Korg Forums

Hi, I purchased a Korg Kronos 2 (73 key) a couple of months back, and mostly love it. However, the acoustic piano's don't sound that great. I know amplification plays a big part, but I have Ivory II on my DAW and that sounds great. I'm playing the Kronos through the same system so that's not the problem. I've been trying to tweak the pianos, and they don't really sound any better. So here's my question, how do I get a great sounding piano into my Kronos? Any thoughts/recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Johnny B

I think the Kronos German Grand sounds amazing, especially for solo piano work, for a hardware synth. Comparing to Ivory II, honestly maybe that's not even fair, beyond KeyScape I can't think of any "fake" piano that would sound as good or better. However, tastes differ. You could check out the various demos on the Korg site, many of them you can install on your Kronos to try out. You could also get a software package that lets you sample your favorite Ivory patch. It won't get the sympathetic resonance but if you're thorough you could get a very playable result.

Thanks, I'll check out the demo's from the Korg site. I'll also go back and see what I can do to tweak the German Grand.

Is this for live or studio use?
Oh and try the velocity bias and offset settings, they can make a big difference. Also try velocity curve 9, it's supposedly meant for playing piano on the 88 and 73 keybed. Personally I prefer 4 but it's worth a try.

Good question. It's for live use. I'd rather not carry a laptop around to use Ivory 2.

I created a combi using a japanese and german piano. Works well for me, just a thought, maybe a combi is something that would work for you.

jbjorge wrote:Good question. It's for live use. I'd rather not carry a laptop around to use Ivory 2.

Do you think the adience can hear the difference ?

Thanks for your replys! You've given me some great suggestions that I'll try out tomorrow.

I doubt the audience can tell the difference in the quality of the sound, but it affects my playing. I enjoy and seem to play better with a great sounding instrument.

Someone suggested Wavesarts Virtual Pianos Suite, and the demos sound real good. But, before I drop $230 I'll try some more tweaking.

In appreciation,

Johnny B.

As a reminder , in WavesArt page / see more tab , there is a cheaper single piano , "Virtual grand"
http://wavesart.eu/KronosEXs/Virtual%20Grand%20D.html

Thanks Antony! That sounds great! Good price too!

I have to ditto that...great sounding grand! From the site it seems to indicate it needs 1.5gb and 108mb. Is that correct?

you could try the piano sound set from my site, it's called Stage Pianos and has 32 piano's that were designed for live use. And it's free

you can find all the details over here:
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=99514

It's all so subjective. I did a whole gig last night with the Dark Berlin Grand going thru QSC 12" HP somethings... I loved it and so did my singer. She never really mentions it. I think because I was inspired by it, my playing was 'different/better" than usual - also subjective.

I was in love with Nord for years - still like it but the weighted (73) Kronos has really grown on me. My first one was a 61 and never touched the pianos - maybe because I can't play piano on synth keys.

Also, the management paid us and people clapped at the right time...

DennyC wrote:I have to ditto that...great sounding grand! From the site it seems to indicate it needs 1.5gb and 108mb. Is that correct?

It's correct , and the reason of extra Ram is the sophisticated sound modeling timbres plus rich strings Pads that frame some piano sounds.
Virtual grand is a low cost choice but as a pianist I highly recommend to pianists to get Pianos Suite , since there you can definitely find a piano
that suites to your expression tastes.
Grand piano modeling is not only velocity layers and the fact that you can copy piano layers from a high rated VST and just stack them in 8
Kronos sound layers that doesn't mean that you can create a real piano sounding resultant , this is what you pay to sound developers except
the actual sampling resources ! The final choice is yours.

I don't know if you are going mono or stereo but I felt the same way as you and as soon as I played in stereo - the piano programs I use sounded gorgeous! Just GREAT! Mono, they seem lacking -although usable.

I used to go stereo, every gig, but now I am more lazy so mono it is. I mostly use my PX-5S mono and it is a great sounding piano for live!