Finally....A Kronos Owner

pedro5 · Post by **pedro5** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:38 pm

Just got my Kronos…..at last !!!
Had a good deal from my local music store,dv247,in Birmingham UK.
They ordered an expanded model for me via Korg with an additional memory card of 1gb and initially it was thought it would take up to two weeks to arrive….
It was ordered on Monday and I became a proud owner on Friday !!
How's that for service from Korg and especially the dealer,who has been absolutely brilliant,not only with the Korg purchase,but with all the other bits I
bought at the same time,with a healthy discount for the whole lot.
Thanks Paul….(Paul Taylor dvd247…..top man).

My concerns about fan noise has gone completely,with only a whisper to be heard.
My concerns about the keyed,not only the the problems that some have had,but also the playability of my first hammer keyboard,have also been satisfied.

I've only been able to fiddle around with it for about "five minutes"…..read -- two hours….and the piano voice is as expected…..superb.
Ache a little now as I've not played so much for a while and the technique of "real" piano playing is taking its toll.
I know this will fade over time and the current suffering is a price I'm prepared to pay,for the short term at least.
At the moment I can only use the headphones to listen to it as I've yet to receive the balanced cables for the correct connection.
I won't risk using unbalanced ones because I'm not sure if they will work properly.
The manual says that all outputs are balanced,so I need to comply with that.(Unless someone knows different…??...).

It will take a long time to explore things on this beauty,which will keep me occupied for a while and I'll enjoy every minute of doing so.
Shall probably return here….often,with many questions,seeking further information and advice from all you good people out there.

The first one being….
Are the keys meant to be slanting down from the front edge,away from the player,to the centre of the instrument ?
It's as if the unit has short rubber feet at the rear,which I've "cured" by placing some packing under them(and another piece under the centre foot,for added support).

Anyone had the same with their own instrument?

If it was on a stand,this would probably not be noticed as much,but my unit is on a table,so it may be due to that.
I may even raise the back end a little more soon,just to get the screen to a better angle.(Shame it's not tilt adjustable,though…..can't have everything).

I'm planning to buy the Karo samples(EXi 51)as I'm impressed with the quality so far,in demo mode.
Has anyone here bought any of these and what's the opinion?

Just some news for those who live in the UK and have yet to buy a Kronos,I've noticed that DV247 have reduced the 73 key version,again,this time by £150.
They are thinking about getting all their next stock with expanded memory pre-installed,it's cheaper rather than having to send them back fro the shop just for
the install,however,don't rely too heavily on this as it's still not finalized.
So,perhaps the current price may increase to cater for future stock costs.

My case was a special order and as said,got a good deal because I bought other stuff as well,perhaps it helped that I was actually dealing with the shop
manager who has complete free reign regarding discounts,not only for me,but apparently he also provides excellent service for every customer.
The other staff are equally professional of course,but I don't know how far they can go with making deals etc.
Have shopped at dv247 before and will remain a loyal customer,because of their business sense and how they treat customers.

I am now a happy bunny and the fun part starts here!!

Best Wishes to all.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:57 pm

Congratulations with your new Kronos. I recognize the 5 minutes becoming 2 hours 'mental bug'.

About your questions: I have a 61 and never noticed any slanting (it's not around here now).

Also I don't have Karo libraries.

Have fun playing!

Ev1ldead7272 · Post by **Ev1ldead7272** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:02 pm

Hiya...congratulations on your new baby

Recieved the 61 key version last week, what an absolutely amazing instrument it is..so incredibly deep think I'm going to have to order a DVD tutorial to learn it...even then can see it taking years to get my head around it *lol*
Yeah dvd247 are a great firm dealt with Andy Hopwood at the Romford store a few times who's always done me good deals.

Don't know about the keys slanting down from the front edge, but on the yamaha mox8 it had rubber feet with one in the centre which made it impossible to play on a desk..so I ended up unscrewing it which helped.
Not sure if you can do the same on the korg may be worth a try.

Anyway enjoy

Regards Nathaniel.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:05 pm

The jacks can be balanced or unbalanced, it doesn't matter.

huibn · Post by **huibn** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 12:16 pm

congratulations on your new kronos!

Can you please check if you can reach velocity 127 in curve 4 and curve 9?

alot of kronos keyboards have the velocityproblem.

I'm just wondering if yours has it or not.

Thank you in advance

pedro5 · Post by **pedro5** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:07 am

Thanks for all the replies,so far and for the congratulations of joining the "Kronos Owners Club".....

As for finding the velocity results,I will certainly try to do this,but could you provide a brief guide how to do so,please.
I know reading the manual would help.....but as I'm so new to this keyboard with so much to learn and easily distracted by playing the
thing, delving into the manual is not really as exciting.....

I seem to recall reading about this in previous posts,but at that time it meant little as I did not have a Kronos then.
However,I do have difficulty in finding stuff via the search method,so a pointer in that direction may be useful as well.

Will get back to you later with some findings.

A point of interest,perhaps,regarding the Kronos I have.

Model Number 003103

Memory Expanded to 3gb (Installed by Korg service center via dealer at no cost....It's only £20 plus shipping for anyone else).

Fan noise is minimal,it is there,but acceptable.

Version 1.6

Keybed seems to be ok,so far,even though the batch number is within the range of some of the problematic ones and the rubber contacts
appear to be pinkish.

May be one of the "lucky"ones without problems.....hope it remains so!

Best Wishes to all.

huibn · Post by **huibn** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:13 pm

Record your playing on the Sequencer
Use the command Event Edit for the track you used to record.

Just record an 8 bar (or whatever) pass with one of the piano presets. Begin by playing softly and then progress to the hardest you would ever normally play. Then you can go into the MIDI edit section of the sequencer and check the velocities.

How to check:
While in sequence mode press "track edit" at the bottom of the screen. Then press the down arrow in the upper right corner, the select MIDI event edit, the Set Event Filters screen with appear, press ok. A screen with all the notes you just recorded will be there and the velocities will be at the far right.

you can also record you midinotes in a DAW

pedro5 · Post by **pedro5** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:25 pm

Forgive the delayed response.....did a few tests as requested.

The highest velocity I can record from the Kronos is around 120.
Both via midi and usb.

(Note - the midi route is via an AMT8 interface).

However,using a remote keyboard I can get very close to 127,via midi.

I am curious as to why this is of concern.....probably it's covered in another post somewhere,a pointer to that could help me understand,perhaps.
I'm sure there is a good reason for all this.
Without meaning to state the obvious in any derogatory way....velocity can always be tweaked within a sequencer post midi record...yes..??

Best Wishes.

pedro5 · Post by **pedro5** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:43 pm

Update to my previous post......Found the posts regarding velocity,which I haven't yet read all of them.
I now understand it a little better.
Although it is less of a problem for me at present,however, it is something that needs to be addressed somehow, as it is not the norm for most
keyboards.

Best Wishes

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:12 pm

Congrats!

Let the sleepless nights begin.