Kronos SE

kronoSphere · Post by **kronoSphere** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:41 am

Wait ! Wait ! Wait ! The Kronos SE is looking somehow like a pretty good car with bright colors but the motor inside is just : old

Broadwave · Post by **Broadwave** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:41 pm

I'm so annoyed with Toyota right now... I bought a C-HR TWO YEARS AGO, and they STILL haven't upgraded the engine!!!:twisted:

My Kronos still does more than I currently demand from it (think about that sentance for a while). Eventually Korg will relent and bring something new out, but will I immediately fork out £3.5K for it because it has a 64bit OS and more user preset slots?

Nope, it's fine as it is and does a pretty good job.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:44 pm

Astrotaz wrote:

I highly doubt that the SE was released to appeal to existing users. It was merely a way of adding value to an existing product to entice new users.
As a non Korg user considering purchasing a Kronos for the first time, this thread concerns me.

I would hate to splash out the $ on an SE only to find Korg refreshes with a new machine in a year. Given the age of the Kronos new buyers who are considering a purchase may consider waiting it out.

Thoughts? Worth jumping in now -- or waiting?

you should be concerned. Spending $3500 is not an impulse purchase.

Lets analyze/assess.

If you have a steady gig where you are earning , lets say $20,000 or more per year, you could justify a Kronos purchase.

If not, what are your music production plans or requirements ?

What exactly do you need now and for the next year or 2 ? Think ahead.
Maybe Krome or a Yamaha keyboard is a better fit.

I consider Kronos to be a long term purchase. Its not a keyboard you buy today and try to sell later this year- you will not get your money back. Its not an investment like that.

Astrotaz · Post by **Astrotaz** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:21 pm

Good questions : I'm looking to replace my Roland Fantom G8 which is getting rather old now (but I've gotten very good mileage out of this board and it's still is a good workstation for what I use it for).

I want a board which has good music creation abilities (ie: a workstation) as most of my work is in the creation rather than live gigs.

My main concern is investing in a board which is already several years old hardware wise which I would consider end of life, only to find that a new workstation comes out in a year or so.

The lifecycle curve on the Kronos has to be towards the end don't you think? So the risk to the investment has to be high at this point in time. I'm leaning towards waiting until Korg finally pull the plug and release a new board with up to date hardware.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:48 pm

Astrotaz wrote:Good questions : I'm looking to replace my Roland Fantom G8 which is getting rather old now (but I've gotten very good mileage out of this board and it's still is a good workstation for what I use it for).

I want a board which has good music creation abilities (ie: a workstation) as most of my work is in the creation rather than live gigs.

My main concern is investing in a board which is already several years old hardware wise which I would consider end of life, only to find that a new workstation comes out in a year or so.

The lifecycle curve on the Kronos has to be towards the end don't you think? So the risk to the investment has to be high at this point in time. I'm leaning towards waiting until Korg finally pull the plug and release a new board with up to date hardware.

we know its 'old '. And I have been saying for 1-2 years, {EOL ?] and what Korg 'should do'.

And nothing has changed. Neither of the above is a factor since folks are still buying Kronos. And does history always repeat ? ( for a new w/s]. Is it predictable ?

No one hear can suggest exactly what to do due to unknowns and timing.

Roll the dice.

Andi · Post by **Andi** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 10:35 am

kronoSphere wrote:Wait ! Wait ! Wait ! The Kronos SE is looking somehow like a pretty good car with bright colors but the motor inside is just : old

I said that in 2012. The motor is basically from 2005 (Oasys) and the interior from 1995 (Trinity). It still can't write more than 76 characters for pathlength+filename and if it fails, it writes crap to the SSD and informs you about it after it shat all over the filesystem. smh

Korgs trick is to put somebody who is a really good musician in front of old crap and promote it. Oldest trick in the book, if you want to sell an overpriced golden turd.

LewTheKeyboardGuy · Post by **LewTheKeyboardGuy** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:41 pm

Andi wrote:
kronoSphere wrote:Wait ! Wait ! Wait ! The Kronos SE is looking somehow like a pretty good car with bright colors but the motor inside is just : old
I said that in 2012. The motor is basically from 2005 (Oasys) and the interior from 1995 (Trinity). It still can't write more than 76 characters for pathlength+filename and if it fails, it writes crap to the SSD and informs you about it after it shat all over the filesystem. smh

Korgs trick is to put somebody who is a really good musician in front of old crap and promote it. Oldest trick in the book, if you want to sell an overpriced golden turd.

Thank you for making me laugh my arse off so much. best way of putting it!

kronoSphere · Post by **kronoSphere** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 1:13 pm

But most of all : there is no "bad" sounds or "good" sounds. This is an absurdity. For an exemple, the sound of the "Hey Jude" piano is the kind of sound absolutely no one would have been interested with before that song ! You can have a grand Pleyel at home and playing horrible things. What I expect in the next big workstation from Korg (if there will be one) is an uptodate motor and better and faster in its conception and at the evidence a better sequencer

marc1 · Post by **marc1** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 1:42 pm

Andi wrote:

I said that in 2012. The motor is basically from 2005 (Oasys) and the interior from 1995 (Trinity).

I wish this would be true, because then I could have just kept my Triton which left many of the Kronos (interior) features to be desired. If anything, it's an extension, but a serious one, not a lighthearted one as you get with so many other boards out there.

Korgs trick is to put somebody who is a really good musician in front of old crap and promote it.

Oh come on, that's easy to say when in fact there's nothing like the Kronos out there right now. Does the Montage have the latest and greatest in computer tech inside its chassis? No! It's a custom chip which does half of the stuff Kronos does. Does Jupiter 80 or now its little brother FA have the latest and greatest inside? Nope? Does Nord, Kurzweil, Casio or any of these music brands offer anything remotely close to Kronos? Come on, we all know the answer.

To me the only company which comes close in terms of technological development is Akai, especially with its MPC X. But of course it's not a keyboard and they entered the arena comparatively late. But then again you whiny brats don't deserve any better.

Oh no, come on, what did I say. Kronos development halted after 14 - 24 years (as it should be) and you should all clean house from old stuff and go buy a Laptop and/or Neko/Lionstracs/what have you. LOL

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:37 pm

marc1 wrote:A

Oh no, come on, what did I say. Kronos development halted after 14 - 24 years (as it should be) and you should all clean house from old stuff and go buy a Laptop and/or Neko/Lionstracs/what have you. LOL

hey now, I like old stuff. 80% of my material is based on 70's/80's.

And look at all the cover bands- doing 'old stuff' .

Not a big surprise, Kronos sound programming is often supporting 80's/90's ,material . Even 70's progressive. Yes, derives from Oasys, that long in the tooth lineage.

So nothing new to report, our favorite keyboard provides solutions and instant gratification. For $3500.

Lightbringer · Post by **Lightbringer** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 6:13 pm

Wow, it saddens me to see the negativity about the Kronos in this thread.

I bought mine about a year ago, when some would have already described it as "end of life." I've found it to be the opposite - full of life. A powerful tool for crafting music and sound, and a real creative enabler.

I guess I can understand where if you've had it for 10 years, you might be jonesing for something new. I guess that's human nature. But still, I'm not sure it's fair to be calling it a gimp. There's really nothing quite like it that I've encountered. And while you might be able to buy a VST library that has a better X sound than Kronos, as a whole package, I'd say it's competitively on par with or better than more recent products out there.

I'd buy it again today if I didn't already have one.

exsequor699 · Post by **exsequor699** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 7:29 pm

[quote="Lightbringer"]Wow, it saddens me to see the negativity about the Kronos in this thread.

Totally agree. Most of the flagship hardware keyboards don't have the "updated/current" hardware specs that many users demand for a "new Kronos", and still they cannot do what Kronos can. Those are facts, not personal opinion. Wishlist are ok, but lets not lose reasoning and keep things cool as a community.

ITguy54 · Post by **ITguy54** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:23 pm

danmusician wrote:
jimknopf wrote:The Korg Kronos SE edition is nothing but a bad joke to me.

Korg is not sitting on its hands with the Kronos thinking, "We know they'd like this or that killer feature. But we aren't going to add it because it's so much fun to frustrate our user base!"

My fear is that the Kronos may well be the last Workstation keyboard produced. As has been stated here many, many times, laptops can provide the same experience with much more flexibility.

That is not much of an argument. Laptops have had powerful sequencers, and synthesis capabilities for a long time - long before the Kronos came out, yet Korg still came out with the Kronos and did well by it. So there is still room for a new Uber-workstation to come out, especially if it can interface with the world of software out there that exists for laptops.

ITguy54 · Post by **ITguy54** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:26 pm

Broadwave wrote:I'm so annoyed with Toyota right now... I bought a C-HR TWO YEARS AGO, and they STILL haven't upgraded the engine!!!:twisted:

My Kronos still does more than I currently demand from it (think about that sentance for a while). Eventually Korg will relent and bring something new out, but will I immediately fork out £3.5K for it because it has a 64bit OS and more user preset slots?

Nope, it's fine as it is and does a pretty good job.

And of course neither Toyota nor any other auto manufacturer has upgraded a model with more power or features. And they haven’t upgraded models with newer models. Cars are the same as they were 50 years ago.

So if or when Korg comes out with a replacement for the Kronos 2, you promise not to buy one, even if it has amazing improvements over the current model? Because of course you will NEVER want anything more than what the current Kronos does.

Poseidon · Post by **Poseidon** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:33 am

It’s not about the age !
MrFirechild is a good example, the old can sounds better than new if someone is talented like MrFirechild ( Anthem for Theremin and Synthesizers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7JtKSwb31k)

You can happily drive old car with an old engine if its maintained and ADEQUATE size.
The problem with Korg Kronos is they built a TRUCK with an engine from a mid size van.

I have impression that Kronos SE is a gift to shareholders rather than Korg users.