Korg Karma

My KARMA is version 2.0 by default.
Preset sound are amazing. Most of them are usable.
Patch editing is convenient enough, but I'm using SoundDiver, it's more convenient.
Manual is good.
The thing is not easy to use for me is KARMA technology. :)

Polyphony is 62-voice (68-voice if EXB-MOSS installed). Keyboard action is good enough, but not the best.
It has a good built-in effects (5 Insert effects + 2 Master effects + Master EQ). Effects are very good quality for built-in. They are not easy to use for me. And I don't like that all programs and combis use them by default.
It can be expanded by EXB-PCM boards and EXB-MOSS (Z1 like 6-voice synthesizer).
It has a good MIDI capabilities: channel, aftertouch, controllers, all parameters can be changed by MIDI.
It has a very good (if not the best) onboard sequencer.
But the main feature of this synth is a KARMA function!!

Almost all sounds are usable. Sounds are great, I like it.
I think this synth is good for any type of electronic music.
Onboard effects are great.
KARMA function does not allow to sound static. It change many many parameters (some of them in random order) and every note you play will sound different then previous!
The kayboard has velocity and channel aftertouch. It doesn't react to release velocity.

I dodn't gig it. But I don't think it's "built like a tank".

Didn't need it yet.

If it were lost or stolen. Maybe I would buy it again. Maybe I would buy a Triton or Kurzweil K2500. But I like this keyboard!

Version 2.0.0

La informacion contenida en los manuales es de buena calidad, suficiente. Sin embargo, hay muchas cosas en las que los manuales no son de mucha ayuda.

La polifonia es buena, aunque preferiria que fuese de 128 voces.
El procesador de efectos es de muy buena calidad. Es una pena que solo tengas 5 efectos de incercion y 2 efectos maestros. Lo ideal es que cada track tuviese al menos un efecto, por ejemplo, un ecualizador parametrico de cuatro bandas. Sin embargo, sabiendo optimizar los recursos adecuadamente, puedes hacer mezclas extraordinarias.

Lo uso para todo tipo de musica.
Las guitarras son extraordinarias,
los metales y las maderas son fantasticos,
las campanas son algo pobres,
los pianos son muy buenos pero no tanto como se espera de KORG.
Los efectos son excelentes.
Las teclas son agradables al tacto. En mi opinion, la curva ideal de respuesta deberia ser 4.5.

Ojala KORG dise?ara una nueva version del KARMA con las siguientes caracteristicas:

-160 Mb PCM ROM
-Sampler 16 bit, 48 kHz stereo/mono
-Resampleo
-Banda Ribbon
-Mayor cantidad de knobs y sliders para contolar las modulaciones dinamicas.
-16 efectos de insercion simultaneos.
-5 efectos maestros
-Master EQ Parametrico de 7 bandas.
-Touch View (no es indispensable)

En resumen, habria que crear el KARMA Music Workstation/Sampler, fusionando las caracteristicas del Triton Extreme con los algoritmos de la funcion KARMA.

Jose Manuel Sandoval Martinez

I've upgraded my Karma to version 2.0. In general,it's not too difficult a synth to get around on - at least for basic functions. You can get pretty deep with it, though. I've had a lot of experience on synths going back to pre-midi era. However, if this were my first synth, I'd probably find it to be a major undertaking to learn.
The manuals are not the best, but I don't find them as problematic as some users have written about.

The features have been well documented in other reviews, so I won't go into all the details. For me, the feature that absolutely makes this keyboard the dream machine that it is, is the Karma function. I've seen this misrepresented by some as being glorified auto-accompaniment. This, in my opinion is very far from the truth. As someone with an avid interest in synthesis, I see the concept of the Karma as a quantum leap forward in the evolution of synthesizer technology and one of the most original devlopments to come along in years. Major kudos to it's developer Stephen Kay!

Other features I find very useful are the chord triggers, latch function, scene function, and the wealth of real time controllers. The only thing I wish it had is a sampling option like the Triton, so one point off for that.

The Karma has a huge range of sounds available. For the kind of music I do, which is ambient, electronic, New Age, soundscape-type stuff, it is astounding. I have an extensive collection of some of the best synths and modules available for this kind of music, including Korg Wavestation SR, Prophecy, micrKorg, Roland JD800, Yamaha FS1R, EMu Morpheus, Kurzweil K2000RS, and others. However, I'd have to say that the Karma is the crown jewel in my collection. It's become the one I start most of my composing on, and then use the others for overdubs and icing on the cake.

Since I use it mainly for atmospheric and textural music, I'm probably not the best one to comment on realistic sounds like piano, organ, brass, etc., as I never use them.

As far as some users describing the sounds as "thin" - maybe they are talking about sounds that I don't use, but that is the last adjective I would use to describe the Karma. In many cases, the depth and detail of some of the sounds is beyond belief. I've played some music I created on the Karma for professional musicians, engineers, and producers here in San Francisco and they were extremely impressed by the quality of the sounds. Words like "rich" and "lush" come up often. Once again, perhaps I'm just not using the sounds that some people refer to as "thin", but that's definitely not how I would describe the sound of the Karma.

I had the Karma for almost a year before got under the hood and started editing the sounds. And once I did, my appreciation for it increased even more. I found that certain combi's that I thought I'd never use, could be tweaked into something totally unexpected. Especially some of the busy,intense techno patches. I found that by getting in there and pulling out the bass, drums, and certain other elements, and bringing the tempo down, some really lovely atmospheric, evoloving pads emerged out of the chaos.
Not being a "computer person", all my editing has been done from the front panel. However, I do look forward to eventually checking out the software editing program that is available.

In addition to presets and edited sounds, I've also used some of the sounds from Karma Lab's "Chemistry Vol 1" which were excellent. I'm interested in checking out more in this series.

I've had mine for about two and half years and have never had any problems whatsoever. However, it's been used primarily in my studio and not on the road. But, in my experience, Korg products are well made and I wouldn't anticipate any difficulties.

I haven't dealt with Korg for this product. With support available from Karma Lab, I probably won't need to. However, Korg has been helpful to me in the past in answering my questions.

I have to say that Stephen Kay's hand's on support for Karma users is extraordinary. Karma Lab is as complete a resource as you could want, and he often answers questions personally.
So my rating for customer support from Korg is "no opinion", but a "10" for Karma Lab.

I would definitely replace the Karma with another one if I needed to. Although I'm very curious to see if they come out with the inevitable updated model in the future. This is without a doubt my favorite synth I've owned including all the ones listed above as well as earlier classics like Oberheim OBX-A, Roland Juno 106, D-50, etc. I actually sold an awesome synth that I really loved - the Kawai K5000S - to be able to buy the Karma. At the time I couldn't afford to keep both, and the Karma had such amazing features that I had to have it. And as much as I hated parting with the K5000, I don't, for one second, regret getting the Karma. No other instrument I've owned has had such an impact on my playing and creativity. It has opened new doors and allowed me to go in new directions of soundscape design.

The only thing I was disappointed with, at least in the begining, was the color. After having the K5000 with it;s sleek silver brushed aluminum top, the burgandy color of the Karma stuck out like a sore thumb in my studio where everything else was black, gray, or silver. I remember wishing they had made it like the Triton or at least in black, but over time, it has grown on me and I'm more ok with it now.
But this is a miniscule point in comparison to all the incredible features of this keyboard and the impact it has had on my music. I'm just now completing a new album with special guest, New Age keyboardist Steven Halpern (who also has a Karma), and I have to say that the Karma was used extensively on practically every track.
(Samples can be heard at www.songpeddler.com/MichaelDiamond)

Another fun application with the Karma has been to trigger it from my midi guitar and Roland GR33 rig. It opens up whole new avenues of creative expression.

I don't give out "10" ratings that easily, but in my book, the Karma definitely deserves it. Perhaps if I were a pianist and keyboard action were important to me, or if I was looking for "realistic" sounds, I might not rate it as highly. But for ambient music and for my particular needs it's the best. If I could only keep one of the synths in my collection, this would definitely be the one. The only other synth that's come along in the last few years that has aroused my interest is the Roland V-Synth. But that is pretty much an amalgamation of various existing technologies, rather than something groundbreaking like the Karma.

As much as I've used the Karma in the past couple years, I feel like I've just scratched the surface of it's capabilities. I look forward to delving much deeper into it and highly recommend it to other sonic explorers.

This comment first. no one should critique this keyboard unless they have had it for 6 months +. At first, I thought it sucked. As I began to learn over time that the people that made this unit are 1000's times smarter and more intelligent then all of us combined. I began to realize this was quite an accomplishment. I dare anyone (ok maybe one ) of us reading and writing these respnses to design to completion just one function on this unit. Forget it. It is a marvelous keyboard to play. Yesssss the keyboard itself is on the week side, then again, MOST keyboards on units today are on the weak side, only SOME are very special. Regards to the manual, Come on, all manuals suck to all of us, who the frig wants to read the manual anyway? It is either suffer figuring it out yourself or suffer reading the manual...! You can literaly turn thgis keyboard on and it makes wonderful sounds.

Stephen Kay,,,,,,thankyou ever so much. I knocked you and Korg in the beginning,,,I was very wrong. I am a so-so player. Because of Mr. Kay's work playing along side me, I have nailed being in a great band beacuse of this unit,,,,,,period. If you are a great keyboard player, you will love this unit for the thousands of sounds and , over a thousand Karma arpeggiator settings....If you are a really shit player,,,this thing will make you sound great. know triad chords....?,,,your in.
Everything works great, MIDI, onboard sounds, literally well over a thousand. Expansion capabilities are there and second to none to perform.

I included have knocked KORG for its' weak/meak sounds in the past. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit...! What they are doing is giving us raw sounds to work with. Manipulate thses sounds only slightly and Voila..
!. Big big strings, powerful over the top Brass. Vocals,,,ahhh, needs a little work and additions from Korg. Pinaos need some building, copying, pasteing, but work non the less to fool many audience's.
Oh, just discovered the drums on this thing the other night, never had a need for them, they're outa control, they're really cool.

I bang this friggin thing around so much moving from practice to playing and back again. Throw in the truck. Korg should sign me up as the guerilla in the cage in the commercial throwing the suitcases's around. Only in this case the Korg Karma. I am half kidding here but this unit does take a licking and keeps on ticking. Static shocks and all. I have used it solo at times without worry. Knock on wood.

Never needed,,,,,,,,yet.

If it were stolen, I would have to replace this thing. Every major sound that I have built upon is on the Karma. It truly can and is a stand alone piece. I do have other keyboards that perform separate functions wonderfully, but they are not the topic here. All together now, we all bitch about something or other on keyboards, especially the nose in the air bla bla, I know it all, pain in the ass keyboard players who have to have their way or they stamp their little feet.
The Korg Karma has some of the best trade offs on the market.
Thanks again Stephen,,,because of me, Korg, and your great/fabulous work and dedication, I, am once again, after many years, playing again.
I gave Stephen Kay and Korg a hard time about a year ago on this product, but was too stupid to realize the genious put into the Karma along side of Korg's work. Like I said no one should rate anything on these reviews without having them for at least six months to a year.
One last thing, I have 5 other keyboards/synths to work with,,,if someone said, "You need to bring one keyboard" out of all my, my, not anyone elses' my,,, keyboards to a job,,,,,hands down the Karma would be first choice without reservation.

Unfortunately, the manual is poorly written. As with many synths, the manual would be much more useful if explanations were writtne with better grammar and followed by demonstrative examples. The Karma manual seems almost like it is trying to be a comprehensive flow chart of sorts but for what its worth, I find it tedious and at times lacks clarity.

The features are good considering the Karma function. I have been using this as a controller for some time. I use some of the bass sounds, sometimes some of the drum sounds and a few of the lead and pad sounds but mostly the controller and Karma functions. These are easy to use and quite useful.

The so unds are not really that bad as others would have us believe. I have never considered this instrument one to go to for realistic sounds. For that I used an Emu hardware sampler until I got Kontakt and Garritan PO. Those provide my realistic sounds. Korg has not advanced their soundset like Yamaha has done and I suspect that they are simply banking on old techonology cause it still sells and does not require much investment. I would imagine that Korg reasons the synth market is going software and eventually will go nearly completely software so investment into defeloping hardwaye synths is not wise. In fact, Korg has just released some software versions of some of thier classic pieces with a cool scaled down M-20 (is that the model number?). Anyway, my hardware sunths are about how they work as controllers. I like the Karma for the Karma function since the keyboard makes a good controller as do many dedicated controllers but gives a bit more by including Karma, some useful internal sounds, decent effects and expandabliity.

No problems.

Stephen Kaye is remarkable in this respect. The s upport network for t his instrument makes it even more interesting depending on how deep you want to go.

If the sounds were better, this wo uld be an 8 or 9 but I would add that there are some very usable sounds. I suspect that the sounds could be improved by the user if you want to invest the time and effort. For some of us though, programming synths takes time a way from other production and compositional tasks.

Korgs have been easy for me. Easier than roland, yamaha, alesis etc... The preset/combi is OK, Korg-ish, highly commercial perhaps. Combination Not as breathtaking as my old Yamaha SY85.Overall this is easy to use, the Korg's advantage over others. Alesis has the worst (really) interface ever created in synth history.

Keyboard, hmmmmmmmm light. My favourite feel is Korg Wavestation.I get better keys with early 90's products.But Features are all well built-in.

Sounds are all uninspiring.Thin. Like Triton-thin. (Better than N-Series). even PSR9000(!!!) sounded better.

Not a pleasure to play.

Effects are fine. Yamaha's better.

Korgs are pretty much dependable

I have been playing 7 years. I own SY77, SY85, Wavestation, QS7, S4, N5, XP80, RD600, 05R/W, AKAI SG01k, P50M, FS1R. I think i know what I'm talking about when it comes to sounds.Karma does not have that special sound quality.

But for those who can accept the sounds, its a good buy with all the features/optional boards, sequencer, GEs etc.....

I'm using the 2.0 software and have found this keyboard to be incredibly playable. After learning a few basics about the different ways in which the nontraditional buttons affect the sound, it was cake to play. I love the tempo knob because it allows you to craft a preset that doesn't sounds great into a smooth beat in about two minutes. Patches take a little reading to edit, but this board really isn't meant for static sound design. It's more of a performance synthesizer that allows you to easily manipulate loops by playing multiple parts simultaneously, all in real-time. The manual is incredibly thorough and aside from reading the 20 page getting started section, should be used on an as needed basis.

The most important 5 features I've found are: 1. The Karma Function, 2. The Chord Triggers, 3. The Latch Button, 4. The Key's Velocity & Aftertouch, and 5. The Tempo Knob.

1. The Karma function turns single notes into playable sequences of sounds that affect one another.
2. The Chord Triggers allow you to program the chord progressions for your songs into 5 buttons -- making it possible to play full chord progressions with one hand while using the other to control the realtime effects.
3. The Latch button allows you to press a button and let go with the button behaving as if you were still holding it --- very convenient.
4. The keys play different related patches based on how fast they're pressed, how long they're held, and where they are located on the keyboard.
5. The tempo knob allows you to easily change loop tempo to find a groove that fits your song needs in under a minute.

This board is best for people with electro-acoustic needs that want new sounds with organic roots. The effects work fine and the key-response is excellent. Warning: this is not an electric piano, and the keys do not feel like those on a piano -- thus, piano abilities are not rewarded.

As far as sound quality, the bass has more punch on some pads than my PA can comfortably handle without some adjustments -- nice.

Of course, it's a professional keyboard, feels incredibly solid.

Any questions can be answered easily by "user experts" at karma-labs.com. The synth's designer, Stephen Kay will often respond to questions personally -- very cool.

I've been playing for two years and would replace it immediately if stolen. I shopped for a set of keys for months and honestly feel this is the best performance synth for playing live loops on stage with ease. It makes the songwriting process incredibly accessible and new again -- it's not a synth for programming enthusiasts or sound purists, it's a board for those wanting something new, fresh and most importantly, fun.

i think the karma isn't made for nerds. its so complex as a studiosynth. when im in the studio i always use the effects from the karma.
with live playing it is a great board 2, the factory programs are a bit dry, but once u really know where u can find everything and start to create own programs. WOW thats great. and the chord buttons are easy 2, during a solo. it takes a little time, but its great.

its a bit difficult 2 edit paches, but once uve done it, u cant 4get it.
the manual is great 2, because uve got 2 manuals: one easy and one for further studying. so when ure a experimental person (like me) u readthe easy one

the action of the keyboard feels a bit slow, but when ure used 2 it its no problem anymore
of course u have expansion capabilities, but i dont use them, because i arrange by my self a lot
i also use it as a master-midiboard, which is easy 2 do. all the latest capabilities are there
the sequencer, i dont use it a lot, isgreat

i use the karma with my metalband, and its very great. the sounds are realistic (a violin is a ciolin, not a cello for example), and they become more realistic whith shifting keypressure.

i can really depend on it. once it fell from my stars (its a really heavy board)and: not even a scratch. i use it without a backup.

the service is great. i dont need a upgrade and it doesnt need repairs

if it gets stolen, i buy it again, its that great.
i play 12 yeards now and i own a roland jv 90 and an d70, but the korg rules. i love everyting on it.

This keyboard is not for novices!!! The features on this monster are so overwhelming that someone new to music technology would have no idea what to do with them. Once you learn how to use them, all of the features are very consistent and easy to access. The presets sound very dry and thin, but with the right effects mixes added, they sound incredible. The process for updating the operating system is simple but somewhat lengthy. Editing patches is fairly straight forward, and no computer software is required, but navigating through the many pages can be confusing and cumbersome. The synthesis system is so complex that just tweaking one patch could take hours if you don't know EXACTLY what you're doing. The manuals (there's like three of them) provided are very detailed, and cover everything you need to know.

The KARMA has a unique 62-voice polyphony (I would love to know what happened to those other 2 voices)...The keyboard action is much improved from the 01/W and the Trinity, since the keys don't strike with as much excessive force. The effects section is WICKED! Probably one of the biggest perks in the whole unit. You can use up to 2 master effects and 5 insert effects, plus a master parametric EQ. In essence you could have up to 4 effects processers altering a single instrument, and still have effects buses to spare for other channels. The effects are very easy to use and route to channels/timbres, and can be sync'd to the a sequencer or the KARMA-function metronome. The KARMA has two card slots for PCM-ROM expansion cards, or even the MOSS synth expansion. There is, however no sampling capability on the instrument. The keyboard has pressure sensitive keys, two assignable switch buttons, 4 assignable knobs, MIDI IN/OUT/THRU, a pedal jack, a footswitch jack, a disk drive, a very POWERFUL 17-track sequencer, a X/Y-joystick, and a ton of sequencer, program, and combination memory. If there's anything you don't like on the unit, EVERYTHING IS PROGRAMMABLE...just reprogram it.

Some of the instruments are even more life-like than the real thing. The drums are punchy and very life-like. The saxes are very versatile, and are programmed to emulate breath-noises and growls when triggered by certain controllers. Most of the presets have little surprises in them that can be brought out by controllers such as velocity, aftertouch, the joystick, and the assignable knobs. The brass sounds are probably the nicest i've heard on any synth. The strings are very thin and buzzy, but can be tweaked by editing the programs, and adding effects. I reprogrammed a string patch with the parameters from the 01/Wfd program "TheStrings" and i found a huge improvement. The piano presets are terrible, but once you add some reverb and a Parametric EQ, boost the lower freqs and attenuate the higher freqs, they sound very realistic and are very versatile to fit any style of playing. The woodwind sounds don't really have much life in them, and the samples really are not very good. I found there really isn't a whole lot you can do with any of the oboe, clarinet, or flute sounds in sequencing. Even the effects built in don't seem do do anything for them. The timpani sample is a very plain sample, and does not offer a lot of versatility. What can I say, it's just really not a good sample.

I also purchased the Triton/Karma Orchestra EXB-PCM06/07 cards, and I must say that these cards really make up for what the original PCM ROM lacks in. The string samples are exquisite, and very classy sounding. The set comes with 16 MB of just string samples alone, and the other card is dedicated to wind and perussion instruments. The flute sound is one of the most realistic I've heard, and the oboe and clarinet sounds can hold their own. The brass ensemble sounds on the cards aren't as good as the original ones, but the solo instrument sounds are very realistic, versatile, and respond very well to playing. The timpani sound provided is still a bit sticky and bright, but again, you can just throw in a ParaEQ effect to give it some life. All of the other multisamples fill in the gaps the KARMA originally left.

Just like the other KORG instruments, you could probably throw this thing off a 5-story building and it could still get you through a gig.

Stephen Kay, the inventor of the KARMA has created a very comprehensive support forum dedicated to this instrument. Any help you need can be found there.

This instrument is irreplaceable to me, and I need it for everything I do. I have two choirs at a school, and this instrument is offering me a lot of abilities I never had before. My only real complaint is that Korg would stop making keyboards in different colors. What's wrong with black? Black is neutral. They only make the KARMA in this ugly maroon-color, and it makes it look all tacky. At least it's not that nasty silver on the Triton and the Trinity.

If you're interested in any of the newer KORG synthesizers, understand this: Many of the presets on the KARMA and Triton are not very good at all, but KORG makes their instruments so programmable that you can very easily change EVERY aspect of any preset to suit your needs. And if the multisample just ain't good enough, throw in some effects. I promise you you will not be disappointed. This instrument takes months of using to reap all of its benefits. And if you think the piano is too bright and pinchy, you need to throw in those effects to make it sound right.

I'm using version 2.0. If you are familiar with other workstations then it will be fairly easy to pick up on the Karma. However, there are a few functions that can get involved and take some time to master.

It has many features that allow you to create music that you normally wouldn't create. The sequencer is okay--could be better. The keys are cheap! The sounds could be much 80% better--they are too thin!

It sounds good when playing the combinations and programs. When you turn off the effects and try to record you see how thin the sounds really are.

It seems dependable as long as you don't drop it too much. It doesn't seem like it can take a beating.

I never received a response to any of my e-mails.

The sounds are thin, the keys are cheap, the color is awful...A keyboard can have all the features in the world but if the sounds aren't good then you don't have a good keyboard. I sold mine...