Kronos/Oasys comparison

[Charlie]

Not sure where to put this - but guess it makes more sense in the Oasys section than in the Kronos.

When looking at the pics and vids it's plain to see there's lots of Oasys in the Kronos. What I'm interested in are the real differences - esp. soundwise! Does Kronos sound the same as Oasys? Or even better?

I remember discussions here about quality of converters. That is: even when M3 received HD1 it didn't sound as good, as Oasys has better converters.

Sample Streaming is definitely great - esp. when playing live! And I liked the new layout enabling you to switch by a touch from one program to a combi to a sequence. Again, a great feature for playing live.

But the most interesting part for me is SOUND and possibilities to influence them. Now, how does Kronos compare to the Oasys regarding sound?!?

PS: Of course this thread is open for discussing any differences. But my guess is that for most people here the sound of a synth + how well one can influence it is a major part of a comparison.

[peter m. mahr]

Hoer Dir das mit dem Kopfhoerer an: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHV3rnkG ... sponse_rev

Zwar kein A/B Vergleich, sagt aber so einiges über die Qualitaet aus!

Peter

[Charlie]

Hm - kenne das Video und hab' jetzt nochmal mit Kopfhörern reingehört - aber für mich klingt's weniger "sparkling" wie mein Oasys - aber der Vergleich hinkt natürlich (video-stream mit Kompression vs. Studio-Kopfhörer direkt im Oasys ...).

[Charlie]

Aber Deinem Kommentar entnehme ich, dass Du davon ausgehst, dass es ident ist ... was mich jetzt doch überrascht.

[jgsidak]

Having watched the video, my musical (non-technical) reactions are:

(1) seamless shifting between programs or combis is a nice improvement, but mainly valuable for live performance
(2) the screen looks a little better, but would be harder to view because it is not tilted
(3) the computer interface is intriguing, but not well described--I gather that the Oasys can't do this(?)
(4) the grand piano sounded good, possibly better than the Oasys, although it is hard to tell from a YouTube clip being heard over speakers on a Mac

Ultimately, the biggest value-added is still in what the musician does with the instrument. To me, Jordan Rudess' pieces all sounded like they could be performed on the Oasys.

[CfNorENa]

the grand piano sounded good, possibly better than the Oasys, although it is hard to tell from a YouTube clip being heard over speakers on a Mac.

Check out his demo ("Interstices") on the korg website (with headphones, preferably). Nice sound.

[AnthonyB]

Jordan Rudess' pieces all sounded like they could be performed on the Oasys.

And indeed yes; it will sound great on the OASYS

However, if some people (and there will be some;)) decide to buy a KRONOS to go along side there OASYS, there are many benefits.

You could (on the OASYS) "unload"

1.EXs-1 ROM EXPANSION (284 MB)
2 EXs-2 CONCERT GRAND PIANO (464 MB)
3 EXs-3 BRASS & WOODWIND (709 MB)

That's a total of 1.457 gigs, and ive just tried this, with the free ram amount showing "1586" megs of ram. (not to be sniffed at considering the K's "1 gig" of total RAM (volatile) - early days yet, but i'm assuming this is right)

If one has AKAI Samples/CD's etc, and wishes to load these in, they will have plenty of space wilst leaving the K (thats KRONOS now right?) to do its own thing.

Just a thought.

[jgsidak]

You are right. The grand piano on Interstices by Jordan Rudess on the Korg website is quite good.

http://www.korg.co.uk/downloads/kronos/ ... stices.mp3

I am listening with Shure SE 315 headphones.

I wonder whether these demo recordings were completely done on the Kronos, with no external production, mastering, or effects. I wonder, for example, whether the drums on Ubiquity by John Novello were programmed on the Kronos, or whether it is a live drummer. The drum parts would be quite challenging to program on the Oasys:

http://www.korg.co.uk/downloads/kronos/ ... iquity.mp3

[jgsidak]

I suppose the rig that AnthonyB describes would be called OK for short.

[Charlie]

Having watched the video, my musical (non-technical) reactions are:

(1) seamless shifting between programs or combis is a nice improvement, but mainly valuable for live performance
(2) the screen looks a little better, but would be harder to view because it is not tilted
(3) the computer interface is intriguing, but not well described--I gather that the Oasys can't do this(?)
(4) the grand piano sounded good, possibly better than the Oasys, although it is hard to tell from a YouTube clip being heard over speakers on a Mac

Ultimately, the biggest value-added is still in what the musician does with the instrument. To me, Jordan Rudess' pieces all sounded like they could be performed on the Oasys.

Good analyses! I arrived at similar conclusions. For me the main issue is an A/B-comparison of the same sounds! That would be nice and clarify a lot for me!

BTW: there's a good comparison thread in the Kronos section. http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=58229

[SoulBe]

Hi,

after reading the specs and looking at the demos I come to the conclusion that Kronos is not interesting for me as an OASYS user.

Apart from the new piano-/epiano-models and a better usability I cannot see such a huge advantage to invest in a Kronos, esp it has nearly the similar synth modules in it and should not sound much better than the O.

And as far as the OASYS cannot load Kronos sounds hmmm, that´s a pity, but the engines are the same, so a mastermind (Daz !!!! where are you?) may write a converting program.

And maybe after a while Korg remembers that there are some OASYS user that were willig to pay for new snth models and we get the already developed models for a fee, we´ll see.

I´ll wait what will be the answer to Kronos from Yamaha and Roland, now they are under really big pressure, maybe we´ll see vst integration or or or....

just my 2c

Regards
SoulBe

[danatkorg]

I wonder whether these demo recordings were completely done on the Kronos, with no external production, mastering, or effects.

Yes, I believe so. Ubiquity, for example, is a KRONOS sequence.

I wonder, for example, whether the drums on Ubiquity by John Novello were programmed on the Kronos, or whether it is a live drummer.

They were played by David 'Fingers' Haynes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oThXwURLLhs

[danatkorg]

I remember discussions here about quality of converters. That is: even when M3 received HD1 it didn't sound as good, as Oasys has better converters.

The primary difference between the M3 and OASYS HD-1 would have been the use of compressed vs. uncompressed (and lossless-compressed) samples. Internal processing of 32-bit floating-point vs. 24-bit fixed-point is another difference.

- Dan

[Akos Janca]

I remember discussions here about quality of converters. That is: even when M3 received HD1 it didn't sound as good, as Oasys has better converters.

The primary difference between the M3 and OASYS HD-1 would have been the use of compressed vs. uncompressed (and lossless-compressed) samples. Internal processing of 32-bit floating-point vs. 24-bit fixed-point is another difference.

- Dan

Thank you, Dan. Maybe you missed this, so I ask right here again, regarding OASYS and Kronos:

I would like to see the opinion of Dan and Skippy about the sound quality.

Dan, please explain: beyond the specs we know is there any important difference in hardware/software to compare (like you shown here for example).

Skippy, as a skilled sound designer for both machines, please share your experience and opinion. Which sounds better, which is easier to program?

Thank you very much for your help in advance.

[MrT-Man]

Good analyses! I arrived at similar conclusions. For me the main issue is an A/B-comparison of the same sounds! That would be nice and clarify a lot for me!

+1. This is really the main question for me as well. It sounds like the Kronos is in the same general ballpark as the Oasys as far as sound quality -- but is it a tad better or a tad worse?