Korg Forums

Francois wrote:My own setup will be Kronos + Solaris.

Awesome. I think you'd be hard pressed to find another pair of digital synthesizers that would give you that much flexibility and depth. Fusion & Wave? Hartmann Neuron & Virus TI? Oasys & Nord Modular?

I'd still go with Kronos and Solaris!

Zeroesque wrote:Like you said, there are a few weighted 88s that aren't too heavy and have sounds (to get by in a pinch). Yamaha and Roland come to mind. I might end up going down that path instead, but don't really want to.

For this purpose, I'd probably take the Yamaha (P95) over the Roland (FP4)... noticeably lighter, a lot less expensive, and I prefer the feel of its keys. Another possibility could be the Casio PX3, which, at 23.6 lbs, is the lightest of the bunch. It also happens to include some pretty good MIDI control functionality that might come in handy.

Zeroesque wrote:t I should probably try a Nord Stage sometime. How do you like it? I don't care for 73/76 keys, though (unless they made it 76 A to C or 73 C to C).

I've only played the Stage briefly, but I liked the feel of the 76 and 88 boards. The feel of the 73 is poor for piano. Like you, I would prefer the 76 layout be A to C, but I think could live with its E to G layout. But the 88 would certainly be preferable. It's light for what it is, but still may cross my weight threshold.

Although my experience with the Stage was minimal, I have spent quite a bit of time with other Nords... Electro 3 and Wave, so I have a very good feel for what the Stage can do, in terms of sound and controls. It's a little extravagant, but I think the Stage 2 and Kronos combination would be my ideal.

Randelph wrote:The Stage 88 is only 4 pounds heavier than the 76, and it's SWEET having the extra keys on bottom!
...
The advantage of a Kronos 61 is the weight (it's almost 4 pounds lighter than the M3-61! 27.5 pounds!)

It's kind of funny how you see 4 pounds more for the Stage 88 (compared to the 76) as being insignificant, but then you see that the 4 pounds less for the Kronos (compared to the M3) as being significant!

I'm still a little torn about the Stage 2... I really do want 88 keys, but even the weight of the 76 is over my usual 30 pound limit, I don't know about those next 4 pounds. I haven't had a chance to see an 88 in person, I'd like to pick one up and see how it feels. Weight doesn't tell the whole story when it comes to how easy it is to carry something around. The dimensions, the way the weight is distributed, the ability to comfortably get your hands around it, all play a part.

CfNorENa wrote:

Francois wrote:My own setup will be Kronos + Solaris.

Awesome. I think you'd be hard pressed to find another pair of digital synthesizers that would give you that much flexibility and depth. Fusion & Wave? Hartmann Neuron & Virus TI? Oasys & Nord Modular?

I'd still go with Kronos and Solaris!

I'm not that fussed about the Solaris. It looks cool, but it just sounds and has features not that far off any VA, from what I've seen.
I'd love to be told differently but currently I just don't see anything that isn't covered by KRONOS, or my Radias even.


I'd probably pair the KRONOS with a groovebox like the ESX. And possibly a Moog LP or Voyager, if I really were going to spend that much money.
Again, i'm not that impressed with modern analog, but I would buy the moog if price were no object.

I also agree on the Nord Modular, possibly... I started out with modular synthesis and it is incredibly flexible and fun to program. Never tried the Nord though.

I'd go, and am going to have a kurzweil pc3k7(when available) and a kronos 61.

jemkeys25 wrote:I'd go, and am going to have a kurzweil pc3k7(when available) and a kronos 61.

Why not a PC3K8? Wouldn't it be nicer to have the weighted 88 under the Kronos 61, instead of a semi-weighted 76?

Zeroesque wrote:
Yeah, I've definitely had issues w/ the Nano and am still working w/ the distributor to get them ironed out.

I was thinking of getting a Numa Nano with a Kronos 61 as well. What kinds of issues have you had with yours?

X-Trade wrote:I'm not that fussed about the Solaris. It looks cool, but it just sounds and has features not that far off any VA, from what I've seen.
I'd love to be told differently but currently I just don't see anything that isn't covered by KRONOS, or my Radias even.

If you had played with its predecessor, Solaris on a Scope card, you'd probably be less definite in your opinion.

As for things not possible with another machine, I could write a long reply, but I'll give you only one example, rotors. The Solaris enables you to select Rotor as a source. A rotor has 4 inputs, each giving an output, which are cycled. So when selecting Rotor as source, you have a function that enables you to select any source (OSC, PCM, Wavetable...) for each of the 4 inputs. And since each output can be routed to its own path for the rest of the synthesis (envelops, filters, effects...), you can imagine how complex the overall sound can be, cycling between up to 4 sources, each with its own sound treatment. The result is something very versatile, that can sound like a Wavestation, a Prophet VS... and more. This, as far as I know, is pretty unique to the Solaris.

Still, I can understand if you're not fussed about it. Each to his own. Personally, I love the approach taken on giving instant access to all parameters via 5 dedicated screens and 1 central screen, going back to older machines which were more hands on than currently. I also love the raw power of the new state of teh art DSP that enable working at 96 kHz internally. I love the various forms of synthesis on offer, some of them unique. And I love the fact that it will remain a fairly rare instrument.

Solaris promises to be an exceptional machine for who's into sound designing. And I appreciate it is not the case for everyone.