Reezekeys Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I'm at a bit of a loss because this kind of thing is not something that normally stumps me but I am officially stumped. I have the FREE Korg Module. This might have been a special that I remember someone posting about here as a "pandemic giveaway" by Korg. It only has the stock Korg piano, which I actually started a thread about at the time, to register my surprise as to how good a free iOS piano could be. I was then (and still am) somewhat of an iOS newb when it comes to this stuff. I'm on the app, browsing around the "Store" and see the Synthogy Ivory pianos on sale, with a "7-Day Free Trial." Great, I click on the trial button for Ivory Mobile Grand and it looks like it's doing its thing - there's a circular progress meter showing the download taking place, and it completes. Now the text changes from "7-Day Free Trial" to "7 days left in the trial period." When I access my Apple ID and look at purchases, this piano shows up. Only one problem: I cannot load this into Module - it's nowhere to be seen anywhere on the Module app or the iPad. I actually downloaded it again, thinking I messed up something, but it's the same deal. I have googled until my eyes have fallen out and not seen any reference to this issue. Maybe I'm not using the correct search terms. There are references to the free Module being feature limited - no midi player and something else I forget right now. But - zero mention about whether you're able to load expansions into it. Does anyone know the secret handshake so I can try this piano out? And one more related Q - I see two Ivory pianos: the "Mobile Grand" I downloaded and the "Mobile American D." What's a little strange is that the American D is 1.07GB and the Mobile Grand is 1.99GB - that would seem to indicate more samples for the Mobile Grand, yet it's cheaper than the D. Does anyone know the differences between these two pianos? Thanks for any help! edit - just to add I am on the latest version as of now (4.1.8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejefunkyman Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I can't really help you for the first question, as I'm a long time Module user and purchased the base version from the very beginning, and most of the additional extra packs (except the latest synths packs which are not really my cup of tea). I guess Korg is trying to force people to buy the base version if they want to load the extra packs. It can be also that the "7 day free trial" feature is only available on the Module Pro base version. The good news is that Korg is offering their summer sale at the moment, where you can get the Pro base version for 20 USD, and all the extra packs for up to half the price. Concerning the 2nd question, the Ivory Mobile Grand and the Ivory Mobile American D are actually 2 different pianos. The Ivory Mobile Grand was the first one to be introduced by Korg, already some time ago (probably around 2015/2016, don't remember exactly). The American D came later on. From tone perspective, they sound a bit different, the American D being more heavy in the medium/low register. And for each piano, you have a lot of different presets to play with, so it shouldn't be a problem to find the sound you're after. I'd say that you don't necessarily need the two pianos, and the possibility to test them for free should help you choose the one you prefer. But it means you need to buy the base version. Hope that helps ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I can't really help you for the first question, as I'm a long time Module user and purchased the base version from the very beginning, and most of the additional extra packs (except the latest synths packs which are not really my cup of tea). I guess Korg is trying to force people to buy the base version if they want to load the extra packs. It can be also that the "7 day free trial" feature is only available on the Module Pro base version. The good news is that Korg is offering their summer sale at the moment, where you can get the Pro base version for 20 USD, and all the extra packs for up to half the price. Concerning the 2nd question, the Ivory Mobile Grand and the Ivory Mobile American D are actually 2 different pianos. The Ivory Mobile Grand was the first one to be introduced by Korg, already some time ago (probably around 2015/2016, don't remember exactly). The American D came later on. From tone perspective, they sound a bit different, the American D being more heavy in the medium/low register. And for each piano, you have a lot of different presets to play with, so it shouldn't be a problem to find the sound you're after. I'd say that you don't necessarily need the two pianos, and the possibility to test them for free should help you choose the one you prefer. But it means you need to buy the base version. Hope that helps ;-) I was posting something similar. I think you'll need the Pro version because the extra sound sets should just appear in their menus. I prefer the American D, as it's fuller-bodied and more dynamic than the original Mobile Grand. Quote ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 Thanks guys. I'm starting to get the same impression â that I need the paid version of module. What burns me is that they couldn't put an alert box or some text somewhere letting me know this. I'm on the store page, scrolling through the packs with their "Buy" buttons, then going for the trial and downloading gigabytes of samples - into an app that won't load them? Suppose I had hit the "buy" button? This is poor software design, imo. I wasted a ton of time on this bullshit, and I'm peeved enough to ignore any of Korg's iOS offerings in the future. OK rant over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejefunkyman Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 You don"t need to get pissed of, as you can get a refund anyway until 14 days after your purchase ð Loading gigabytes of data for nothing is another topic, if you don"t like to waste your time ðð I"m pretty sure it"s written somewhere that the free version doesn"t allow additional soundpacks access, but I can"t confirm ð¤·ââï¸. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 Yea, I waste enough time as it is - but it's usually my fault! IMO it's dumb to offer up these expansion packs as in-app purchases inside an app that can't use them. As far as "it"s written somewhere that the free version doesn"t allow additional soundpacks access", inside my Module version sounds to me like the place it should be written. Despite that, I searched the internet quite a bit - more time wasted â and did not see that written anywhere. If I missed an obvious spot I'll own up to it, but I don't think I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejefunkyman Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 If you go to the Module page on Korg"s website, under the specification menu, there"s a comparison chart between the free and the pro version. In the table, it"s written that the expansion sound library of the free version are « unlockable ». I"m not sure what it means exactly, but I guess it means you have to buy something at some point (whether it is the Pro base version or a soundpack). Ok I agree it"s not 100% clear, but I think it"s understandable that the free version doesn"t give access to anything besides the included stock sounds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3maniac Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I have regular Module, then upgraded to Module Pro. Along the way I bought a number of in app purchases and those load "automatically". I can only guess that the free version doesn't have any frills. Quote Yamaha MOXF8, MOXF6, Radial Key Largo, Yamaha DXR 10's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 If you go to the Module page on Korg"s website, under the specification menu, there"s a comparison chart between the free and the pro version. In the table, it"s written that the expansion sound library of the free version are « unlockable ». I"m not sure what it means exactly, but I guess it means you have to buy something at some point (whether it is the Pro base version or a soundpack). Ok I agree it"s not 100% clear, but I think it"s understandable that the free version doesn"t give access to anything besides the included stock sounds... I couldn't find the page you reference. I did find this though: https://support.korguser.net/hc/en-us/articles/360030601932-What-is-unlockable-in-KORG-Module- I'm not sure but this page is comparing "Module" with "Module Pro" and I think I have the "LE" version though I'm not positive. Here's my point though - and after this I'm leaving this topic alone, and will find another iOS piano somewhere else. On the main Module page I see a few icons at the top that are greyed out. Tapping them does nothing. I believe they're the midifile player, an audio recorder, and the "set list" feature. It's immediately obvious that I am locked out of these features â and I get it. However, the "Store" button is not greyed out. And tapping that puts me on the page with all the expansions, and the button advertising the 7 day free trial is also not greyed out. And I tap it, and over a gig of samples downloads to my iPad. Why would Korg let me do this if my version of Module can't use it? They thought enough to grey out what I can't access, then they let me access what should be greyed out. You may think Korg is correct in not letting folks add expansions to the free Module â I'm not arguing against that at all; actually I get it. So grey out the "7 day free trial" button or the "buy now" button â and add a line of text letting me know that my version can't download it. That would have saved me a LOT of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBluesKeys Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I purchased Module prior to the time that they had the free version, so can't help with that. I own most of the expansion packs, use it extensively, didn't get the American Grand because I already had the Ivory one, and didn't buy the most recent several packs because they are for genres I don't use. The only difference at all that I've found in purchasing and making new expansion packs work is that one has to keep Module itself up to date. New versions typically show the recent packs and allow purchase, which were not in the previous version. BTW, I'm running Module Pro on iPad Mini 2, iPad 3, iPad 5, iPhone 8+, and iPhone 6, and they all work for my needs, so it doesn't take a huge amount of processing power (however, I don't run other apps at the same time or use Gadget with Module as a sound pack). Based on the "unlockable" comment, I would expect that the free version can be upgraded to Module Pro, and that likely unlocks the missing functionality. I agree that it would have been better to grey out portions that won't work; that may be an issue with Korg, but also could be with Apple's App Store, IMO. I have 40 or 50 other IOS music apps, and use Module 95% of the time, even occasionally with no other sounds, but most frequently with my Kurzweil PC3 driving it, set on a Setup for MIDI channel 2 (the internal sounds are on channel 1). Even the expression pedal works, and one of the switch pedals controls Leslie speed. Quote Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I got Ivory American D yesterday and it's a much better piano sampling job. The Ivory Mobile is terrible in comparison , that's why it's half the price (it's crap) Quote Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 What's the not on sale price for the Ivory D piano for Module? The American D plays substantially better. Quote Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.