Korg Forums

[jorgemncardoso]

Hello to all,

New member here, i didn't have the chance to try out the Kronos but from what i've read and heard i'm seriously considering buying one. I was reading your comments on the 61 key action and wanted your opinion on this:
I have 2 01/W FD and one Trinity and i absolutely love the action and keybed on those boards, i know that this is a subjective matter but in your opinion how does the Kronos action compare to these (01/W and Trinity has the same actions as the triton series if it helps)
I've tried the M3 a while ago and didn't like the keys and action at all, they feel too plastic like and not semi weighted enough for my taste (sorry korg engineers), maby i'm just too used to the old action but for me is difficult to adapt to any thing lighter than that, otherwise i'll have to go with the 73 piano keys.

Thank's
Jorge

[RC-IA]

kronos 61 keyboard is the same as the M3 one. so you won't like it. to my taste, is far better than old korg keyboard (01, trinity...etc), in term of keys shape and action.

[jorgemncardoso]

Thank's for your opinion RC-IA, i've tried the M3 probably 2 years ago or something so i can't remember the action very well, but i remember thinking at the time that the keys where lighter than the old keybeds. Again maby it's just me, i've been playing with those old keybeds for almost 20 years now all the way from good 'oll M1 so it maybe a little hard to adapt. Not to mention that i can take my 01's and trinity apart and put it back together again for repairs, but that's another story LOL
I just need to feel enough weight under my fingers to play piano and to be light enough to play fast synth licks. Looking forward to give Kronos a try when i get the chance

Jorge

[Gargamel314]

I have a Korg M3, and an 01/Wfd, and I've owned 2 members of the Triton family, so I'm used to the traditional Keybed that was used for years. The Kronos-61 and the M3-61 use a Korg-manufactured keybed, and the Triton/Trinity/01Wfd use a Yamaha Keybed. The Korg Keybed has a good amount of resistance to it, but it is VERY quiet. Like if you play both keybeds with all sound turned off, the Yamaha keybed makes a lot more noise and sounds a little clankier (if that's even a word), and each key reaches the bottom much harder with the Yamaha than the Korg. When the key springs back up... the Yamaha is a lot louder. The Korg keybed feels like whatever is at the bottom where the keys hit is made of a softer, bouncier material... it feels really good once you get used to it. When I first tried it I thought it felt really cheap compared to the 01/W's, but now I prefer it over the the 01/W's. Also, the aftertouch is WAY more responsive on the new Korg keybed. As far as the shape of the keys go, the corners and edges are just a little more rigid, less smooth than on the Yamaha keybed. The Yamaha keybed has just a slight bit more resistance than the Korg, but it's hardly noticeable unless you really sat and compared the two. A lot of people prefer the Yamaha key action over the Korg, and vice versa. i think it's a very subjective topic, like apples and oranges. I don't think one's better than the other. I've found the M3's is a little better at doing things like timpani and cymbal rolls, but the M3's is DEFINITELY more responsive to velocity. I had a high school student come try my M3 out when I first got it a few years ago, and he played a few arpeggios and said "wow FEEL these keys!" I really think once you get used to playing on it, the Korg keybed is a winner.

From what I've read on these forums... that Yamaha keybed is discontinued, I tried out a Motif once and expected to feel that amazing action from the 01/W that I was so used to, but it was even lighter feeling than the M3's. It felt more like an M50 to me. I think the only keyboard that has better semi-weighted action than the M3 and Kronos is a Kurzweil, but that's just going off of what I've read on the forums, I haven't had the opportunity to try one out.
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Korg Kronos-61, 01/Wfd, SONAR Pro

[EXer]

The Trinity had the same semi-weighted Yamaha keyboard as the DX7 and the EX5.

I still own an EX5 and I really like the feeling of that keyboard: when you depress a key you have to overcome a certain resistance first, then it becomes lighter, giving the sensation of "throwing" the key, a bit like on a piano.

That's a very pleasant sensation, very different from the "springy" sensation of ordinary synth keyboards on which the resistance is simply proportional to the depressing of the key, hence the "plasticky" sensation...

Unfortunately Korg and Yamaha don't equip their synths with these excellent keyboards anymore

[sani]

Played and owned M1, T3, Triton (not counting those with the Fatar overlight keyboard) and M3. Personally, I liked the old keybed much better. The keyboard on the M3 was simply to light. I wouldn't call it semiweighted. But it's a matter of taste.

[Rosen Sound]

I live the 01/w action. I loved it in the triton extreme and dx7. When I got my kronos, I loved the action. But I like the tritons better! Then after a week I took out le old triton.... hated it... The kronos had a much better semi weight to it. Good for synth and piano. Give it another chance!
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Current gear: Korg Kronos 61, Oberheim OB-8, Alesis Vortex
Past Gear: Triton Extreme w/moss & ram, Korg Radias, Kurzweil Micropiano, Triton classic, & Karma
Come visit my Burbank California repair shop/recording studio! Rosensound.com
And my band: Sirion.us.com

[jorgemncardoso]

Thank's a lot for your input and opinions really, you all make good point's.
Gargamel314 is absolutely right to say the korg/yamaha old FS action is harder at the bottom and has perhaps a longer key travel than the new one, but that is what i like, maybe that's why i feel the M3 keys to be plastic like too, i mean for synth and organ is great but for piano/EP playing and othar stuff it just gets on my nerves, it's too soft. I'm more a piano/EP/Pads kid on guy than pure synth/synth lead kind of guy, maybe i do synth stuff much more now but i like the keybed to be stiffer. I remember not liking my Trinity keys compared to the 01w keys, despite being the same keybed, only the felts at the bottom where a bit different, and it made a difference. I remember bating the hell out of the keys of my Trinity so the felt got older and harder quickly LOL Today it's great but i still prefer the 01W for piano when i use it for that cause piano keys feel harder at the keybed like that too. Of course that's only an issue when i do a gig cause at the studio i have a motif XS8 with piano keys.
EXer also makes a good point, the old keyboards have the spring's initial resistance, then it get's lighter and you have another slight added resistance by the key contact witch is a little strip of metal spring like (for those who don't know the mechanical side of this boards) so the combination of the two springs and the physical construction of the keybed makes for the action to be slightly more piano like i gess. Then there's the reliability issue, the old yamaha system was virtually indestructible, those key contacts last for ever without maintenance no matter how harder you abuse the keys and no matter how much dust it collects, the new ones has probably rubber contacts, i know new yamaha's does, it's all great when they are new but what about is like 5 years or so of constant service? I know the old ones hold up great, the 01W's have about 18 years or so, not a single problem. I have to think about this, but i'll probably end up buying the 73 piano key version

[Chriskk]

The old Yamaha FS keybed used on classic Yamaha & Korg digital synths was fabulous. I prefer it to Yamaha's updated, environmentally friendly FSX keybed. I also absolutely loved the keybed of the Ensoniq TS-10.

[jorgemncardoso]

Totally agree with you Chriskk, i have the motif's xs service manual and have seen how the new FSX keybed is built, honestly the old one is much more solid and reliable in my opinion, the new one looks about the same outside, but inside is totally different, i don't think it will hold up as well as the old FS. However i think between the yamaha fsx action and the new korg one i prefer the fsx, at least from what i remember from the two.
I'll probably go with a Kronos 73 with one of mine 01W's on the top just for controller to play synth and organ from the kronos. Kind of like what Tony Banks used in the last Genesis tour, he used a A90 and a Wavestation just as controllers to control the Oasys and rack gear.

[levis]

korg M3-61/Kronos61 = fullsize keybed
yamaha FS, FSX = narrowed keybed

[JPWC]

The keyboard sensitivity settings can have a major impact on the impression you have of the keybed.

I say, head on down to your local music shop to try it out, but prior to that, download the owner's manual and learn how to change this setting, then when demo'ing the keyboard, try a few different settings.

I find the Kronos 61 keybed to be fine, if not great, while it did take a few hours of playing to grow accustom to the feel, funny I did not have this "break-in" period with the Yamaha Motifs (XS & XF) I've owned.

I also have the SV-1, this keybed took even longer to grow into.

All this aside, the feel and control is a personal attribute of the keybed in question. So don't trust anyone, check it for yourself.

After a few hours of play, just about any of the keybeds out there seems ok to me.
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[Shakil]

I like the M3 keyboard lot lot more than Trinity/Triton keyboard...
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Roland Fantom-G6 ARX1, Korg M3-m exb-Radias, Korg Z1-18v, Roland MC-808, Roland MC-909, Korg microKontrol.

[michelkeijzers]

I have an M50 and that keybed is less good than the Kronos.
And I also think the Kronos is better than the Extreme.

Especially for aftertouch (this is the first keybed) that is easy to press an aftertouch value of 0-127 instead of on/off (I know there are aftertouch curves but those never give good results).
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Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[JPROBERTLA]

For the last 10 years I have used 1 keyboard, a Triton Studio88. After reading about the Kronos 73 and 88 keybed issues, I decided to get a K61 and keep the Triton. After 3 months, I can honestly say that I have grown to really like thid K61's keybed and now have the flexibility of having both weighted and unweighted kebeds in my rig.

I had a O1W/FD 61 and a Trinity 61 previous to my first Triton and I remember liking both of those keybeds. Keybed feel is absolutely a personal preference decision. The K61's alows me to play faster on organ and synth parts as compared to a weighted keyboard - it also feel rights for these instruments - I do not play any piano on it and always use a weighted keybed for that.
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JP
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Kronos2-88, Behringer XR18, Turbosound IP2000 (x2), dbx DriveRack 260, KRK Rokit 8s, Mackie CFX16, Mackie SRM450(x2), Mackie SRS1500 (x2), BBE processors (x4), Roland VSR 880 (x2), Alto TS210, Alto TX10 (x3) and SoundForge