Korg Nautilus

[Stephen Butler]

Korg KRONOS:

Without a doubt the greatest synth/workstation that's ever been produced, by anyone.

Korg NAUTILUS:

Complete and utter rip-off. It shows that Korg is slowly duping the public into taking less for more. Sure, the piano sounds great - they always do on YouTube videos; the piano is one of the best things about Korg workstations. But £2,500 for the 88-note? Come on... it sounds to me like Korg have not moved on from the Kronos at all and instead of making the tech better, they're simply going to change the covering, give it a CURVED aluminium base, and call those design features! You can push in the EQ knobs! But they appear to have halved the number of combis (although increased the number of programs), removed KARMA, changed the display to something that looks like HTML with pictures, and charged the earth for it! They say they are going to keep manufacturing the Kronos but for how long? How long before the NAUTILUS becomes the flagship, or they put out another keyboard that can't do as much as the Kronos did?

I'm so sorry for the rant, but it's raining hard here, and it looks miserable outside. And my Kronos' battery has gone. x

[voip]

And, for what it's worth, I actually like the Kronos screen, just as it is, and the Nautilus' screen somewhat less so, especially the Combi main screen, which is just naff!

.

[GregC]

And, for what it's worth, I actually like the Kronos screen, just as it is, and the Nautilus' screen somewhat less so, especially the Combi main screen, which is just naff!

.

There are some important improvements on Nautilus. Its not a simple software copy paste of Kronos to Nautilus

I think musicians, keyboard owners should be objective or patient when a new board like Nautilus is introduced.

It has its pro's and con's and both sides should be considered objectively.

[Musicwithharry]

And, for what it's worth, I actually like the Kronos screen, just as it is, and the Nautilus' screen somewhat less so, especially the Combi main screen, which is just naff!

.

There are some important improvements on Nautilus. Its not a simple software copy paste of Kronos to Nautilus

I think musicians, keyboard owners should be objective or patient when a new board like Nautilus is introduced.

It has its pro's and con's and both sides should be considered objectively.

I fully agree with your comments. I am not aware of a single synth on the market that can be everything to everybody. If there were, then these companies would only need one synth in their lineup to sell.

Grace,
Harry

[conundrum]

$1700CAD/$1300USD plus tax is a *huge* difference to make up for the loss of features. The Nautilus makes sense in Canada, if no where else.

With duties and shipping, the used market doesn’t make up for that either.

[burningbusch]

Those who are posting that the Nautilus is just a Kronos in a less expensive package are missing major differences in the included samples.

EXs301 Gernan2 D Grand
EXs302 Italian F Piano
EXs303 Japanese Upright U Piano
EXs304 Prepared Piano
EXs305 Historical Keyboards
EXs306 Vintage Keyboards 2
EXs307 Strings and Synths
EXs308 Guitar Collection
EXs309 Bass Collection
EXs310 World Essence
EXs311 SFX & Hits
EXs312 Found Percussions

Note: none of these libraries exist on a Kronos with the exception of the Italian Grand which was included in a limited-edition (red) Kronos.

These include, among other things.
New pianos and finally an upright
Prepared pianos
FortePiano (historical)
Harpsichord (finally stereo)
6-vel layer E. Grand
4-vel layer Clav all four pickups with rel
Full sampling of the Vox and Farfisa combo organs
New guitars and basses including a 4-vel stereo nylon string guitar
New strings and brass
Many new drumsets
Many new loops and phrases
1500 new arps

How good these sound vs. the Kronos we won't know until we get a chance to work with them. But at the very least, we have to acknowledge Korg spent a good deal of time curating many new samples. Most manufactures keep 90% - 95% of their old samples with a new keyboard release. I don't know the exact percentage here, but it feels like easily 50%+.

Also note, with the exception of the pianos and two drumkits on the original Kronos, the other samples were largely from the OASYS library and optimized for the OASYS HD-1 engine which did not support the SSD streaming of samples. Hence the samples were designed to fit into the RAM constraints of the OASYS. It appears that the new Nautilus samples are not designed with that constraint.

Busch.

[leonh]

If I want flagship workstation I still prefer Kronos for 250£ more why I or anyone would for the sake of small saving get a poorer version of Kronos ( with the same internals it seems ) is beyond me that is unless the stop production of Kronos and then we have no choice.

[Musicwithharry]

If I want flagship workstation I still prefer Kronos for 250£ more why I or anyone would for the sake of small saving get a poorer version of Kronos ( with the same internals it seems ) is beyond me that is unless the stop production of Kronos and then we have no choice.

"Poorer version of Kronos"? Isn't that part of the problem? Is it really a 'poorer' version, or is it a different version that takes a lot of things from their current flagship?

It has a lot from the Kronos but it does not make it a poorer version in the least. It also features some things that Kronos does NOT have.

I own the PA700 and it has a lot in common with the flagship PA4x, and I can load styles from the PA4X onto my PA700. I have never once considered my PA700 a poorer version of the PA4X, even though it shares much in common and lacks a lot as well. The Nautilus would be no different. If ANY keyboard would considered a 'poorer' version of the Kronos, would it not be the Krome?

In my opinion, your comment, frankly, is part of the problem.

Grace,
Harry

[Koekepan]

It's really about value for money.

OK, so the Nautilus has some new samples.

Let's even stipulate that they may be nice samples.

It has an updated interface on ... an outdated, limited touchscreen interface.

It has a less featureful control interface, in ways that actually limit the usability of some of the key sounds. (Just ask the drawbar organ guys.) Removing Karma is also a problem for its value in performance polish.

Its weakened interface selections also make it less useful for mixing, mastering and related production roles.

If you're looking for a gigging keyboard with more bread-and-butter sounds and the ability to record a gig including a singer, the Nautilus should be OK for what you want - but so would another couple of boards out there, for very competitive prices. If you're looking for a studio hub with everything that a workstation should do for you? You'll get more of what you want, for less money, from other manufacturers.

That's the problem.

[GregC]

to me, its all about that great Korg sound.

IMO, its progressed from great to greater.

As far as controls, its not subtraction, its a matter of training finger muscle memory. Some don't like that , as it can be a slow process to train finger memory.

Pro's and con's.

[leonh]

If I want flagship workstation I still prefer Kronos for 250£ more why I or anyone would for the sake of small saving get a poorer version of Kronos ( with the same internals it seems ) is beyond me that is unless the stop production of Kronos and then we have no choice.

"Poorer version of Kronos"? Isn't that part of the problem? Is it really a 'poorer' version, or is it a different version that takes a lot of things from their current flagship?

It has a lot from the Kronos but it does not make it a poorer version in the least. It also features some things that Kronos does NOT have.

I own the PA700 and it has a lot in common with the flagship PA4x, and I can load styles from the PA4X onto my PA700. I have never once considered my PA700 a poorer version of the PA4X, even though it shares much in common and lacks a lot as well. The Nautilus would be no different. If ANY keyboard would considered a 'poorer' version of the Kronos, would it not be the Krome?

In my opinion, your comment, frankly, is part of the problem.

Grace,
Harry

No offence pa 700 is poorer version of pa4x even pa900 or 1000 not bad but that how it is now anyone's who got Kronos knows that Nautilus is lite version of Kronos which is fine problem is price you get a Kronos 2 for 250 £ more would you buy your PA700 instead of PA 4x if difference was 250 £ ?

[jimknopf]

Those who are posting that the Nautilus is just a Kronos in a less expensive package are missing major differences in the included samples.

EXs301 Gernan2 D Grand
...
EXs312 Found Percussions

Note: none of these libraries exist on a Kronos with the exception of the Italian Grand which was included in a limited-edition (red) Kronos.

These include, among other things.
New pianos and finally an upright
Prepared pianos
FortePiano (historical)
Harpsichord (finally stereo)
6-vel layer E. Grand
4-vel layer Clav all four pickups with rel
Full sampling of the Vox and Farfisa combo organs
New guitars and basses including a 4-vel stereo nylon string guitar
New strings and brass
Many new drumsets
Many new loops and phrases
1500 new arps

How good these sound vs. the Kronos we won't know until we get a chance to work with them. But at the very least, we have to acknowledge Korg spent a good deal of time curating many new samples. Most manufactures keep 90% - 95% of their old samples with a new keyboard release. I don't know the exact percentage here, but it feels like easily 50%+.

Also note, with the exception of the pianos and two drumkits on the original Kronos, the other samples were largely from the OASYS library and optimized for the OASYS HD-1 engine which did not support the SSD streaming of samples. Hence the samples were designed to fit into the RAM constraints of the OASYS. It appears that the new Nautilus samples are not designed with that constraint.

Busch.

You are completely right about the sound content changes, and about much of the OASYS Hd-1 sounds from another sampling era. I kicked out most of them from my Kronos after a year or so, because I couldn't and wouldn't use most of them.

That said, it makes even less sense to me to have all that new content in an instrument with a controller interface, which I (like some gigging keyboarders I talked to) certainly would never want to use, along with other significant downgrades (missing Karma, missing aftertouch).

This instrument could never ever be my main keyboard, neither live, and frankly not even in home studio use. With this controller interface, it would have been much smarter to offer it as sound module from my view.

[SeedyLee]

There are some important improvements on Nautilus. Its not a simple software copy paste of Kronos to Nautilus

Where? I’ve scoured the Operations and Parameter guide for both the Kronos and the Nautilus, and the only differences I can see relate to the new arp, and the new ability to automatically save and load sequences. As far as I can see, the only other differences are a slightly refreshed UI and changes necessary to cater for the removal of the control surface.

That’s it.

You keep saying there are important software differences. The manual is literally a copy and paste of the Kronos manual, with updated screenshots.

So what are the differences?

[GregC]

There are some important improvements on Nautilus. Its not a simple software copy paste of Kronos to Nautilus

Where? I’ve scoured the Operations and Parameter guide for both the Kronos and the Nautilus, and the only differences I can see relate to the new arp, and the new ability to automatically save and load sequences. As far as I can see, the only other differences are a slightly refreshed UI and changes necessary to cater for the removal of the control surface.

That’s it.

You keep saying there are important software differences. The manual is literally a copy and paste of the Kronos manual, with updated screenshots.

So what are the differences?

yeah, there appear to copy/paste blunders in the manual. I don't worry
about what some Q/A can fix later.

..you are missing major differences in the included samples.

.. the quick splits/layers has been improved

.. read the voice name list

.. read the FX presets

I could make a career drawing it all out, a few times, but Korg doesn't pay me enough.

Plus the various YouTubes are better than my typing.

[SeedyLee]

They’re not really software changes, more a change to the bundled content...

If you buy a synthesiser for the included presets, you’re doing it wrong :p