Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S

The Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S is a micro-sized touchpad effects unit with a sampler built in. Korg announced it in September 2014 as the update to its Mini Kaoss Pad range, and as MusicRadar put it, it is "not only an effects processor but, as the last letter in its name signifies, a sampling device, too"¹. Instead of knobs or footswitches, the whole unit is played with a fingertip on an XY touchpad, the control scheme Korg has used on its KAOSS Pad line since the first model appeared in 1999².

For a guitarist, that means effects are performed rather than dialed in. You place a finger on the touchpad and move it around to change effect parameters in real time, the same interaction described on the full-size KAOSS Pad KP3². The 2S carries 100 effects, all of which can be controlled from the pad¹.

A touchpad effects processor and sampler

The KAOSS Pad idea is simple: one pad, two axes, and effect parameters mapped across them. On the KP3, a reviewer described the experience as placing a finger on the touchpad and moving it around to change effect parameters in real time². The Mini Kaoss Pad 2S shrinks that into a micro-sized device and adds sampling, which is the change the S in the name marks³.

The 100 built-in effects cover the same territory as the wider KAOSS line. For context, the full-size KP3 carried thirteen varieties of effects plus two of sound synthesis²¹, and the later Kaoss Pad Quad packed twenty effects with a focus on combining them⁴. The 2S takes a different trade: far more effect programs in a much smaller box, with the touchpad as the single control surface for all of them¹.

MusicRadar's review found the update worthwhile, writing:

The same review noted the finish had changed to matte black polycarbonate, and closed with the verdict: "It's just the right size to fit in a Christmas stocking; time to drop some hints."³

Inputs, sampling and playback modes

Samples can be recorded into the 2S from two sources:

• Line-in, for capturing audio from another device in the signal chain
• The built-in mic, for grabbing sounds with nothing else attached¹

Once a sample is in the unit, there are three playback modes¹:

The Loop mode pairs naturally with the effects side of the unit: a loop gives you a continuous bed of sound to sweep, filter and mangle with the touchpad while it plays. Gate mode is the one to reach for when you want a sample to sit in time with what you are playing rather than run underneath it¹.

Sampling itself follows the pattern Korg established on the full-size pads. On the KAOSS Pad line, the maker describes sampling the input sound and recording and saving loop or one-shot sample data, with sampling types that include straight sampling, resampling and overdubbing⁵. The Mini 2S brings the loop and one-shot idea down to pocket scale.

Where it sits in the KAOSS Pad range

The Mini Kaoss Pad 2S is a compact entry in a long line. Korg introduced the first KAOSS Pad in 1999², and the family has since spanned from the tiny KP Mini up through the KP3 and the Quad, which MusicRadar described as slotting somewhere between the tiny KP Mini and the flagship Kaoss Pad 3 rather than replacing it⁴. The 2S updates the Mini end of that range with the sampler its predecessors lacked³.

The line has since moved on: Korg's current compact option is the NTS-3 kaoss pad kit, a DIY kit unit with the KAOSS XY pad and up to four effects playable at once, and the full-size KAOSS PAD V carries the Dynamic Effect/Sampler role today with a dedicated mic/guitar input, MIDI and USB. The Mini Kaoss Pad 2S remains the point where the pocket-sized KAOSS Pad first gained sampling⁶⁷³.

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