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[shap]

With my KRONOS on-hand, I'm slowly working my way through it. Taken overall, I'm impressed, but I don't want to offer any "deep" opinions without taking the time to give the KRONOS its due. It's particularly interesting to be evaluating the KRONOS, the Motif XF, and the V-Synth GT - all new to me - in parallel.

I have gotten far enough along to identify some elements of the physical interface that are annoying me. Let me preface this: it is the nature of physical interfaces that you don't notice the stuff that works, only the stuff that doesn't. In consequence, physical interface feedback tends to be negative. In fact: this is by far the most negative portion of my "first reactions", but I think it's useful to capture them. They shouldn't be taken as any sort of broad complaint or dissatisfaction about the keyboard.

The industrial design of the KRONOS is quite striking - the machine is beautiful, and that's important. It's also noticeably easier to transport in a car than, say, my Yamaha XF. Lighter, but also smaller.

The first thing that gets in my way is the display. It is unreadable. Other people have noted this ad nauseum, so I won't belabor it. It needs an update, and that's that. In defense of the current interface, the spare quality of the fonts is in keeping with the spare quality of the industrial design. The result is consistent, and visually striking, but it doesn't work for the user. I don't want to have to squint at the display, and today (glasses or not) I have to. My concern here is not just the fonts on the selection menus, but the "background" fonts on the various screens.

The LCD display needs to be re-angled. It works fine standing up, but the angle is unacceptable when seated. Note that this is independent of the font size issue.

It seems that all vendors like knobs and sliders. There is nothing wrong with knobs and sliders, but when knobs and sliders are multiplexed (serve multiple purposes) it is no longer sensible for them to be knobs or sliders. An input device (knob, slider, button) should never be inconsistent with the corresponding value. The OASYS had this right with it's infinite rotary encoders. The KRONOS, in this respect is a step backwards from the OASYS.

The knob/slider issue is a problem on other keyboards (Roland, Yamaha) as well. Subjectively, I find that the KRONOS is more of a problem for me, because the decision to use such tiny knobs makes it much harder for me to turn them. My fingers are wide; I find it difficult to get a confident grip on the knobs. This could very easily be fixed, simply by switching to larger plastics on the knobs.

Finally - and this may just be a matter of what is familiar - I find that it is difficult to select a new voice without using the touch screen. Like it or hate it, the Yamaha selection model is easy to operate in the dark. On the other hand, it may be a matter of what is familiar to me. Perhaps there is a similarly simple selection mechanism on the KRONOS that I haven't found yet. I would welcome suggestions.

So: I think there are some ways that the physical interface could stand improvement. Many of the same issues apply to other synthesizers. There are many things that I like about the KRONOS, and I'll get to a number of those in subsequent threads.
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[danatkorg]

[ScoobyDoo555]

Thanks for your insights Shap
Kronos does seem to polarise opinion.

Personally, I find the text easy to read - both sitting down and standing up. I appreciate that your comments are based on your experience, and there's nothing wrong with this (please don't think I'm questioning this).

Kronos' sliders/knobs, again, don't overly bother me in terms of quality - and certainly not compared to OASYS (tbh, I feel it's an unfair comparison - as the former is half the price of the latter)

I do agree with you patch selection - even some white leds under the bank selection buttons on the right would be good for use in the dark. That said, my set lists are set up, and prog/combi selection outside of "the set" would be a rarity.

On the whole though, the more I'm digging into mine, the more I appreciate what a great job Korg did with Kronos.

Dan
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[michelkeijzers]

Double post
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Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[michelkeijzers]

I always use now on my Triton Extreme and m50 (and former Korgs) an ordered list of songs (i.e. combi D40-D60 for set 1 songs, D60-D80 for set 2 songs etc). I leave some gaps so I easily can rearrange them. The only disadvantage is that I have to press the (Value) Up key sometimes twice instead of one but this is not a real issue.

The Kronos has Set List with cut/copy/paste options so that would life easier. Also the possibility to use both programs and combis.

I checked my Triton Extreme yesterday but on that screen also about 20 lines of text fit so I wonder if that font is not equal to the Kronos. Only change is that the Extreme uses lots of '-----' lines as separators. Never had problems with the Extreme (or M50) font.
_________________

Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[shap]

[shap]

[EvilDragon]

Personally, I would have expected endless rotaries instead of just knobs... It's just a much better solution without the need for "catching on" to the parameter value, or whatever.

Endless rotaries for the win. Have this in mind Korg when you produce your next workstation!

[Jeremy Bender]

I was worried about the font size and screen angle before I got mine this week.

However, in use it has been fine for the 2 days I have had it in terms of visibility etc but I am finding that selecting some items is requiring a few attempts although calibrating did make it better.

I am still surprised they didn't angle it more and include the physical pads given this is now the flagship...

[RonF]

[GregC]

[sani]

Regarding the screen angle:
I remember how quite a lot of motif xs users complained about the screen angle on it! The Kronos screen is not angled at all. So, I guess that regardless of the angle there would always be concerns, depending on the light condition.

[RonF]

Well there are two considerations with the screen..... Screen Angle, and Viewing Angle. When we talk about Screen Angle, we refer to the physical position of the screen. The Oasys had a adjustable screen angle...but cost considerations, I am sure, kept that out of the K. IMO...fair enough.

But what I do not understand is the omission of a contrast setting, so the user can adjust the optimal viewing angle. This was on the M3, which even HAD an adjustable Screen Angle (well...the whole darn thing, but you know what I mean). But, with the K, the Viewing angle is factory set, and is really only optimal when you are seated directly over the K.....such as on a first tier traditional keyboard stand, or table. Any other position choice is not optimal for the factory set angle, and causes you to have to lean over the K to see it correctly. I have no problem with the design choice of a fixed flat screen angle...but the omission of the contrast setting, is poor, IMO.
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[phattbuzz]

Page 792 of the Parameters Guide: LCD Set Up.
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[danatkorg]