Kaoss Pad - a real winner -- mini-review

[David Kirkdorffer <DKirkdorffer@exapps.com>]

I just picked up the Kaoss Pad from Korg.

This is a seriously unique piece of equipment!!  And so aptly named!

VORTEX-like in its ability to morph from one setting to another.  You get
the following patches:

1-10 Filters
11-20 Modulation
21-30 Delays
31-40 Reverb
41-50 FX
51-60 Sampling

A knob for "input volume"
A knob to change patches
Six buttons to recall six favorite patches
Effect On button
Effect Hold buttton
2-digit led Patch & X/Y axis number display window

Wall-wart.


While you can't edit the available patches, the way the unit works you have
at least 10 easily recallable settings per patch if you use the x/y
coordinates to return to a previously happening effect.  That's a lot of
setting's.

Here's how you use the Kaoss Pad.  By moving your finger on a little pad
(like on some laptops) across an X & Y axis, you are in real-time changing
parameters of the patch.  Each axis has values from 0-9.  So, say you 
choose
delay patch 22.  By using the X & Y axis, you can modify the effect by
choosing "settings" from 0,0 to 9,9.  As you can see, there are a lot of
possibilities!

For example, moving your finger on the pad from left to right (x-axis) will
cause some patches to move from the left to the right.  Or moving your
finger across the y-axis and you increase or decrease delay regeneration.
And moving across the pad diagonally will change left/right panning and
delay regeneration simultaneously.

And tapping your finger across diferent points on the pad will instantly
move the settings to those coordinates.

Pressing the Effect Hold button will HOLD the parameters at the values set
when you pick your finger up.  So if you like things to stay panned to the
right, press the HOLD button while your finger is on the right side of the
pad.

Sounds like fun?  It is.  And I haven't told you anything about the 
5-second
sampler!

As a guitarist, I wish I had more hands!

Now, if someone were to make this as a footpedal with a ball-socket joint 
to
pan left/right & up and down (instead of the pad) you'd have a wacky and
wierd stompbox.  Anyone interested in building that?


CON's -

1. uses phono jacks (well, not a problem really)
2. while you have input level control, you have no output level control
3. accepts line-level and microphone-level (NOT GUITAR-LEVEL)
4. oh-no, another wall wart
5. where do I put it?

Favorite Abusive Trick So Far -- Overdriving the unit by plugging my guitar
directly into the mic input and then using the Filter patches to get all
variety of distortion tones -- from Smashing Pumpkins to ZZ Top.

Rating this unit on the Davonian Scale of Pedal Coolness: 9.0

David Kirkdorffer
UNDO