Korg Karma or other board

  • Thread starter MightyMacBizzle
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MightyMacBizzle

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I am considering a purchase of around $1500 for a keyboard. I have heard good things about the Karma and it is in the labs at school. Is there a better bang for my buck out there? I am into Hip Hop and will be taking piano 1 and 2 in school.
 
I bought the Karma for $700, and I sold it on $750.

With $1500, you can buy a great, really great synth.

So many options come to my head.... God, I`m dreaming again...

Make a deep search for ANALOG synths. Don`t even think on the Karma. Is not a bad synth, but with $1.500, you can get something 100 times better.
 
With that $1500 you can buy a Karma and have money left over for an Analog/VA & a sampler. :)
 
I still rock my Karma. It is a good board. I am still confused as to why so many people in here are against having more than 1 rompler but have a room full of synths

You can definately get a Karma second hand and still have money for your analog synth though
 
Karma is all about GE (generated effects)
you basically get a lot of tweakable Combis (or what I like to call songmakers! :P ) these IMO are made for people who can't compose! lol (unless you make your own)

IMO if you want a workstation, a Fantom X would be a better choice.. (this is coming from a Triton Studio user). if you like the Korg sound, I recommend the Extreme.
 
Bluedays said:
Karma is all about GE (generated effects)
you basically get a lot of tweakable Combis (or what I like to call songmakers! :P ) these IMO are made for people who can't compose! lol (unless you make your own)

IMO if you want a workstation, a Fantom X would be a better choice.. (this is coming from a Triton Studio user). if you like the Korg sound, I recommend the Extreme.
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I disagree. I own a Karma and it has the same exact soundset as the Triton. You are correct in saying it's about generated effects, but to say that one cant compose is malarkey. The Karma is way harder to program on the GE level versus the triton's arppegiator. You can trigger song type stuff with Karma, but it is way deeper than that. I also own a Fantom X rack and I think it is a little better if I would only have one piece of gear, but i actually got the Karma first. Try a Karma out and you'll quickly see it has a much steeper learning curve........dont believe it, go to the Karma Lab forums
 
I think you misunderstood..
I have tried a Karma, and I happen to have the KarmaTriton software (I know exactly what it does)..

I said:
Bluedays said:
..you basically get a lot of tweakable Combis (or what I like to call songmakers! :P ) these IMO are made for people who can't compose! lol (unless you make your own)..
Click to expand...

I'm talking about those "1-note-Combis", where all you have to do is press 1 key and you get the: Bass Drum/Bass/2 arpeggios/some percussion... basically a finished song (that's why I like to call them "songmakers".. lol)

On the same note, I use to have the EXB09 Trance Attack (dunno if you tried that one); it had some awesome Combis that showcase the power of the Triton.. but I sold it because, even though they were great, they're useless to me!

Please don't tell that you would use one of these in your songs!
 
Bluedays said:
I think you misunderstood..
I have tried a Karma, and I happen to have the KarmaTriton software (I know exactly what it does)..

I said:


I'm talking about those "1-note-Combis", where all you have to do is press 1 key and you get the: Bass Drum/Bass/2 arpeggios/some percussion... basically a finished song (that's why I like to call them "songmakers".. lol)

On the same note, I use to have the EXB09 Trance Attack (dunno if you tried that one); it had some awesome Combis that showcase the power of the Triton.. but I sold it because, even though they were great, they're useless to me!

Please don't tell that you would use one of these in your songs!
Click to expand...


Naw, i havent used any of the karmatized combis. The only ones i thought about using were just program ge's of just the one instrument. Just 1 shot hits. I mainly use the Karma, EMU MP-7, Cubase, and as of recent a Fantom Xrack. I can play keys some and i play drums so I dont need to use the Karma GE's. The world GE's are tight to me though, and i may use them if i make a song and have like a movie theme score intro.


As I have said before though, i got the Karma to basically get a cheap triton since i dont really sample. The LE to me inst quite on the same level. The Karma is a tight board to me, just has a high learning curve.
 
Last edited:
mome rath said:


Isn't the Trinity then just a cheaper Karma in this sense?
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Well the Trinity was the predecessor to the Triton. The Karma on the other hand has the exact same soundset, sequencer, effects, and everything as the triton. The main difference between the Triton and Karma is no touch screen and no sampler. Aside from that and some hook ups in the back, it is identical for the most part except the Karma uses generated effects instead of a standard arpegiator. Generated effects are more complex than arps though.

The Triton LE is not quite on par with the Karma though. You only get 1 insert effect and 2 master effects. The soundset and sequencer are the same for the most part though. So for me, i got the Karma because I dont really sample at this time and it saved me$500-$600, but i got all the Triton features that I did need and want.
 
Before you hate on the Karma, listen to someone that uses it successfully. I come from the old school of midi programming. Let me tell you how to make an informed decision when purchasing any gear. When it comes to an insturment you must pick one that inspires your creativity. Also you have to ask the question, "Is there a technology out there that I do not currently have?" This way you won't go broke. That being said here is my take.

Korg workstations are designed for serious programming. Korg workstations are innovative. The Karma is perfect for Hip Hop if you are willing to take the time to understand how to use the Karma functions to your advantage. It is not an appergiator. The Karma is basically a keyboard that has artificial intelligence that you can use to create music. You don't use the karma fuctions to replace your creativity only to inspire it. Nothing you create on it can be copied or duplicated by anyone else even if they have a Karma!!!

Another trick is to use the sequencer just like the O1/W. In other words I do not use the cue list to create sequences because it is easier to loop & copy measures & take out & add what you need.

I use my Karma for music and I use my MPC2000XL for drums. Don't sleep on the Karma!!! If you are a FrutyLoop producer get some real gear and make your beats.

If you want to hear a demo of the Karma & the MPC at work just email me & I will send you a track.

Mr.Alexx..............
 
Mr.Alexx said:
Before you hate on the Karma, listen to someone that uses it successfully. I come from the old school of midi programming. Let me tell you how to make an informed decision when purchasing any gear. When it comes to an insturment you must pick one that inspires your creativity. Also you have to ask the question, "Is there a technology out there that I do not currently have?" This way you won't go broke. That being said here is my take.

Korg workstations are designed for serious programming. Korg workstations are innovative. The Karma is perfect for Hip Hop if you are willing to take the time to understand how to use the Karma functions to your advantage. It is not an appergiator. The Karma is basically a keyboard that has artificial intelligence that you can use to create music. You don't use the karma fuctions to replace your creativity only to inspire it. Nothing you create on it can be copied or duplicated by anyone else even if they have a Karma!!!

Another trick is to use the sequencer just like the O1/W. In other words I do not use the cue list to create sequences because it is easier to loop & copy measures & take out & add what you need.

I use my Karma for music and I use my MPC2000XL for drums. Don't sleep on the Karma!!! If you are a FrutyLoop producer get some real gear and make your beats.

If you want to hear a demo of the Karma & the MPC at work just email me & I will send you a track.

Mr.Alexx..............
Click to expand...

I use the Karma also, but yeah......lemme hear a beat you used it on
 
Karma is a good digital synth , but, honestly, there is nothing special on it.

I insist, with $1500, you can get a great synth.

Consider my recommendation: you can get a Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, a wavetable based synth, workstation, with analogic filters. One of the best workstation of all times, or a Kurzweil K2500. Now, that`s a keyboard!!! Use that money wisely.
 
good karma, bad karma

the karma is a fun machine but the pattern generation is as it is, if the automatic seq generating function is not your speed, move on to something else. it has the typical korg triton, bright sound, very consuming of the sound field.
 
karma is a really good synth. I dont know why it is going so low.. the retail for was like 2gs+.. but alot of places are selling 900 new and ebay is like 600-800 used.. karma is a very nice synth.. i like it :) and the color gives it a nice touch.. i jus have to figure out how to use ALL of the features.. its increadible.. and ull have enough money on the side to buy whatever you need for it.
 
I've had my karma for few years now. When I first got it a wrote two CD's worth of song. A few of this song went on to be backing tracks for a planetarium show, seen by thousands. Then after about a year I became dis-interested. In the last six months the sequencing has started to have appeal to me. I also have a Triton the sounds are redundant. The karma function is fun to interact with. At times it's like having another musician playing with me, and she know's how they go.

I still think Roland stuff sound better, but it's not as much fun to play with as Korg. But it all depend's on what your going after.
 
justproductions said:
I've had my karma for few years now. When I first got it a wrote two CD's worth of song. A few of this song went on to be backing tracks for a planetarium show, seen by thousands. Then after about a year I became dis-interested. In the last six months the sequencing has started to have appeal to me. I also have a Triton the sounds are redundant. The karma function is fun to interact with. At times it's like having another musician playing with me, and she know's how they go.

I still think Roland stuff sound better, but it's not as much fun to play with as Korg. But it all depend's on what your going after.
Click to expand...

There is no reason to really have both unless you want the Triton's sampler, afterall, they both use the same exact soundset
 
Just Got Karma!

I've always worked with Ensoniq workstations and now own a DAW PC with VST's, Samples etc. My goal was to have the best samples so I could create as close to the real thing as possible. I use White grand, Trilogy, Atmosphere, etc and people can't believe I didn't hire other muscians because the samples are that big and that good.

I always produce and write from scratch and never have used grooves and pre programs stuff until Karma.

Karma does things that no other synth can do. At first I thought that it was just a bunch of grooves and stuff and was thinking about sending her back. But then I started playing around today and turning the knobs and coming up with stuff I'd never would have dreamed of. All of a sudden a big grin :D came on my face and I started laughing and having so much fun! I called my wife and said "I want to keep her".

It was like the I was flowing with Karma and Karma was flowing with me. No other groove box does what it does.

I know it's a learning curve and I have been told that all the midi stuff (when I'm turning the knobs etc.) can be written in Cubase SX (which is my work horse). So I figure "Hey... why not dive in and maybe in a few months I can really learn something different than just programming my stuff from scratch."

I also play live improv stuff and play for a youth band who does a lot of Hip Hop and although I like Fantom X7 for what it does, still Karma does what it doesn't do. I bought mind for $1,195 B stock and even if I had the Fantom X it wouldn't replace Karma... just would be another tool.

I'm also getting the Alesis Fusion 8HD soon. It's a totally different animal than Karma & the Fantom, but more to carry around. I might get the Fantom X7 one day as well. Each can do what the other doesn't.

jamiesea ;)
 
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