Korg Forums

[jcrockerman]

So I just got an X88 last week and really got under the hood of this thing pretty hard core. I've been playing on a Yamaha Mo8. I was going to go with the Montage but because I could find a better deal on the Kronos and I decided that I wanted to learn a different operating system as well as a keyboard with the best piano sampling I went with Kronos.

That said I had to eq the crap out of the German Grand to make it sound right to my ears through my K12's and single Ksub. I love love love the sound now. As for the Berlin Grand... I feel a bit cheated spending money on the new sound pack. I found the natural decay to be an issue, not really loving the sound (but I've never really liked Bechsteins to begin with). I think what was most disappointing was the fact that Korg allowed an out of tune sample on A7 (or maybe it's was G7, one of the white keys in the upper register). The unison is clearly off...really how do you sell a sample collection with an out of tune unison!!!???

That said, I have been enjoying my Kronos X like crazy learning the new system, going through the process of frustration when I can't figure out why it's not doing what I want it to, to the triumphant feeling when it gets figured out.

Anyone else bothered by the out of tune unison?

[GregC]

[19naia]

There are some notes across the keys with a high ressonance, including that A7. But doesnt sound like out of tune to me.

If you haven't tried it yet for that A7 note.
Try listening to it in your headhones and then through the left/right mains speakers.
In my case it was that same note on my Left/Right mains studio monitors. I went back to headphones and the issue was not there.
I looked at the monitors sound knobs and they were set unevenly. I set the speaker knob settings to be equal left to right and that cleared up the inconsistency.
The samples are sampled individually per each key and some of the sample parts are panned more to the right main while others are sent more to the left main.(Creates realism of sound coming from strings arrayed from left register to right register).
If one speaker side is uneven volume or uneven pan from the other, the preset sample layer balance is offset and i think that particular A7 note has a weird sample layer and pan set up. If you don't have even panning on your external speakers, that note will be off. Internal pan on Kronos would be the better option in this case if its even an available option for Berlin Grand.
The premium pianos of SGX have some parameter ommisions and the 9 synth engine set up requires finding the quirks unique to each. They have more in common though, in terms of parameters and Control surface options.
New OS is definitely part of the bargain but also new Synth architecture is part of the deal too.