It’s astounding when I look back at my wish list for the Korg KDM-3 metronome and discovered that I wrote it more than 13 years ago! Korg eventually released the KDM-3 in January 2018, and needless to say, I bought one as soon as I could. I’m proud to say that at present I own two of these bad boys—one in my studio and one at home. I’ve been very happy with Korg as they fulfilled some of the things I wrote about. For the benefit of newcomers, here’s my previous wish list for the KDM-3, with additional comments in bold. You can also read my review of the KDM-3 here.
- Backlit LCD display—unfortunately, this wasn’t implemented on the KDM-3.
- A push-button number pad AND a rotary dial for inputting speeds. Korg did put a rotary dial on the KDM-3, and you know what, that’s good enough for me. I realized that adding a number pad would have made the metronome even bigger and more cumbersome. Anyway, I prefer the rotary dial.
- A real metronome and bell sound. Done!
- A female and/or male voice to count out the beats (Note: some people might see this as a gimmick but I think it’s a nice touch. Moreover it has been featured in Yamaha’s latest Clavinovas) The KDM-3 does include a female voice. However, it sounds very robotic and jarring to my ears. Perhaps they could improve on it for the KDM-4.
- A choice of colors—black is always in fashion, but how about red, gold, brown, etc? A digital metronome could be the next fashion statement! Korg currently has the KDM-3 in black, white, and brown. Some additional colors would be nice for the KDM-4.
- A more powerful speaker system compared to the KDM-2. Don’t get me wrong, the KDM-2 is pretty loud, but…oh well. The volume for the KDM-3 is great.
- The ability to use rechargeable batteries would be nice. Done!
- A soft carrying pouch or case. The KDM-3 did not come with a soft pouch or case.
Here’s my personal wish list for the KDM-4:
- A backlit LCD display, with the option to turn off if the user prefers.
- A built-in battery with USB-C charging capability. This would be more convenient than using AAA batteries. I really don’t mind if it adds a bit more weight and/or cost to the metronome.
- Improve on the female voice. The one on the KDM-3 is, quite frankly, very robotic and cheesy, and hardly any of my students like it.
- A soft pouch or carrying case. Come on, Korg. You can do this.
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