Will Kronos Ever Receive A Sequencer Update?

[kingy10kingy]

Yeah its good but you can not copy patches or "live sets" (combis) . This was my major gripe with the G. DAW integration wasn't exactly its strong point either.

[pressrecord@hotmail.com]

Roger Linn (designer of the Linn drum machine back in the 1980's) consulted for Akai. The result of their collaboration was an extraordinarily logically organized series of hardware sequencers known as the MPC line of sequencers. Rather than list the many features of each model, which may or may not be of interest to you, the main point is they are very simple to use and yet extremely feature rich. They also sample. If you write songs and want to have separate intro, choruses, verses, etc. sequences and chain them together and have rock solid midi timing, and you don't mind using a hardware sequencer, there are no better hardware sequencers. And some models have 4 midi outputs, so you can trigger lots of sound modules (daisy chain the sound modules). I have had a dozen sound modules being triggered plus the internal MPC sampler all going at once with zero discernable midi slop.

Most web searches will show that MPC's are closely associated with hip hop and rap music, but of course you could write a symphony on them. Alanis Morisette's producer used MPC2000's to sequence parts on her biggest selling albums. Rupert Hine (producer of the Fixx) used to use them. They are for any kind of music.

Maybe the most practical of the discontinued models today would be the MPC 2000XL with a built in card reader and the MPC4000, which has usb. About the MPC 4000, web searches will mention bugs, but look at how old those posts are. To their credit, Akai kept updating the OS and fixed the bugs. I have had a 4000 for about three or four years and for me it is a sequencing/sampling dream come true. I have never had a single crash or lost a single note of music on that thing!

You might find another model that suits your interest and budget better, but if interested, you could start by looking at the MPC2000XL with the factory card reader (not the version with the zip drive built in) and the MPC 4000 (dark blue colored one-- the 2nd version).

If my Kronos would someday have a sequencer like the MPC, I would be incredibly happy, but after waiting since the T-series from the 80's, I have given up on Korg when it comes to providing an excellent AND easy to use AND feature rich sequencer. And that is where for me the MPC comes in to fill that role beautifully.

So the MPC doesn't offer anything in particular MIDI wise and is targeted at sampling / Hip-Hop? Whatever the extra features on the Krome and M3 sequencers, the Kronos and OASYS sequencers are EXTREMELY capable - 16 MIDI tracks and 16 Audio tracks, extensive GUI based interaction and editing, tight interaction with the control surface including automation via the faders. I doubt if any of the MPC series compete in anyway with all of that.

You may like the MPC series but you cannot claim that that series are superior to the Kronos / OASYS sequencer - I'd argue it is the other way round.

Kevin

Kevin: If you bought the Kronos for its wonderful sequencer, I am happy for you. I got one of the first Kronos keyboards in the country, saw what the sequencer was like, and decided I would never use it. And I never have. And I never will.

If an MPC's 2 midi ins and 4 midi outs to you means offering nothing midi wise and if a super long list of features for you outweighs the unnecessarily overly complex way they have to be navigated, then I'd say you are the perfect Korg customer.

The topic was hardware sequencers, not hard disk recorders and other features you added.

It should not be surprising that the ten+ year old, long discontinued MPC sequencers ($300 - $800) I referred to might have fewer features than a $3,000 - $4000 2013 Kronos X workstation.

But... the first MPC made in 1988 offered 99 midi tracks (and went far beyond that with later models). And in 2013 we have the Kronos 16 track sequencer. But if you are doing rap music, the 16 tracks might do, lol. My old, long discontinued MPC4000 has 64 separate simultaneously available midi channels and a track count I will never dream of using fully. So what's "EXTREMELY capable"? And what "doesn't offer anything in particular midi-wise"?

But the track count would be pointless if it weren't so easy and quick in use.

Can someone name a top producer who uses the Kronos sequencer? By great contrast, 20-year-old MPC 3000's are still being used today as sequencers by some top producers. What top producer will be using the Kronos sequencer in 2033? Does anything more need to be said on how really good the MPC sequencers are?

But again, if any of you find the Korg Kronos sequencer usable, wonderful, a triumph of technology, I am glad you feel that way. No one thing on this planet is going to suit everyone. Find what works for you. If you already found it, great. Let people freely discuss the alternatives. And there are alternatives... great ones. No need to suffer. There's so much great gear out there today, new and used.