At the 2011 NAMM Show, Korg introduced the Kaoss Pad Quad, the latest version of Korg’s popular touchscreen effects processor.
As suggested by the name “Quad”, the new Kaoss Pad lets you use up to four effects simultaneously. These effects can be sync’ed to the beat of your music, to transform your song in realtime. Any audio source can be processed; an MP3 player, a mixing board, an instrument, even vocals via the mic input.
Kaoss Pad Quad Highlights
- Brilliant, colourful LED touchpad illuminations move in sync with your performance
- Control multiple effects in realtime using the intuitive Kaoss X-Y touchpad
- Create your own Kaoss combinations and use up to four effects at once
- Choose one of five effects from each of four effect groups; a total of 1,295 combinations!
- Freeze button holds the effect settings after you release your finger, for dazzling hands-free use
- Versatile and highly playable effects control, delivering unimaginable expression
- New Looper effects – Forward, Reverse and Slice – add new audio intensity
- Mix it up with new DJ emulation Vinyl Break and Ducking Compressor effects
- Auto BPM engine detection and Tap Tempo functions keep your Kaoss locked to the beat
Pricing is to be determined. It’s expected to be available in March.
Details below.
Check out the video overview and let us know what you think of the new Korg Kaoss Pad Quad.
Korg Kaoss Pad Quad
The intuitive interface that has helped to make the Korg Kaoss Series so popular is alive and well on the Kaoss Pad Quad. As you tap, slide, or move your finger across the X-Y touchpad, the effect parameters will change, producing dramatic realtime changes in the sound. One big change to the touchpad is brilliant LEDs that light up in an intense variety of colors. The illumination changes depending on the state of the effects, the BPM setting, and on your movements while performing.
Use up to four effects simultaneously for unimaginable expression
As the name suggests, Kaoss Pad Quad lets you simultaneously control up to four effects from the touchpad. Each of the four effect modules – Looper; Modulation; Filter; and Delay/Reverb – contains five options (plus a null, or off position), for a total of 1,295 combinations! Best of all, effects can be chosen directly from the front panel, a more intuitive and physical process than on previous Kaoss Pad models.
By rhythmically adding successive effects, or switching effects on and off as your song progresses, you can use the Kaoss Pad Quad to add variation and development to the structure of your song.
Freeze button offers hands-free effects!
For each of the four effect modules, there’s a Freeze button that memorizes the position at which you’re touching the touchpad, causing that effect to be held even after you release your finger. If you touch the touchpad again while Freeze is enabled, only the non-frozen effects will be controlled. You can achieve even higher levels of performance freedom by using the four Freeze buttons in conjunction with the effect type buttons.
Excellent. This makes more sense in a live workflow, although I'll miss the pretty LED motion feedback.
i thought they would have incorporated the kaos pad thing into an electribe type device at some point
MIDI??? HELOOOOO
so the kp3 is going to be replaced by this?
Hopefully it can handle bass frequencies, without cracking up, better then the KP-3.
For what? Sampling has been removed and there is nothing here for MIDI to control.
I know they have been working to (first) get the Kaossilator and now the mini-KP into a box the size of the KP3. But now that this product is ready to roll-out, it just kinda seems trite and unnecessary. But that's just me, I'm sure a lot of people will see this and lust. I've got efx chains already set up in my DAW that effectively do the same thing, except I have much more control, and can save chains/efx amounts in whatever organization I like for later. so I dunno, glad to see the mini-kp has grown up with it's siblings, i guess. not for me though. djs rejoice.
god I hope not. seems more like a big-brother version of the mini-kp… efx only, no memory, no sampling, no useful features essentially.
I was just playing with my KP3 tonight before reading this, it's a great machine
No one has even mentioned how freakin ugly it is. there is no sex-appeal except for blinkie lights in the corners of the pad? Didn’t even look like the buttons light up…functionally ableton will do all of this nonsense in an easier, more controllable, and more customizable ways, hell I can get most of this done even in PT
it also looks cheaper and more fragile than the kp3
” The pain of having a broken heart is not so much as to kill you, yet not so little as to let you live.”
I very much doubt it. This doesn't have half the abilities of the kp3.
Though I could imagine a hybrid between the two. Basically a kp3 where you can layer effects.
I'm still hoping at in the kp4 they let you set up your own effects and x/y settings and parameters rather than just using the in built ones.
the kp3 can handle it as long as you aren't peaking on the input. The input light goes red. just crank the output when it goes back into your mixer.
It works nicely for those of us who (probably mistakenly) want to move away from using laptops and pcs in their live performances. I much prefer to have a few boxes in front of me to tweak during a jam session than spending half the time using a mouse.
So I'm not loving it, BUT this thing is cheap compared to a KP-3. It is NOT a KP-4, but KP-Quad. It's aimed exclusively at live performance, or at DJs. It's not ment to replace the KP-3. It's ment to be sturdy, easy to use and flexible.
And seriously just imagine having this with you for your next DJset, it works in that respect better than the KP-3, because you got 4 effects simultaneously. You can just hammer away and get off. That's what it's all about. Nothing for the studio, nothing for the hifi control freak, just a box with efx.
When I saw the title, I assumed it would have four x/y pads.
THAT would have been cool(er).
Of course, with the bang-for-the-buck that you get with the KPs, I suppose just buying four isn't a bad option. 🙂 They really are /the/ coolest effect unit out there right now.
If this thing is meant for djs it should have two stereo inputs so you can use it as a cross fader like the old KP1.
Looks to be a DJ toy rather than a serious 'instrument' and the price reflects that. KP-3 looks to be better for producing or actually performing live.
as i sit behind a computer all day at work, i enjoy coming home to my
– mpc1000,
– kaossilator,
– mini-kp,
– alesis nanoverb
– electro harmonix v256
– mopho desktop, and
– roland sh-01
no computer, no DAW, just old school fun…and i think this thing will be killer
i use my kp3 live a lot, and i know I could never use the delay without a midi sync. you need that tempo exact to get it to sound good. Same goes for any loop or pattern motion. I also like having slow LFO sweeps that start and end perfectly in time with each measure.
So with this u have to dial in a bpm or tap for every song? i wouldn’t have time to do that live.
no midi- just seems like a bad call, I never use my KP3 without it.
is there some sort of auto sync thing dont know about?