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KORG KAOSS PAD KP3: Relevance? Use?
I have looked at these for YEARS.
But, having the majority of hardware I need (excluding high end poly), I am in the hunt for performative effects with hardware independent of iPad/Mac.
This seems so ideal, and really never saw anything compare in hardware.
Any thoughts on this item if you have one or have used one?
Comments
I have the mini KP3 (non S version) and enjoyed it well enough for simple on the go sample fodder. Always wondered if the bigger brother was worth it. Really wish I waited a year and got the S so I could play loops. But yah the little guy is fun and simple. Always wished an XY pad ios app would come along that I enjoyed as much but somehow the fx on the little guy just feel a bit smoother, better designed, not as grainy.
Yah, same boat, especially when I get in a looper phase I often eye the big guys and wonder if I still should.
I love mine to death. Throw it together with a couple of Volcas or a 404 and you have hours of live bliss. I’m sure you are familiar with this gem:
😀 YES! Go for it. I have two KP3+ ... it’s the only hardware I have left since Pure Acid seen off my Roland TB3. Nothing else can do the Looping like the KP. The effects are very high quality. It’s the sampler that’s on board with it as well that helps make it, sample - Kaoss - resample - boom!
Someone that spends a lot of their time making electronic music needs to try one out to see what they think before they leaveth this earth.
There is a very high probability you will love it.
They seem to have held their retail price well over the years which for me says a lot about them.
Definitely a solid bit of kit.
I just ordered a KP1 myself. All I can say for now is that I have seen the Kaoss pads on stage used professionally a lot. From indie to electronica to noise musicians. Turntablist and electroaccoustic composer erikM even has developed his own 3 Kaoss pad system. So I guess they are highly regarded when it comes to sound quality/performativity (is that a word?).
Remember there is a KP3 and a KP3+ (plus). The second plus version has more effects on board.
I think they are very cool! Check out some of Jon Hopkins live sets on youtube, he uses a couple in his live sets to great effect (pun intended).
Didn’t Eno use several on his latest music?
You can also record your pad/finger movements & have them loop.
I have the KP2 and KP3+, and I also had a KP3 at one point. They're fun, but they really don't sound very good. I used to use them for my vocal FX when we played shows. The FX are so-so, not all of them are useful, and the sampling aspect goes out of sync. One cool thing that you can do, though, is run a loop through it and use MIDI program changes to change the FX presets on the fly.
You could get an iPad for the price of a KP3+ at this point, though. I'd consider selling my KP2 if you're interested in getting your feet wet without going all in (hope that's ok to say here).
Blasphemer!
OK, I did talk to someone once who said he sold his KP3 and got the miniKP and was happier with it saying that the fx quality was pretty much the same but it lacked feature he never really used. Seemed happy to get some money back on the sale and didn't feel he was missing out on anything. But then maybe I would like those features on the big guy. Crom knows I love program changes on the fly in other things.
Livefx on old iPad + dock and you have like the kaoss quad with some features (presets, motion capture, midi) from the kp3.
If you need more than one then maybe nanopads with aum/turnado...?
i love mine, i run all sorts of circuit bent stuff through it and come up with unlimited magic.
Deft use of three of them...
I have one. But because it’s hardware I don’t get it out enough
I had a KP3 and a Mini KP .
I sold the KP3 after a while and the mini KP stopped working. I miss the mini KP but don’t really miss the KP3. It was cool but I found it a bit lofi when sampling and also distracting to use live.
The mini KP was just simple and fun.
I like the idea of using Live FX or Turnado etc on my old ipad3 with a nanopad or send return of a mixer as a substitute for the kaoss pads.
I loved the kp3 most of all series , but the lack of simple FX bypass per slot & for the external input was important for me when resampling. But don't listen to me ,just get it! Hours of jamming lost in a single loop are waiting
The annoying thing about the KP3 is that the looper loses sync quite quickly because I think the midi clock on the KP3s is faulty.
I can’t remember which way round it is but it’s better either as the master or the slave. But it’s not perfect. Wish they’d fix that.
Doesn’t matter for the non-tempo-synced effects though.
Feels very nice and tactile to use some of the effects and a lot of them have a delay added so they blend out nicely, rather than abruptly, when you remove your finger. Things like that make it feel a step above some of the iOS alternatives I’ve tried.
Is Livefx still around? i had it once. Can’t seem to find it in the store.
I had one back in the day. Godamnit. I now have one coming from Amazon tomorrow thanks to you @RUST( i )K
My opinion
Hooked up to drum machines it’s fairly boring other than for glitch I think it’s a joke.
For vocals they are fun to mess with ala beardyman style or whatever.
Hooked up to a synth I have mixed opinions... I’ve had cool results but very unpredictable for “good” sounding live. // for mono synths I REALLY like it on c64 for example but not on say a volca fm. It’s hit or miss on synths.
The reverbs and stock drums, lasers etc are a joke
For making quick loops or activating loops I would use something different.
you can easily take them apart and change the leds or do a paint mod.
the kp3+ is way better
you can order a usb power device for it from myvolts to make it portable
-I use it sometimes for tweaking vocals (that’s its strongest thing it does) but if it died on me I would only pay 100 or not replace it
I went down a rabbit hole looking for cool ways to hardware tweak sounds...
Pedals are the poor mans modular
Agreed. But then there are pedals which costs a kidney where I live
And if someone asks how many pedals you got, you can answer "David Byrne"
Thanks @Tarekith and @Matt_Fletcher_2000 for recommending Jon Hopkins. Awesome fella, I see...
Now on the subject of the Kaoss Pad, I have KP2 and barely used. It's now gathering dust in my parent's house. Agreed with @stuck80s in some points, and guess that's why it didn't click with me. But I do admire BeardyMan for all his wizardry
IDK I have it in purchased tab. It still works almost.
I’m a long time fan of XY style control and generally go for software + hardware (Turnado) solutions. I’ve had Kaosscillator, KP3, Quad and finally ended up being satisfied with mini Kaoss Pad 2s and sold everything else mostly because I hate cables and set up.
Quad is great but it’s mostly a multi effect box and has no midi i o so only beat detection and no midi sync. LiveFX is basically dot to dot copy of that.
I think KP2 and 3 have such a cult following because of the sampling capability but of course combined with effects.
If I were you I’d set a net on eBay and try to get one at the right price so then you can sell it on if it doesn’t fit your scenario.
I wouldn’t like to carry his patch cable bag.
I bet walking on soft pedal switches has its therapeutic uses.
Thks for sharing those clips of Jon Hopkins ! I still keep my KP3 and use it sometimes
LiveFx has midi