NAMM 2012: Korg Announces Kaossilator 2

Korg Kaossilator 2At the NAMM Show 2012 synthmaker Korg today announced its new Kaossilator 2 Dynamic Phrase Synthesizer. The original Kaossilator, introduced in 2007, gave rise to the Kaossilator Pro, the iKaossilator App for iPhone, and now the Kaossilator 2, which “enables anyone to create and save their own music with the touch of a finger.”

The Kaossilator 2 offers a new design with ergonomic styling, a high-visibility organic electroluminescent (OEL) display, a built-in microphone, an internal speaker, battery power, and a number of advancements over the original Kaossilator. These enhancements include an advanced sound generator, expanded loop recording, and the ability to save audio creations.

Like all Korg Kaoss products, the Kaossilator 2 is played by sliding or tapping a finger on the X-Y Kaoss touchpad. Moving the finger in one direction controls the pitch and note information; the other direction controls the synthesizer sounds themselves.

The synthesizer section of the Kaossilator 2 offers 150 sound programs, divided into seven categories (Lead, Bass, Chords, etc.) for easy access. Of these sounds, 15 are Drum Kits created using PCM samples, and 25 are Rhythm Loops. Setting a few parameters such as the root note (or “key” of the song); selecting a note range, and choosing one of the 35 scales provides a high degree of musical accuracy when performing, and can eliminate any “wrong” notes. The Gate Arpeggiator provides 50 patterns that can help with pattern and song creation.

In addition to the synthesizer section, the Kaossilator 2 features unlimited loop recording, allowing complex phrases to be built up from simple phrases. There are two loop recording banks. Different sounds and phrases can be recorded onto each of the two loops. These loops can then be cross-faded or muted, or the loop length changed in realtime to create dynamic live performances.

The Kaossilator 2 offers both an internal mic and an auxiliary mic input. for loop-recording from either the internal synthesizer or from any external audio source. A microSD card can be used to save loop recorder data. In addition, performances played on the Kaossilator 2 can be recorded using the master recorder, and stored on a card for sharing.

The Kaossilator 2 also acts as an audio player, and can play back performances created using the master recorder.

The audio output (1/8” stereo) doubles as a headphone output. The energy-efficient design allows the Kaossilator 2 to operate everywhere on two AA batteries.

11 thoughts on “NAMM 2012: Korg Announces Kaossilator 2

  1. god not another one. what the hell is the matter with these guys?
    if this is it, and no analog after all them monotron teases – folk at korg are really insane.

  2. Wow. KORG consistently surprises me. I don’t NEED one, but I know I’ll let up with three of them at some point… damn you KORG!

  3. arrgg you guise ^ :c I have my Kaossilator since 2008 and my Kaossilator Pro since 2010, i love them both and ill so buy the new Kaossilator2. even its not with all these things we wanted to, its still an awesome device for mobile music making. i think its even better than the iKaossilator App 😛 Letz just hope Korg will release the Ultimate Electribe soon *__*

  4. Yeah, even if it had the same sync input as the Monotribe it could have greatly enhanced it’s usefulness.
    On the other hand maybe it would make for a fun replacement for my cheapo handheld Zoom recorder.

  5. Wtf? I could not disagree more, I think this is huge. The feature set for this one is exactly what I wanted. The display is way better, I can now save loops on an sd card, small size, just awesome. Can’t wait to grab one of these. The original couldn’t save and the pro was too big and clunky. This is what I wanted.

    Also why must every thing have midi sync? You can set the bpm and use actual skill to sync everything. What about a little practice, skill, and musicianship?

  6. Not sure if I’d get one, but give them some credit: this is like the only new thing at NAMM that isn’t a) an iPhone app or b) cashing in on retro-analog fever.

  7. This going to be rad….any instrument is a “toy” especially if you don’t know how to use it. If you know what you’re doing, it should become a tool….I look forward to this sleek palm sized tool. and I’ve played the app, it just doesn’t sound good, at all

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