Sell Kronos and buy a Virus? (not a vs thread)

[robinkle]

I'm what they call a gear slut. I tend to always want something that I don't have. I've had tons of Synths, but right now I only have a Roland XV-3080 and a Kronos 73, which I bought mainly to use Mod-7, to program FM sounds and to play piano. Problem is that I find the Kronos very little inspiring to program, menudiving probably isn't my thing, I need hands on control obviously. When I had the Nord Wave I could barely keep my hands of it. I also used to have the Virus TI(1) Polar which I replaced with a Virus TI(2) Desktop, and I made lot's of sounds for it and had alot of fun with.

If there ever will be a MOD-7 knobby synth I would have no problem buying one. But there is no synth like that now, and my Kronos doesn't get used as much as I had in mind when I bought it. If I sell my Kronos there is a chance I will miss MOD-7, because of my gear sluttyness, and because that I really like FM synthesis.

My music style is inspired by JMJ, Jan Hammer. 80's and Funk. Do you think I should get a Virus, and would it be a nice companion to my XV-3080 (loaded) for my style of music?

I wonder if people are in the same boat as me. Ideas and opinions are welcomed.

[Bertotti]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

[GregC]

I

My music style is inspired by JMJ, Jan Hammer. 80's and Funk. Do you think I should get a Virus, and would it be a nice companion to my XV-3080 (loaded) for my style of music?

I wonder if people are in the same boat as me. Ideas and opinions are welcomed.

will your style evolve or change ? Or is it strictly tied to the gear you have and how it inspires you ?

[robinkle]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

I sort of feel that Kronos very well suited for people that doesn't program, but would like to buy libraries of sounds to make music with. Programing a worsktation isn't quite as inspiring like a knobby VA or Analogue synth. Which is quite natural really.

You seem to agree that keeping an instrument that does inspire enough or keeps the inspiration down, is not worth keeping.

Using a controler migth be an idea, not sure if I want to do it that way though. Might need many controllers and some organizing to make it work smoothly without compromise. It's a good suggestion, but probably not for me. I think I need things simple and compact to keep the inspiration going.

[robinkle]

I

My music style is inspired by JMJ, Jan Hammer. 80's and Funk. Do you think I should get a Virus, and would it be a nice companion to my XV-3080 (loaded) for my style of music?

I wonder if people are in the same boat as me. Ideas and opinions are welcomed.

will your style evolve or change ? Or is it strictly tied to the gear you have and how it inspires you ?

It's a good question. I would say yes to both. Listening to music and making my own ideas is one thing, the other thing is that tweaking sounds gives me new ideas. So for me menudiving is too timeconsuming in order to be inspired by tweaking sounds. When I think about ideas as I program, there is no room for Tab switching, searching and pointing on a display. I reach a knob, turn it in search for inspiration. That makes it easier, atleast for me.

[Bald Eagle]

If you want knobs and a lot of programming possibilities take a look at the Prophet 12.

[robinkle]

If you want knobs and a lot of programming possibilities take a look at the Prophet 12.

Yes. It actually got nice FM, analog and waveshaping features. I used to have a P'08. I hated the filter, so I'm a little unsure about the P12. One of the things that makes the Virus interesting to me, is that it got 16 part multitimbrality and tons of polyphony. But it's an interesting thought, P12 is a very good companion to the XV-3080 as well. Tempting.

[SanderXpander]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

I sort of feel that Kronos very well suited for people that doesn't program, but would like to buy libraries of sounds to make music with. Programing a worsktation isn't quite as inspiring like a knobby VA or Analogue synth. Which is quite natural really.

I think you're describing a Motif here. Certainly workstations are generally less knobby than real or virtual analogs. But their sound capabilities/requirements (especially with the K) are also much broader. I need a workstation for its broadness of sound but specifically bought the Kronos because I enjoy programming.

[Cpilot]

So get a Behringer BCR2000. 32 encoders and the top row of eight comes as four groups making 54 in all. Top row also includes buttons plus another sixteen making 48. Fully programmable, perfect for Kronos sysex. And you can't beat the price. I couldn't make one for that price. You won't find another synth with that many knobs and buttons. It's transformed my Kronos.

Bryan

[GregC]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

I sort of feel that Kronos very well suited for people that doesn't program, but would like to buy libraries of sounds to make music with. Programing a worsktation isn't quite as inspiring like a knobby VA or Analogue synth. Which is quite natural really.

maybe you need a jump start in getting under neath the hood of the Kronos. There's likely several people here ( close to your style) who have some programming methods you can copy.

the nano pad might help some, too

[robinkle]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

I sort of feel that Kronos very well suited for people that doesn't program, but would like to buy libraries of sounds to make music with. Programing a worsktation isn't quite as inspiring like a knobby VA or Analogue synth. Which is quite natural really.

I think you're describing a Motif here. Certainly workstations are generally less knobby than real or virtual analogs. But their sound capabilities/requirements (especially with the K) are also much broader. I need a workstation for its broadness of sound but specifically bought the Kronos because I enjoy programming.

I agree. The motif is far to the Workstation side of the scale. Kronos places it self in between, The front panel can do some sound tweaking, but in general it's a workstation frontpanel. The screen is where the programing happens. Don't get me wrong I think the Kronos is very much programable and got tons more synthesizer to it compared to a Motif.

But I hope I'm not doing a misstake if I trade in the Kronos for a Virus or a similar synth with an intuitive knobby frontpanel. I will probably miss it because I will miss MOD-7 Which I will eventually forget that wasn't as inspiring to program. It's silly.

[robinkle]

I love the Kronos but as I learn more I am drawn to more knobines myself. I would say if the Kronos doesn't inspire you and using it isn't good for you then get rid of it.

Perhaps an external controller, although it would take some programing to set up, could be used to give you some hands on control you seem to be missing.

I sort of feel that Kronos very well suited for people that doesn't program, but would like to buy libraries of sounds to make music with. Programing a worsktation isn't quite as inspiring like a knobby VA or Analogue synth. Which is quite natural really.

maybe you need a jump start in getting under neath the hood of the Kronos. There's likely several people here ( close to your style) who have some programming methods you can copy.

the nano pad might help some, too

I never had a Jump start on it other then following the tutorials in the manual. I've used DX7 alot and I've got some nice FM sounds made and a few MS-20 sounds. So I'm not feeling that don't get the results from programing really, I don't find it hard to program, just timeconsuming. It's like I need to have my inspiration prepared before I start programing. Trying things out when programing needs to be quick in order to give inspiration back to me. I guess I'm impatient.

What I really could use for a jump start with Kronos, is the editor, what a mess. I think it's horrible.

I need to figure out if the Behringer controller would solve my issue. I would definatly have to name the knobs.

[QuiRobinez]

if you are mainly playing the styles of JMJ, Jan Hammer. 80's and Funk then i don't find the virus ti a good choice, although it can do it's work especially on the lead area i think there are better solutions for those styles. But since you have had a virus ti desktop you know what you can do with it and how it sounds, so if you want one again then i think it's a good choice based on your previous experience with it.

I also use a virus ti, but mainly for dance and trance sounds. One thing i would suggest is to look at the tone control area of your kronos by pressing the tone control button. I have a feeling that not many people use it and you can do quite a lot with it. You can even assign your own parameter preferences to it, so that would make the use of the touch screen a lot less needed. Off course you still need the touch screen for the fine tuning things, but that's the same on a virus ti where you also need to dive into the menus for finetuning things.

[Scott]

If there ever will be a MOD-7 knobby synth I would have no problem buying one. But there is no synth like that now
...
If I sell my Kronos there is a chance I will miss MOD-7, because of my gear sluttyness, and because that I really like FM synthesis.

ON a side note... you might want to keep your eyes out for a used Yamaha DX200. Also, check out the iPad apps, TF7 and DXi.

[SanderXpander]

I think PolySix and MS20 are great for funk!