Your trusted Kaoss Pad touchpad-based effect controller just got a makeover. Announced by Korg, the new Kaoss Pad Quad is the latest installment in the Kaoss line, offering new effects, functions, and features that let you create your own combination of effects with simultaneous control of up to four effects in real-time using a single fingertip on its touchpad.

Designed to be both usable and playable as an effect processor, the Kaoss Pad Quad allows the you to simultaneously control up to four effects from the touchpad. Each of the four effect modules -- Looper, Modulation, Filter, and Delay / Reverb -- contains 5 options (plus a module kill), for a total of 1,295 combinations. Effects are chosen directly from the front panel for easy access during live performance. By rhythmically adding successive effects, or switching effects on and off as a song progresses, the Kaoss Pad Quad can add variation and development to the structure of any song. Even the simplest beat can be creatively affected to produce something entirely new, according to Korg.

Any audio source can be processed, whether it's an MP3 player, a mixing board, an instrument, or even vocals via the unit's mic input. As you tap, slide, or move a finger across the X-Y touchpad interface, the effect parameters will change, producing dramatic real-time transformations in the sound. The colorful LED touchpad illuminates in an intense variety of colors, which change depending on the state of the effects, the BPM setting, and hand motions on the touchpad.

The unit's Freeze button provides even more control of effects. For each of the four effect modules, Freeze memorizes the position at which you were last touching the touchpad, effectively "freezing" the state that effect was last in, even after release of the finger. By touching the touchpad again while Freeze is enabled, only the "unfrozen" effects will be controlled.

In addition to more traditional effects (flanger, low / highpass filter, delay, and reverb), the Kaoss Pad Quad offers many new types of effects, including the Multi-Mode Looper, Vinyl Break turntable effects, and Ducking Comp.

The Multi-Mode Looper is provided for looping a part of a song, and the number of beats is controlled by the location touched. Three types of looping are provided: the standard Looper, the Rev Looper (Reverse Looper, which plays the looped phrase backward), and the Loop Slicer that divides the phrase and lets the loop-play only a specific portion. What's more, you can switch between the different looper types by sliding your finger up and down the touchpad as the loop plays, producing new beats, improv-style.

Vinyl Break turntable effects let you create all the standard turntable rotation effects, including scratching, slow-down / speed up, stop, and more. And Ducking Comp lets you create effects of a "ducking compressor," which has become a staple in music production.

In addition, the Kaoss Pad Quad's Auto BPM engine automatically detects the tempo / BPM of the song that's playing or the audio source. You can use the BPM knob to make fine adjustments, or set the BPM manually by using the Tap Tempo function.

The Korg Kaoss Pad Quad Dynamic Effects Processor will be available February, 2011 for $350 (MSRP). For more information, please visit korg.com.