Could someone give a review on Berlin Grand?

[burningbusch]

Try this for a full jazz or classic tone.

Use the BERLIN DARK GRAND SW2 UC Program to start.

Change LID POSITION to 054
VELOCITY BIAS -90
VELOCITY INTENSITY +50

Everything else pretty much the same. This gives you a lot of dynamic range with the softest notes being more mellow (velocity bias -). It fits my playing. What's nice about the Berlin is that when using the DARK pianos and a negative velocity bias, the piano can get fairly bright, more so than the German and Japanese.

Use the lid to control timbre. The lid at/around 75 is a nice sound as well I think.

Busch.

[benny ray]

I am waiting on new Kronos as I sold my Kronos X about 6 weeks. I will definitely try this out as soon as keyboard arrives. From what I am hearing as far as tone does it resemble the Yamaha pianos but much fuller?

[ahutnick]

I also am waiting on a new Kronos 88 and I will try those settings when I have it. Thank you Busch for all of the excellent programs for the Kronos!

[pwuk]

After my first two hours with it, I would say a definite jump forward in terms of realism.. It does sit between the German D and the Austrian in general terms, but I just feel it is more inspiring, fuller, has a depth that the others don't. in one word its the 'realism' that hit me. playback equipment is one of the most important parts of the equation once the sample qualities get to this level. Through even my best headphones, the body resonance and realism isn't going to be recreated in quite the same way, sound is after all the movement/vibration of air, top of the line Grado labs headphones can't quite get the realism in the same way a quality amp and large monitors can.

I began my Kronos adventure with K73.. I returned two due to the keybed issues, waited for KX, the first KX was returned due to a ridiculously loud fan.. my fourth kronos (an X88) has been faultless from day one (Shhhhh)

I'm so glad I stuck with it, to be able to upgrade the OS and sample libraries at this level keeping it current, is fantastic. Yes we know along the way things could have been done better, maybe this series of updates and the Berlin D etc, is korg's way of saying thanks for staying the course.. what other keyboard has been supported in this way recently.. if ever ?

So yeah, the download took ages, the new Kronos (2) is probably the fix to what the first kronos should have been, people have had plenty of heartache along the way, but I think it's all turned out fairly well in the end. I'm glad I was persistant

[benny ray]

Thanks pwuk for the info and also burningbush for the heads up on piano settings for the Berlin Grand. I think it will give Nord Pianos a run for the money because of the realism of the Berlin Grand. If it has a brighter tone which is what most people are saying that is suited better for my taste although i am just repeating what others are saying but hope to find out real soon. Enjoy the new sounds everybody and cannot wait to get mine later this month hopefully!

[pwuk]

I don't know if I would say it's brighter, if anything the default Berlin piano has more body than the German grand, initially it sounds warmer. I know people have complained in the past that the German grand did not cut through very well, and usually we would remedy this by increasing high mids and top end, but to my ears it's not that simple. There is something I really like about the Berlin piano, it sits well with almost everything and I'm already finding that the German grand although excellent for solos, lacks the body of the new piano.. maybe it's that lack of body that made it harder to balance in a live situation.

[danmusician]

My quick review: The Berlin is nice and does sit between the German and Austrian. For exposed piano - solo and ballad accompaniment - the German will still be my go-to piano. For me it's like an old pair of jeans, I'm just so comfortable with it. The Berlin is too full bodied to my ears, it doesn't quite sound or feel natural to me. I can see that it might be better for cutting through a mix, but the Japanese and the Austrian do that for me. So i'll skip purchasing the Berlin.

I do wish the demo versions would last a little longer between fade outs so I could get a better feel during the demo process...