Disappointing USB MIDI/Audio performance from Kronos

shobley · Post by **shobley** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 11:55 am

I've had the Kronos 88 for a couple of weeks now and so far the performance of the USB interface has been fairly disappointing.

I am using an HP Z620 with a couple of Xeon processors and Windows 10. The hardware is pretty solid, almost everything else I have done with it has been successful - video editing, video compression, audio recording etc... But I have noticed the following issues with the Kronos.

The audio interface is prone to digital distortion, just playing Youtube movies through the Kronos often results in 'bitsmashing' style distortion, clicks and pops.

MIDI timing is off when sequencing through USB with the audio interface enabled. Disabling Audio in the Device manager resolves this, almost as if the audio (though ASIO4ALL) is flooding the USB interface and not allowing MIDI messages to make it in time.

I have installed the editor as a VST plugin within 32-bit Cubase, but nearly all SysEx transfers fail. It gets part way, then just loses connection with the hardware. Resulting in the messages overlay "After multiple attempts, no response from instrument! Continuing...". I also tried with a MidiSport 2x2 interface, something that I have used without issue for many years, and I can get no SysEx transfers to work at all.

It's a shame that even after all this time, and the advent of USB over original MIDI, that we still get SysEx transfer issues with the latest and greatest offerings from a major player like Korg.

I have tried both with and without the Korg USB driver.

Anyone else have any idea on how to fix the issue?

UPDATE: If anyone has been successful in loading all factory program banks into the editor, and could upload an exported Cubase patchscript file I would greatly appreciate it.

voip · Post by **voip** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:49 pm

Were these observations obtained with the latest Korg DrvTools installed, and was the Kronos connected to the PC for the first time only *after* the driver installation had completed?

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shobley · Post by **shobley** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:54 pm

I believe the driver was installed first, then the Kronos connected.

When I check device manager it does say "KORG KRONOS" not "KORG USB" and the driver properties indicate it is using 7/17/2019 version of Korg driver.

You make a good point though, is there a reliable way to clear all MIDI drivers and start over in Win10?

shobley · Post by **shobley** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:17 pm

I just tried to receive a standard dump of all program data in the SysEx screen of MIDI OX and I get nothing. The dialog box just says 0 bytes received, although the Kronos runs though 0-100% on the progress bar.

BobTheDog · Post by **BobTheDog** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:18 pm

Have you tried with a different USB lead as well?

voip · Post by **voip** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:34 pm

In the Windows Start menu, KORG | KORG USB-MIDI Driver Tools subfolder, there should be a link to Installation manual. This details how to remove and generally clean up the MIDI driver setup on a PC.

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shobley · Post by **shobley** » Fri Dec 13, 2019 7:07 pm

BobTheDog wrote:Have you tried with a different USB lead as well?

I'll give this a try, along with switching to a laptop.

Poseidon · Post by **Poseidon** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 2:17 am

Below you have a link to an article that might help you.
It's outdated, however I would still recommend it to you.

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques ... -interface

Another solution would be to use 3rd party Audio interface, and Kronos USB interface for MIDI only.

And a reminder - Avoid MME or Direct X in Windows at all costs.

shobley · Post by **shobley** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 11:59 am

Well... it's actually looking like it was my USB cable(s). I tried two cables, both with poor performance. One of them was the cable I have been using for years to run my audio interface, and has never given me an issue. But when I replaced it with a brand new cable, all my problems seemed to go away.

Thanks for all the responses, I'm now MUCH happier with the way the Kronos is behaving.

narf · Post by **narf** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:53 pm

Are you running Kronos OS 3.1.3. It adressed this issue with Macs and IOS. Might make a difference in your case.

shobley · Post by **shobley** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:32 pm

narf wrote:Are you running Kronos OS 3.1.3. It adressed this issue with Macs and IOS. Might make a difference in your case.

Yes, I am. I was beginning to think I might need to downgrade, but so far the new cable has fixed things.

BobTheDog · Post by **BobTheDog** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 8:55 pm

I have had loads of problems with USB cables in the past, old cables that used to work fine with low speed USB can cause issues with faster speeds.

Just chuck those two cables away and buy some newer ones.