Kronos or not kronos. Alternatives.

[audioird]

Hi,

Here is my case, a few explainations.
My actual config is : Roland RD300sx, a laptop, V-Station, Ableton Live, Korg Legacy suite (MS20 and others).
I do not own Komplete, nor Pianoteq.

I recently sold my Roland to buy a Nord Stage 2 to get a more reliable configuration, a better piano and e-piano.
Than the Korg Kronos appeared !!!
I am now very confused and I want to know what would be the best setup for me.

I am looking for :
- an instrument, I mean real feeling and playability with goods keyboard sounds (rhodes, clavinet, piano) and why not others (Strings ...)
- good analog or wave sounds to overlay
- reliability (always works when you switch it on)
- easiness for live performance
- enough parameters to get the sound I want

The Kronos may be ok :
- if I can try it and if it does not sounds like a toy with bells and whistles (useless features, poor efficiency, poor user interface)
- if the price in France does not exceed 2500 € for a 73 or 88 piano keys.

Or maybe I should buy a Nord Stage
Or maybe I should buy Komplete or Pianoteq and a controller keyboard.

[panrixx]

Well, I do not think anywhere in the UK is selling the K88 for less than £3,000 so I cannot imagine you'll get one for 2,500 euro - at least not for a while. The cheapest price for a K73 is £2,999, although I'm sure you could haggle that down £100.

[EXer]

Le Nord Stage 2 semble bien répondre à ton cahier des charges, surtout si tu es essentiellement un musicien de scène. Il peut charger en mémoire flash les échantillons de la bibliothèque Nord Piano (format .npno) et ceux de la bibliothèque Nord Wave (format .nsmp), disponibles en téléchargement gratuit sur le site de Clavia. Attention : je parle bien du Nord Stage 2, pas du Nord Stage.

En revanche, il n'a ni séquenceur ni Karma et il offre nettement moins de possibilités que le Kronos en matière de programmation et de sound design.

Toi seul peux décider ce convient le mieux à tes besoins.

Et si les prix en France paraissent élevés, ça peut être intéressant d'aller voir en Allemagne, p.ex. chez Thomann...

abstract for the non French speaking:
The Nord Stage 2 meets your requirements as a gigging musician quite well. The Kronos is more versatile.

[robinkle]

My guess is that Nord Electro, DX7 and Access Virus could replace Kronos. But I would rather wait for Kronos. The EP's, FM and even VA synthesis is probably better on Kronos. And you save space. And you can use two engines together in one program and 16 programs in a combi. Less keyboards makes things easier when going live, and Set list might do things even easier for you. Those are my thoughts.

[Gargamel314]

The Kronos may be ok :
- if I can try it and if it does not sounds like a toy with bells and whistles (useless features, poor efficiency, poor user interface)

I think you can rest assured on that one - there's nothing toy-ish about the Kronos, everything seems to have a purpose. I get what you mean though, adding features for the sake of adding features. the only thing in there i can think of is where the piano lid opens and closes in the pictures in the SGX-1 programs, and the backlit joystick i still think is gawdy, but it's great if you're playing on a dark stage. but that's really about it. at least it doesn't have a motorized screen that raises and lowers (that makes me LOL whenever i see it)

[audioird]

I will assume (because I did not try one myself) that Kronos sounds (and feels) as good as Nord Stage 2 for all a NS2 does : Pianos, E-Pianos, Clavinet, Effects (wah), control, organ, wav, analog ...

And Kronos has at least one (for me, I know it has much more written on specs) thing more than NordStage2 : its HD1 engine.

Indeed, with a NS2, you do not get a good sample playback engine :
- in the piano module can only upload .npno files from Clavia, you can't edit a ".npno" file and make one yourself, and Clavia only has pianos/clavinet to offer for that engine.
- the sampler module has no velocity layers. You can edit ".nsmp" files with Nord Sample Editor and put your own samples key by key if you want, then upload it to the NS2, but I reapet : there is no velocity layers possible for that engine module !

That's why NS2 is not so good for me : I have no good feeling with its new sample playback module (sounds flat).

And with velocity layers (HD1, Komplete ...), I wonder if we can get as good feelings with a sampler as we can with synthesis. That is where pianoteq (fully synth piano) comes as a possible choice. When I play with the pianoteq demo, I forget about realism / comparaison with a real piano, and just play : it gives you more than samples.

The deal is the price.
NS2 costs 2876 € here (thomann NS2 76 compact)
I wonder what the price will be for a Kronos 73 ...

[iumpheed]

Sorry that was not clever from me if I did not find the words on the other thread I opened because for me it was another subject. I know there are trolls and this is not my intention. I will be careful with my words if I post again or go somewhere else (other forum) if my words are annoying this Korg forum, which I can understand. I apologize again if I used wrong terms or put annoying ideas.

I will continue to read this forum and keep my comparison with computer solutions to me.

Best regards.

Audioird.

[panrixx]

audioird / iumpheed

If you refer back to the first two posts in this (your) thread, your main decision may be regarding affordability. You indicate you might consider a Kronos 73 or 88 if the price in France is below 2,500 euros. Personally, and I did explain why earlier in this thread, I cannot see that happening certainly for some time yet.

Value added tax in the UK is currently 20% (up from 17.5% previously). What is the tax rate in France as, if its lower, this may help?

[Rocness]

Hi,

Here is my case, a few explainations.
My actual config is : Roland RD300sx, a laptop, V-Station, Ableton Live, Korg Legacy suite (MS20 and others).
I do not own Komplete, nor Pianoteq.

I recently sold my Roland to buy a Nord Stage 2 to get a more reliable configuration, a better piano and e-piano.
Than the Korg Kronos appeared !!!
I am now very confused and I want to know what would be the best setup for me.

I am looking for :
- an instrument, I mean real feeling and playability with goods keyboard sounds (rhodes, clavinet, piano) and why not others (Strings ...)
- good analog or wave sounds to overlay
- reliability (always works when you switch it on)
- easiness for live performance
- enough parameters to get the sound I want

The Kronos may be ok :
- if I can try it and if it does not sounds like a toy with bells and whistles (useless features, poor efficiency, poor user interface)
- if the price in France does not exceed 2500 € for a 73 or 88 piano keys.

Or maybe I should buy a Nord Stage
Or maybe I should buy Komplete or Pianoteq and a controller keyboard.

Do yourself a favor and don't impulse buy like many here have done . You owe it to your self and your music to wait to give the Roland Jupiter 80 a change , I think you are going to be really surprised what it can do for your needs .
peace

[biggrime]

Hi,

Here is my case, a few explainations.
My actual config is : Roland RD300sx, a laptop, V-Station, Ableton Live, Korg Legacy suite (MS20 and others).
I do not own Komplete, nor Pianoteq.

I recently sold my Roland to buy a Nord Stage 2 to get a more reliable configuration, a better piano and e-piano.
Than the Korg Kronos appeared !!!
I am now very confused and I want to know what would be the best setup for me.

I am looking for :
- an instrument, I mean real feeling and playability with goods keyboard sounds (rhodes, clavinet, piano) and why not others (Strings ...)
- good analog or wave sounds to overlay
- reliability (always works when you switch it on)
- easiness for live performance
- enough parameters to get the sound I want

The Kronos may be ok :
- if I can try it and if it does not sounds like a toy with bells and whistles (useless features, poor efficiency, poor user interface)
- if the price in France does not exceed 2500 € for a 73 or 88 piano keys.

Or maybe I should buy a Nord Stage
Or maybe I should buy Komplete or Pianoteq and a controller keyboard.

MY 2 Cents

My experience is mostly software. I started using software vst with Cakewalk back in 2002. Bought my first hardware keyboard (Korg Micro X) in 2007. I knew I wanted a workstation after that. So I bought the Korg M3 in 2008.
I think you are out of touch on why people use workstations such as Kronos, M3, Fantoms, motif etc.. You could not pay me to use a VSTs. There is a different way of thinking when you use a workstation vs computer + software. Everything is at your finger tips with workstations. When you use a workstation it feels like a instrument such a guitar. You can tune and modify a workstation to be unique. You can bet you momma's panties my M3 is better then any M3 you demo in a store. A computer setup you feel like you are using a bunch of stuff. Well that is what you are doing.

As far as should you get a Nord. Well I look at them as 2 different beast. Either you want a workstation(Kronos) or you want a stage keyboard(Nord). If you do not know the difference google it. Have you considered the Korg SV1?

[RKfan]

There is no alternative to the Kronos....

Must buy Kronos

Must buy Kronos

No really there is no alternative - it's great, best thing out there (there being US and Japan)

Unfortunately - we are all going to have to wait and save up for one (and if you live in the EU save up for one and a half).

[Rocness]

There is no alternative to the Kronos....

Must buy Kronos

Must buy Kronos

No really there is no alternative - it's great, best thing out there (there being US and Japan)

Unfortunately - we are all going to have to wait and save up for one (and if you live in the EU save up for one and a half).

See what I mean by Impulse .

[dangerousdave]

Waiting 5 months hardly qualifies as an impulse buy.

[Rocness]

Waiting 5 months hardly qualifies as an impulse buy.

Yea , I guess your right if you know that this is exactly the board you want , then by all means go for it but if you have any doubt , you might as well wait a few more weeks to see what the Jupiter 80 will bring , I think people will be really surprised, especially live musicians .
peace

[keyplayer14]

Well I was in the market for a s/h Oasys (couldn't justify the expense of a new one at the time), so Kronos is really a no-brainer for me. Like the look of the Jupiter 80 though, and may consider getting one if I feel it will compliment the K well.