Been YEARS - Kronos

[Pedja]

Thank you so much for that!!!

[kronoSphere]

the 64-bit days are already numbered: old and outdated. Let's go quantic !

But still : the Nautilus is not at all a bad thing

[Gwendal]

the 64-bit days are already numbered: old and outdated. Let's go quantic !

But still : the Nautilus is not at all a bad thing

[Answer from the IT guy]

This is a common misconception.

Quantum computers are way, really way, far less good than "normal" computer to deal with signals treatment, and any basic calculation (wich is 99,99% of the usage of a computer).

Quantum computers are only good at massive parallel solution finders, like finding the exit of a labyrinth, or famously finding the prime dividers of any number. For this kind of task they are incredibly fast.
But ask a quantum computer to add a reverb to a sound, and you are suddently slower than a 1969 8bits "Apollo like" chip.



[Answer from the musician]

We will all agree that any kind of hardware can be good independantly of its technological level.

A lot of musicians, including me, will crave for a Moog Prodigy a Korg M20, a Korg M1, or a Roland Jupiter 8 while being not enthousiast about the last Nautilus or the last Roland Fantom.

I speak only for me, but for a brand new workstation, supposed to be a flagship, I'm not looking for a vintage product.
I'm not interested in a carbon copy of the 2012 Kronos, with still 2 minutes to start up "Windows XP like", but with less functionnalities/faders/no aftertouch.
If I want a vintage workstation, then I would buy a second hand Kronos or Oasys in good conditions.

I have the money to buy a new workstation. And I'm a real Korg enthousiast. So nothing stops me from buying a Nautilus...but nothing motivates me to buy one too. As I said, I'm not looking for a vintage workstation.

[kronoSphere]

To Gwendal : Je plaisantais ! I was absolutely NOT serious !

But : As the way it is : For replacing a very old Kronos the Nautilus is a good thing (even with its limits)

[Pedja]

Totally agree with @Gwendal. It's very strange that someone who owns a Kronos 1, X or 2 has any motivation to buy a Nautilus. He doesn't inspire anything, it's just a tattered Kronos.

[Gwendal]

To Gwendal : Je plaisantais ! I was absolutely NOT serious !

But : As the way it is : For replacing a very old Kronos the Nautilus is a good thing (even with its limits)

Je m'en doutais bien, j'avais jeté un coup d'oeil à votre site web en signature...
Mais il peut être intéressant de faire des réponses presque sérieuses à des remarques rigolotes. Cela peut faire avancer le schmilblic.

And about arguing about replacing a Kronos by a Nautilus, we may enter in an infinite loop.

Even Korg is embarrassed about the Nautilus.

The Nautilus was not created as an upgrade, but as a copyright motivated substitution.

Korg stopped working with the copyright holders of the Karma engine, thus Korg at one point could not built any new Kronos.
So they copied the Kronos, add quickly an arpegiator (to replace the Karma), add some optionnal Exs pianos from the Kronos, and put the interface in a dark mode...

Korg removed the aftertouch because they had some bad feedbacks from the owners of the last Kronos version, and Korg did not want to spend time/money on this subject. If you look inside the Nautilus you may be stunted when realizing that the aftertouch is still 100% supported in the OS. Proof this OS is really a quick and dirty copy of the Kronos one.

Korg removed the faders and the pads, neither because it's not usefull in a workstation, nor because it is expensive to implement in a device, but because...they are selling NanoKontrole and NanoPads. Yep Quick and Dirty boy!

There is still a big mystery about the push/pull buttons reason of existence. I read sometime it is usefull for musicians moving their workstation in cases, avoiding to break those knobs...not convinced.
For 95% of T1/Triton/Oasys/Kronos owners, their workstation stays always at home. My Triton is a second hand, previously owned by a professionnal musician who was touring. In addition I moved my Triton when I changed my own location. The protective polystyrene given in the original box was doing its job to protect the Triton and the knobs.

Then I read that it can be usefull to hide the unassigned knobs...I'm not conviced since when you switch from one Prog/Combi to another, you have to know wich knobs to push/pull without any other help than going in the set up or knowning by heart every knobs assignation vs prog/combi used. A "king size pain in the ass" ergonomy if you want my opinion.

Don't believe me, just watch the official videos by the official demonstrators...they don't say the same thing, and often say "I think it might be..."...Korg did not even give then the justification of these push/pull knobs!

And finally the "quick access" buttons replacing the usual navigation buttons.
That's a personnal felling, but the very first time I heard and read about the Nautilus, and discoverd this, my first though was "oh s**t...quick and dirty conception.". In a way it is coherent with the push/pull knobs. You have no other way than to remember what they do if you want to use them. The essence of a workstation is to write songs. You must have clear dedicated navigation buttons. Period. Or you it is a "hors sujet".

So you think a Nautilus is still a good replacement for a Kronos?
But a Nautilus IS a Kronos.
A cheap and less good Kronos.
So your argumentation can only be about how it is better to downgrade.
Or you may really hate to use the Karma and prefer a basic but accessible arpegiator. Can this be is a game changing point for you that can eclipse all the bad things mentionned previously?

Even Korg admits it.
They first presented the Nautilus as a "cheaper" version of the Kronos (not that cheaper, as everyone suspiciously remarked when first presented), not as a successor...

[kronoSphere]

Hello Gwendal,
I think, yes, about buying a Nautilus just because my Kronos is on the way to die.
Just that.
But I am not glad at all about that

[Gwendal]

Hello Gwendal,
I think, yes, about buying a Nautilus just because my Kronos is on the way to die.
Just that.
But I am not glad at all about that

I'm in a similar situation.
My Triton is not on its way to die, but it has only a MIDI sequencer.
And most of my music is composed for guitars, so I'm interested by a workstation having an audio+midi sequencer.

I don't like to record with a PC. I have a Cubase V11 and a basic 61 Komplete keyboard but...I see it more for finishing a song than to create a song or record draft ideas.
I have an old Yamaha AW4416 as independant audio sequencer. It's an old 32bits "multitracks" recorder, with motorized faders, navigation buttons, and editing possibilies that are WAY better than the Kronos. Needles to say it is way better than the Nautilus too.




For record the AW4416 was released in 2000.
When you have recorded/mixed with motorized faders, a good navigation buttons, you fell like a strong downgrade to use a mouse and a computer. And the Kronos/Nautilus sequencer looks like...well...the Triton sequencer.

Or you have to buy an external DAW controler, like a Presonus 16.
And then you scratch your head.
A Presonus 16 is about 800€, a computer+screen about 1000€, and a Komplete keyboard about 200€. Let's forget the price of the DAW. Not mentionning you need a dedicated desk to install everything.
When not being a pro musician, but just an amateur, spending time seating in front of a computer does not look like pleasure but work.
Even worse for electric guitar players like me who like to play standing.

So to replace my Triton and my AW4416, and to avoid to use a Computer+DAW to record draft ideas on the run, I was counting on the successor of the Kronos.

Ô deception!

[aron]

I think that if I purchased an m1 Mac mini with 64 gigs (doesn't exist), it is possible that it might replace my Kronos, but maybe not.

I have my M1 Mac mini with 16G and I use it on concerts but I only have around 6 programs I use for those concerts. For all the crazy pop gigs I have, I switch programs like mad via bluetooth LE. Only the Kronos can handle this crazy amount of program changes and use of polyphony.

If I had one with double the polyphony (everything else being the same), it would the end for me. I wouldn't need another keyboard for an extremely long time.