Connecting my Kronos 2 to a DAW on a Windows 10 laptop

[Col66]

Hey everyone,

I apologise if this question has been asked a billion times already but I just want to make sure I understand because I'm new to the home recording stuff, and owning a Kronos.

I want to connect my Kronos to my laptop and therefore my DAW, which is Reaper.
I want to be able to record what I play as well as Karma, and have all the MIDI data available to edit. So, my questions are:

1. Which cable is best?
2. How do I go about the set-up once the Kronos is connected?

From my understanding I can get a USB cable - the type I use for my printer - and connect the laptop and Kronos to each other. I then might need to download some drivers from Korg. I'll probably need to change some settings on the Kronos, poss in "Global."
That's about the limit of my understanding as of now. I'd appreciate any advice on how to go about the set-up.

Thanks in advance!

Col.

[fclef]

Your Kronos has three USB ports: 2 USB type A and 1 USB type B. To interface with your computer and its DAW, you'll connect from the USB type B port to a USB in port on your computer. Most computers have a type A port, many of the new ones also have a type C port. Some, such as a MS Surface, only have type C ports.
Therefore, you need to carefully examine the ports on your computer. You'll need a cable with a type B connection at one end, and either a type A or C on the other.
You can download the MIDI driver from the Korg website, if necessary. My system (Windows 11) no longer seems to need it.
There's very little you need to do at the Kronos - most of the setup work will be within your DAW.

[Col66]

Your Kronos has three USB ports: 2 USB type A and 1 USB type B. To interface with your computer and its DAW, you'll connect from the USB type B port to a USB in port on your computer. Most computers have a type A port, many of the new ones also have a type C port. Some, such as a MS Surface, only have type C ports.
Therefore, you need to carefully examine the ports on your computer. You'll need a cable with a type B connection at one end, and either a type A or C on the other.
You can download the MIDI driver from the Korg website, if necessary. My system (Windows 11) no longer seems to need it.
There's very little you need to do at the Kronos - most of the setup work will be within your DAW.

Thanks for that. I should be good to go once my cable arrives!

[voip]

Install the Korg MIDI driver *before* connecting the Kronos for the first time, else only the OS' own MIDI drivers are installed, and can cause problems.

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[Col66]

Install the Korg MIDI driver *before* connecting the Kronos for the first time, else only the OS' own MIDI drivers are installed, and can cause problems.

.

Thanks. I'll do that!

[Col66]

I've downloaded the drivers and connected the Kronos to my laptop. Turned everything on and I can see the Kronos in my device manager. There are 2 entries which I think is correct, 1 for audio and 1 for Midi.

The problem I'm having is that I don't see the Kronos as a Midi device in my DAW. Is there anything else I need to do? Any settings on the Kronos?

I came across this video but don't know if it is still relevant. Does anybody know anything about this please?

https://youtu.be/rVy2aqQm3U8

[voip]

Two USB device entries for the Kronos is correct.

As suggested in the video linked the above post, use the "Uninstall Korg USB-MIDI Device" program to check how many MIDI driver instances there are. In the Option menu of the uninstaller program, uncheck the "Korg MIDI Device only" box. If there are more than 10 USB MIDI devices showing, then use the software to remove unnecessary ones, including duplicates, since plugging any USB MIDI device into several different USB ports will result in a USB driver being installed for each port.

.

[Col66]

Two USB device entries for the Kronos is correct.

As suggested in the video linked the above post, use the "Uninstall Korg USB-MIDI Device" program to check how many MIDI driver instances there are. In the Option menu of the uninstaller program, uncheck the "Korg MIDI Device only" box. If there are more than 10 USB MIDI devices showing, then use the software to remove unnecessary ones, including duplicates, since plugging any USB MIDI device into several different USB ports will result in a USB driver being installed for each port.

.

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping there was another fix, other than deleting MIDI drivers. I have quite a few, like 13 so I have to delete 4 or so and then re-install them. Such a pain!

[Xenophile]

Sorry, I can't help but wonder... If you are new to home recording, how to you come to have 13 MIDI drivers on your system that you believe that you "need?"

[voip]

The removal of MIDI devices doesn't remove the driver install files themselves, only the device associations with the USB ports. The next time one of the removed devices is plugged back in, the driver enumeration and association with that USB port should occur automatically.

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[Col66]

Sorry, I can't help but wonder... If you are new to home recording, how to you come to have 13 MIDI drivers on your system that you believe that you "need?"

A lot of duplicates!
I didn't realise that's what they were until @voip explained that duplications happen.

[Col66]

Two USB device entries for the Kronos is correct.

As suggested in the video linked the above post, use the "Uninstall Korg USB-MIDI Device" program to check how many MIDI driver instances there are. In the Option menu of the uninstaller program, uncheck the "Korg MIDI Device only" box. If there are more than 10 USB MIDI devices showing, then use the software to remove unnecessary ones, including duplicates, since plugging any USB MIDI device into several different USB ports will result in a USB driver being installed for each port.

.

I followed the instructions and it's all working now. Reaper picked up the Kronos and I can now use it as a MIDI Controller.

[bakisyn4421]

these posts will surely help people like for connectivity to laptop.

[ronnfigg]

I have my K connected to a MacBook Pro 2015 running Monterey. It's recognized and for general purposes it's working fine. My issue is trying to get my DAW (Studio One version 6.2) to record a Combi with KARMA turned on. I have a video from a Korg rep that shows how to do it with Logic and it works seamlessly. But I can't duplicate the process in S1. I'd post a link to the video but I can't find the link. I did save it as an MP4 but I can't up load it here. Or can I? I think it might have something to do with how S1 deals with multitimbral instruments. Talked to a lot of S1 people but they all work inside the box. Doing external instruments, especially with MIDI is not their thing. I'm sure this can be done. I have been able to isolate the KARMA MIDI tracks and get results. But I want to pay the whole KARMA performance and have it go to separate MIDI tracks for editing in S1. Which is far superior to the Kronos Sequencer for editing. If anyone else is interested in this I'm open for discussion.