Kronos - new sound libraries announced by Korg

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:42 pm

DaveBoulden wrote:Ouch! $249 for an EXs seems a little steep. I'm looking forward to the Austrian piano EXs, though, obviously we're all assuming it's a Bosendorfer, I'm certainly hoping it is! ... let's hope the "street price" may be a little lower.

$249 for a Bosie sounds very fair to me

johnxyz · Post by **johnxyz** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:44 pm

I think its a bit much, after people have spent a huge amount on a keyboard, to then tell them that there are better sounds to be bought costing £100s of pounds more.
I may have a different outlook if the thing was a more reasonable price.

But them i'm an old grumbler.

John - not a Kronos owner.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:03 pm

Most Kronos sounds are already excellent, plus they can easily be edited to your liking.

To get welcome additional options can't and should not reverse this logic.

I'm quite curious for the Ricky Lawson library, though for that price it should better be something special. It could well be, if you just take a look at his discography:
http://www.rickylawson.com/#!__main-page/discography

danmusician · Post by **danmusician** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:15 pm

jimknopf wrote:
Megakazbek wrote:
jimknopf wrote:VST-Plugin only end of November (that probably will become December according to experience). A plugin which is part of the product, with a delay of about half a year: that's just not ok from my view.
Where is it stated that it's part of the product or that it should be immediately available with it?
The editor was included from the beginning in Korg's online offers of the Kronos both on the US site and German site. If I rememeber right, it is even part of the printed invoice description from the store where I bought the Kronos.

While I think a delay of two or three months would still be acceptable, I do NOT think that half a year without the VSTi is ok. And frankly, I also think that nobody should encourage companies to make a habit of such delays by gladly accpeting them.

The prices are named on the German Korg site (I don't survey the others right now):
http://www.korg.de/nc/news/news-uebersi ... ronos.html

Would you have preferred that they waited to release the Kronos until all the software was ready?

Personally, I'd rather have the keyboard while I wait. AND, I'd rather they take their time and get the software right instead of rush it out the door with bugs and glitches.

DaveBoulden · Post by **DaveBoulden** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:18 pm

Just to be clear, I don't necessarily think the new EXs and KRS libraries need to be free, I'm quite content to pay for them, especially since the extra revenue stream is a good incentive for Korg and appointed 3rd parties to keep developing new libraries. I was just remarking that the mentioned price seemed a little high IMHO.

apex · Post by **apex** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:19 pm

so these libraries are sample based and not just edited patches using the default rom?

So I guess that is the reason that they are giving the new program locations... and now extending the ability to increase RAM...

it should be allowed to install yourself though.... who wants to pay someone $50 (or more) to put a stick of RAM in a slot....

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:23 pm

PinkFloydDudi wrote:
Synthoid wrote:
EvilDragon wrote:Yeah, those EXs prices are a bit too steep.
+1

It would be nice to have at least one free expanded sound set for the Kronos like the M3 owners received.

+2!

Definitely a bit steep considering people just dropped $2700+ for the keyboard.

For some, make that €3000+.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:38 pm

Most of the prices are completely ok.

The big drum library may look too expensive at first glance, and to me as well. But it is a product for a much smaller market than for software products.
So it all depends on the quality of the product: if it fits my needs and has high quality, I find the price still huge, but acceptable.

apex · Post by **apex** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:40 pm

but Jim... as good as everyone has already said the Kronos sounds... do you think these sample expansions are needed? already....

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:56 pm

Not needed, but higly welcome to anyone finding something which suits well.

For example, I like both big Kronos drum libraries (though not necessarily many of their patches with MUCH too much ambience and reverb in the sound even for ambience kits). But they both are a lot "middle of the road" sounding to me (which is not a bad thing for some purposes).

What I definitely miss, is a nice dry funk set with some noticeable character, in the Clyde Stubblefield or Jabo Starks tradition and their modern relatives. In the smaller Kronos sets, I find none to my liking. If the new set sounds like I suppose, I might have a chance to find well suited sets for funk, r&b, jazzrock, nujazz and the like.

Do I need that? Certainly not: the present big jazz kit can be edited in a way to use it for most of those styles.
Would I like something really inspiring coming closer to what I like? Certanly yes, and a lot so!

DaveBoulden · Post by **DaveBoulden** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:59 pm

jimknopf wrote:The big drum library may look too expensive at first glance, and to me as well. But it is a product for a much smaller market than for software products.
So it all depends on the quality of the product: if it fits my needs and has high quality, I find the price still huge, but acceptable.

That's the one I was talking about. I am wondering if they are intending that price to be the same for all EXs libraries (as opposed to the KSR libraries which seem quite reasonably priced). I was using the individual theme/instrument libraries you can buy for the likes of NI Kontakt as a yard stick for the price. At the current price I will question if I want toi buy the Austrian piano EXs... at $150 I wouldn't have questioned it.

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:42 pm

apex wrote:but Jim... as good as everyone has already said the Kronos sounds... do you think these sample expansions are needed? already....

Yes, the Kronos needs the announced sound libraries and more.

Streaming from HD is most important sampling technology in that last 15+ years. It revolutionized sampling, finally up-ing the quality to professional standards. Today, you buy Kontakt because it's the industry standard and has the biggest library of sounds. It's unlikely to be knocked off that perch by some new soft sampler with a couple of slick new features. The Kronos has the potential to fill that same role in the hardware world. But it needs an impressive library of high quality, detail sounds. I hope that a year from now we have new guitar/bass, clavs/vintage keys, ethnic (and more) libraries. These quality sounds don't come cheap and easy. But no one is making you buy all of them, or any of them for that matter.

Busch.

aron · Post by **aron** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:45 pm

I think the magic price point would be $99. I also agree that $249 is a little high but that's only my opinion.

If I could price things, I would put $99 for the sample libraries and $149 for the new synth engines.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:53 pm

It's a smart concept for both sides:
- we users gain a flexibility only possible in the PC/notebook-software-world up to now.
- and my guess is that Korg might even make more money with providing sounds, grooves and mix tools in the long run, than with the limited margins of hardware they sell.
(On a side note, it's also the best answer to JP80 hype efforts they can give.)

Glad to see them power play for the instrument I use

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:58 pm

I agree that this is a very good idea in general. But I also agree the price for the sampleset seems a bit high right now. For 250 you could get many competitive software packages or samplesets. The previous Roland, Korg and Yamaha expansion boards were similarly priced, but there you actually got some hardware.