I played them all!

[merijn]

After that preset topic of mine, I went investigating. Today I was off, so I went to the music store. Lucky for me, they had all cool types in there. I player the kurzweil k2000 and the k2600X, the Roland Fantom S, Yamaha s90, korg triton le, korg triton studio, yahama motif, the roland xp-30, roland xp-50 and the korg karma. And my conclusion is that I like the Karma most. The banks wich are allready built in are amazing! The combu presets are fantastisch, and the organs are of very good quality. Now, the Karma offers another 3/4 banks of empty space to load in or create your own sound. The cool thing is, all triton sounds are able to be loaded in the karma, and you won't notice the diffirence. The realtime control buttons ar every cool too. The fact that you can change ANY aspect of the sound, makes me feel warm! And the karma has an excellent, ''full'' sound!! I think I made my choice...

Ow, the thing woth the xp-30, I think it's TOO simular to other roland boards. I have a juno string, and many patches sound quite the same. I have also checked all the expension boards, and only a few sounds are superbe.

[maJ estY]

It's a pity that you didn't like the XP-30 (my only synth :P ) that muc, but you have to remember that the XP-30 is a bit older and of a lower prize range than the Karma...

[Over The Edge]

www.karmalab.com





FL
www.franklucas.net

[merijn]

Jan, I'm very sorry, but it took me an houre to listen to most of the patches, and less than the half I like really much, and they are so simular to my other rolands keyboards. And roland has that ''typical'' sound. Little older indeed. At that store i would pay 990 euro for it, 1000 dollars. And the Karma is 1599 euro, 1650 dollar. But that extra money is worth for the karma, besides my parents are willing to ''back me up'', so won't take long.

[Spacehog]

I did a similar thing (but not for as long) while in Newcastle last weekend... I have to say, I tried out the Motif 6, Motif ES 6, Roland V-synth, Roland RS-50, S90, Karma, Triton, Triton LE, Novation KS4 and a couple of other things I can't remember... and I found the action on the Motif's and the Triton to be absolutely horrible! The Rolands had a much nicer action (although I don't like the pitch/mod thing) and the Triton LE and Karma have a very good feel to them. The S90 was gorgeous, but then it's an 88key weighted, not a 61 key synth action!

I don't know if the Motif 7's and the Triton Pro's have a better action than their 5 octave brethren, but if they don't, I'll be steering clear of them! The Karma will be my next synth purchase, I'm almost certain (not really got room for an 88-note keyboard at the moment, although we are looking for a new house!)

Martin

[merijn]

Scrap, can you give me a few point, what you think is the best of the Karma? :)

[Scrap]

You mean as far as combi and program presets?

[Martin]

http://www.jordanrudess.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=225&highlight=korg+karma

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: .. now i'm not really sure if i'm going to buy the korg karma... my parents have to save money for me for university.... :(

[merijn]

Well yes, the ability to create the combi's. But what is your favorite thing?Why did you choose the Karma?

[Scrap]

At first I chose the Karma simply because it is a less expensive version of the Triton. Comparing the specs and then A/Bing the Triton Le and Karma will bring you to some interesting conclusions - Korg likes to gloss over the fact that the Le's effects processor is inferior, but most people will not probably notice that, because most of the internal wave ROM has been revised in order to make up for the lack of effects - I.E. they have been pre-bathed in effects before being put into ROM. This is a good and bad thing. A waveform that has already had effects applied to it, say for example a guitar wave, might only have effects on it that fit into one particular application of a guitar. With the lack of appliable effects (1 Insert Effect as opposed to 5), this can be extremely limiting when you wish to move beyond the presets and create your own sounds. The Korg DSPs are also very pro-level, rivaling even some high end rack units - it's an effects monster, so if you want to have that sort of power and flexibility, the Karma and Triton are the way to go - not the Le.

As a lot of my time on the keyboards is spent just improvising, the Karma is one of the best sources of inspiration I've ever seen. The thick, multi-layered grooves and seemingly limitless variations inherent in its design always keeps things new and fresh.

It's also very much a prog board, in terms of flexibility and presets. The guitars and leadsynths are all very smooth. Korg boards are the easiest to program - it's almost impossible to get lost in the OS, you can get the hang of modifying presets within a few hours.

There are a multitude of excellent expansion boards (EXB) that adds to your total wave ROM, as well as the MOSS that allows you to use all synthesis methods - PCM, analog, VPM (FM synthesis), and physical modeling.

If you are into some of Jordan's sounds as heard during the Six Degrees tour, a few modified Karma presets are featured during his solo spots and in parts of songs - A004 VocoderRhythm, A052 Virtual Journey, B061 Expressive Orchestra (heard during Losing Time and Overture). Various Karma string layers are also heard throughout the second disc.

Those are my favorite features right off the top of my head.

[merijn]

Thanks you sooo much scrap! That's just what I needed. The Karma sounds so ''full'' so complete. Very powerfull synth. And I'm so glad I can understand it! :roll: . And you are right again with the sdoit voices. Alot of orchestral sounds came out of the karma! Like in overture and Goodnight Kiss. Only I don't know out of wich board ''Express Lead'' came, the lead he uses at the beginning of The Great Debate. ( The
E sus 4 U thought it was). That is one of the coolest sounds ever! Thank you again for this overview scrap!