Is there any hope?

[ChrisDuncan]

That's a bit like going to Beethoven's grave and demanding to know when he'll stop messing around and publish that twelfth symphony.

Last time I did that he was busy erasing a manuscript. He told me to close the lid and leave him alone because he was decomposing.

Sorry. I'll see myself out...

[CliveJ]

Hm… a lot of different viewpoints - all valid.

My twopenneth (or two cents)….

The industry is moving towards computer centric music in all environments. It’s so easy now to buy, or even get for free, vsts that will “do the job”. I’m moving to a laptop and vsts because it’s safer to use a “dumb” keyboard to drive them. In the event of theft I can easily register my plugins to a new pc, I can easily find another keyboard to drive them. If I lose my Kronos it’s expensive to replace. Plus it may just fail anyway.

Don’t get me wrong - I love my K and I’m keeping it until one of us dies. But I will sample the hell out of it in the meantime - even though that defeats the point of having all the engines I can keep my sounds.

Korg have more recently gone towards the Raspberry Pi - I’m not surprised, it seems to be bullet proof, readily available, and it’s quite powerful - and cheap. I wonder whether there is a market for a keyboard that you can plug multiple Pi’s into - each hosting a vst, sequencer, karma, mixer etc - each one from your manufacturer of choice. (if somebody takes this idea on remember where the suggestion came from )

The current market seems to be orientated towards some kind of master controller and pc hosted instruments. I think that Korg will go in this direction - a “Kronos” controller and software behind it. It doesn’t make sense anymore to have proprietary hardware, and that’s not where the money is.

[ITguy54]

I'll be the contrarian.

There is no hope. KORG have had lots of time to announce, present, or provide a Kronos 3, and have steadfastly failed to do so at every turn. Their closest approach has been the aftertouch version of the Nautilus, that does not even provide Karma.

But a Kronos 3? That's a bit like going to Beethoven's grave and demanding to know when he'll stop messing around and publish that twelfth symphony.

Exactly. Economically things are generally terrible. People do not have a positive economic outlook, and neither do manufacturers. We are not in a period where there is incentive to go out on the limb and come up with something grand and exciting. Just give it up people. Live in the real world.

[KK]

Put simply, the Nautilus is Korg's current flagship workstation, a reduced version of its predecessor, just like the Kronos was a reduced version of the Oasys years ago.

[ChrisDuncan]

Put simply, the Nautilus is Korg's current flagship workstation, a reduced version of its predecessor, just like the Kronos was a reduced version of the Oasys years ago.

I don't see the Nautilus as the newest flagship, but rather the competitor to Fantom-0 and ModX.

I think the real difference here is that Roland and Yamaha didn't discontinue the full scale Fantom or Montage. This leaves them both with a flagship, and "flagship lite," where Korg now only has "flagship lite." Which in and of itself is rather odd.

[drama1]

Well, I don't know if there will ever be a Kronos 3, but there's no way you'll see somebody like Jordan Rudess using a Nautilus for live performance.

[ITguy54]

Well, I don't know if there will ever be a Kronos 3, but there's no way you'll see somebody like Jordan Rudess using a Nautilus for live performance.

Wouldn’t it be great if he started using other companies’ equipment live?

I’ll say it again. If there is a multiverse, then there will not be a Kronos 3 in any of them. The dream is over. Move on.

[kronoSphere]

I believe that in the field of technical design of future workstations, (to only talk about this area) the arrival of A.I. will enable technological advances that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Also: this is why I believe that Korg will now really be interested in the design of a Kronos 3 or even 4 etc

Any true artistic creation will always remain the prerogative of the human being alone

[ChrisDuncan]

I believe that in the field of technical design of future workstations, (to only talk about this area) the arrival of A.I. will enable technological advances that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Also: this is why I believe that Korg will now really be interested in the design of a Kronos 3 or even 4 etc

Any true artistic creation will always remain the prerogative of the human being alone

To be sure, AI is the latest trendy buzzword to sell. That said, I could see AI in a VST plugin where the computer is connected to the Internet, but it seems unlikely in dedicated hardware. All the AI companies do their thing by using extremely large datasets which wouldn't fit on a Kronos hard drive. And while an Internet connected keyboard isn't out of the question, it would be impractical for those playing live.

Still, you make a good point. I would expect to see AI show up in Yamaha, Roland & Korg's marketing materials sooner rather than later. It's just a question of how to access that functionality without being connected to the Internet.

Maybe some kind of functionality where you can edit sounds while online, then save the just sound part to the keyboard. That would allow AI driven sound design in the studio, and the resulting sound sets would be portable like any other ones.

[fomalhaut]

I have a Kronos and have recently bought a Fantom (full, not Fantom 0-, which is comparable to the Nautilus / ModX).

Is it the 88 keys version? How does the PHA50 action compare to Korg's RH3 in your opinion?

[ChrisDuncan]

I have a Kronos and have recently bought a Fantom (full, not Fantom 0-, which is comparable to the Nautilus / ModX).

Is it the 88 keys version? How does the PHA50 action compare to Korg's RH3 in your opinion?

I intentionally bought the Fantom 7, not the 8, so that it would have synth action. My Kronos is an 88 and I love the weighted action, but I also wanted to have a synth action as these are the only two keyboards I have.

The synth action feels good, i.e. not like a cheap toy, but I know that doesn't help you much in terms of their 88 key action.

[danmusician]

These discussions usually miss the point of how product development works in a company like Korg. Product decisions are market driven. Price point drives the decision of what features and capabilities will be in an instrument.

They can make a product that can do anything musicians want. I'm confident that Korg already has prototypes in their R&D labs. The question is: can they do it at a price that enough musicians will buy to make it profitable?

Apparently, there are not enough of us who love the all-in-one workstation environment to drive a product to market. Maybe people prefer laptops or setting up multiple keyboards. We come on here and complain that we want something new and it seems like it would be enough to drive the market. If it were, Korg would deliver.

It's not they don't care. They are in business to make money.

[billysynth1]

I disagree, even low end companies like Kurzweil are making workstations…they are not as big as Korg yet they still deliver a workstation.

Workstations are very much in demand. Korg proved that with the Kronos running for 10 years.

Power house workstations are still in demand. Look at the Roland Fantom EX, and the Montage M8x….power house Stations full of controls and knobs.

People are waiting for the Kronos replacement with great anticipation.

The Nautilus just doesn’t cut it…it is inferior and made out of cheap parts, the touch screen is atrocious. Users want synthesiser controls: knobs, sliders, large touch screen, superior connectivity all in a high quality case.

The price point for a high quality product will be what it will be, if you can’t afford it buy the product which is the next level down. Simple.

Vas

[Scott]

I disagree, even low end companies like Kurzweil are making workstations…they are not as big as Korg yet they still deliver a workstation.

I would not call them a lower end company, more of just a smaller one. Smaller companies often specialize in making niche products. Things that don't sell in enough volume to interest a large company, but still sell enough to support more of a boutique approach, filling those areas where the big companies don't see enough potential volume to be worth their investment.

[Koekepan]

Chiming in to agree with Scott. Kurzweil is not low end in anything but company size. The K2x00 line is legendary for excellent reasons, and the quality of the V.A.S.T. engine doesn't have to take a back seat to anyone. If I were in the market for a flagship workstation, I'd be shooting for the K2700 - and if unable to drum up the cash, I'd go for the PC4 which runs the same software.