Korg Forums

[BlackForest]

It still shows up on the German Korg website, both LS and the standard version.

https://www.korg.com/de/products/synthesizers/

https://www.korg.com/de/products/synthesizers/kronos2/
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Kronos 2-88 & X73, Kurzweil MicroPiano, Spitfire Albion V Tundra, BBCO Core, Nylon Guitar Ilya Efimov, Xtant Audio Uilleann Pipes - in use

Korg DS-8, Roland D-10, M1Rex, Wavestation, Korg SP-280, JV2080, Wavestate, Kronos LS - all RIP

[timg11]

We've discussed a more modular architecture in the past, here and here

To reduce cost, Korg should focus on the areas where it adds the most value. Here's what a Kronos consists of:

Computing platform
Touch Screen display interface
Control surface (knobs & buttons) and interfaces (connectors)
Software
Keybed

The first two are offered at very competitive prices from computer manufacturers - Apple, Microsoft, Dell, etc. There are many thin and light 2 in 1 style touch screen form factors.

The control surface and software are the place where Korg adds value. The control surface could be a relative thin box that could sit on any existing MIDI controller keybed, with a gap in the middle where the tablet computer would sit.

Korg could still offer a keybed (at least a 73 key controller since they don't exist otherwise) but breaking out the control surface as the "core product" would allow more flexibility.

So the future workstation would be a control surface unit that would connect by USB to a tablet computer that would run the Kronos software, and another USB connection to a keyboard. Korg could even make the control surface unit optional, meaning the user could choose to give up the physical controls and use only the touchscreen for a lower cost.
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Kronos2 73, Presonus StudioLive, Cakewalk / Sonar Platinum, Windows 10

[billysynth]

Oh Man.

the workstation is still in demand. Roland's Fantom is running supreme with all the new features being added and more to come.

The all in one solution is still strong. All the different technologies in the one box with control surface and a key bed attached to the one system with a great touch screen can't be beaten. Nobody wants to plug and unplug usb and other cables, and loose attachments. Looking for bits and pieces to set up their rig...all in one solution alleviates this hassle.

Kronos replacement must be a Pro level keyboard all in one with current technologies including a full representation of the Arp 2600 along with all other technologies and beyond. It will sell. They always sell. The Kronos sold for 10 years, sales didn't stop after 5 years...the next updated modernised version will also sell continuing the demand for work stations.

And besides...Korg will want to prove that it can out do Roland. They always want to prove they can out do the other. Only Kurz is stuck in the 90's.

Vas.

[danmusician]

[Koekepan]

I think that Akai's experience with the X and the Force shows that there's a considerable appetite in the market for studio hubs that will give you various approaches to sequencing, including a full linear sequence. They also give multiple synthesis models, integrated sound effects and audio routing, and a mature, proven input system. All that is since '08, and the dinky One and the portable Live clean up the lower end of the market.

So the market is unquestionably there.

If you absolutely have to have a set of integrated black-and-whites, then Roland, Yamaha and Kurzweil will do what you need, and they sell pretty well too. So does Casio.

KORG doesn't have to step back into the workstation field if it doesn't want to. The Kross II is still a pretty happy little box (my Kross Original is on a keyboard stand to my right as I type this) but as a practical matter if they want to get back into it they should come forward with a real world-beater, otherwise the market will just assume that they're an also-ran trying to trade on past glories.

That said, I would add that the current Kurzweil offerings don't really seem stuck in the '90s to me. It's just more of a winning formula, polished and updated and if I were in the market for a keyboard workstation today, Kurzweil would head the list of contenders.

[Johnf_tx]

I think all of you make good points here. I have far less experience than most of you and stopped playing for 20 years. When I decided to start again, I needed to replace everything and the Kronos combined incredible sounds and programming with all of the mixer and sequencing technology that I needed without replacing my several racks worth of mixers, effects, and obsolete modules. I don't think this is the situation most people are in, but I don't regret the decision at all after two months worth of learning it.

it's still hard for me to believe that I literally have five different keyboards that are perfectly integrated and sound so incredible. Not to mention all of the other things the Kronos will do. my being absent for so many years has made this a shock. My keyboad was a KorgM1.

Knowing what I know about the Japanese, I would be surprised if any vendor would exit a space like this, especially if they had the kind of quality and leadership.. They've also have such great support and ancillary products that go along with their synthesizers. And don't forget their other brands that we don't generally think about. Vox, Blackstar, Waldorf, and others.

We are focused on a very expensive product that is a very small amount of their business but I suspect that they will continue some form of it, mainly because I think it would be a terrible loss if they didn't.
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Kronos 2 November, 2021

[19naia]

Korg has done a lot of work over the passed few year, with virtual synths.
I know i bought the Triton series for the triton extreme and older triton included.
I use it together with Omnisphere to make layered sounds in Logic Pro.
Triton is a bit blunt sounding while Omnisphere can be too overwhelming with drowning fluidity and loudness.
The two synths meet well in the middle for well balanced sounds, according to my ears.

Anyway, Korg put out a wide fleet of computer based virtual products.
This is something to consider in how well Korg may be doing in terms of income to further their new developments.

Having so many synths in software form now, is where the wide expansion of synth engines in a new flagship workstation can come from.
Korg has to compete with Roland in all categories, including the Fantom.
Fantom has taken the control surface to a new level, also the internal power for things like polyphony and connection to endless files of sounds that roland keeps online for anyone to buy into, regardless of having Roland hardware or not.

I use Korg software synth via Logic and the keybed is Casio’s compact version of stage piano. I even layer in one of Casio’s electric pianos while playing one of my Omnisphere+KorgTriton layers in Logic Pro. My Kronos stays in storage thousands of miles away. Too much $$$ to ship it here.

Kronos flagship workstation line has to stay, unless pandemic economy has taken its toll. It does for the best of them……but maybe not Korg?
People always need hardware controllers for the world of virtual music production tools out there. And then the all-in-one option will always be a big relief for live performers and quick composing.

I think next flagship is going to challenge Roland very well, and also tap into the library of virtual synths and virtual music-making platforms Korg has come up with in the passed few years. Taking the world of multiple synth engines further along.
Issues with polyphony will have to be sorted out with better processing and more RAM will easily come along with better processing power.

Korg does the Hardware part easily and well. It may just be a matter now of major software improvements set for a new processor, and a new way of interfacing with synth engines….Perhaps synth engines that can be unloaded and loaded like sound files. Or synth engines that can be bought and installed as expansions, with room on board to do so beyond just 9 or even a dozen synth engines. Maybe picks and choose which to add and which to remove..

Not too much advancement remaining before Korg flagship workstation crosses over the line of being a DAW, which then sets Korg up for making a DAW software product as just another option in its fleet of software-only products.
After all, Korg has to go all the way in every direction to remain relevant in electronic based music.
There is always the risk that computer based systems working as DAW environments, advance in ways that draw people away from companies like Korg. But not if Korg supplies those DAW’s with virtual synths, and not if Korg makes its own DAW competitor that has the added advantage of ready integration with hardware from a Korg company with a long legacy of industry leading products, with fame just as blazing as any of the most famous musicians showing the Korg products playing the best of their hit songs.

I would buy the next generation Korg flagship. I didn't buy the tempting newest Roland or any other brand because i would hate to miss having the money instead for the next big step Korg makes beyond Kronos.

[timg11]

[Rich Z]

Just daydreaming out loud here, but while reading this thread I was struck by a mental image of a keyboard that had the entire surface a live active display touch screen. Except the actual keybed itself, of course. All virtual buttons, sliders and knobs. Want a synth workstation? Call up that screen display and there you go. Want a full arranger? Call up that screen and have at it. Want both at the same time? Sure... Want something you haven't thought of yet? Well it is ALL programmable. Make it what you want. Any reason why a keyboard itself can't be a programmable DAW instead of using the computer desktop or laptop?

So yeah, just dreaming. But the technology is certainly there to make it a reality. Heck, maybe someone has made something like that already. Seems like a logical progression that certainly others would have thought of.

Could be pricey with a touch screen the length and width of something like a Kronos's control area, though.

Honestly, I thought hard and long deciding between buying the PA4x or the Kronos. I chose the Kronos because it just sounded much better to me. And I just wanted 88 keys. But I still had a hankering for an arranger, but the PA4x was just too long in the tooth for me, so recently I bought a Yamaha Genos instead of waiting to see what Korg did in that department. If Korg mates the Kronos and the PA4x together into one unit, with tech improvements that are possible today, I would likely buy that too. Not that I can play as a musician worth a damn, but I can tinker along with the best of them, I think. I don't need no steekin' audience!

[average_male]

Touch screen technology still has some maturing to do before this vision could be implemented, like if touch screen gets wet, from performing in sprinkling weather or similar , the screen won’t respond. This and there are missed touch registrations when touching the screen, latency and touch resolution issues that physical controls just don’t have issues with.

[voip]

The Yudo Neuman 2 concept was introduced at NAMM 2018. I've not heard anything about it since.

There was also the 2BTruman Genesis I Polypatch. Two screens, forming a surface, but similar lack of further developments.

Oh, and Open Labs, Neko.

.