Korg Forums

[robinkle]

Got a phonecall from Procom just now.
And it will probably arrive in my mail Saturday.

I'll take some pictures and post my first impressions as soon as I get the chance. Can't wait!

[robinkle]

About Forum posts:
I've seen many forum members post about their first days with Kronos, and mostly I think it is useful to have people share their experience with Kronos. So I'm no different.
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First experience:
First of all, the package doesn't fit into a regular Sedan shaped Car, so I had to take it out of the box on the street. But that isn't a problem. It's worth it!
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Secondly:
I placed my Kronos on to the drawer of my custom handmade studio-desk that I successfully have put together for this Keyboard. And connecting the cables was no problem.
I downloaded and installed the midi driver and booted Kronos thereafter. Everything got up and running, ready for the first tones of Epicness... (don't kill me).
I also checked if there was any DAW software available, but "fail".
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Since everyone always starts off with the Piano, I went straight for the MOD-7 patches on the Set List. MOD-7 is what I've been waiting for all this time, and I'm very happy so far with it.
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The build Quality:
There is not much bad to say about Kronos. It is the most complete keyboard I've ever touched. The build quality is there, it feels robust, sturdy and quiet.
No Roland plastic sound when taping the surface. The knobs are close to be as sturdy as on the Access Virus TI.
The faders are sturdy as well. I really like the feeling of touching the Kronos, it feels like an expensive instrument. The vector stick is ok, supposed to be a bit flimsy I guess.

On the down side, The Dial wheel fell of quickly, and the plastic and lightness of this dial, doesn't match the overall quality of Kronos.
My dealer will get me a new dial.
The Pitch/Mod stick or whatever Korg calls it, doesn't impress me either.
The stick it self bends easily, so I will be careful with it.
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Display:
The display looks awesome! It's sharp and clear picture is a big
bonus. I can understand that some Kronos users have issues
with everything being very small on the Display due to the high
resolution on a small display. I got perfect vision, and it won't be
a problem for me atm.. Though I have to concentrate little.

I did the calibration, and still I feel I have to press my finger a bit above
the parameters on the display. And I often feel I need a few tries
before it reacts on the items I aim for. But I think I will get around this
by simply getting used to how the display responds to my fingers.
I will also like to add that the display is not like iphone. I have to give
a little pressure for it to react to my touch, but this is not a big issue.
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Graphical interface:
It looks good. But if you never used a Korg workstation before,
you might have to re-invent the wheel a few times. The interface
doesn't explain it self. The user manual will come i handy.
And thank you Korg for implementing the Manual into the keyboard!
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Ribbon:
Just a cool feature. But needs finger pressure to react.
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Smell and Noise:
The Kronos smells good, when unpacking it. Gives me butterflies!
Somepeople on this form have complained about the noise, though
some might have got a Kronos with a bad fan. I can't hear mine. My
Mac Pro is noisy compared to Kronos. And Macs doesn't make much noise either in my opinion.

Keys:
I really like this RH3 keybed!
I don't need to bang the keyboard to get full velocity output.
When I press the keys, I think it's about 10 mm down which is
very short. And I like that. I've had other keyboards I might feel I needed extended fingers to play, so this is much nicer.
Aftertouch feels good to use as well, no need to press too hard. Though,
it's not like the Prophet 08 that almost reacts to breathing.
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Early conclusion:
I really love Kronos so far. It's a fantastic instrument.
I made my first MOD-7 patch with the help from the manual,
and I feel I can get started already with the programing.

Hope you who dare taking time to read this, found it usefull,
and I'm ready to answer questions as well.

Image is a bit huge :S But it shows my setup. This is Norways first Kronos 73 and I'm very happy and lucky to get one.

[CfNorENa]

Congrats, robinkle! Love the custom desk. Looks like a fantastic little corner for making music.

What monitors are those, by the way?
_________________
Korg gear: Kronos 73.
Other gear: Oberheim SEM | SCI Prophet 5 | Roland MKS-70 | Waldorf Microwave XTk

[robinkle]

[Qtipcore]

A bit envious, but still:-) Congratulations!

Are you planning on gigging with it, or is it strictly for studio use?

I'm still pondering about when and if I'm going to order, and which model I should get... Know anyone in the need for a TEX76?

[robinkle]