What Korg should do if new Kronos not released on NAMM 2018

[GregC]

I actually thought Kronos was somewhat of a bargain when it came out 6 yrs ago.

In my ideal world I think Kronos should be cheaper. I am more on the side
of folks with their hard earned money.

Still though....the current Kronos seems to have had all of the bugs ironed out and after all these years,it still remains the best bang for your buck,in the hardware keyboard market and will probably continue to reign as the ultimate value,for quite some time.
My sincere hope is though,that one of Korg's competitors will release something profoundly innovative for a reasonable price,which would force Korg to be even more competitve price-wise and feature-wise.
I've waited many years,to see what would pop up....but perhaps now,it's time for me to become serious about setting aside my petty cash from my meager monthly income,to invest in a Kronos and the onset of the Winter Namm this year,will determine where my dollars will go to.

I am a realist. It's been several/ 6 yrs and no exact head to head competition.
Doubtful that will change if you are seeking an alternative all in 1 solution.

Have no idea what your context is, such as gigging keyboardist or home studio type.

As a practical matter, that will sway the purchasing thought process

[ng_friend]

Plus wasn't the Kronos LS just released last year? That was kinda a re-fresh of sorts (ok, just a diff, lighter, keybed). I have pre-alz brain, so I'm not so sure.

That's true. Kronos LS was a 2017 release.

[highlandstudio91]

I am a realist. It's been several/ 6 yrs and no exact head to head competition.
Doubtful that will change if you are seeking an alternative all in 1 solution.

Have no idea what your context is, such as gigging keyboardist or home studio type.

As a practical matter, that will sway the purchasing thought process

The fact that I had made mention of being conflicted between upgrading my PC,or buying a Kronos,should have given you some idea that I am a studio musician(but just to confirm where I stand....yes,I am strictly a home recording enthusiast.)
Perhaps you are right,as there may never be any head-to-head competition....but I would settle for a mid-grade option(such as what the Korg M3 was,or even what the Yamaha Motif XF was.)
If my former M3 OS had not crashed,I would still have it and still be content enough not to want a Kronos.
If I had acted sooner and I had decided to buy a Motif XF when it was available,I would have been content with that keyboard as well and had not considered a Kronos.
Undoubtedly,the Kronos is an exceptional value....but I simply cannot afford the payments on one and I cannot have every cent of my petty cash every month,tied into monthly payments fo the next year.
Alternatively...I could set aside $100 per month for the next year and then begin my 12 payment plan with Zzounds or AMS....but I don't know if I am ready to commit to that,as of yet.
Also....when I consider that I can make a significant upgrade from my current PC,for just $559....I really need to think more about doing that first,before anything else.
To put a finer point on my situation,my primary source of income is my SSD(which is just under a $1,000 per month) and my seasonal job at Kohl's ended in late December.
Moreover...employers are insanely discriminating in who they hire(given the ongoing,depressed economical climate) and I have not been able to find steady,year-round employment and in fact,in the last 4 years of searching,Kohl's was the ONLY employer that was willing to hire me.As I have found out,disabled folks like myself,have no equal opportunity for employment(that is to say,that although our rights exist on paper,those rights are not put into play in the real world...without the assistance of a lawyer.)
I have even used an employment agency(which offered prospective employers a 60% tax break) and even still,this did not work in my favor.Despite all my efforts to get hired on permanently at Kohl's(I worked two seasons there)....Kohl's decided to hire a total newbie female that is on parole...yeah...that's right,a felon has more rights,than a disabled person with a fierce work ethic and a squeaky clean record.

Sorry....didn't mean to ramble on into an essay,but that's my financial situation,in a nutshell....which isn't going to change,in my lifetime.

[19naia]

So my youtube subscription to Korg channel has shown new product releases over the past few days.
The Prologue, KR-55, D-1 and the usual little tuners and metronomes.

Is this basically what they will have at NAMM or do they usually save a few surprises for the booth at NAMM?

[Purusha]

Wonder if I'm in a minority, but I don't actually use my Kronos as a workstation (recording and playback). I use it as a master keyboard in the studio and as a workhorse synth on-stage. The sequencer doesn't really have the right work-flow for me as a production device. I'm also not ever-so happy with the touch-screen as-is. I've prefer a capacitative touch-screen, since I find the granularity of the current interface not-great.

So, I would potentially be in the market for a keyboard / synth which had ALL the sound-design capabilities (including streamed piano engines etc.), with a good system for editing those sounds. The modulation capabilities of Kronos are hard to beat in a board of its type.

I'd consider swapping out my Kronos for a keyboard like that, if there were something special about the sound design capabilities.

[GregC]

Wonder if I'm in a minority, but I don't actually use my Kronos as a workstation (recording and playback). I use it as a master keyboard in the studio and as a workhorse synth on-stage. The sequencer doesn't really have the right work-flow for me as a production device

So, I would potentially be in the market for a keyboard / synth which had ALL the sound-design capabilities (including streamed piano engines etc.), with a good system for editing those sounds. .

do you record to a DAW ?

1 of the best strengths of Kronos is streaming from SSD. I think we mostly take it for granted but if you look around, no other keyboard product co is doing this.

I suppose this might be related to Linux programming skill but I am not sure.

Curious to why the cos are not using this tech. Perhaps it takes skill and investment that they do not have.

Kronos seems to be holding its #1 spot as the all in 1. No other co seems to be interested in being #2. Economically, its not worth it is my guess.

[Lightbringer]

I would be interested to hear how others use the K's sequencer.

Personally I still intend to use my DAW as my primary production tool. But the Kronos sequencer was nonetheless a great selling point for me, even if I never use it to make a complete song from start to finish.

There's a process I undergo somewhere upstream from "ready to record a song" that I expect the immediacy of the onboard sequencer will fit really well. Sound design, riff creation, and finding the right sonic space and balance for multitimbral passages.

[Purusha]

do you record to a DAW ?

Yes - Cubase and Ableton, depending on the project.

1 of the best strengths of Kronos is streaming from SSD. I think we mostly take it for granted but if you look around, no other keyboard product co is doing this.

..which is why I said: "ALL the sound-design capabilities (including streamed piano engines etc.)"

[danmusician]

I would be interested to hear how others use the K's sequencer.

Personally I still intend to use my DAW as my primary production tool. But the Kronos sequencer was nonetheless a great selling point for me, even if I never use it to make a complete song from start to finish.

There's a process I undergo somewhere upstream from "ready to record a song" that I expect the immediacy of the onboard sequencer will fit really well. Sound design, riff creation, and finding the right sonic space and balance for multitimbral passages.

Back in the day, I produced an entire album with the onboard sequencer in an Ensoniq EPS with a drum machine and piano module. I spent a month creating backing tracks at home, then went to a studio. The EPS had an 8 audio out expansion unit. I dubbed all the tracks to multitrack tape in one pass, recorded vocals and mixed with studio effects. The studio time I saved by tracking at home more than paid for the EPS, but it was very tedious work.

That was 1990. I haven’t used an onboard sequencer for creating tracks since. Not long after, I got a Mac SE/30 with Performer. When I upgraded to the Korg 01/W pro, I still created all my sequences in the Mac and then transferred to the Korg for playback in performance. Even if I’m away from home and doing some sequencing, I use my laptop. No matter how great an onboard sequencer is, the ability to see and manipulate lots of data on the computer screen makes the work so much easier and efficient.

For several years, I tried performing live with a laptop on stage for my tracks and played a Yamaha S-80. Just didn’t like having a computer on stage. Got an M3 and went back to playing tracks from an onboard sequencer. Didn’t like the keybed on the M3-73. The Kronos came out. Much better for live gigs than the M3 was for me.

[GregC]

I would be interested to hear how others use the K's sequencer.

Personally I still intend to use my DAW as my primary production tool. But the Kronos sequencer was nonetheless a great selling point for me, even if I never use it to make a complete song from start to finish.

There's a process I undergo somewhere upstream from "ready to record a song" that I expect the immediacy of the onboard sequencer will fit really well. Sound design, riff creation, and finding the right sonic space and balance for multitimbral passages.

I use the SEQ 99% of the time. I consider it a song writers friend.
I multi track heavily, often exceeding 16 midi tracks. SEQ has audio
tracks, too

The musical recording results from the SEQ are excellent. Have +30 songs on Sound Cloud using 100% Kronos SEQ.

I don't know your style or context - but its amazing to hear the diversity of created music using Kronos and likely the SEQ.

About 10 topics down check out " Let's hear your latest stuff..."

In addition, to creating/recording your music, you can achieve a quality convincing mix on the SEQ. And easily convert your Song file to a WAV.

Plus Kronos has 24 bit recording. Some can hear the diff between 24 vs 16 bit.

SEQ is a strong tool for your song material start to finish.

[leonh]

I do all my songs on Kronos including sequences I prefer that way probably due to the fact that I had M1 and then M50 plus Yamaha MOXF and best hardware sequencer in my opinion Yamaha QY700 so it's natural for me and yes I did record songs on Cubase with my now sold Montage so for my music I find Kronos sequencer more than enough.

[Lightbringer]

I use the SEQ 99% of the time. I consider it a song writers friend.

You make some compelling points. I should probably make it a mission to do at least a couple songs start to finish on the K SEQ. Worst case I'll learn how it works better and what it can or can't do. Best case maybe I'll start to prefer it to what I'm doing today. Either way, its a win.

Will def check out the Kronos song thread![/quote]

[tim.condon]

RE: @highlandstudio91 - "In terms of optimization,all I would like to see,is Korg utilize flash memory,as Yamaha has done with their XF series....
"

So, actually, all commercially available SSDs (including the one in the Kronos) *are* built on flash memory technology...but with additional caches to reduce latency compared to say vanilla flash memory cards for a digital camera. Thus every model of the Kronos does already use flash memory.

[highlandstudio91]

RE: @highlandstudio91 - "In terms of optimization,all I would like to see,is Korg utilize flash memory,as Yamaha has done with their XF series....
"

So, actually, all commercially available SSDs (including the one in the Kronos) *are* built on flash memory technology...but with additional caches to reduce latency compared to say vanilla flash memory cards for a digital camera. Thus every model of the Kronos does already use flash memory.

Okay.....but the boot-up time is about 1:46(not quite as bad as the old M3 though.)

[SeedyLee]

Just to add to some of the other comments, I use the Kronos sequencer almost exclusively, and drive around 5 other hardware synths with it. I use the PC for multitrack audio though, particularly if I need to record more than four tracks simultaneously.