Korg Forums

Remember the little person on the TV series who looked out into the seas and announced the coming of the boat(Fantasy Island)? We're waiting for Korg to announce: The Fan! The Fan!

Fantasies aside, it is such a puzzle to me why Korg won't solve this problem with the Kronos. There's gotta be a reason. None that make sense, or maybe none at all have been offered by Korg.

I own a Krome, which has been very good to this point, but I still might buy a Kronos if they sorted the fan problem out. I don't think I am alone in that conclusion. They have done well in correcting the other problems that plagued the Kronos at the onset. Even the keybed problem.

People who have installed quiet fans had to worry about what Korg needed from the fan to prevent damage because Korg wouldn't say what or why. And be concerned about warranty problems because Korg wouldn't say if or not.

We're hoping Korg will at some point say: The Fan! The Fan! And deal with all the current Kronos owners as they clamor for the new fan under warranty and customer refusal to buy units already in circulation with the old fan. They missed an absolutely golden opportunity when they introduced the Kronos X. But it is never too late.

Honestly, I don't even notice the fan what so ever. If I really concentrate on trying to hear it, it's there, but it's really a non-issue for me. I am more annoyed with the loud sounding keys.

what fan problem ?

Do you play the fan ? Or play the keys ?

GregC wrote:what fan problem ?

Do you play the fan ? Or play the keys ?

this. I've had my Kronos for almost 2 years now and the only time I've even heard it has been in a dead quiet room with my ear right up next to it for the 2 seconds it spins high when the machine first boots.

Trouble is, various factors come into play.

Some fans are louder than others hence some wont notice the noise.

The fan speed changes dependant on the Kronos temperature, so depending on what your using it for, it might spin faster hence louder. So if you use your Kronos in a cool room and are happily jamming along to karma etc, chances are the fan will be running slower than someone in a room with central heating fully on recording multiple audio tracks on the Kronos.

Some people use their Kronos in a whisper quiet room hence notice it more than those that have the dog running around their feet etc.

I've had 2 original and now an X.

I couldn't hear the fan at all on the originals, I had to put my ear to the case to check it was actually working. On my X it is audible, about as much as the average laptop fan, I can't hear it if my PC is running, but if it isn't, I don't need to put my ear to the case to hear it like I did on my previous two, which leads me to think that either my hearing has significantly improved in the last three months (something my entire family would disagree with), or the fan in my X is louder.

Saying that, its still very quiet (quiet but noticeable), and the noise playing the weighted keys even with the volume turned down would completely drown it out.

I've heard it in a very quiet room. Not judging about other people's fans but you'd have to be a very anal person to make an issue out of mine.

Don't let it stop you from buying one of the best boards ever.

GregC wrote:what fan problem ?

Do you play the fan ? Or play the keys ?

I have a 73 and a soundproof, often very warm studio. with everything turned off except Kronos.

I can hear the fan if I put my ear close to the keys. the odd fly that gets in makes much more noise than the fan.

summers2 wrote:Remember the little person on the TV series who looked out into the seas and announced the coming of the boat(Fantasy Island)? We're waiting for Korg to announce: The Fan! The Fan!

Fantasies aside, it is such a puzzle to me why Korg won't solve this problem with the Kronos. There's gotta be a reason. None that make sense, or maybe none at all have been offered by Korg.

I own a Krome, which has been very good to this point, but I still might buy a Kronos if they sorted the fan problem out. I don't think I am alone in that conclusion. They have done well in correcting the other problems that plagued the Kronos at the onset. Even the keybed problem.

People who have installed quiet fans had to worry about what Korg needed from the fan to prevent damage because Korg wouldn't say what or why. And be concerned about warranty problems because Korg wouldn't say if or not.

We're hoping Korg will at some point say: The Fan! The Fan! And deal with all the current Kronos owners as they clamor for the new fan under warranty and customer refusal to buy units already in circulation with the old fan. They missed an absolutely golden opportunity when they introduced the Kronos X. But it is never too late.

I think the Fantasy Island chant was "The plane! The plane!"

I can hear the fan of my Kronos X 88 too. It's not what I would call "really quiet", but I don't have a dB-gauge at hand to have a proof fort this. In a quiet room you can hear it from 4m distance. (May be, that my ears are not too bad. When I was younger, I could recognise the high pitched noise of motion detectors - well sometimes.)

The noise is week enough to be droned out by typical medium powered loudspeakers and will not affect the sound experience. But in the studio I would not put sensitive mics into the near vicininty of the Kronos.

At least the fan does some blowing and there are some keys in the middle of the keyboard, where you can feel the air flow. Nice feature for very hot days

I know there are Kronos users with a quiet fan, like in this thread. But I know just as many who were or are annoyed by a really disturbing fan noise.

Mine was one of it, and when I exhanged it, it looked like a really cheap piece of crap to me: certainly no quality quiet fan. And the latter really don't cost much meanwhile.

So I think it should be absolute duty for any keyboard manufacturer, IF a fan is required, that it just has to be one of longevity, high quality and has to be one of the quiet ones. I have zero understanding or tolerance for anything else in such an advanced synth, and it can't be casual if you get one of the more crappy and loud or less crappy and loud of the cheap low quality ones they use.

The fan in my Kronos X 88 is very quiet. I agree, however, that if a fan is required for cooling in this pricey keyboard; a quality fan should have been installed. How loud is it going to be in 2 to 3 years from now. Also, how efficiently will its cooling power be in 3 years from now.

jimknopf wrote:I know there are Kronos users with a quiet fan, like in this thread. But I know just as many who were or are annoyed by a really disturbing fan noise.

Mine was one of it, and when I exhanged it, it looked like a really cheap piece of crap to me: certainly no quality quiet fan. And the latter really don't cost much meanwhile.

So I think it should be absolute duty for any keyboard manufacturer, IF a fan is required, that it just has to be one of longevity, high quality and has to be one of the quiet ones. I have zero understanding or tolerance for anything else in such an advanced synth, and it can't be casual if you get one of the more crappy and loud or less crappy and loud of the cheap low quality ones they use.

this discussion is the same old beat up horse.

I have the same crappy fan as you. We have 2 different results.

Which proves the original fan is somewhat inconsistent on the noise meter.
My fan is perfectly ok as is and there are thousands that are similar.

There are bunch of noisy fans out there , you had a little bad luck but you solved it.

I bet Korg did not pick up on the inconsistency. If they did, they were confident it would be overcome with help from service. From what I read its a low cost fix.

Being irritated over this seems like a temporary and solvable condition.

From a US perspective, and what we are getting for this $2000-$3500 keyboard is beyond compare, even 2 years after launch. So the fan noise is sort of a nit from my experience.

summers2 wrote: I own a Krome, which has been very good to this point, but I still might buy a Kronos if they sorted the fan problem out.

If fan noise is keeping you from buying a Kronos.....well I would just stick to what you have.

A Ferrari's cooling fan never shuts off...if driven properly !!!

Hey, with the kronos in play I've now moved up to two Fans for my music, first my mother-in-law, and now the kronos, At this rate I could actually start performing out. I am currently planning a fan appreciation day.

JPWC wrote:Hey, with the kronos in play I've now moved up to two Fans for my music, first my mother-in-law, and now the kronos, At this rate I could actually start performing out. I am currently planning a fan appreciation day.

thats impressive At first , my 2 cats were my fans but they got tired of the same old tunes