Kross vs Krome as Light Weight Portable

[Bald Eagle]

I was thinking about a Krome to use as a lightweight portable but now with the Kross here I'm wondering if the Kross is a better choice than Krome.

I haven't done an in depth comparison yet but remember this is strictly for use as a portable. Advanced workstation features are not required here (but wont be frowned upon).

[Dan Stesco]

Hi my friend,
I think the good choice is to have both Krome 88 and kross 61 or Kross 88 and Krome 73-61.

Plus for Kross:

Step Seq
Audio Input
Voccoder
Sound on Sound
16 Favorite buttons
Split ,layer button
Very portable ( AA battery)
Lo price
Very nice looking (as usual of Korg)

Plus for krome:

Touch view screen
Knob controls
No Fx limit size

[Bald Eagle]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the feedback. Having both would be nice but not exactly the portability I was looking for but it did get me thinking. I could get a Kross and then take the module from one of my M3's. now that could be a very nice and powerful portable setup.

[david7685]

I'm giving careful consideration to a similar situation.
I like the mod wheels are above not beside the keys.
I wish the biggest music store in Toronto would have received their first KROSS by now. Still waiting in Canada.

[Bald Eagle]

I had a chance to play the Kross today and was pretty impressed for the price. The keybed is playable but not in the class of the Kronos or M3. It sounds very good and with all the plus's that Dan pointed out I am definitely considering it.

I didn't have time to do any menu diving to see how hard or easy navigation is so I will go back another day. I will say that the small screen is not very nice. An oled would have been nicer although that would not change the navigation.

[studio99]

I've had mine a couple of days and love it.
If portability is a factor, the battery power feature is huge.
You can take it to the living room couch, the dining room table or the backyard deck without dinking with a wall wart.
I've been using mine with a Roland KC110 and a Bose soundlink with equal success.
Love the mobility!!

[david7685]

Thanks for your post.
Good to hear you like matching your Kross and Roland Kc-110.
Each run on standard batteries. I too have a Kc-110.
I also have paid in full for a Kross - now waiting in Toronto Canada for the first batch to arrive. They will ship here from Montreal. . . But WHEN???

[tw8020]

I am new to the forum and I am facing a dilemma in trying to decide between Krome and Kross. I have played both and like what I hear from each. I understand that the Krome has the EDSx engine which is, I think, a more powerful one than the EDSi engine in the Kross. I also think that the Krome has deeper level sampling of the sounds than does the Krome and it has the Touch Screen. But, given the difference in price, are there any other compelling reasons to choose the Krome over the Kross? Thanks for your opinions.

[Soundsgood]

I bought the Kross because of the portability and the audio input.
I hook up tke Kross to my iPad and take the audio from the iPad into the Kross! You can't do that with the Krome, you would need an external mixer.

Fantasitc keyboard!

[tommymandel]

The lightness of the KROSS has to be experienced day in day out, to really be appreciated. Backpacking it on the NYC subways has been a breeze: a welcome improvement even from carrying a 15 lb. SK-1 around. And when a gig or rehearsal is done, you are packed up in a matter of seconds and no sweat. The sounds are close enough to Krome so that if extreme portability matters, you should be happy. Plus the beats are a year younger. But you should go once again and carefully compare the Piano and EP sounds of the Krome vs. the Kross before you make your final decision, if those sounds are central to your work. Because if you can just fling the keyboard into your Volvo, maybe 'size doesn't matter' & the Krome may make you happier. It's not that heavy either. Just not ridiculously light.

The keybed could feel a little better, but it is playable and you quickly get used to it, with musical results. I've thought about swapping it up for an 88-key KROSS, but, for me, the lightness of the KROSS-61 is magical.

[david7685]

Greetings from freezing Toronto, Canada

Not only ultra-lightweight

But with KROSS the footprint is smaller compared to the Krome.

How is the Kross instrument so much shorter in length?
- by Kross placing the pitch bend and modulation wheels above the keyboard not like the Krome which places them to the side.

There is a big difference in length of instrument.

The Kross fits (perfect match) above my other 61 key instrument (Nord Electeo 4D) in a stack on stage without sticking out over the sides of the Nord below it. The Kross is an ideal 2nd keyboard for me on gigs over my main board.
For band rehearsal today, needless to say, I only take my Kross.
On foot: When walking Up and down stairs,carrying it a long distance; no fatigue/no strain.
In car:
And the Kross fits above the Nord 4D - sideways - in the very back of my car's trunk, however, both fit just barely. Each fits across the back of the car trunk enclosed in their own custom case from the manufacture.
Both cases are nearly identical in colour as well.

Are the organ sounds the same comparing my two instruments?
Of course not. Not even close.
But my oh my: the automatic rhythm accompaniments in the Kross are more fun than I could have ever imagined. And I play arranger keyboards.
But these up-to-date drum patterns, etc. are plentiful and inspiring. Good luck with your new Korg keyboard.
Did I mention the built in handle on the KROSS ?

[Randelph]

There are a surprising number of pluses with the Kross.

It's super lightweight and can run off of batteries. For me that translates to portability (different parts of the house, parties, park). It's also relatively cheap, so I'm not as worried about it.

It can not only record audio from the line in and mic/instrument inputs (with FX added), it can OVERDUB!!!! For me that translates to not having to mess with a computer in order to record my keyboard playing and then overdub my flute or voice on top of that, and then other instruments ad infinitum. This is huge.

The step sequencer with the 16 buttons (which doubles as favorites and other functions) makes step sequencing easy, inviting and fun.

I didn't use the sequencer (I had this on loan for just a few days). But overall Korg nailed it on the head for someone like me. Everything I tried on the board was straightforward and very user-friendly, and the fact that you could record yourself and overdub with no hassle whatsoever, blew my mind.

I had a M3-61, and while everything about it was higher quality with more features (keybed, sounds, drum pads, sampler, KARMA, control knobs, etc.), I think I would have been happier with the Kross. There were too many features on the M3, too many technical hurdles to jump through, so to have a streamlined version of a workstation that is easy and inviting to play is a real breakthrough.

The areas I can think of that might be better on the Krome are:
1. The sounds (obviously)
2. Control knobs (sadly lacking on the Kross)
3. The size of the display and ease of sequencing as a result
4. The keybed (haven't played a Krome)

From the little bit that I played the Kross the sounds were fine (this would be a second portable board for me, I rely on a Nord Stage Classic otherwise), I could use a control pedal to have more realtime expression, I'm not a big sequencer guy, and the keybed on the 61 note Kross felt fine to me.

The only real contender for me to this board would be the new Roland FA06. Yes, it's $500 more so it's not really in the same price range, but to me its potentially more of the same but better- better and more sounds, control knobs, display and more sophisticated audio recording capability- if I understand correctly, it records and reads not only wav files but also MP3 (huge memory saver), and has a system for 16 separate audio tracks. I haven't tried it so I don't know if it's as user friendly as I'm hoping, but if it is, it'd be an order of magnitude more powerful than the Kross for the audio recording and sounds.

[xcracerman]

I had three weeks Krome and I was not happy with it. Sound is a little like mono. Piano is good but kind of sound is weak. This is not a good old Korg (I had a Triton, Trinity). The sound is like a MONO sound. Even pads Korg sound weak!

[Goldfayn]

I did a side-by-side comparison of the kross and krome the other day. I was particularly interested in the sound quality of the programs in the different category banks. As a producer, sound is usually the first priority for me so I did not dwell into the combinations, and try to compare the sounds with FX on and off. Keeping it to solo instruments or program.

I used same headphones and compared the same or similar programs of strings, bass and drums in the kross and krome

My impressions:

1) Volume output of kross is significantly lower vs krome (very high and clear output through the headphones)

2) Krome strings sounds high-end, stereo, dynamic and has that overall sheen all over it compared to Kross. The latter was not bad, it sounded good, but you could still hear that it lacked something.

3) Krome drums are detailed, Kross is also detailed but lacks a but of high-end on certain sounds.

4) I couldnt tell much difference in the synth bass section

I dont know what the overal sound quality differences depend on, perhaps the large sample sizes on the krome? Its hard to imagine Korg re-sampled all the synth, basses and drums on the krome. Kross was launched after krome, right?

My last reflection is that perhaps the difference in sound quality is due to the effects section. Krome has a Total Effect on top ot everything in addtion to the two master FX while Kross only got the 5 inserts and 2 master fx.

Could FX explain the top-end differences or can one explain if there is a difference in the D/A conversion which affects the total sound quality, even when FX is tuned off?

[aron]

I can tell you this. I paid for my Kross with one gig. I love this little tiny machine for trips.

I played an event last night - large crowd on another island. I only used my Kross. I played EP and piano and I got a lot of compliments. Everyone talked about how nice the piano sounded and how much it added. The Kross is the first keyboard that I haven't changed the piano sound. YES, it is not a piano sound like my Kronos or PX-5S, but it still sounds good.

Here are the negatives for me:

1: Keyboard action is not very good - but still playable.
2: Synth waves are stretched too much over the keyboard - you can hear the stretching and aliasing.
3: Strings are not as full and warm as they could be.
4: Cannot type in tempos for drums etc...

But the positives are many!
Light.
Sounds great overall.
Drum sequencer is awesome and the built in loops are great!
Easy to use!
Has a handle!
Battery powered.
Audio in etc... works great!

I love this little keyboard and I think it is a creative tool and is fun to play.