" functions but you might enjoy seeing them.. Very Happy

Cheers

Pete Very Happy

ivarbalade · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:44 pm Post subject: korg karma practical?

yes it is very practical but you have to be patient , it take some time to figured out the practical part of it:)
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csteen · Platinum Member Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 792

RobsonLuis · Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Posts: 27

Karma Workstation still rocks.

It's a classic.
It's a great instrument.
A peace of art itself.
Inspirational and musical.

Bendor666 · Joined: 20 Nov 2011 Posts: 21 Location: Israel

The Karma as said here before is a Triton with the KARMA arp tech.
Triton Extreme has no EXB-PCM expansion function which you might miss.

I use on my Korg KARMA the EXB-PCM 06+07, both the Orchestral sound expasions.
I play symphonic Metal so it works perfect for me.

The M3 is a different generation, has a lot more to it, and sounds as good.
I would recommend choosing the M3.

I've ordered for myself the KRONOS 73, which I should get in a few months I guess.
But for my next tour I'm taking my KARMA anyways.

The KARMA is the one synth I own that I'll never sell or trade.
And will always recommend.

Also if u have 2000$ you should be able to afford both KARMA and TRITON as used.
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michelkeijzers · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 5:26 pm Post subject:

For me I would go for a normal Triton, but that is because I never used Karma (I have a Kronos among others) , and I only used the arpeggiator once during the last 10 years (having several Korgs with arpeggiators during that time). But that's the way I use it, the band I play in, plays everything live and the arpeggiator I used was only a very fast repetitive sound I also could have programmed by an LFO.
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Kevin Nolan · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:40 pm Post subject:

Don't know if you're still thinking about this, but a few thoughts:

1. What do you want it for. If for gigging with pianos and so on, you should definitely look for a Kronso 61. It's about within your budget (and would be with a litttle more time). Without doubt the way to go.

2. That said, you should be able to get a Karma for $500 or less, so depending on your budget and application the Karma is still an hugely usable and very sophosticated workstation (I've listed these advangates before on other threads):

- Triton Engine with thousands of available programs and combis
- IMO, the available Triton and Karma combi's are far better for 'big lush synth textures' than either OASYS or Kronso, which have been programmed with arranger-keyboard type combi's that are to be used in separate song tracks over multiple midi tracks rather than as "combined textures" (I own both a Karma and OASYS and use Karma Combi's FAR more than OASYS combi's which are virtually useless to be used in textured situations).
- MOSS board extension giving access to programs of the Z1, Prophecy and other excellent MOSS sound sets.
- Expansion cards
- Karma engine and Karma Software

All told a fully kitted out Korg Karma is a formidable workstation capable of delivering extremely keen and current sounds.

However - I'd say it is better suited to synthesists than gigging musicians, so you need to take that into consideration.

But if you have $2000 to spend - get a Kronos!!!

Kevin.

SanderXpander · Platinum Member Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Posts: 7860

I don't miss my Karma much, tbh. The Karma function itself had one or two useful tricks for live stuff but like most people mentioned, it's mainly an inspirational tool for if you are into composing. Also, note that the Karma does NOT support sampling like all the other Tritons. And while it does support the PCB expansions, the Triton Extreme comes with most of those sounds preinstalled, so it's a bit of an unfair comparison to say the Extreme simply doesn't support the PCBs. It doesn't, but it has very little reason to. Also, the Karma uses floppy discs for storage, which drove me crazy as they're so slow and inreliable. I put a 1GB smartmedia card in my Extreme and never looked back. I use USB to move samples to and from the computer (or a thumb drive).

I don't mean to make this into a pure Extreme vs Karma comparison, but I felt the need to defend the Extreme a bit considering some of the posts above. I upgraded from the Karma two the Extreme three years ago and haven't really missed anything. The keybed and the sound quality on the Extreme seem much better too (both 61).

That said, at a low enough price, a Karma is still a nice board. Just be careful; if it starts getting near Extreme prices (someone got one for 600 the other day), it may not be worth it unless you really really want the Karma functions.