Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by N i g e l »

:thumbup:
Thats actually quite good. The '70 has stereo ins, so its good for synths but its delay based effects only. I like some of the amps and fuzz from the other models and have hacked a couple into my pedal. It was straight forward to do from PC. The only complication is deciding what delay FX to get rid of to make room and similar for deciding what to put in their place.
The USB also comes up in cakewalk as a MIDI device but Ive not found out what it does, if anything.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by Ben Asaro »

For me, that’s a cinch: dotted 8th, done lol. :D
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by N i g e l »

BillB wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:49 pm Sadly I don’t have a Bluesky/Bigsky against which to compare,

maybe if you put up the dry version of your source material, some sky owner could process it 100% wet so you could make a comparison ?
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by N i g e l »

Ben Asaro wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:22 pm For me, that’s a cinch: dotted 8th, done lol. :D

I like U2 so that not an option !
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by BillB »

N i g e l wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:23 pm
BillB wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:49 pm Sadly I don’t have a Bluesky/Bigsky against which to compare,

maybe if you put up the dry version of your source material, some sky owner could process it 100% wet so you could make a comparison ?

Cool idea, Nigel :thumbup:

Ref Zoom CDR-70, that’s one of the pedals I want to compare against. Also a Behringer Reverb Machine RV600 and a Boss RV-6.

As for running two NTS-1’s in series, they are stereo in/out so no reason not to, but they are a fixed effects order: Mod>Delay>Reverb per box. But two together would give you a fair bit of mayhem!

Don’t forget, though - no memories, and knob positions are not ‘read’ (they can’t be, because the three knobs perform different functions for Osc, Filter, FX etc). So if you get a power blip, you are straight back to dry Sawtooth oscillator and no FX, until you start pushing buttons and spinning knobs. Most FX pedals will either allow you to reload a preset or will just read the knob positions, after a power outage.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by Ben Asaro »

Oh, that’s a dealbreaker for me.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by Ben Asaro »

Oh, that’s a dealbreaker for me.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by BillB »

Ben Asaro wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:43 pm Oh, that’s a dealbreaker for me.

Thought it might be :(

Real shame that they couldn’t fit in a few memory slots.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by BillB »

Hmmm. This Retrokits RK002 cable changes things a bit, or opens up the possibility - but surely not viable for a minimalist live setup!

https://duy.retrokits.com/34b498da-a40b ... ca6437566/
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by The Elf »

RK002 is very clever. I've used it, for instance, to convert aftertouch messages to mod wheel.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by Arpangel »

BillB wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 4:40 pm
N i g e l wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:23 pm
BillB wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 1:49 pm Sadly I don’t have a Bluesky/Bigsky against which to compare,

maybe if you put up the dry version of your source material, some sky owner could process it 100% wet so you could make a comparison ?

Cool idea, Nigel :thumbup:

Ref Zoom CDR-70, that’s one of the pedals I want to compare against. Also a Behringer Reverb Machine RV600 and a Boss RV-6.

As for running two NTS-1’s in series, they are stereo in/out so no reason not to, but they are a fixed effects order: Mod>Delay>Reverb per box. But two together would give you a fair bit of mayhem!

Don’t forget, though - no memories, and knob positions are not ‘read’ (they can’t be, because the three knobs perform different functions for Osc, Filter, FX etc). So if you get a power blip, you are straight back to dry Sawtooth oscillator and no FX, until you start pushing buttons and spinning knobs. Most FX pedals will either allow you to reload a preset or will just read the knob positions, after a power outage.

I have a CDR70, it’s very good for the money, a Swiss army knife that could be your only pedal, but, it can sound a bit small, it’s difficult to describe, but it doesn’t have that huge very dynamic sound of some of the more expensive units when you think it could actually be a real big space, but that’s not an issue if you accept it for what it is.
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Re: Korg Nu:Tekt NTS-1 as hardware FX unit?

Post by BillB »

I had a good listen last night to the Zoom CDR-70, Behringer Reverb Machine RV600 and a Boss RV-6, and compared them all to the NTS-1.

The headline is that if I could only keep one for reverb/ fx duties, it would be the NTS-1.

The CDR-70 certainly wins the award for most versatile unit, and that’s without doing any firmware hacks to make it even more versatile (see Elf’s postings on the CDR for more details). However, the basic sound of the reverb is not great, tending slightly towards metallic or grainy. The same is true of both the RV600 and the RV-6, although there is usually at least one setting where a fairly smooth effect can be obtained.

None of the above do that huge ambient Vangelis ‘sound of the city’ kind of reverb, whereas the NTS-1 does - or can. As noted previously, the HammondEggs reverbs can go from short through very long to infinite. The filtered versions are fun as an effect in their own right. Some folks may not be bothered about this kind of effect and will be perfectly happy with the above or other pedals. But as already stated, this unit really fills a gap for me. So much so that I am looking at other effects around the studio and thinking ‘an NTS-1 would probably do a better job there’.

Two other thoughts. It was fun to rig up the pedals and NTS-1 in series and go for a Ben Asaro ‘too much is not enough’ effect - it did result in massive ambience that had a character that no one unit could generate on its own.

The other is about patch memories. I’m not about to buy an Retrokits RK002 and a Novation Launchkey, just to get patch memories. But an iPad and MIDI Designer (both of which I already have) is a possibility. The CCs to control all NTS-1 parameters are simple enough and MIDI Designer can store 20 patches, so that would do the job.

All in all, it’s is not difficult to set up a repeatable sound patch for the FX directly on the NTS-1. If Osc, Filter, Env and LFO parameters were also to be recalled, that would certainly push my memory’s ability, but as I only really want the FX, it’s not much of an issue. I do expect to set up the CCs on a handy Novation Remote Zero - having all parameters on their own controls should make using the NTS-1 a breeze.

Hope that is of some interest and I will try to set up some sound examples on Soundcloud or similar, but don’t hold your breath.
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