I just got a great deal on a Bastl Bestie so I’m reconfiguring my little closet studio to run a guitar into it alongside a Nymphes and a Model Samples. (Prior to the Bestie I was using a tiny two-input passive mixer I soldered together. Kind of sad to put that little guy on the shelf tbqh.) Anyway the old stompboxes I was using with the Nymphes are back on the guitar pedalboard on the floor, so now I’m thinking about picking up some kind of multi-fx for the Nymphes.
The advice I usually see is to pick up a CDR-70, and I could do that, but I guess I’m just wondering about picking up something weird instead - and a KP2 seems like it would be fun. But there are a whole lot of iterations of Kaoss, and I’m getting a little spun around in the research rabbithole. I love the idea of getting something (relatively) old for (relatively) cheap that’s still cool and fun and the KP2 definitely seems like it would be fun… but I don’t know what I don’t know. I’d love to hear thoughts on it if you’ve got 'em. Thank you!
It’s all the adapters and merging cables that you’ll need in order to connect to standard jacks and the fact that RCA cables aren’t always as well shielded as good TS instrument or TRS cables.
I have to use RCA pretty regularly with my Commodore 64 set up and I also have to use them with my sp202 and honestly it sucks.
I already had a bunch of RCA cables in a box (because I’m old), but I had to buy adapters so that they would work with other gear, and then the adapters didn’t seem very sturdy and it seemed like there was some noise being introduced so then I had to buy RCA to 1/4 inch dedicated cables and by the time I was done buying various cables and adapters I’d spent more than I intended on the purchase.
There’s also a lot of plugging and unplugging because they’re really only useful when using certain gear. In a static set up sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn’t, so if it will always be your end of the line there’s less cable swapping but if you happen to observe that it colors the sound while in bypass, you may ultimately not want to use it all the time. I hear a lot of talk about kaoss pads being noisy (signal path I mean).
At this point, for me, it’s sort of “c’est la vie” and in the past, but I still hate having to use the RCA cables and adapters but I really wanted to integrate the piece of gear which required them so that I could resample back and forth at lower sample rates.
In that regard, I deal with it by choice, but unless you’re really committed to something specific about the KP2 I think there’s probably other stuff that covers the same ground and uses standard 1/4 inch (or even 1/8th inch) cables.
I’ve learned to accept the various kaoss pads for what they are : non-pro in so many regards but really, really useful and (overall) good sounding. I’ve fought the battle many times (“I’m not using this anymore!”) but come back to it. It adds a lot of instant dynamics to what I do. Perhaps also relevant is my acceptance that while my mind wants “high quality”, “perfect sound” my actual art-side could care less - most of the music I like has plenty of low quality aspects to the sound.
For a while I ran my guitar/bass through a kaoss pad, it was fun but it got old very quickly. I discovered that I wanted my guitar to sound as a guitar. Some fx/settings were useful but then I had to hold the pad position in a sweet spot and leave it there. The conclusion was that I would only use it for a crazy noisy outro/interlude a la Wilco, which is too limited for me. But it may be what you want.
Thanks all, this is super helpful. Seems like there are a lot of reasons not to fuck with a KP2 in 2024 - especially since the NTS-3 just came out and it looks like it does everything I’m looking for and then a lot more, for about the same price. Time once again to drain the music fund envelope and get on a waiting list.
I’ve owned KP2, KP3+, miniKP (the old one), and Kaoss Pad Quad. Happy to answer any questions
I recommend the Quad first and foremost, if fun is your goal.
KP2 sound quality is flat, affects everything that goes through it. FX are weak. But it is soul and very solid feel. The lofi loopers can be used with the stretch effects to bring in octave-up, 4x stretched samples, fadable with the mix knob. Some cool stuff in there. The guy from Wilco uses it for the tape delay
KP3 is hi fidelity but less soul. They really f-ed up in major ways. I’m still waiting for a pro kaoss pad. Best thing with kp3 is the fidelity and being able to change the bpm to repitch the loops you have. Divide or multiple by 2x and you’ll have asynchronous harmony with the new tempos. Also automation of pad selection adds movement
KP4 is the fun one. Mix and match effects. No loops. Bpm doesn’t really matter. The auto looper is the best part. Sound quality is between KP2 and kp3. Still sounds like shit compared to modern stuff but it is very fun and the light show is colorful instead of brutal red.
MiniKP suffers a volume drop when FX is active. I got rid of it because of this.
If you get a kaoss pad and it is noisey, turn the mic input level to zero and it will be fixed. Bizarre but it makes noise even when not selected as an input on the kp4
Cheap alternatives to consider:
Zoom rfx300 (wouldn’t pay more than $35)
Chase Bliss mood mk1 ($200, mono, very fun and flexible)
Pioneer EFX 500 ($100, isolation/transition/etc FX with a lot more control. More fun than KP2 in my opinion)
Oh man this rundown is great, thank you! I think I’m going to go for the rts-3 but now I will definitely keep an eye out for a cheap quad, too. Thanks for writing them all up!
As shigginpit mentioned the RCA jacks on the full sized kaosspad, I have the mini-kaosspad 2 and it uses 1/8” in’s and outs.
May not have all of the features of the full sized one but it’s been the one piece of hardware I could never part with. I can record, overdub, and I don’t really use more than a few of the effects even though there are a ton on it.
It’s been the perfect little studio with the overdubing. And just recording whatever I’m noodling around with. So hope that helps.
I have the bent KP1 and it’s a sound I haven’t been able to replicate anywhere else.
If you’re into dirty, grimy, noisy sounds, it’s the dog’s bollocks.
Can’t speak for the differences between KP1 and KP2 though.
Just to offer a different opinion:
I own a KP1 and a KP3, both have been plugged into my studio with the relevant adapters, I never think about the RCAs. It just works, for many years now.
Yes, they’re not balanced connections etc. But I never care or notice!