Korg Forums

fomalhaut · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:15 am Post subject: External sequencers for a Kronos

Do anyone have experience or recommendation on an external groovebox-poly sequencer for a Korg Kronos? Things I've researched are:

- Akai MPC One & Live (not really clear what the difference is between these two)
- Maschine+
- Polyend Play
- Squarp Hapax
- Elektron Digitakt

I just want to delve a little bit into live performance with non lineal sequencing using the onboard Kronos sounds and effects, so I'm not interested in having sample capability or onboard instruments. Of these, the Hapax seems to fit the bill perfectly, but the price is a little bit hefty for a MIDI only sequencer.

Any thoughts or something I'm missing will be appreciated.

Koekepan · Platinum Member Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Posts: 617

I haven't done exactly this, but I have played out quite a bit with my Krome, and the Social Entropy Engine.

The short: it works, brilliantly.

I have also used my Akai Force with both Kross and Krome, and again: it works, brilliantly.

I have also used my Kross and a NDLR, and it worked, brilliantly.

So the principle is clearly sound.

As far as the MPC One and Live are concerned: the One is the smallest MPC, with a good set of dedicated buttons, but no speakers, no battery, no wifi and somewhat limited I/O compared to the Live. On the other hand it will talk USB MIDI to the Kronos just fine, so if that's your goal it should be quite adequate.

SeedyLee · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2023 6:25 am Post subject:

In terms of hardware, I have tried an MPC1000, MPC One, QY70 and QY700 - and in every case I have gone back to just using the inbuilt Kronos sequencer. It's not perfect, but the integration is pretty good (including auto tracks and in-track sampling), and whilst all of the above bring something different to the table, I ultimately found the Kronos the smoothest workflow.
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Current Equipment:
Korg Kronos 2 88, Reface CS, Roland JV-1080, TE OP1, Moog Subsequent 37, Korg ARP Odyssey, Allen & Heath Zed 18, Adam F5, MOTU MIDI Express XT, Lexicon MX200 & MPX1, Yamaha QY700, Yamaha AW16G, Tascam DP008ex, Zoom H6, Organelle, Roland J6 & JU06A

Previous: Triton LE 61/Sampling/64MB/4GB SCSI, MS2000BR, Kronos 1 61, Monotribe, NanoKontrol, NanoKeys, Kaossilator II, Casio HT3000, Roland VP-03, Reface DX, Novation Mininova, MPC One