I remember when Japan made boards where like the current Chine made ones. Thus: cheesy, flimsy, cheaply made products. Then, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Philippines came along too. After a while each of them was growing up in expertise and getting expensive too. Look at Samsung Electronic to give you an example. Then, a new country to build cheapo products to keep exploiting people, making profit and cheating the consumer. Currently you can feel fortunate with a board made in Vietnam and of course better if in Japan. Rarely an EU or US product will cross your sight and if so, be ready to pay a year salary for it.
I do understand all people has the right to work, learn and growth. I also understand that in EU and US, whether you intend to live from your work, you need a decent salary. Then, the price of a quality product made meeting these conditions is just expensive for a pedestrian pocket. Simply because at the end the salaries are not balance with the living price. Some people get the money that should be for you. But that is another discussion.
Now, you got 1K$ extra and go shopping for a Synth. (Please better visit the local store even if later you buy online. You will surely avoid some surprises) What do you get? Some people says: "You get what you pay for" other ones say: "You get a bargain" I rather say: "You get gold-platted Bullshit"
At the end the manufacture gets your 1k$ that you hardly earned during a full work month and he makes three times his investment on benefits while a poor Chinese is exploited with the excused of being trained and fed. That is what it gets! Perhaps we cannot change it, but we should at least be fully awake.
Looking at my last unfortunate purchased, I just cry out... The Ultimate Gold-Platted Bullshit Super Korg Krome 61 cheesy keybe. 2 Gb of un-looped piano bytes inside of a plastic lighted box and triggered by a toy keyboard 5 octaves professional toy-feel called by Korg "Natural Weighted Keyboard"
The Synth is controlled with 6 plastics knobs and plenty of buttons that soon will be broken or failing and a nice PDA like screen that gives you access to a Software Proprietary Operating System based on "GPL Open Source Free Linux DISTROS".
Listen at the sound. Well, with headphones (20$ MP3 player jack phone stereo plug size) you get a decent sound. You plan to play through a PA, better take a CASIOTONE.
Be specially careful when plugging pedals, PS and output plugs. The female plastic output and MIDI connectors will not last for long without making noise or even failing completely.
Then, 1 minute booting time like Windows 3.11 on MS DOS 3.5 back in the 80's.
Patches and samples. I start by saying: "The best Synth never sounds like the real thing" In the 70's and 80's we were used to say that a Synthesizer sounds different to any other known instruments. I love them for that BTW. They sound sometimes similar to the real thing, sometimes far from it and sometimes even better. That is the truth. So, do not expect for 1k$ to get a Steinway & Sons German Grand Piano which value is some 30k$ along with thousand of Fender, Hammond, BX, Honer instruments, Ludwig percussion sets and all bunch of acoustic and ethic instruments. The violin will never sound like a Stradivarius and the Harmonica is not a Honer, Seydel, Suzuki or Tombo. It is about 300 Mbytes of ROM data similar to the other Wave based Synths we know since years. Only some improvements, synthesis routing and effects that will make a different as a result of a technology which is already 20 years old. Then, you get of course, the FM like some and the digianalog Pulses and Blows with a very large polyphony not even dreamed in the 80's.
If you are a Peruvian or an Indian, you are lucky to get specific extra samples for the same price. If you are from US or EU, Korg thought you should get less for the same price. You do not need a nice ethic sample...
As a Midi Controller. Well, with this cheapo keybe, better forget it. Perhaps as a sound module it can make the job. It looks like with the super 88 hammer action version you get a cheapo weighted and noisy light cheap upward piano-like feeling which can make the job in the stage while easy to carry on. I believe that even the Casio Celviano Digital Piano use to teach children as well as for entry lever musicians has a better keyboard. Bravo Korg! You made the grade!
Korg Guys! I am disappointed with your brand, your products and your policy. I was saving for a KRONOS, but I am scare to invest in a 3k$ board and discover where did you saved money in your Japan made boards this time in order to get so much profit as you and all manufactures look for these days. I better save money for a good guitar that I can check, test and see before emptying my account, my pocket, wallet and piggy bank.
If I could, I will replace the 61 plastic keys for a decent keyboard, the Preamps for a high grade ones and the connectors and knobs for something at least reliable. Then, I will call the Krome a professional Workstation. By the time being it is just an entry level entertainment keyboard.
Korg, Have you ever thought that we customers, would have happily paid 200$ extra to get a decent keyboard with decent hardware within the same light box with the same screen and sound of Krome? You would have probably sold few units less, but you would have kept your modest customers for the future. Good luck in the next ten years Korg!
