Korg Forums

[malice95]

I own a Roland Jupiter 80.. awesome synth. But I've been looking over at the neighbors grass and eyeing up a Korg Kronos 2 73 key. I also own a motif xf8 but I'm selling due to the fact that I just don't use the sequencer and other workstation type features and it was to dam big and heavy to lug around. I just wanna play.. mainly cover type stuff. Have a ton of great sounds at my disposal, easily switch between them on the fly, etc. So far the Jupiter 80 is doing that for me..

So why would I want to pickup a Kronos? I'm sure their is plenty of technical differences. Hell there must be a reason its roughly 1k more then the Jupiter 80. But what are the playing differences for live performance?

For someone who already has Jupiter 80.. is it worth it to add a $3400 Kronos to the fold? Help me either justify my GAS or cure it.

Thanks for your help!

[benny ray]

I love the Jupiter 80 also but the EPs, organ, clavinet, and an argument could be made for piano and also the setlist come to mind for me that are better on the Kronos but this only my opinion. Alot of people i know do not like the piano on the JUPITER 80 but it's ok for me. It is your choice in the end but having both would be a monster rig. I use the Nord E5d 73 with my KRONOS and very happy with the setup. Good luck and the KRONOS is one of the most popular keyboards out now.

Bless,
Benny
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K2 Kronos 88, Mojo 61, Korg CX3, Roland FANTOM 7

[SanderXpander]

I do a lot of cover stuff and find the Kronos singularly versatile. If you enjoy programming your own sounds the Kronos is a treasure trove. It has great VAs, a dedicated organ engjne, you can add a huge amounr of your own samples, it reads classic DX7 presets, has a passable vocoder, etc.
There are areas where other synths are better. The organ/leslie, most dedicated clonewheels do better. For solo acoustic sounds the Jupiter with its SuperNatural sounds is great. But the Kronos equally has its strengths and no other synth I know is so all encompassing in what it does. It says something that it's often enough compared to a pure software/DAW based setup.

[GregC]

[SanderXpander]

By the way "covers" is of course really broad. I play a lot but the emphasis is on modern pop and dance as well as dance classics. Of course there's the odd rock song, or rock 'n' roll or soul classic etc but if for instance you're doing mostly '60s and '70s stuff you might be better helped by a Nord Stage or Electro.

[aron]

Well, the Jupiter 80 vs Kronos has been hashed and re-hashed over and over again. Just look at the old threads. According to some, your Jupiter 80 blows away the Kronos and so amazing that you might as well forget about getting the Kronos.

I think I was one of the first instigators who said the Kronos was so much more capable and sounded better than the Jupiter and this set off a huge thread. I was able to play the Jupiter in Japan right when it was released. I still have not played a keyboard more suited to live playing than the Kronos but I have not played the Montage yet. Even so, the Kronos is so powerful and can do almost anything I have needed for my use. I do wish it had more polyphony for certain applications, but otherwise I think it is an amazing keyboard.

The thing about the Kronos is that it's kind of like the Nord where you can load radically different sounds so is well suited for almost any type of music.
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Korg Kronos, RD-88, Yamaha VL1, Deep Mind 6, Korg Kross, author of unrealBook for iPad.

[Oboemd]

Certainly the Kronos has feautured you don't seems to need;
Sequencer, the ability to add your own samples, the ability to create vastly personalized sounds, record audio, write to CDs, Karma, 60 Gb SSD etc.

Even the 73 note Kronos is 7 pounds heavier than the Jupiter 80. If you are happy with the Roland sounds and user interface, there may not be a need for a Kronos level instrument. A light weight piano or controller may be more useful. It certainly depends on your needs. For me the Kronons keyboard action is good for playing piano sounds The setlist with the option to add additional text is wonderful (I can name songs, write changes and some lyrics). I use the sequencer to setup up combinations with specific keys and splits that I can manipulate with sliders (add strings, organ, bass ect.) or velocity (brass hits, layers etc).
The most important things for me though are; ease of use, the way it responds and its great sounds.

[GregC]

[malice95]

[SanderXpander]

For eighties and nineties dance stuff I would say the Kronos is about the best there is in a single board. Combined with your JP80 I would be hard pressed to think of a stronger combination. You could mail or message Sharp, he did a D50 collection for the Kronos. Then you'd literally have nearly every classic synth and keyboard sound of that era at your fingertips as well as a good selection of acoustic sampled sounds.

Just my opinion of course. Be sure to check it out in the shop and listen for yourself.

[benny ray]

+1 The Kronos 2 and Roland Jupiter 80 would be awesome together especially you doing mostly dance music.
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K2 Kronos 88, Mojo 61, Korg CX3, Roland FANTOM 7

[DeltaJockey]

I recently decided to add a Jupiter 80 to my setup, not because I became interested in the JP80 over the Kronos, but just to add the uniqueness of it's personality to my stable of options. I truly believe there is no value in making direct comparisons, which is why I afford the luxury of owning both. As has been said, the debate has been going on since the inception of both, and I agree with what has already been said in general.
I've not had a lot of time yet to get to know the JP80 intimately, though I have owned other Roland supernatural synths and pianos, and they are quite nice if you tweak them to your liking, but despite it having unique attractions that appeal to me, and though I don't use my gear for gigging, if I had to only choose between one keyboard of the two, it would be the Kronos, and despite the debate of any shortcomings of the Kronos pianos, to me they are still the best sounding out of the box. I think the Kronos, has the most complete range of sounds, and functionality. It would be hard to live without


I could go on and on about how you can get the Kronos to do just about anything....but I won't
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The companions I can't live without: Kawai Acoustic Grand, Kawai MP11SE, Yamaha Montage8, Korg D1
Other important stuff: Kronos2-73, Studiologic NC2X, NI Komplete Ultimate 11, Sonuscore Elysion and Orchestra, Pianoteq, Experimenta Due.

[ErnstDabest]

[StephenKay]

[ErnstDabest]