Have any of wished you had a Kronos instead of a PA3x?

Beemer · Post by **Beemer** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:50 pm

I lurked around the Kronos group just for general interest. The consensus appears to be that the Kronus produces outstanding sounds.

Have any of you PA3x users wished that you had bought a Kronus instead (but not as well as) of a PA3x?

I ask this not knowing what, if any, arranger functions a Kronus has.

Ian

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:39 pm

Hi Ian

Kronos is NOT an arranger - hence I cannot see anyone wishing they had bought Kronos instead of PA3X.
I guess if you were buying the PA3X primarily for sounds then there might be a choice.
it is however the most amazing synth I have ever heard and played (and own!!)
I love "KARMA" - I previously owned the Korg Karma, then the Korg M3 and now the Korg Kronos....

The KARMA feature is often mistaken for "arranger styles" and in some cases almost reacts like an arranger - i.e. playing left hand chords (accompaniment) and right hand melody.
KARMA is a lot more technical and feature-rich than just that. Its real-time parameters are amazing.

One tiny example is that you could be playing a nice KARMA groove (say straight rock feel) and subtly change it to a shuffle-swing feel just with a slider/knob - you could change the complexity of the snare drum in the groove - REALTIME adjustments - just amazing.

I use my Kronos for its sounds (playing my PA3X and having the UPPER 1 sound play the Kronos)
I also use it on its own playing KARMA combis as backings for songs.

But... it isn't an arranger - no FILLs, INTROs, ENDINGs etc...

Kronos is such a huge piece of awesome technology you really need to look at the Korg demos to get a feel for what it can do.

I am lucky - PA3X and Kronos - the ultimate combination in my honest opinion - I do not find any overlap with these keyboards.

Cheers

Pete

Stratario · Post by **Stratario** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:16 pm

karmathanever wrote:Hi Ian

I use my Kronos for its sounds (playing my PA3X and having the UPPER 1 sound play the Kronos)

Pete

Thanks for the nice explanation Pete. Can you elaborate a little on this please? Sound like a great idea. I have Pa2X and a Kronos 61. I would like to try this idea. Thanks.

Amoo Farrokh
Canada

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:52 am

Hi Stratario

More than happy to give you the details - I am away from my keyboards right now so will respond with details a little later (hopefully today)

Basically, I create a "No-sound" SOUND in my USER bank and use that as UPPER 1 however I'll give more precise details later...

Cheers

Pete

miden · Post by **miden** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:18 am

Why not set the part to external and enter in the actual MSB/LSB/Patch # of the Kronos sound on upper 1 Pete

save it to a performance and every time it loads the performance it loads the sound on the K.

You could also do the same for upper two and three and have 3 K sounds at your fingertips instantly.

Dennis

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:07 am

Hi Dennis - yes I could do that but I like to have complete control over my KK programs and combis (I use a lot and change them during numbers) so I have everything on a 2-tier stand, use the KK setlist feature (awesome). I use the PA3X in both Style play and Sound modes whilst playing the KK (Style play using KK for UPPER 1 and Sound mode for full 76-note MIDI control of the KK).
I have a PERFORMANCE and a SOUND set up for the KK.
There is a bug in the PA3X which sends MIDI data when you just change modes - this unfortunately sets the KK MFX "off" each time - there is no way around this even with ALL filters turned off but it is a minor problem and easily resolved (just have to remember!!!!).

I like to keep things very simple when performing or recording and so tend to treat the two keyboards as "independent" however my PA3X does control KK's joystick and volumes, notes, AT etc... - I disable PG changes. I do enable KARMA start etc..

Cheers mate - hope all is well with you.

Pete

Beemer · Post by **Beemer** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:33 am

Pete, thanks for your comments and for continuing this thread. It's still a PA3x I intend to buy.

Ian

Stratario · Post by **Stratario** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:03 pm

Thanks Pete.

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:29 pm

Hi Stratario

This is what I did on my PA3X (and previously, my PA2XPro/Korg M3 combination):-

In SOUND mode:-
Select a basic Sound (no DNC or special features - a GM piano is fine)
..Open the BASIC page and reduce the number of Oscillators to "1"
..In the "OSC Basic" tab simply reduce the "levels" to "0"
..Write the SOUND in your USER bank (suggest you rename it appropriately)

In Global Mode >> MIDI
.."MIDI out Channel" tab
....MIDI out CH01 set to "UPPER 1"
.."Filters" tab
....1. SYSEX ctl
....2. Prg Change
....3. 92 FX2 ctl
....4. 94 FX4 ctl
....5. 95 FX5 ctl
....6. 91 FX A/C
....7. 92 FX B/D
....8. Off
.."Setup Gen Ctl" tab
.... You may wish to save these settings to a MIDI setup

Note: the Filters 3-7 may not really be relevant - this is how mine was left after I was experimenting trying to figure out how to get around the PA3X bug (previously mentioned) - possibly these filters could all be "off" - up to you to try. If the bug existed on the PA2XPro (I think it did), then you will find (with everything connected and set up as above) that when you change PA2XPro MODES (and sometimes SOUNDs) the KK's MFX will be switched OFF (Just go into the main GLOBAL page on the KK and uncheck the MFX box - all will be OK

So in summary you have now:-
..created a "no-volume" sound
..set up UPPER 1 to MIDI out CH01
..set up filters so that no SYSEX or PROGRAM CHANGES will be sent (obviously, if you want to play around with program changes you need to unset this)

DON'T FORGET TO SAVE ALL THIS TO DISK JUST IN CASE YOU ACCIDENTALLY LOAD OVER IT.

Now if you go into STYLE mode and select the "no-volume" SOUND for upper 1 then your KK should play.
You may wish to disable Prg Chnge and SYSEX MIDI IN on the KK to be safe.

If you are banging away merrily in STYLE PLAY mode and want to keep the KK as your sound source despite changing styles, then make sure your "STS Mode" button LED is OFF.

Hope this helps - works great for me...

Cheers

Pete

Beemer · Post by **Beemer** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:31 pm

Pete, thanks for your comments and for continuing this thread. It's still a PA3x I intend to buy.

Ian

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:32 pm

Beemer wrote:Pete, thanks for your comments and for continuing this thread. It's still a PA3x I intend to buy.

Hi Ian

Certainly the best choice if you want an arranger.
Later on you could always add an entire new world and buy a Kronos

Cheers

Pete

miden · Post by **miden** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:34 pm

karmathanever wrote: There is a bug in the PA3X which sends MIDI data when you just change modes - this unfortunately sets the KK MFX "off" each time - there is no way around this even with ALL filters turned off but it is a minor problem and easily resolved (just have to remember!!!!).

Yes it is a MIDI reset message not a bug! It is designed in the OS to be that way - I thought that had been changed - however you could possibly get around it with your settings on the K...still, if you are happy with it the way it is who am I to say nay!

The PA OS lends itself to be a very powerful controller when set up in certain ways..having up to four separate K patches available for each performance (well 16 really when you consider there are 4 STS's) in my view would be ideal and would make setups for different genres/songs more conducive to workflow.

All is well with me, still have the PA1x and battling on.

Cheers m8,

Dennis

miden · Post by **miden** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:37 pm

By the way, the CC you really need to filter is 121

that is the one that is resetting everything. And forget about sysex, the PA sysex is not recognisable by the K and will just be ignored.

Stratario · Post by **Stratario** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:41 pm

karmathanever wrote:Hi Stratario

Hope this helps - works great for me...

Cheers

Pete

This should help a great deal. Thanks so much Pete.

Amoo Farrokh

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:17 am

Hi Dennis

By the way, the CC you really need to filter is 121 that is the one that is resetting everything. And forget about sysex, the PA sysex is not recognisable by the K and will just be ignored.

Thanks for the help.

Am giving that a try...

Cheers m8

Pete