Korg Kaoss Pad 3

The Kaoss Pad 3 is Korg's latest effects pad. This powerful real-time effects controller offers high quality effect processing for audio at the touch of a finger. Turntables can be plugged in, musical instruments, i-pod's, mic and more so you can modify sound in real-time with powerful filters and sound controllers.

The Kaoss Pad 3 comes equipped with 128 newly developed effect programs designed to appeal to musicians, producers and DJs alike. Sure, the traditional effects are there – delays, flangers and more. But using up-to-the-minute algorithms, the Kaoss Pad 3 also provides exciting new effects, such as a grain shifter, decimator, a vintage analog style filter with a tone-bending drive circuit and expanded EQs that are controlled directly from the pad. And moving beyond effects, there are also drum grooves and even RADIAS-inspired vocoder and synthesizer sounds that can be played free-form on the X/Y pad.

As you move your finger across the touchpad of the Kaoss Pad 3and find that “sweet spot,” pressing the Hold button will freeze the settings, so you can take your hand away to do other things. The LED grid on the touchpad will show the held location, so you can pick up where you left off without any “jumps.” Better yet, Pad Motion can memorize and repeat a fluid or complex gesture played on the pad. A separate FX Depth knob sets the overall balance between the original signal and the effect, so you can add just the right amount of processing. The eight Program Memory buttons allow you to store all of this information – Program Number, Hold button On/Off status (and coordinates), Pad Motion, and the FX depth setting – to a single button for instant access during performance.

Another new innovation in the Kaoss Pad 3 is called FX Release. Basically, FX Release adds an adjustable delay tail (at the current tempo) when you remove your finger from the pad, providing an additional creative tool for the performer. This also prevents the abrupt dropping out of the effect as you transition from one setting to another. The FX Release amount can be set and saved individually with each program.

Kaoss Pad 3 - Superior sampling

Four Sample Bank buttons on the front panel of the Kaoss Pad 3 allow you to create, play and save both looped and one-shot samples at high-resolution 16-bit/48 kHz using 24-bit converters for the best fidelity. Samples can be saved on a Secure Digital (SD) card or transferred to computer via USB. With both mic and line inputs, the KP3 allows you to sample from a wide variety of sources.

Kaoss Pad 3 - Tempo Matching

To keep everything sync'd up, the Kaoss Pad 3 features auto-BPM detection from the audio input, tap-tempo entry, as well as a manual tempo setting. The Kaoss Pad 3 can also send and receive tempo information via MIDI clock. This extra versatility allows you to detect BPM info from a turntable, and in turn provide MIDI clock to other devices down the line, keeping everything moving together.