Who's Krome for, and - it get its own forum??

[Kevin Nolan]

Who is Krome is intended for? Is it for the local piano / gigging musician? I ask because, it does not seem to be trying to promote (or house) the highest quality Piano sound; nor does it carry the style of the SV-1.


For sure Korg need to also release such non-inspirational, bread and butter instruments like this to earn some revenue derived from the likes of Kronos and to compete with the likes of the MO range; but seriously - does this warrant a major announcement event as generated by Korg?

To me this major announcement was utterly misplaced.


Equally, again Sharp any comments/criticism of Korgforums uttered from a basis of huge respect and reverence for the outstanding job you do - I have to admit that I find it frustrating that you give such a mediocre instrument its own forum immediately after its release while the Monotron and Monotribe - in my opinion vastly more radical, innovative and important- are not afforded their own forum (and in my opinion that omission dilutes Korgforums as representative of Korg's full range of innovation). And - does Krome warrant its own forum?

As said Sharp, I hugely appreciated Korgforums (and like so many here it has had a huge positive affect on my musical life); so what ever I air here I'll always bow to your final call and decision on these matters (but wish you;d put a Monotribe forum up!!).


Overall, a curious day for Korg - it's been a long time since they've released something so 'anemic' as the Krome; and though I get it needs to tap that market; surely they have wasted the concept of 'major announcement' for the future?

Kevin

[CfNorENa]

Who's it for? Seems pretty clear to me: gigging musicians and those looking for an entry-level workstation. I imagine it will sell in big numbers.

Does it deserve its own subforum here? Of course. It's a new high-profile workstation, and lots of users will want a place for dedicated discussion of it.

Did it deserve the "major announcement" label? Not in my opinion. I agree with you there.

Back to the "who is it for" question. It might actually be for me, even though I had my sights on a Kronos. I'm a hobbyist with a small, COMPUTER-FREE studio, so I need a workstation to serve as the centerpiece. So for me, the sequencer is rather important. Given the specs (M3 level) and GUI (second only to Oasys), the Krome now probably sports the best sequencer in the Korg workstation lineup. The second thing I'm looking for is a good acoustic piano sound. Check. I actually prefer programmable arps to Karma, and I don't think I need a sampler. I have analogs and a Microwave XT to cover all synth sounds, so I actually don't feel the need for all of Kronos' VA engines, either. The only other features of Kronos I was really keen on were the MOD-7 engine, the HD recorder, and a keyboard that supports AT.

So for me, the price:performance ratio might actually be better on the Krome, since, as I say, what I really need is the best sequencer I can get and a good acoustic piano. I'll probably go for the Kronos in the end, but I can say the possibility of snagging a Krome for less and using the extra $$ for other parts of the studio is worth considering...

[CharlesFerraro]

I have to admit that I find it frustrating that you give such a mediocre instrument its own forum immediately after its release while the Monotron and Monotribe - in my opinion vastly more radical, innovative and important- are not afforded their own forum

Well you have to consider what forums are for... There may be a lot of different opinions on this but I think forums are established to seek peer to peer help. The Krome, or more specifically the EDS engine is a very complex piece of software. The Monotron is a very basic instrument, the Monotribe less so. Analog to me seems to be much more hands-on though where you can make a lot of headway from self discovery. With complex software you may find yourself pulling your hair out trying to figure something as simple as S/DIF clock sync or global tuning, problems with simple solutions that you can just hop on a forum and ask about. And you would probably receive a quicker and more in-depth reply than if you were to ask the customer service people at Korg themselves.

[Kevin Nolan]

@CfNorENa: I accept you points and indicated that I accept its likely for gigging musicians. But I still think it's a curious, ill defined instrument - there seems to me to be little clarity from Korg on, for example, the quality of the on board pianos; or who its target player is - unlike almost of their other releases. Not looking to make a huge debate out of it or anything and probably not expressing myself well here - overall I just find this a quite curious nondescript release from a company who seem, usually, so strategically pointed, and given the hullabaloo they made about it.

As said, I accept there's a market (and a necessary money spinner one for Korg (indeed needed in these lean time and to support more innovative projects for sure)); but my only worry is that this is the first in a line of hum-drum releases that also serve to water-down and confuse their more innovative instrument lines, as in what their direction is, what the differences between various releases is - as has happened devastatingly with Yamaha and their by now utterly uninspiring Motif range and all of it's derived junk.


@CharlesFerraro. I accept it that Krome deserves it's own forum (though it is in my opinion a very straight forward instrument); but your appraisal of Monotribe is off. And this is the point - I accept Sharp is not into analogue gear and seems not to have a feel for it; but I can assure you that the likes of Monotribe are far from simple. There are a plethora of aspects to this type of music technology that warrant discussion, including (as just some examples):

- Feature set
- Sonic character
- (Innovative) uses in music and sound design
- The sonic characteristics
- The feel / playability of the device and it's knobs in particular
- Integration into studios, live rigs and so on
- Integration with the likes of iPhone, iElectribe and iMS20
- Synchronization and integration with the plethora of other similar devices constituting a mini revolution
- Use of multiple Minitribes
- Circuit bending

...each one of these topics opens a range of possibilities and sonic worlds not possible otherwise; warrant discussion but are ignored by this forum, while a bland characterless release like Krome has a forum set up in the blink of an eye. That says something about the types of musicians Korgforums is interested in engaging - but leaving out a cohort of perhaps the most cutting edge of Korg users - is that right or smart)?

I saying all of this from a stand point of bemusement (not anger or any emotion too bitter !!) of Korg's disproportionate promotion of the release of Krome which to me dilutes the Korg brand and perception because I see it heading towards junk releases that dilute the perception and reputation of the likes of Kronos and SV-1 ; while Korgforums seems, just now, to be following suit.


Kevin

[Sharp]

Hi Kevin.
New sections are opened based on demand, or expectation of support that will be needed.

It is my expectation that the KORG KROME is going to be extremely popular because it's absolutely jam packed with sounds and features for an amazing price.

Regarding your comments about me not having much personal interest in Analogue gear and the Monotribe. My personal interest has nothing to do with it.

Every decisions is based on demand and expectation of support that will be needed. If there were demand for a dedicated Monotribe section one would exist. Until then the area “Korg Synths (General)” is the place to discuss the Monotribe or any KORG Synth that does not have it's own dedicated section. It states this in the description.

If you look at birth of the microSTATION here on KORG Forums you will see how demand in the “Korg Synths (General)” led to the opening of the dedicated section.

Regarding the comment of the KROME being classed as major news or not. Well, personally as a OASYS and KRONOS user it's certainly not what I'd class as major news. However, as a person stepping back and thinking of our M50 members, this is certainly major news to them as this product is squarely targeted at them in my opinion.

So this “major news” goes both ways for me.

Regards
Sharp

[Kevin Nolan]

All fair points Sharp!

As said, I do acknowledge the role of this keyboard - I remember all too well saving for 5 solid years as a teenager to afford just one synth (and still save like mad, do not own a car and cycle everywhere - to be able to afford the instruments important to me to this day) - so I haven't forgotten my roots or the need for cost effective instruments. I was, honestly, just very surprised at the scale of Korg's promotion of this and your response to get a forum up - despite the validity of this release, it ultimately, to me, underwhelming. Major announcement - I genuinely had imagined them announcing, for example, a major new innovation partnership with another hardware company like Roland (to survive in the hardware market) or perhaps with a major software company - but the release of a mid-priced derivative was, as said, completely underwhelming to me.

Though my monotribe-forum comments originated from comments on Krome, and though slightly off topic, I still recommend you consider a forum for monotribe, or perhaps "Korg Analogue Gear" as a catch-all for monotron, monotribe and whatever else is sure to follow - these have been immensely popular too and as you know, a not in-substantive contributor to a current mini-revolution in new analogue gear. Your blanket refusal to put a forum up on this does suggest, to me, a bias against that sort of gear.

Cheers,
Kevin.

[Sharp]

Your blanket refusal to put a forum up on this does suggest, to me, a bias against that sort of gear.

Ouch... that's very unfair Kevin.

I have not said anything of the sort. I have also been very clear that there is no personal preference in the decision process, but you imply now you don't even believe me.

Regards
Sharp.

[andersborg]

Pitching it as a major announcement indicates to me it's for competitive reasons, and that MOX is one of the marks. If I compare the M50 and the KROME (that are most similar price-wise, especially when considering the launch prices) KROME seems more like a performance keyboard than the M50. In any case I'd like to replace my M50 with a KROME as it seems more polished, not just physically, unless they've removed stuff I can do with the M50.

Hopefully (without knowing) they've made it much simpler to create e.g. splits and layers, which is unnecessarily cumbersome on the M50. Of course it's rather easy to make split and layer templates and then modify them and save to a new Combi, but it's definitely not like "Push 'Split'. Push the split point. Done." that you can find on arrangers and also e.g. MOX.

[Pepperpotty]

Considering that Korg announced the Krome, PA600 and a 61 key MicroKorg XL, I would say that that's a pretty big announcement.

In regards to who would benefit from the Krome, it would be someone like me. I've always used arranger keyboards but have wanted to get in to the workstation field for some time now. I've been reluctant to part with so much money for the Kronos or M3 as I'm really not sure if I'll get along with them and have the desire to spend hours tweaking with sounds.

The Krome sounds like it would give me a great introduction in to the world of workstations and priced at £799 I could sell my PA800 and still have a few hundred pounds left over.

[MoonMusic]

This post was a bit harsh so I deleted it....Sorry

[madbeatzyo111]

Hi Kevin.
New sections are opened based on demand, or expectation of support that will be needed.

I agree with Sharp that Krome needs its own forum, but I also aqree with Kevin that the Monotron/tribe products need one too.

Sharp, you state that new sections are opened based on demand--ie people asking for one. Yet the Krome section was created almost immediately after the KORG announcement--before there could possibly be any demand voiced for a separate forum. As far as expectation of support needed, I don't believe anyone could know at this point how popular this product will be or how many problems it will have.

On the other hand, the monotron/tribes have been on the market now for a couple of years. They are very popular products that are discussed often on other sites, yet don't have their own forum here, a dedicated KORG site. It's not even clear where to post about the monotron/tribes here, in the Electribes or General Synth forum? I've seen them in both, with no attempt by moderators to consolidate discussion into either one. It sends the wrong message that this product line is not regarded seriously by the site admins or the members.

[Sharp]

Hi madbeatzyo111.

Sharp, you state that new sections are opened based on demand--ie people asking for one

Nope, what I stated was.....

New sections are opened based on demand, or expectation of support that will be needed.

It is my expectation that the KORG KROME is going to be extremely popular because it's absolutely jam packed with sounds and features for an amazing price.

As you can see, there's two options in what I said. The Monotribe currently fits into neither option, but the KROME fits in with the last one.

I also said....

If there were demand for a dedicated Monotribe section one would exist.

…...

If you look at birth of the microSTATION here on KORG Forums you will see how demand in the “Korg Synths (General)” led to the opening of the dedicated section.

I feel I have been very clear, extremely fair, and I covered everything. I'm happy to discuss anything, but I will not accept anyone telling me I'm making decisions based on my personal preferences for what gear I like when that's simply not true.

Regards
Sharp.

[Sharp]

This post was a bit harsh so I deleted it....Sorry

Thanks anyway, I got to read it before you deleted your comments.

Regards
Sharp.

[madbeatzyo111]

New sections are opened based on demand, or expectation of support that will be needed.

It is my expectation that the KORG KROME is going to be extremely popular because it's absolutely jam packed with sounds and features for an amazing price.

I did cover your second stipulation in my post. I wrote that one could not yet ascertain what and how much support would be needed at this point--but obviously it is based on your opinion of what that will be and not on actual data. Fair enough. Your site, your rules.

However I think it's disingenuous for you to state that the reason why the monotribe/trons don't get their own forum is not because of your opinion but because they don't satisfy either of those two criteria--when in fact the latter one IS very much based on your opinion as evidenced by the creation of the Krome forum (ie, "...my expectation...").

The Krome thread in Latest News got to about page 8 before you created a separate forum, and 6 pages of it was before it was announced--so two solid pages of Krome discussion before you created the forum. When the monotribe came out, it got 10 pages worth of discussion in Latest News and yet no forum was ever created (http://korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/view ... hp?t=60564). Why don't you just admit you don't feel the monotribe/trons are equal to other KORG products?

[Sharp]

I wrote that one could not yet ascertain what and how much support would be needed at this point--but obviously it is based on your opinion of what that will be and not on actual data.

I disagree. There is over a decade of history on the forum to bear in mind when making any decisions. That's a lot of “data” to consider when making the right decision.

A decision which has been made, and I bet not one person would disagree with me either. Creating a dedicated section for the KROME was the right thing to do as it will be used exactly as expected.

However I think it's disingenuous for you to state that the reason why the monotribe/trons don't get their own forum is not because of your opinion but because they don't satisfy either of those two criteria--when in fact the latter one IS very much based on your opinion as evidenced by the creation of the Krome forum (ie, "...my expectation...")

I disagree again.

Kevin has said it twice now too, he believes I didn't create a Monotribe section because I don't like analogue gear. That's quite frankly a load of $hite.

My expectationof the KROME needing a dedicated section are based on knowledge and facts. I do not pick and choose what to support on the forums based on weather I like it or not.

Regards
Sharp.