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I recently bought a Korg KP3 hoping that I could use my YAMAHA PSR E403 as input to the KP3, to play with effects, and then record the sound on my computer.

I also use Reason 5 to compose my electronic music.

Being new to producing audio, I guess that you can imagine my surprise as I got home trying to connect the devices and nothing worked. I realized that I was lacking a proper audio interface, and the proper way to connect these devices.

  • Do I need an audio interface to use the above items, or something else?
  • If so, is it possible to connect the items in such a way that Reason 5 can use the output? How would I connect them, what other software might I need?

Just to specify, I wish to

  • compose electronic music in Reason 5
  • sample, or modify, the output from the MIDI controller using the KP3 and use it in Reason 5 (in some way)
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  • Anytime there are a lot of questions in one, it's going to be hard to fit SE's Q&A format. It's kind of hard to tell what the real question being asked here - are you asking "do I need an interface?" or "which interface do I need?" What specifically are you trying to do (record KP3 MIDI out? record audio out? Both?)? Editing the question is the best way to clarify. Thanks!
    – Warrior Bob
    Aug 4, 2011 at 16:41
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    Should I split the questions into separate ones, or line up my questions in a clear and readable format? I'm asking "Do I need an interface? Is this setup possible?" first and then "Which interface do I need?" in case the first evaluates to true. I'm not entirely sure which output I want from KP3 (it's got a lot of options - can I use it with Reason 5 in any way?), the MIDI controller only features USB MIDI.
    – Zolomon
    Aug 4, 2011 at 17:46
  • I'd say focus on that first question ("Can I use these things in this particular way and if so what do I need?") since it's specific and objectively answerable, and is a pretty good question. "Which interface?" is unfortunately pretty subjective unless your requirements are very specific, and in general shopping-recommendation questions like that haven't worked well here.
    – Warrior Bob
    Aug 4, 2011 at 18:00
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    If the answers to this question don't cover it enough, a separate question that's related might be something like "I compose music with Reason. I have this great KP3, is there a way I can use it to augment Reason besides just recording its output?" It'd be a neat CW question where people could suggest creative uses.
    – Warrior Bob
    Aug 4, 2011 at 18:07
  • Edited, thanks for the help! Hope it's decent format now.
    – Zolomon
    Aug 4, 2011 at 18:59

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If I follow correctly, you want to play your keyboard, and route the audio from the keyboard into the KP3 to add effects, and then route the effected audio into your computer to record with Reason. You can absolutely do this, and you'll need some way to get that signal into your computer. Your computer's soundcard can probably already do this. An "audio interface" is just a fancy soundcard. The term generally connotes more recording-oriented features such as multiple inputs, XLR plugs for microphones, and better quality components.

If Reason shows your soundcard under its list of inputs, then just use that to start with.

The basic steps will be:

  1. Connect your keyboard's output to the KP3's "line in" plugs. Then connect the KP3's "line out" to your computer's soundcard. You might need some kind of adapters to go from the KP3's RCA-style plugs to whatever your computer and keyboard have.
  2. Configure Reason to use the correct soundcard input. I have no idea how to do this in Reason specifically, as I don't use it. It's probably in some options menu somewhere. It's worth mentioning that in addition to setting that input, you may ALSO have to enable it or arm it for recording within Reason to hear any sound - just because it's configured doesn't mean that Reason is doing anything with it yet.
  3. Configure the KP3 to pass effected audio from its input to its output. This is probably already done by default. Check the manual if you're not sure.
  4. Record away!

I'm not sure if this is something you also want to do, but the KP3 has MIDI ports on the back which means that at some level it can send MIDI information, which might be interesting to use in Reason. You'll need a MIDI interface, which is the same idea as an audio interface - in fact, many recording interfaces include MIDI inputs and outputs. Again, check the KP3 manual to see what kind of data it can send.

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