Kronos Piano sound v.s Kurzweil PC3 v.s Yamaha Motif XF

[spinoria]

Listened to some demos and presentations of the new Korg Kronos but I just didn't like the body of that piano sound. It's was really nice in many ways such as decay and playing with the sustain pedal.... But something was disturbing me about the EQ of the sound or the maybe it's the tone and character of the Grand Piano being sampled.

Any other having these thoughts?

Also what Jordan from Dream Theatre was saying caught my attention...

"This is the best piano sound ever in a Korg..."

I know Jordan also plays Kurzweil but I guess he plays on most brands.

What are your reflections on the piano sound?

[EvilDragon]

I'd say is the bee's knees. Finally long unlooped piano samples, and propertly done. Good work from Korg, it's truly their best piano sound to date.

[kday]

Listened to some demos and presentations of the new Korg Kronos but I just didn't like the body of that piano sound. It's was really nice in many ways such as decay and playing with the sustain pedal.... But something was disturbing me about the EQ of the sound or the maybe it's the tone and character of the Grand Piano being sampled.

Any other having these thoughts?

Also what Jordan from Dream Theatre was saying caught my attention...

"This is the best piano sound ever in a Korg..."

I know Jordan also plays Kurzweil but I guess he plays on most brands.

What are your reflections on the piano sound?

The thing is, all Korg sounds have that in your own words "maybe it's the tone and character of the Grand Piano being sampled." feeling to them.

It's like a digital copy of what the sound is supposed to be. And any real musician will start to notice that, and in time and comparison to other keyboards that observation will start to bug the H*** out of you. For critical bread and butter sounds, and for some it could matter, for others no big deal. But for synth and lead sounds it doesn't matter. But when you want to sample your own sounds the million dollar question is this, will the Kronos AD/DA architecture affect your own new samples or is the Korg factory compressing the sounds in the unit from an all digital sound library format?

The Korg factory need some analog SSl, API, Neve boards and analog pre amps to get rid of that digital copy sound they had for decades. They might want to invest in better digital converters too, because somewhere down the line all the big natural fatness is being shrunk and compressed to where the sounds come out sounding like a digital copy in comparison to other keyboard companies. Considering the Kronos has a big 30GB hard drive there is no reason those sounds should still sound like a digital copy. But it could be a compression scheme within the keyboard itself that modify the original sound quality or cheap DA converters within the unit that they don't want to replace with another type from another manufacture.

Roland keyboards has the same exact problem of sound compression digital copy sounding sounds. But there's is far worst because theirs go through RDAC their known sound compression scheme and stereo warping DA converters onboard the synth.

[MartinHines]

I really think a person needs to demo keyboards in person to get a feel for the quality of the piano sounds.

First off, "which piano"? Most workstations include more than one sampled piano, and many variations (piano patches) created by running those samples through the synth and effects engines.

Finally, personal preferences differ. Play acoustic pianos from Yamaha, Steinway and Bosendorfer and see how they differ in their "piano sound". Even a specific manufacturer's exact same model will sound different on different physical units.

Therefore I have a hard time saying one company's piano is the "best".

[pillbug]

The thing is, all Korg sounds have that in your own words "maybe it's the tone and character of the Grand Piano being sampled." feeling to them.

Last time I checked, if you buy an actual piano, it's always going to kind of sound like that piano, i.e. "the same"... no?

[Dr. Who]

For sound quality, never ever never... base you decision off of a youtube clip. Tons of compression etc. If you have high fidelity headphones, take them into a music store and test for yourself. Personally I never liked the OASYS pianos. I didn't care for the stock Motif XS pianos either but I had a bundle that came with some high end Yammy piano samples that were fantastic. I'm assuming a 4GB disk streamed piano will sound fantastic as well, but if you prefer a Steinway sound as opposed to a Yammy (Japanese) or Boesendorfer (German), then you probably won't like the sound of the piano. It was just a youtube clip, but the sound quality seems promising. One of the things lost on all of these Kronos threads is the BIIIG sound the O has. Will the Kronos have the same sound or were some corners cut that will affect the depth? Dunno... will have to wait and try one out first!

[WorknMan]

I really think a person needs to demo keyboards in person to get a feel for the quality of the piano sounds.

+1000 on this. Everybody is always going to have a personal preference on which pianos they like best, and who can argue with personal preferences? It's like arguing whether Coke or Pepsi tastes better.

[BasariStudios]

I know it sounds stupid but people should not waste time anymore comparing
Kronos to other synth...i think it will be just a waste of time...TIME...years behind.

[burningbusch]

but if you prefer a Steinway sound as opposed to a Yammy (Japanese) or Boesendorfer (German), then you probably won't like the sound of the piano.

The piano is labeled a German "D." I assume that's code for a German (Hamburg) Steinway D. I know of no "D" in the Bosendorfer line.

Busch.

[zzzxtreme]

really varies from person to person. I for one am happier with pianos from the ancient RD600 than the ones in Motif XS.

[synthjoe]

but if you prefer a Steinway sound as opposed to a Yammy (Japanese) or Boesendorfer (German), then you probably won't like the sound of the piano.

The piano is labeled a German "D." I assume that's code for a German (Hamburg) Steinway D. I know of no "D" in the Bosendorfer line.

Busch.

+1

Plus Bösendorfer is made in Austria, as far as I know... I don't think they'd be happy if you called them Germans.

[Cardinal Fang]

Let's face it, who's going to listen to a track and think "is that a real Bosendorfer or is it a Kronos?".

If you're after a piano to put in a track with a lot of other stuff, by the time it's been recorded, compressed, turned into an MP3 and stuck on an iPod, nobody will be able to tell the difference.

[orpheus2006]

... I don't think they'd be happy if you called them Germans.

Not sure, definitely not vice versa

My guess (or hope): it could be a Bechstein D 282 (a grand piano that costs around 115k EUR)
http://www.bechstein.com/instruments/cb ... roductId=1

BTW Steinway & Sons is based in NY, so it's not a Steinway!

[EvilDragon]

BTW Steinway & Sons is based in NY, so it's not a Steinway!

Steinway has a Hamburg-based factory as well, so it's two entirely different sounding pianos. It's not a Bechstein D.

[orpheus2006]

Steinway has a Hamburg-based factory as well, so it's two entirely different sounding pianos. It's not a Bechstein D.

You are right, Steinway has a factory in Hamburg. So it could be a Steinway, indeed.
I haven't done my homework correctly.

But allow me a question: could you hear the intonation of the piano from the youtube video so you can say it is a Steinway and not a Bechstein, or do you have facts?