what synth is VERY different/complementary to Kronos?

ferchis · Post by **ferchis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:13 am

If you wanted to expand your palette of sounds, what synth would you get which is the most different (in sounds) to the Kronos?

and BTW, to what degree would the KROSS synth complement the Kronos? would they just overlap in many areas when it comes to sounds?

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:03 am

For something completely different I would look at something other than Korg. Beyond that it really depends what type of sounds you are looking for and what your budget is. Jupiter 80 and Motif XF have good acoustic sounds. Prophet 12 and Virus TI have good synth sounds and are pretty powerful. Then there's pure analog from DSI and Moog.

I had asked myself that same question a little while back. I decided that going in the analog direction rather than another workstation type of board would bring a lot more variety to the table for me. I ended up with a Prophet 12 and a Sub Phatty. They have made very nice and different additions to my rig and I'm very pleased with that decision.

If Yamaha does something new with the Motif at NAMM I may consider getting one. We'll see what else NAMM brings.

Post by **Sharp** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:42 am

My 2 cents... It all depends on what kind of sounds your after.

For bread and butter sounds, you really can't go wrong with the Integra 7. It sounds nothing like a KORG. It's a very different tone and can put any MOTIF to utter shame for bread and butter sounds.

For Synth sounds, silky pads, super leads and basses, the VIRUS Ti2 sounds amazing and again, nothing whatsoever like a KORG.

I'm very lucky to have both the Integra 7 and Ti2 myself, so needless to say I'm extremely happy right now with what I own.

About the only thing I have my eye on is Omnisphere.

Regards
Sharp.

xxCDxx · Post by **xxCDxx** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:35 am

April 2014 14th

LZ · Post by LZ » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:35 am

From a sound programming standpoint, the Kronos has just about everything covered. Two synthesis types that come to mind are Additive (other than CX3 which is technically additive, but limited to clone wheel), and granular. To tell the truth, I'm not familiar with granular myself and know of no granular hardware synth, just software. So maybe something like a Kawai K5000?

ferchis · Post by **ferchis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:50 am

Thanks lads, I'll look into those options, perhaps the integra is the most alluring..
Going back to the Kross and its sounds, are they too similar or present in the kronos? Any differences?

LZ · Post by LZ » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:10 am

I think this broaches a different subject....interface. I think you can do anything on the Kross that you can do on the Kronos. You can come close to anything on a B3 on a Kronos....obviously subjective as to the quality of the simulation. Even stuff like the Polysix and MS20, which are models of their own syths...it's a different experience sitting at the real thing than doing it on the Kronos. So that brings the question of interface. Are you asking about pure sound, or the experience playing it?

ferchis · Post by **ferchis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:20 am

Sounds. I mean, as a kronos owner, would you get anything new or different from the kross? My guess is not much, but maybe you do get something

LZ · Post by LZ » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:27 am

it really depends on what you're doing. Sort of Kronos independent, but most common would be 2 boards to have both weighted and unweighted actions. But I think the sound source is solid. If one thing is super critical to you, you may wish to supplement with something that does it better, whether it be piano, EP, orchestral (lots of folks prefer Kurz), Synth - mainly interface....dedicated knobs, etc.

But I think the Kronos is adequate at everything for my purposes. Somebody else may have a different need.

ferchis · Post by **ferchis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:51 am

Or I think I could just go ahead and sample the critical sounds I need from Omnisphere

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:28 am

I think you would be wildly disappointed with the Kross.

QuiRobinez · Post by **QuiRobinez** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:41 am

SanderXpander wrote:I think you would be wildly disappointed with the Kross.

+1

if you want something completely different then an option would be to buy a synth with different synthesis methods like Additive or Granular. The sound of those synths will be really different compared to the Kronos.

If you use a computer you could also use vst's for that. Personally i think the Granulator (Max4Live ableton device) is the best granulator synth at the moment. A real workhorse for additive and granular would be Camelaudio Alchemy.

If you just want another substractive synthesis synth (hardware) to add to the kronos then you have to look at sound character in my opinion. Personally i think the Virus TI and Nord Lead 4 are good additions to a Korg Kronos because they have such a different sound character. The virus ti has a more Mid EQ sound and can create quite lush sounding sounds but the virus TI is quite weak in the bass area, there is not much punch in the low end which i really like in the virus ti since that makes it so recognisable in tracks.
The nord lead 4 is extremely strong in the bass area and has a very hard aggressive sound character which also isn't available in the kronos. So it complements the kronos quite well.
I also have the king korg but i find it comparable to the sound character of the Kronos so i wouldn't recommend that a an addon synth to the Kronos.
If you are looking for a cheap solution then the Roland JP8000 or a novation supernova would also be a good addon to the kronos since they sound really different.

metallo · Post by **metallo** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:54 am

I pared my Kronos with a Roland V-Synth GT and to me they are made to be together, they work soooo great together

ferchis · Post by **ferchis** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:17 am

Oh, I'd kill for a v-synth gt. I talked about sampling omnisphere since playing it live with a laptop computer is for me out of the question, I'd be terrified to run it in an underprepared system

Corgy · Post by **Corgy** » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:30 pm

Got Kronos and Virus Ti2 in my setup, which complement each other very well.

Architecture:

Ti2 seems to be a traditional VA synth, but only at first glance. The Ti2 sports very versatile OSC modes (classic, hypersaw, wavetable, grain, formant synthesis). The classic OSC mode compares to the traditional VA synths like in the Kronos (if I may dare to call AL-1 traditional), but the other modes are unique. So it's synthesis is quite complementary at "How to Make a Nose" compared to the Kronos ...

Sound:

+1 for descriptions by Sharp and Qui, exactly that's it.

Mixing:

Most often I use the Ti2 to cut through the mix. It's very easy to create a sound, that has good contrast in the mix.

Handling:

Easy to use and easy to program your own sounds quickly. I would say ... pure fun to work and play.

Disadvantage:

There is a certain threat to become "infected"

... it's a Virus after all.