Korg Forums

[jemkeys25]

I finally got a chance to play with the kronos, after finally programming it for three gigs this weekend, and my impressions are "WOW", what a monster this board is, the ease at which you can achieve" the sound you want" is so simple and straight forward, it plastered a smile from ear to ear. to be able to touch on a screen a visual representation of a real instrument (this is in program mode mind you), and munipulate it with visual parameters just like the real instruments is a huge leap foward from any other instrument at this price point.
"build quality" are you kidding me? dials popping off, what? if thats what your talking about, then you really can't play the instrument, it's like owning a lear jet, but you don't know how to fly it.
the disk drive is blazing fast at saving and loading files, including samples.

Korg i have to say I wasn't happy with the M3, but you just turned my frown upside down.

GREAT JOB KORG!

[keyplayer14]

Yessssssss!!!!!!!!!

[sparkie]

What is so "Lear Jet" about the data wheel falling off?? So I guess this isnt a problem for you?

[Chriskk]

[keyplayer14]

Tbh, although slightly concerned I feel like I'm prepared to live with a lot of niggles with this board because of what it will bring to me, although I agree that build quality ought not to be an issue at this price point. Still hope it's a one run problem, I think we need a lot more feedback yet.

[Gargamel314]

[CfNorENa]

[jemkeys25]

if you've ever had a vector synth thats the way they are, and as far as more feed back, the kronos fead back to me, and thats all i need.

[Vlad_77]

Jemkeys is spot on about vector synths and a loose feel. I have two: the budget TG-33 and a Wavestation EX. The EX's vector stick concerned me at first, but, I have had this beauty for 15 years and HEAVILY used the vector stick and to this day it has never fallen off, snapped or whatever.

The TG-33 is still VERY useful. Ironically, even though it was a low cost vector module at the time (purely vector synth and no wavesequencing) the joystick is actually a stick mounted on a sort of ball that sits in the module. That was a GREAT idea by Yamaha and I am surprised that Korg never "borrowed" the idea.

I am not terribly concerned about the build of the Kronos. It does after all have a warranty and if it falls apart, then I get another. I suppose I should knock on wood as I have only ever had one bad experience with a synth - an Oberheim Matrix-6. The thing sounded GREAT but it had that membrane thing as opposed to buttons. In time it wore out. I have heard people bemoaning that Fantom Xs aftertouch becomes unresponsive and that Roland keybeds in general are weak. My XV-88 and Fantom X8 are beautifully responsive and aftertouch is as perfect as the day I bought these. I use the two Roland tanks nightly and neither has let me down. So, I am not too worried about the build of the Kronos. I have seen perhaps two mentions of a faulty data wheel. As someone else had posted, if there were ten or twenty reports I would probably be more concerned. Since Kronos has been out in Japan now for a few weeks and we have it here in the US I would hazard that if this was a problem of pandemic proportions we would hear about it. I post at Sonikmatter, Roland Clan, Cowzar (for Kurzweil) and in each of those fora, I have seen no mention of flimsy Kronos builds.

Ahimsa,
Vlad
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Current gear: Kronos, Jupiter 80, Kurzweil PC3,Roland Fantom X8, Roland XV-88 (yep, its old, but the ACTION is heaven and those XV-3080 sounds are still wonderful for me), Radias-R, Motif ES (yeah it's older but I love the guitars )

[vladimotor]

So, does it have a Dial Wheel like on MicroX? 'cos that's what it looks like.

[taurgo Production]

Yeah, even when my data knob came off i still didn't want to part with this board it is Amazing! I fixed the problem with a little bit of Krazy glue.
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Korg Kronos, Mashine, Motif XF, Fantom X

[Lou]

[taurgo Production]

yeah i wish I didn't have to do this in the first place.......Korg.
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Korg Kronos, Mashine, Motif XF, Fantom X

[cynkh]

I also am at a loss to explain what all the problems are. The data wheel feels almost identical to my Triton Extreme's except that it's a bit more convex- less like a hockey puck. It clicks a bit loudly but I'm not operating it while sampling from a microphone so that's not really an issue; plus, it's a good audible feedback that it's working well.
The vector joystick feel just as good as any Wavestation I've every played- maybe a bit more solid feeling than a Wavestation. It certainly feels a lot nicer than my Yamaha SY-35 and TG-33 which were fun; but, more like churning butter at times.
Keep in mind that music store floor demo models get a lot more action (and not always lovingly) from people who do not necessarily have that instrument's best interests in mind. That being said, ~$3,000 USD is a bit much to pay for something without getting your hands on it; but, I can assure you that I've had a lot of experience with Korg boards on the sales floor and in a studio environment and the former can really mislead you.
I love the Kronos and I'll baby it exactly the way I've done for my O-series, N-series, Triton Extreme and microKORG.
Well done, as always, Korg!

That's my $.02. Cheers!
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- cynkh -

Hardware:
Kronos 61, microKORG, MoPho, Rogue, Aira System-1, Aira TB-3, Aira TR-8, MC-202, TB-303, (KMS-30), Juno 6, Alpha-Juno 1 (PG-300), SH-201, MC-09, Virus TI Snow, K2000, MPC-1000, X-Station 25, MultiMix-16FW, Ableton Live Push

Software:
Logic Pro 9, Korg Legacy Collection, Komplete 8, vCollection 3, Sylenth1, microTonic

[jemkeys25]

I'm not having any trouble with my dial, are you guys to rough on them, or did it just fall off in your hands?