Korg Forums

[Poseidon]

I get tired of people commenting on which keyboard is better.
They’re both outstanding you can’t go wrong with neither.
And both have FLAWS that you will discover after you buy it.

[vertig0spin]

[vertig0spin]

[vertig0spin]

[GregC]

[GregC]

[NETWORK1]

HI vertig0spin
After 5 pages of advice & reviews,
have you come to a DECISION , or has it left you more confused ?
will Santa surprise you this Christmas ?










| MUSIC-PRODUCTION™ |
| |
| HD4K™ MOTION-GRAPHICS |

| GTX 980 Intel® Core™ | i7-4790K CPU - | █||||▌║║|║▌║

[vertig0spin]

[GregC]

[Poseidon]

[19naia]

Great thing about choosing one or the other of two things you never had , to know the difference between them, is that you won’t know what you are missing from what you never had.

Reality is being able to live well with what we got.

And when you are at the narrow top tier of workstations on earth, there is only a sort of madness to be had if you cannot make one work for you, especially with a laptop and DAW options to go along.

I make Kronos polyphony work for me via layering in sounds from iPad and external drum+bass machine.

[vertig0spin]

Hey Greg,

This was not an easy decision for me and I sincerely appreciate everyone's input, advise, information in helping me make this decision.

When I started researching the latest Workstations/Synths over 2 months ago, this is one of the first videos I saw, which talked about several of the latest keyboards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDDA140rQrg

From there I was on a path towards the Korg Krome hoping that it could do what I needed at it's price point, or if not then I was looking at the Kronos. I started checking out the Krome, Kronos, Roland, Montage, and eventually started focusing on the MODX8, because it was the only one that I had a chance to try at the music store where I live. That was the only good synth or workstation they had. I did not like how it triggered the pianos down in the mid/lower range, as is so evident in this video that I came across:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ob4o2xEH6Y


When I first watched that video, I didn't really get how bad the MODX8 keybed was and thought that he was just playing softer on the MODX or had the volume down on the MODX. But after having tried the MODX8 and then over a month later tried the Montage8, I confidently can say that what you hear in that video is spot on, and that the volumes are set perfectly the same. Just listen to any of the highest piano notes near the beginning of the video above C5 that he compares ... they are the same volume on the highest notes! Listen to the very first bass notes he hits on both, and all the playing he does in the mid/lower range. Those bass notes are miles apart in volume and triggered velocity, yet the highest keys shortly after are the exact same volume and triggered samples.

The MODX8 GHS keybed is graduated so it doesn't trigger the samples of a piano evenly from the lower keys to the higher ones. Therefore the Mid/Lower section is way too soft and don't trigger sample velocities properly, where as the highest keys trigger them perfectly. The MODX8 is terrible and unplayable for a piano player. So I started trying to get Yamaha to introduce 'Velocity Scaling' in a future enhancement/upgrade, to counter the bad keybed. Meanwhile, I'm still holding hope for the Krome, and starting to research the Kronos and Montage more and more.

This was one of the next main videos that I focused on because having awesome acoustic grand pianos was extremely import to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDCchm2zP6s

From 1:13 to around 1:50 it was clear to me that the Kronos was sounding much better than the Montage on piano sounds, and the Kronos had that "bell-like" sound in the notes when hitting a bit harder velocities. So the Kronos was quickly becoming my main goto! Then I stumbled across this video and around the 0:24 sec mark until around the 0:56 mark, I heard the same "bell-like" sounds as the Kronos had and heard the Montage pianos in a different light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKvbYU8aapg


From there I did a lot of research on those 2 Korgs and 2 Yamaha's. It was difficult, but I ruled out the Krome, which left the Kronos and the Montage/MODX. But the MODX didn't do it for me on pianos and the User memory space for adding new sound libraries was too low, so I had to rule it out. That meant that the two less expensive keyboards that I was desperately trying to find a way to make them work for me, were not going to work, and were no longer options...leaving only the Kronos and Montage to choose between. But although the Montage was starting to compete with it's pianos (not just based on that one video), it wasn't a full Workstation and the onboard sequencer was very limited. So I researched to find out could the Montage even do what I needed my new keyboard to do. It wasn't looking good for the Montage at this point. But I continued focusing on and researching both the Kronos and Montage.

[benny ray]

Montage is a great keyboard and hope you enjoy it.
_________________
K2 Kronos 88, Mojo 61, Korg CX3, Roland FANTOM 7

[NETWORK1]

vertig0spin
Thanx for your very informative post
You really know your stuff
Your Extensive research shows intelligence
In making the right decision for You.








| MUSIC-PRODUCTION™ |
| |
| HD4K™ MOTION-GRAPHICS |

| GTX 980 Intel® Core™ | i7-4790K CPU - | █||||▌║║|║▌║

[benny ray]

Bruno Mars keyboardist likes Kronos and dishes Yamaha XF8 can't understand no love for the Montage. Just one opinion but see these dang KRONOS all on late night TV.

https://www.keyboardmag.com/artists/john-fossitt-the-keyboard-interview
_________________
K2 Kronos 88, Mojo 61, Korg CX3, Roland FANTOM 7