Korg Forums

Hi all.
Just back from hearing the Kronos so.... here goes.

Design....
The surface finish is a brushed finish so there's never going to be any issues in keeping it clean unlike say... a Triton. The knobs feel good, so too do the sliders and all the buttons. The 3R key bed on the 76 note unit feels really great, and the 61 key feels like a M3. The body is sleek with very nice curves. Feels very nice to touch. There are no ventilation holes at all, and considering everything else I just said, the Kronos is by far ready for the road. The underneath of the 61 is metal, where the underneath of the 76 is wood.

Sounds.
The Kronos has all the fidelity of the OASYS and this is very exciting. OASYS users will know that magic I'm refering to, well Kronos has it. KORG are throwing around the words “The Game Has Been Changed” and now I know what they mean. They were only words to me until I hear what they have done here.

HD-1
Take everything you know about the OASYS and now add Gigabytes of new sounds in the form of new EX-s libraries. 9 in total and they sound seriously good.

The 7 Engines the OASYS has are all in the Kronos and they all sound just as good. There is no compromise in sound quality, and this is not a cut down version of the OASYS. It sounds just as good in every way... and better.

The two new EXi's sound divine. SGX-1 is by far the most realistic piano I've every hear from any workstation. The Kronos is able to stream the samples so your looking at 2 Piano's that are both 4GB each. I believe they have 8 layers to them and they are all unlooped. Total natural decay. The on screen controls over changing the sounds tone are really great. You can decide how much you want to lid open on the piano and the 3D model of it on the screen moves the lid accordingly.

EP- 1 offers everything you need and the effects simulation in this area is very impressive. You can really go after a very person sound and the results simply do not fail. It's really that good.

Some random comments.
Kronos can preload your own personal samples on bootup.
Loading 1GB takes about 10 seconds...lol.... yeah, it's fast.
You can switch from sound to sound, or between different modes and while still holding down a note, your sound is not cut off, ever.
HDR is 24 bit, OASYS was 16Bit

Anyway.... got a question, ask.
I'm very tired and it might be better if you just ask specifics rather than me rambling on.

Regards
Sharp

Hi Sharp,

First of all, thanks for the feedback.

Then, can we copy and then load our own sample on the SSD?

If yes, can we use WAV, AIFF, Akai format?

What is the boot time (with and without sounds)?

Thanks

Kronos can preload your own personal samples on bootup.
Loading 1GB takes about 10 seconds...lol.... yeah, it's fast.

So it sounds like you can load your own samples to the SSD, but can't stream them off the SSD like you can the factory presets? Even still, 10 seconds to load isn't all that terrible, unless you need more than 1gb while playing live.

Then, can we copy and then load our own sample on the SSD?

Yes. The SSD is open to you to store your personal files.

If yes, can we use WAV, AIFF, Akai format?

Yes and no.
You can load WAV AIFF, and KORG's own sample formats direct off the SSD, but AKAI format must be loaded by CD to memory and then saved back to SSD as KORG files.

What is the boot time (with and without sounds)?

No idea.
I wasn't going to ask them to turn it off

Regards
Sharp.

I suspect Korg has reserved the real-time use of the SSD for their functions (audio recording, Korg sample playback). Allowing real-time playback use of the SSD for user samples might compromise the stated polyphony of the different Korg instruments.

I could, of course, be entirely wrong about this.

So it sounds like you can load your own samples to the SSD, but can't stream them off the SSD like you can the factory presets? Even still, 10 seconds to load isn't all that terrible, unless you need more than 1gb while playing live

Only KORG's EXs data can be streamed but bear in mind that streaming still uses RAM. You won't be loading every EXs and then loading 1GB of your own data to RAM.

Regards
Sharp.

Thanks for the report Sharp.

Glad to hear the fidelity has the Oasys "sparkle."

How long does it take for the Kronos to boot up?

Is the Kronos silent, or will the fan be audible (in a silent room)?

Is the RH3 physically less taxing to play for extended periods than the Oasys RH2?

Thanks.

How long does it take for the Kronos to boot up?

As I said above, no idea.
I was not going to ask for the keyboard to be shut down to find out. It's got to be fast though since it's powered by a SSD and it's got more CPU power than OASYS.

Is the Kronos silent, or will the fan be audible (in a silent room)?

It's not silent, it does have a fan inside so yes it will be audible in a “Silent” room.

I was told it's very very quite though. I didn't hear it myself simply becaue NAMM is one hell of a noisy place.

Is the RH3 physically less taxing to play for extended periods than the Oasys RH2?

Yes, a lighter touch goes further.

Regards
Sharp.

Shot Video taken with my iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybmRxm7kdPQ

Regards
Sharp.

Many thanks for the report Sharp -- I feel much more confident about the Kronos than I did before. Your words count for A LOT more than either the marketing hype or (obviously) internet chatter.

Sequencer: can you confirm that this is missing the goodies included with the M3 Xpanded (track view, piano roll, drag and drop)?

Thanks Sharp.

Sharp wrote:

So it sounds like you can load your own samples to the SSD, but can't stream them off the SSD like you can the factory presets? Even still, 10 seconds to load isn't all that terrible, unless you need more than 1gb while playing live

Only KORG's EXs data can be streamed but bear in mind that streaming still uses RAM. You won't be loading every EXs and then loading 1GB of your own data to RAM.

Regards
Sharp.

So let say I do want to translate in a specific format some of my favorite large library (from kontakt), it wouldn't possible to enjoy the streaming if I don't convert it to EXs... is that right?

Anytime I do want to use my own sample, it will be loaded in RAM, like any previous "Sampling" method?

Your words count for A LOT more than either the marketing hype or (obviously) internet chatter.

Thanks.
To but it all bluntly, as an OASYS owner, Kronos is the better machine now.

Sequencer: can you confirm that this is missing the goodies included with the M3 Xpanded (track view, piano roll, drag and drop)?

Sequencer is the same as the OASYS except for the effect engine is far more powerful and the HDR is now 24 bit, not 16.

Regards
Sharp.

A few more things popped into my head....

The screen on the KRONOS is one of the best I've seen on any KORG. It's able to produce the darkest blacks, and I didn't notice any ghosting at all on the screen caused by grids. Resolution is higher than the OASYS too, so the screen is very crisp and sharp.

OASYS PCG files can be loaded into Kronos.

You can OPEN your PCG files on the SSD and audition them without loading. (Kevin wanted to know that one)

PADs can be triggered from the screen.

Regards
Sharp.

Sharp wrote:the effect engine is far more powerful

Really? I think that's news. Isn't the architecture the same as the O.?