Korg Forums

https://youtu.be/GcqonzCHsaQ

I never heard Akai's "Fabric XL" engine but wow! I don't know how some of you guys were hating on the sounds from this thing. You must of gotten hit on the head by a Volca. These sounds are quite phenomenal. What I was enjoying though is the interface shown at https://youtu.be/GcqonzCHsaQ?t=614 All the controls on the screen with no deep diving to adjust the parameters or add in effects. Everything is right there looking real polished. It's incredible. The piano from what I heard sounds a little bit better than what's coming out my Nord.

I know the Kronos community shuns new technology but come on guys you can't deny how cool this thing sounds and how convenient that interface is. It's streamlined like a fighter jet. I was hope planning to get a Jupiter X as my next synth (still might) but the MPC Keys is very very tempting to add to my collection. I think from all our conversations the Korg Kronos vs. the MPC Keys is the wrong way to approach this new Akai Workstation.

This VS. stuff is silly. It's a new keyboard just embrace it. The Kronos can't be the end all do it all to everything. It has it's share of problems but the MPC Keys is just newer technology that of course is going to make using the Kronos feel like the 10+ year old keyboard it is.

If anything this Keyboard hasn't made me think about getting rid of my Kronos it's made me think about getting rid of my ASR-10. Even for the Retro factor my ASR is now just a museum piece.

The elephant in the room no one ever wants to address is just how long are we supposed to wait for Korg to release a modern flagship after abandoning the Kronos years ago? This is what's going to happen. You leave your customers with old/aging tech and companies more aggressive about ingenuity will continue to progress their products. Think about how much Akai's products have evolved since the Kronos was released. Think about Native Instruments, and Roland...and all the others who have evolved (I've excluded Yamaha... they seem to be more interested in Motorcycles than Keyboards... Maybe they'll make a Montage R1M one day). Then think about the Kronos still sitting there unchanged for years when Korg should have been updating it to keep it competitive and in sync with newly introduced technology.

Korg doesn't interact with us. We don't even have a hint of what is in the works. Can you blame a guy like me for romanticizing about gear from other brands? When Korg ignores my needs? I'm a synth guy and I follow Korg's synth developments. I know Korg's synth division knows how to do all those things because they do teasers and press releases/interviews all the time for that division. Korg even has online workshops and has artists interact with people showing them patch tricks and things on their channel.

The workstation side of things it's completely reclusive. I think we'd all feel comfortable if Korg said something about what the next gen Flagship will be like. At least give us a reason to hold out on purchasing something like the MPC Keys instead of waiting every year for an empty NAMM booth.

Their synth division is extremely active. It almost feels like their an entirely different company because Korg hasn't said anything about the Kronos or released a video about it in years. The support for the Kronos is absolute zero and the future replacement makes you wonder if Korg plans to continue down that path or go out like Alesis. There's going to be plenty of other cool products hitting market (Waldorf seems to have that covered) but just what is Korg doing to keep it's Kronos users loyal to their brand? When they've been ignoring us for years. It's like living with your ex-wife.

Glad you like the new Akai and it seems like a decent board, but why you trying to convert people to like what you like? What’s your motivation? My money is on Korg and I’m not trying to buy every new board that comes out in hopes it filling a need that may not exist. Nothing compelling about the Akai puts the Kronos to shame.

One thing I'm curious about is whether the Akai offers comparable ease in assembling splits and layers, and in seamlessly switching between those split/layered combinations without sounds cutting off, and whether patch selection is as capable/easy as what you can do with the Kronos' set list mode. Also, whether you can load your own samples, even if they are too large for memory, as you can in the Korg (by streaming off the SSD). Those things--and more than 61 keys--are the things that would make it Kronos-competitive for my particular uses.

The MPC key isn’t going to compete in terms of sound to the Kronos,I’ve bought the Key 61 and it’s sequencer is awesome,plug-ins are good in their own right I’m surprised how good they sound I’ve owned a lot of Korg synths in my time and will say that sound wise the MPC has exceeded my expectations of what I thought it would sound like.very useable sounds for the typical keyboard player I shall look forward to gigging with this Akai eventually

I’m a long time MPC and Kronos user so love the workflow of the Akais coupled with Kronos sounds the way this newer generation mpcs have progressed is awesome,Korg just need to pull their finger out of their arses and make a newer workstation with the Kronos sound capabilities and a sequencer that rivals the MPC and they’d be onto a winner,I love my Kronos but Korg just haven’t got a clue with these prehistoric sequencers,their workstations sequencer haven’t progressed since the Trinity days


I always hoped Korg would create the workstation of my dreams but to be honest Akai have pissed on their flame here,only had it a week and I’m in love with this MPC Keyboard.

It doesn’t have the smooth sound transitions of the Kronos but load times aren’t that bad and it allows all the splits and layers of the Korgs,as well as set lists it’s not quite the Kronos killer but it’s certainly a game changer for akai with the USB connectivity and the way the workflow is this is the central hub of my sequencing outfit that I couldn’t get with the Kronos

I can see them selling a shedload of these

One thing I'm curious about is whether the Akai offers comparable ease in assembling splits and layers

It can do layers, but it’s far more limited than what COMBI mode on a KRONOS would offer.

and in seamlessly switching between those split/layered combinations without sounds cutting off,

The sound will always be cut off when switching to a new patch. This complete cut off in sound can be anywhere from miliseconds to way way over 5 seconds, even over 10 in some cases. It all depends on what sound engine you are using and their arrangement. The big delays will come when using Favourites.

Also, whether you can load your own samples, even if they are too large for memory, as you can in the Korg (by streaming off the SSD).

You can load your own samples and create your own programs. But you cannot add programs to favourite banks, even if they are in memory. This is so dumb.

There’s no streaming either.

Regards
Sharp.