Korg Forums

[Kevin Nolan]

[jmexio]

[peter_schwartz]

[Kevin Nolan]

Peter -

The Kronos OS is the OASYS OS. 7 of the 9 EXi's are the same in every detail. The other two are indeed superlative, but they are add-ons; as are the new sample packages.

You're assuming that because I claim the Kronos to be the OASYS updated that some how that's an insult both to the Kronos or to Korg. Nothing could be further from the truth. I own and use two OASYS among many other instruments in my studio - indeed I have spent the last three years optimising my OASYS instruments across thousands of programs and their organisation on the OASYS and on Hard Disk to get the most form it. The OASYS is THAT deep and capable.

And apart from Sina's correction of timing resolution, the Sequencer and even the Karma Engine are those form the OASYS (there may be some very minor improvement in both but nothing new or fundamental).

So Peter please cool it with the personal attackes here – don’t make this personal please - there is no emotion, 'coded insults' or other bias in my posts here. I call it as I see it. I've read the specs and watched the demos of Kronos, and have used the OASYS in a myriad of projects over 5 years, and in virtually every way other than the well known extensions (which as I’ve pointed out are absolutely worth it - the EXi's, dual cores sample packs and live performance facilities) the Kronos is the OASYS with those additions. None of the Kronos's core features are implemented with new software - it's 6 year old OASYS OS's with updates.

Indeed the OASYS retains some significant advantages - including the 2GB or Ram and a far superior control interface (which by the way is very important to this instrument because despite the power under the hood, the touch screen is just for selection, not for interaction, so the control surface is used all the time).

Now, as Sina pointed out correctly - this is where Kronos is starting from - but this IS where it is starting from. I am confident of powering on my new Kronos in a few months and being able to work at it immediately, with no surprises in any of the core features (constituting the vast majority of what the instrument is about).

So for the purposes of this thread; the point about DAW integration is fair, in my opinion. Since Korg have simply extended OASYS's actual core software, it is a fair assumption (again Peter - read my posts - I made no factual claim in this regard) - I said it is a fair assumption that since no original OASYS features have been enhanced (apart from sequencer timing), then it is a fair assumption to suppose that the Kronos Daw integration will be that of the M3. I could be wrong - and Peter - again please read all of my posts over on the OASYS forum - I am always delighted to stand corrected - there's no arrogance on my part I can assure you. But this looks to me that Korg are repackaging the OASYS to recoup their significant R&D effort into OASYS which never materialised through sales. Everything about Kronos points to that - including it's incredibly cut down quality in hardware interface - but as said - reuse of features from OASYS (and perhaps M3 w.r.t DAW integrations) looks like the order of the day. In my opinion, ALL effort has gone into the new features mentioned already, with maximum effort to reuse existing OASYS (and perhaps M3 DAW) technology.

Juan - I did not personally have particular gripes about the sequencer. I just use it to write music and get the hell on with it. Instead it was a large cohort of the OASYS forum who did. There have been many heated debates on the OASYS sequencer over on the OASYS forum. And I mean long and heated. Just a few issues include no cue lists - so Kronos will not have those. Then there is not interactivity with the screen like there is with the M3 (in fact in the opinion of many OASYS users, the M3 got the sequencer update that OASYS users had been calling for years). Given that these significant improvements have been implemented for the M3 - but not for Kronos - is another pointer to the blanket reuse of OASYS software in Kronos. But as Sina has pointed out, features such as the M3 sequencer may appear in Kronos in an update. But there ARE going to be a lot of unhappy Kronos users when they get to use the Kronos sequencer - it does not stand up to close scrutiny. Again - if elusive features escape me that are indeed present I will be always delighted to stand corrected - I'm not trying to be right - I' trying to be accurate and critical (in the 'critical thinking' sense - not the 'damning' sense).

Juan - go the the korguser.net website and download the OASYS and M3 sequencer specs and you'll get a good sense of the differences. Or do a search on the word sequencer on the OASYS forum and you'll uncover many, many discussions on it's shortcomings.

With all these caveats, I will be buying a Kronos88 the minute it's out (I'm awaiting a price from Digital Village in the UK from my contact there). So the Kronos will be awesome - but there needs to be clear perspective on it's pedigree, it's shortcomings and it's truly jaw-droppingly good features.

Kevin.

[robinkle]

Kronos: Clone of Oasys or not. Now the software is about fully developed and have been financed from the sales of Oasys. Kronos can now be sold for a lower price. yey!

[peter_schwartz]

[jimknopf]

Not only has midi resolution changed, audio also is now possible in 24bit.

Despite the common basics there are so many addons and changes in the Kronos, compared to the Oasys (SSD streaming alone means another league), that nobody can call it just an Oasys at street price. And both the Piano and EPiano engines are essentials, not just "add-ons", bringing the synth to a completely other level, even compared to a full blown Oasys.

If I had an Oasys and a Kronos before me, new and at the same price, I would without even hesitating take the Kronos, despite some hardware goodies on the Oasys side (outputs, screen etc.). The Kronos simply is the considerably(!) more advanced synth of both!

[Kevin Nolan]

Peter and Jim -

With you on all those points for sure. Like yourselves I'm keenly awaiting the Kronos - it is a significant step forward and you'll find no harping back to past glories from me - I'm over the moon to see the Kronos and the more people who buy it the better so we can share / exchange expertise, sounds and so on.

My only point was to point out that it appears that there is a lot in Kronos that were gripe points on the OASYS and it doesn't look like they've been resolved -yet - so w.r.t. DAW integration, I suspect (with no evidence admittedly) that it'll be similar to M3 level integration. But (again as Sina pointed out) - Kronos will surely improve over time with updates so hopefully some of the outstanding issues will become resolved. Onwards and upwards!!


Cheers,
Kevin.

[jimknopf]

Yes, I'm a bit sceptical as well, about how smooth DAW integration will work in everyday exchange, at least in the first OS version. But I guess it will do for the start, and become more advanced over time.

[Michael Blue]

Dear Lord this became a mess.

Kevin, while I really appreciate your thought and effort, you REALLY need to consider something here. You are NOT part of Korg, you were NOT part of the development of the Kronos and you do NOT have access to any other info that what the rest of us have seen/heard. PLEASE, for the love of God, QUIT trying to post as some official authority on things you don't know.

Sina, nice to know someone's watching and trying to keep things straight. Didn't know you were on this site.

For the record, I asked a simple question, I'm not demanding answers, just patiently waiting for the first demo, like the rest of us.

I WON'T be reading/responding to other posts like Kevin's. If you feel like wasting your time trying to post "authoritative" information you're not really privy to, I hope Sina, Jim or someone else will set you straight - I'm not wasting my time on it.

Just waiting for official word...

Thanks!

~M
_________________
www.Michael-Blue.com
Arturia Analog Experience - The Laboratory (61)
Native Instruments Maschine | Komplete 8
Korg Triton Rack | Korg X3R | E-MU Planet Earth
Yamaha DX7 (for sale) | Siel DK80 | Yamaha Upright Piano
StudioOne Pro | Spectrasonics Omnisphere | Trilian
Cinematic Guitars | EZ Drummer | Steve Slate Drums
Formerly Korg OASYS 76 #000344

[Sina172]

...

[RichF]

Hi guys,

Just to clarify one point, the sequencer in Kronos does not have the SysEx editing functionality from the M3.

And now, some editor details:

1. The editor runs standalone, or as a VST or AU-compatible plug-in. If you're using ProTools, just use a VST-RTAS wrapper.
2. The editor DOES require Kronos to be connected in order to hear anything. There is no sound source in the software itself.
3. Although it shares some fundamental architecture with the M3 editor (one instance controls all 16 timbres), the Kronos editor is VERY different... It feels much closer to interacting with the actual interface on the Kronos display. If you're editing an MS-20EX Program, for example, you get to use the patch panel.
4. The editor has librarian functionality that allows for some often-requested ordering features.

That's all for now... Hope this answers some of your questions. As always, specs are subject to change.

-Rich
_________________
Richard Formidoni

[jimknopf]

That was a very helpful overview.

Some screenshots would be fine: it seems there haven't been any editor/librarian pics so far. Any chance?

Sorry for my limited English, probably a dumb question, but I didn't understand the smiley-sentence about the "often-requested ordering features".

[RichF]

Sorry, no screenshots/videos yet. We'll post them as soon as possible.

The "ordering features" refer to the ability to view an entire bank of sounds, and click/drag the sounds to new locations.

-Rich
_________________
Richard Formidoni

[jimknopf]

Thanks: it's VERY useful for everyday work to have such a librarian function integrated into the editor (and not as separate program like I had it with my Fantom G).