Distorted sounds kronos 2?

[miljantoto]

play chromatic and you will hear what I'm talking about

Can you post a recording of what you're talking about? Since it's such a big issue for you, I mean, that would be the easiest way to get a clear answer on this.

I am sorry if I am wrong
but this sound strange to me
after so many keyboards I've played

Here are examples

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/ch ... and-b-flat

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/ge ... distorting

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/fm ... distorting

Remember on all this examples :

Insert Fx - Off
Master/Total Fx - Off
EQ - Bypass
Main Volume 50%

[Pedja]

Obvious distortion in Prog I-A012 F.McComb Mark I Ep., when you play a chords. From what I can hear in chromatic German Grand, for me sound is strange, but I can't hear distortion. I can say same for German Grand, like when heavy playing piano, with high tension wires. That's my opinion for prior sound too. Really only clear distortion which I can noticed is in sample of ep. piano sound.

[GregC]

play chromatic and you will hear what I'm talking about

Can you post a recording of what you're talking about? Since it's such a big issue for you, I mean, that would be the easiest way to get a clear answer on this.

I am sorry if I am wrong
but this sound strange to me
after so many keyboards I've played

Here are examples

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/ch ... and-b-flat

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/ge ... distorting

https://soundcloud.com/user454433072/fm ... distorting

Remember on all this examples :

Insert Fx - Off
Master/Total Fx - Off
EQ - Bypass
Main Volume 50%

I did a headphone comparison , my 88 vs your 73 for the same programs

Plus your chords and your ' strike the keys ' approach as best as I could.

Initially , your sounds had a lot more mid gain and high gain via the 3 band parametric EQ. I was able to somewhat duplicate your clipping with f mc comb mark 1 EP. Keep in mind, a Fender Rhodes is supposed to sound a little dirty.
I owned an 88 Rhodes so, I am familiar with that sound.

I am not sure about your German grand example. You are striking the keys with more force .

Anyway, my guess for your German grand is EQ gain. Diid not feel natural for me to duplicate your force on this example.

I noticed that u did a Bypass on the 3 Band EQ. That was a good way to neutralize effects.

Then I noticed your main volume at 50. If that is 12:00/1:00 on that dial/knob, That is LOUD on my Kronos. That volume overdrove my Sony headphones for the f mc comb mark 1.

I keep my main volume at 10:00/11:00. So your situation might be a simple adjustment .

That setting works for my headphones and my room.

I have event 8 studio monitors which do a great job delivering clean sounds at my main volume setting. My room is very bright, wood floors, 10' x 10'.

[miljantoto]

GregC,

Thank you for answer,
I will keep trying to find solution.
Maybe it is problem with one of mute circuit transistors[/be] as one of forum members SynthKeyWizard explained in his post and solved it by replace it.

Very interesting thing is that you can cleary hear teh same distored sound on new Berlin Grand on DEMO by Katsunori UJIIE
Same sound if you hear carefully

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG0QJ3bjfqk

Thanks for you time and advice

[GregC]

GregC,

Thank you for answer,
I will keep trying to find solution.
Maybe it is problem with one of mute circuit transistors[/be] as one of forum members SynthKeyWizard explained in his post and solved it by replace it.

Very interesting thing is that you can cleary hear teh same distored sound on new Berlin Grand on DEMO by Katsunori UJIIE
Same sound if you hear carefully

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG0QJ3bjfqk

Thanks for you time and advice

Just for my curiosity- what is the exact position of your main volume dial ?

Refer back to my post as I was looking for your clarification.

Thanks

Ps. I like UJIIE's YouTube of the K2. YouTube audio is not good quality thus I could not make an opinion.

[miljantoto]

GregC,

Thank you for answer,
I will keep trying to find solution.
Maybe it is problem with one of mute circuit transistors[/be] as one of forum members SynthKeyWizard explained in his post and solved it by replace it.

Very interesting thing is that you can cleary hear teh same distored sound on new Berlin Grand on DEMO by Katsunori UJIIE
Same sound if you hear carefully

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG0QJ3bjfqk

Thanks for you time and advice

Just for my curiosity- what is the exact position of your main volume dial ?

Refer back to my post as I was looking for your clarification.

Thanks

12 o'clock is my Main Volume position

[Davd C. Polich]

I've listened to the sound cloud demos "showing" this supposed problem.

There is NO distortion problem. That is the way these pianos sound when
you hit them hard. Period. I repeat, there is NO distortion or clipping.

The Rhodes simply "squawks" and distorts at highest velocities. I have one in my room right now. That's what it does.

Perhaps you just never paid enough attention before, and "suddenly" noticed what really happens when you hit that hard, and now you're focused on that. But trust me, that is what happens normally.

There is no fix for it, because there is nothing to fix. Get used to it. If you don't like it, don't hit the keys that hard.

[Dniss]

I am sorry if I am wrong but this sound strange to me
after so many keyboards I've played

I can't say I hear anything special, but I'm no expert.

Just a thought:

Perhaps you should check your velocity curve in GLOBAL and try other settings.

Also, like Greg said, volume at 12:00 is very high. I couldn't stand that level with head phones. Mine is usually around 10:00, and I incease (but more often I have to decrease) my mixer volume instead.

Regards,
Den

[xtatty]

I've listened to the sound cloud demos "showing" this supposed problem.

There is NO distortion problem. That is the way these pianos sound when
you hit them hard. Period. I repeat, there is NO distortion or clipping.

The Rhodes simply "squawks" and distorts at highest velocities. I have one in my room right now. That's what it does.

Perhaps you just never paid enough attention before, and "suddenly" noticed what really happens when you hit that hard, and now you're focused on that. But trust me, that is what happens normally.

There is no fix for it, because there is nothing to fix. Get used to it. If you don't like it, don't hit the keys that hard.

I have the Kronos 61 for about 2.5 years. Before that i owned a Kronos 73.
In both of them i had the feeling that some patches sounded distorted. Especially the German piano. But i learned to live with it because i thought that was the way it was supposed to sound!

Recently i bought the Berlin Piano. The distortion is more clear now! The piano is almost unplayable! My volume knob is at 12 o'clock and the velocity curve at 5.

If i exceed 12 o'clock in the volume knob the piano sounds terrible!
If i play it with velo curve 4 the distortion is not so intense, but it is definitely there.

After that I met with a friend that has the KronosX and played with it's German piano. The piano doesn't distort at all! Only if i turn the volume knob all the way up and play it with velocity curve at 7, only then i can barely hear some distortion!

The next days i will post some samples for you to hear, both for the German and Berlin piano.

I spoke to my local dealer but he told me that no one else has reported such an issue. I will take it to the service sender at 12/12/2016. I can't before that because of the gigs.

Stay tuned for the samples...


P.S. The distortion is present in all the outputs: L/R, INDIV 1-4 and headphones.
My headphones are the AKG 271 MKII.
The monitors in my home studio are the Mackie MR8 and my sound card the focusrite saffire dsp 24.

Also in the studio that we record our album with my band, we had the same problem. In order to record my piano themes i had to turn the volume bellow 12 o'clock to eliminate the distortion. At that time i was thinking that there was something wrong with the studio's mixer! Obviously i was wrong!

[voip]

The Kronos' output is specified at +4dBu (professional level) so is quite "hot". If any equipment taking line outs from the Kronos is set to -10dBu input (consumer level audio), or has been set for extra gain, then that signal path may easily be overloaded, so worth checking. The 12 o'clock position seems rather loud through ear buds. Not sure if it's ears distorting or the Kronos. I suspect it's either the old shell-likes or the ear buds, since downstream audio equipment set to +4dBu doesn't display the distortion.

Individual outputs 1-4 are at max level and not affected by the volume control.

From the user manual: "The MR8 is designed to operate with a +4dBu signal when the INPUT LEVEL control is in the MAX position." i.e. if the input level control is not in the max position, there's a good chance the MR8 signal path will be distorted by signals hitting +4dBu levels.

Another thought, how much headroom has been set in the Kronos Global settings?

.

[xtatty]

The Kronos' output is specified at +4dBu (professional level) so is quite "hot". If any equipment taking line outs from the Kronos is set to -10dBu input (consumer level audio), or has been set for extra gain, then that signal path may easily be overloaded, so worth checking. The 12 o'clock position seems rather loud through ear buds. Not sure if it's ears distorting or the Kronos. I suspect it's either the old shell-likes or the ear buds, since downstream audio equipment set to +4dBu doesn't display the distortion.

Individual outputs 1-4 are at max level and not affected by the volume control.

From the user manual: "The MR8 is designed to operate with a +4dBu signal when the INPUT LEVEL control is in the MAX position." i.e. if the input level control is not in the max position, there's a good chance the MR8 signal path will be distorted by signals hitting +4dBu levels.

Another thought, how much headroom has been set in the Kronos Global settings?

.

The 12 o'clock position is not loud for the AKG 271 MKII headphones. They are professional level headphones, they are not ear buds.
I always find my self in need for a little more volume when i am at 12o'clock. That's why i go a little over 12 o'clock. Unfortunately the distortion is more clear at that position.

I know that individual outputs 1-4 are at max level. I tried sending the signal from the individual outputs and from L/R to the MR8. The result is the same. Also from the L/R i tried every possible position of the volume knob, from minimum to max.

I tried different settings for the headroom in Global mode, from Standard to +48dB. Nothing changes.

P.S. I haven't tried the USB Audio. I think Kronos supports it. I will try sending the signal through USB and see if the sounds are distorted...

[GregC]

The Kronos' output is specified at +4dBu (professional level) so is quite "hot". If any equipment taking line outs from the Kronos is set to -10dBu input (consumer level audio), or has been set for extra gain, then that signal path may easily be overloaded, so worth checking. The 12 o'clock position seems rather loud through ear buds. Not sure if it's ears distorting or the Kronos. I suspect it's either the old shell-likes or the ear buds, since downstream audio equipment set to +4dBu doesn't display the distortion.

Individual outputs 1-4 are at max level and not affected by the volume control.

From the user manual: "The MR8 is designed to operate with a +4dBu signal when the INPUT LEVEL control is in the MAX position." i.e. if the input level control is not in the max position, there's a good chance the MR8 signal path will be distorted by signals hitting +4dBu levels.

Another thought, how much headroom has been set in the Kronos Global settings?

.

The 12 o'clock position is not loud for the AKG 271 MKII headphones. They are professional level headphones, they are not ear buds.
I always find my self in need for a little more volume when i am at 12o'clock. That's why i go a little over 12 o'clock. Unfortunately the distortion is more clear at that position.

I know that individual outputs 1-4 are at max level. I tried sending the signal from the individual outputs and from L/R to the MR8. The result is the same. Also from the L/R i tried every possible position of the volume knob, from minimum to max.

I tried different settings for the headroom in Global mode, from Standard to +48dB. Nothing changes.

P.S. I haven't tried the USB Audio. I think Kronos supports it. I will try sending the signal through USB and see if the sounds are distorted...

the AKG's are pro level. But a reviewer said they were not very loud:
"They only problem is they don't get very loud. they require an amp to use in a live sound situation. "

I think you should test your Kronos directly with neutral sounding quality studio monitors.

[voip]

The Kronos' output level is nominally +4dBu but can go up to +16dBu before the Kronos outputs clip, i.e. 12dB more. The MR8 gives its rated output with a 300Hz signal at an input level of +4dBu, with the MR8 input level control set to Max, so an extra 12dB from the Kronos will easily overload the speaker amp if conditions are right e.g. big chords hit hard, or with certain effects.

.

[tekszet]

Now I have updated my kronos to Kronos 2 software the samples sound distorted. Has anybody else had this problem

I have a Kronos 2 with version 3.02 and getting ready to update it fairly soon. I have only had this brand new keyboard a few months and it is kept in climate controlled studio. actually using the Event Studio 8 speakers like another mentioned. But here is what I experienced. I was playing for a hour probably longer. I also had kept it on a bit before that but nothing out of te ordinary, I also had my 2 other pro keys on tier 2 and 3. So after playing a factory preset.. believe it was. "Pictures at exhibition" And I had been trying some changes in the sliders and knobs. but not on the screen. And at one point it became distorted. And it was not just that patch. After that happened I switched to a different preset thinking it would be fine but it was not. I finally had to turn it off and then back on after a few short minutes. Oh, and the other synths continued to sound just fantastic. (just like the Kronos normally does). So now I am wondering if there is a change I could have made that would have engaged something that would have crossed over to all presets until of course I turned it off. (it reminded me of like turning on a overdrive.) But even if the Kronos does have that setting or a like setting, wouldn't that only last until I changed the patch/preset? Bif thanks! I just want to avoid this if possible and I am hoping it is something I happened to change while tweaking the knobs but it was a first. ( the unit was not hot or anything like that either. Thanks.