Korg Forums

decreebass · Joined: 14 Dec 2018 Posts: 35

I remember when the Kronos came out in 2015 (I'm actually in Jordan Rudess' video where he's performing with the Orkeystra at NAMM!). I wanted one badly back then, but as a primarily guitar player, I never bit the bullet.

But it's now almost 2019 - I don't want to buy it if the next king is going to be announced at NAMM, you know? There may not be its replacement announced, but who knows?

Secondly, I'm having a hard time deciding on the size I want. I have a Kross 2 61-key which is great, but even there I'm struggling with the limited octaves for splitting three or more sounds. Then, the 88-key is going to be MASSIVE. I feel like it'd would be a huge pain for gigging, whereas the Kross weighs like 8lbs and is tiny and convenient. I think maybe the 73-key would be an ideal compromise for home practice/recording/inspiration and then not too huge to take to gigs...

Also, while I've been a die-hard Korg fan (no idea why, just seem to like them), I wonder if There might be something better out there for me. I love piano, electric piano, organ, and synth - I don't know of another machine that does all of these things so well across the board. I've heard comparisons between this and the Montage, some Nords, Rolands, etc.

I guess I just need to be pushed over the edge, you dig?

GregC

dfahrner · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 6:25 pm Post subject:

You coud look at the new Yamaha MODX7: 76 keys, 16 lbs., the same sounds as the Montage: very good (Yamaha) pianos, EPs, horns, and strings; organ and synth that maybe aren't quite as good as Korg's; and an unweghted (semi-weighted?) keybed that's significantly better than the Kross, but not as good as the Kronos 61...the Kronos 73 is a good compromise between the 61 and the 88 for gigging, and its weighted keys are much better that un- or semi-weighted for piano playing, but it is pretty big and heavy (46 lbs.)...

df

decreebass · Joined: 14 Dec 2018 Posts: 35

Mike Conway · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:45 pm Post subject:

I agree with Greg; wait another month and see what is released at NAMM. Coming from a Kross, you should get on very well with the Kronos. If you want synth action keys, get the Kronos 2 61 keys. If you want weighted keys, get the 73 or 88.

MOD-X seems great, though I think it lacks aftertouch. In that case, you might go with the Montage, if money isn't an issue.

decreebass · Joined: 14 Dec 2018 Posts: 35

Yeah, I've been reading that the MODX seems to feel cheap (understandable, the Kross feels SUPER cheap lol) - and yeah, the montage looks great as well. Difficult to really tell the difference between that and the Kronos in videos. I guess a lot of it will be about workflow as well, and I'm somewhat familiar with the Korg environment; not to say I couldn't et on with the Yamaha, too...

Ugh. Yeah, I'll probably keep poking around the internet for month or so, or at least until I'm sure Korg isn't releasing something new.

Then again, I'd hate to think I wasted the chance to have these 6 weeks with the Kronos if I just end up buying it after January lol!

19naia · Platinum Member Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 1216

Not to forget that Kronos brought the LS model of kronos. Light weight version of kronos
Lets you have the full range of keys for wider spread of splits, and all that without the weight of 88 weighted keys.

You can have your full size and light weight, but not as light weight as the Kross 61.
Also nice to have them midi connected if Kross allows that. Kronos only sees its full potential when midi paired with external devices, like another synth or computer based synths.

dfahrner · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:36 pm Post subject:

GregC · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:27 pm Post subject:

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

I am first and foremost a guitarist and bought the 88 key Kronos earlier in the year. It's for studio use only which is great because light it's not. Still, I've never done a gig thinking, "Wow, this sounds like crap, but it was so easy to carry!" Smile

decreebass · Joined: 14 Dec 2018 Posts: 35

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

Well, it's not like I don't have issues with GAS. Smile

And I know what you mean about newer = better. I went through a lot of the Line 6 stuff and recently bought a Kemper. I think the Kemper has some things in common with the Kronos and comparable keyboards from other companies.

While synths are a different class of creature, for a lot of the organic sounds I enjoy (piano, B3, Rhodes, etc.), I've seen the Line 6 type of progression over the years - various attempts by keyboard manufacturers to model the given thing. Each attempt gets better. None are ever quite right.

These days, however, sample libraries are pretty close to the real thing because they're just that - samples of the given thing. In a similar fashion, Line 6 and Fractal both create models of amps, whereas the Kemper profiling technique leans in the direction of samplers (not at all literally, of course), taking a kind of snapshot of the given thing.

With the Kronos, since the non-synth sounds tend to be sampled rather than modeled, it comes out sounding extremely close to the real thing, and the same applies to the Kemper. I bought both not just by virtue of being latest and greatest, but because of the kind of thing they are - sampling / profiling versus trying to recreate the sound in a software algorithm.

Of course, just when you though the rat race was over, along come bigger rats...

I have no doubt that the state of the art in sampling will advance. However, I think the improvements will be much more incremental than comparable progress in modeling. This is one of the reasons I went with this class of creature, and why I'm comfortable that my investment will be secure for many years to come. Not in terms of resale value, but rather, "does this thing still sound good to me?"

With the Kemper and Kronos alike, I'm now playing samples of some very high end instruments. I'll never spend the money on the acoustic pianos that Korg sampled, nor am I likely to buy a Dumble, 69 Plexi or other such boutique / collectible amps. But five years down the line, these keyboards and guitar amps are still going to sound just as good as they do today.

At this point, any further investment in my music would probably best be spent improving my playing. It's not like I'm going to run out of road in that direction. Smile