Copying Home Kronos Back-Up Files to Rented Instrument

[Sangria]

I have an early Kronos 61-key model which I have programmed and which I use for local East Coast gigs. I have been offered a gig in San Francisco. An outfit called Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR) offers 73-key Kronos 2 and Kronos X models in San Francisco. Does anyone know if I can take a USB thumb drive containing a full back-up of my home machine to the West Coast and hope that I can quickly get a rental instrument to act exactly like my home machine? I fully understand that the "feel" of the keyboard may be different (because 73-key versions may differ in touch from 61-key models), but my only real concern is that sound mapping may have changed in newer Kronos models, and I'm wondering if this would result in some of my homespun combinations referencing unintended program sounds. Can anyone advise me whether or not to trust that I can confidently count on being able to use a rental instrument?

[19naia]

Kronos and Kronos 2 are compatible but it takes some work in the case of programs not being banked the same.. Thats the main issue unless you are prepared to overwrite the entire non protected contents.
Kronos X is the same mapping as orignal Kronos because the X was just a memory upgraded version of the original kronos.

Seems you will be ok since you want to overwrite with what you already have.
Be sure you have an entire "save all" file on your memory stick(can never know what was changed around on the rental right down to custom samples). Also you are going from 61 to 73 key rather than from 73 to 61. Your zonings should hold but your key range from C-1 to C9 may be shifted while fully present somewhere in the range of the 73.

I dont have first hand experience with all the details but here's a link to an old thread with lots of details and input from the forum
Be sure to read the comments about saying no or yes to Remapping and the comments about software version 3.0.3 being able to automatically sort programs into banks and slots. I guess that may not matter in your case since all you want is what you already have rather than what you find on the rental. And If you get a Kronos X, it will not matter because its the same as original Kronos as far as mapped content.


this link show comments that make it sound like the jump from K1 to K2 is not as easy as i made it sound. Still not sure if overwriting the entire program content will sort out the usual combination mix up. Do the programs reorder themselves to the internal mapping of the rig or do they order themselves into the rig as banked and slotted when saved to memory stick? Thats what i am not sure of when going from K1-k2.
Kronos X is your best option.
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... p?p=671505

[Sangria]

Many thanks for your thoughtful and reassuring response.

[SanderXpander]

"Save all" doesn't save any sets of user samples unless they're actually in sample RAM. It's a bit of a hassle if you have several UserBanks and/or EXs sample expansions installed. If you don't, all you need is a PCG file and perhaps an SNG file if you have midi based songs (I hope you don't have audio recordings in your songs because that would also be a major hassle).

Additionally, while all Kronos models are compatible with each other, that only goes if they have the same OS installed. I don't know if you're on the latest OS but it would be a good idea to upgrade before you go, then save your backups. And to bring the OS upgrade on a USB stick in case the rented model has an older version.

Btw as a courtesy, consider saving a backup of the rented model's state and loading that back in after finishing the gig.

[aron]

I just did this. I have an original Kronos 61 - No extra libraries.
I did a Save All onto USB stick and took that to the gigs. I made 2 copies, both USB sticks were formatted with Kronos.

When I arrived at the gig, I had very little time - I specified a Kronos with OS 3.0.4 88 keys. I remember it saying OS 3.0.4 and 60GB hard drive. The boot window had all 9 engine icons.

I tried to load the Save All file and chose overwrite for the banks and it started fine then locked up at Writing to memory....

I waiting a while and when I couldn't anymore, I turned it off and on and everything was OK! Unfortunately the Kronos had the problem of lightly played notes not sounding. So I just pounded on the keys more.

[GregC]

I have loaded my PCG's , song files, combis, to 2 other Kronos'

They all were current, 3.0.4.
All 3 boards were first generation.

However, my Kronos and the other 2 had slightly more or different Programs.

I would estimate the ' exact match " to run at 90-95% for my file conversions.

IOW, its not a perfect process. I always have to perform a few tweaks to account for Program differences.

[Sangria]

Amazing to post a question and to receive so much useful feedback in such a short time. What a wonderful community this forum represents! I will do my best to follow all of your collective, informed, and experience-based advice. Also, because some of you related stories that suggest the process might not go too smoothly, I will explore anew methods of getting my three home keyboards to the West Coast, so that I'll be assured of having the correct sounds at my fingertips. Once in the past, I bought an extra plane ticket for my gear, so that I wouldn't need to worry about careless baggage handlers, but then I was informed by the flight crew going out that the airline should never have approved this plan (they reluctantly allowed me to proceed because I had a fully paid ticket, but they told me what I was doing was creating unsafe cabin conditions). I've also explored but never tried going from NY to San Francisco by train (this is expensive and sleeping accommodations tend to get fully booked many months in advance). I'd consider driving, but Google estimates the road time at about 45 hours each way, which does not sound like too much fun. Dare I entrust my keyboard to a shipping company such as UPS (if I do a good job of packing everything up -- I've got some excellent hard cases)? Or should I look for some kid (a complete stranger) who for a price will drive my gear to the West Coast while I take a plane? Has anyone tried any of these methods with good results? Thanks again for all the advice above.

[GregC]

Amazing to post a question and to receive so much useful feedback in such a short time. What a wonderful community this forum represents! I will do my best to follow all of your collective, informed, and experience-based advice. Also, because some of you related stories that suggest the process might not go too smoothly, I will explore anew methods of getting my three home keyboards to the West Coast, so that I'll be assured of having the correct sounds at my fingertips. Once in the past, I bought an extra plane ticket for my gear, so that I wouldn't need to worry about careless baggage handlers, but then I was informed by the flight crew going out that the airline should never have approved this plan (they reluctantly allowed me to proceed because I had a fully paid ticket, but they told me what I was doing was creating unsafe cabin conditions). I've also explored but never tried going from NY to San Francisco by train (this is expensive and sleeping accommodations tend to get fully booked many months in advance). I'd consider driving, but Google estimates the road time at about 45 hours each way, which does not sound like too much fun. Dare I entrust my keyboard to a shipping company such as UPS (if I do a good job of packing everything up -- I've got some excellent hard cases)? Or should I look for some kid (a complete stranger) who for a price will drive my gear to the West Coast while I take a plane? Has anyone tried any of these methods with good results? Thanks again for all the advice above.

If I were you, I would research what the ' mapping diff' is.

I vaguely recall, its the internal A Program bank that got reshuffled on newer models since a bunch of new sounds got introduced.

You could do a comparison of your Program list vs the Program list of the X and model 2.

The location differences should jump out.

Then you can ' size ' what the conversion task will be.

Plus there are 100's of posts on this topic. I vaguely recall the mapping discussion began in February 2015. It might be cumbersome to google search for the topic but I think you will dig up definitive info.

[Sangria]

This sounds like good advice, and I will follow through on your suggestion, but still I can't help feeling that you and the others on this forum are so clever and so experienced that you could all deal better than I could with any unexpected last minute glitches I might run into on the West Coast. And based on what I'm hearing from all of you, it's not at all impossible that despite your excellent advice I still run a significant risk of running into an unexpected last-minute problem. Thus, I will continue to explore ways of getting my own equipment to San Francisco while keeping the plan to rent replacement gear as a back-up plan to be used only if the alternatives all prove prohibitively unattractive.

[GregC]

This sounds like good advice, and I will follow through on your suggestion, but still I can't help feeling that you and the others on this forum are so clever and so experienced that you could all deal better than I could with any unexpected last minute glitches I might run into on the West Coast. And based on what I'm hearing from all of you, it's not at all impossible that despite your excellent advice I still run a significant risk of running into an unexpected last-minute problem. Thus, I will continue to explore ways of getting my own equipment to San Francisco while keeping the plan to rent replacement gear as a back-up plan to be used only if the alternatives all prove prohibitively unattractive.

I like a low risk approach. With a rental, you would need a few hours to edit the programs/combis to your standards.

You might consider simplifying your combis, but that is a Plan B.

If your gig out this way justifies the cost of hauling your Kronos, I would agree with you.

[SanderXpander]

Again, if you don't have any custom samples or expansions and the OS version is the same, it'll load right up. Mapping differences are irrelevant since you will load a complete PCG.

FWIW I have done this with multiple Kronos and Kronos X boards with different mappings and keyboard sizes. Not with Kronos 2 although I don't see why it should be any different.

[Sangria]

Thank you. I think I get it. I'm totally persuaded that the safest way for me to use a rented Kronos is to insist on a Kronos X model (which is supposedly available) rather than a Kronos 2 (which may or may not present sound mapping issues that might or might not be easily resolved) and to take along not only a back-up from my home system created under the latest OS environment as well as a copy of the OS system itself (so that I can update the rental machine if necessary to match my own OS environment). Then, assuming that the supplied Kronos is not defective in some way, I should be fine.

You are all incredibly kind and generous, and I thank you all.