Korg Forums

Hi guys, I'm new here!

I saw some threads comparing the Krome with the Kross, and although they did comment on the portability issues, it didn't help me out much as to which I should buy.


I'm on a tight budget, and the Krome is probably JUST within my reach, but I'd like to save a couple bucks all the same.

What I'm looking for is the comparison of the two based on
1) Sound Engine
2) Synth Lead sounds
3) Polyphony
4) Is there really a gulping class difference b/w the two?
5) heard somewhere that the Kross was "an m50 but with twice the sounds". How far is that true?

I know its a lot of questions, but I'd be really really grateful to anyone who could answer them.

Thanks a ton!

Ricky

Ricky_jcr wrote:Hi guys, I'm new here!

...I'm on a tight budget, and the Krome is probably JUST within my reach, but I'd like to save a couple bucks all the same.

What I'm looking for is the comparison of the two based on
1) Sound Engine
2) Synth Lead sounds
3) Polyphony
4) Is there really a gulping class difference b/w the two?
5) heard somewhere that the Kross was "an m50 but with twice the sounds". How far is that true?

I dont own a Krome but I do have a Kross and have compared these 2 several times as well as looked at the M50 when it released in 2009 but got a good deal on a TR88.

1. M50 has EDS, Kross has EDS-i and Krome has EDS-X
2. The kross has some nice Synth Leads, many examples can be found on youtube. Krome also has some great ones too from what I heard.
3. Kross: 80 voices in single mode, 40 in double, same as M50, Krome: 120 in single, 60 in double.
4. Krome has almost 4gigs of pcm compared to the 112mb on the Kross and 256mb on the M50 but most of that is used for Piano's and EP's. If you are looking for really nice sounding pianos, Krome is the way to go, if its not that important, the Kross would be good as it has ok pianos but pretty good synth sounds.
5. Actually, I would say the Kross is more of a watered down M50 as it lacks the touch screen and has less than half the PCM Rom of the M50.

I would say if you can spring for it, go Krome. With Kross you only have 2 options, 61 key or 88 key, where as the Krome has a 73 key option as well. Also if you dont mind buying used, you can find a used 61 key krome for $750 where a new Kross 61 costs $699. Hope this helps.

Cheers bud!

So it sounds like the Krome really is a lot better than the Kross, in terms of piano and EP, combis and effects.

Does the Kross sound quality(pianos, organs) match up to the M50 though?
I played an M50 and I must say it had one of the best sound qualities in its range.

Ricky_jcr wrote:Cheers bud!

So it sounds like the Krome really is a lot better than the Kross, in terms of piano and EP, combis and effects.

Does the Kross sound quality(pianos, organs) match up to the M50 though?
I played an M50 and I must say it had one of the best sound qualities in its range.

This is one of those areas that is really subject to everyone's own personal taste. I dont have an M50 so I can comment much on its piano sounds. I have heard them on youtube and to me they werent that much of an improvement over the TR that I have.

What I can say is that the piano in the Kross is derrived from the samples used in the Krome. Obviously cut down as the Kromes actual piano sample is much larger.

The piano's in the Kross seem more natural and realistic compared to the TR, but that does not necessarily mean its better. For example, my Wife has heard both and she actually prefers the pianos in the TR over the Kross. So if you can go to a local music store and compare the M50 to the Kross and then the Krome. That will give you a good idea.

Speaking of which my wife and I did go to a local music store prior to the Kross being released and played a Krome and she was amazed at the piano sound as was I. Was almost as good as the Kronos which we also played around with too.

One thing I really do like about the Kross though is its portability. Sometimes its nice to pull a keyboard out of the studio and sit in another room and just play and/or write new material and the Kross is perfect for that. The 61 key is very light and you can pop is some batteries and play for up to 4 hours. I have enjoyed that quite a bit actually.

For some reason, the Kross always seems to sound good in a gigging situation. The better the system you're playing through, the better it sounds. Today at a rehearsal, i put it thru the PA, and every sound fit the band and sounded impressive. By itself, maybe less so - but in the context of the music, they were great. I think for 'synthy' sounds (and for DX7-type fm EP sounds too) a Korg X50 is better. It's hard to explain: an X50 sounds less transparent, and meatier. More 'glisten' or 'sheen' too. But the pianos and eps and organs on the Kross are good. Especially if you get into editing them, if you have the time. Strings, imho B-, but again, with some tweaking you can make a usable and sweet sounding string pad; Brass, B+ or A-: better. You can make good mellotron flutes if you add a piccolo flute to their tron flutes. Some huge 'production' sound combi's too. Kross also has an okay Orchestra where the low notes add Tympani if you really hammer them. Every synth has that now, but I remember when maybe Roland's XP's first came up with that!
And there are 64 Favorite locations (necessary because there's no way to enter numbers on a keypad) and lots of free memory slots for sounds and combis. *(unlike the X50)* The Krome certainly won't disappoint you, with the touchscreen and unheard of amounts of extra wave ROM. It's a tough choice! As long as weight isn't an issue, it may boil down to the $ you could save with a Kross. But as TW pointed out, there are used Kromes, and maybe even a used 73 if you stretch.
But as TW also said, the portability factor is really an unexpectedly nice plus. The only downside is that the keybed itself feels a bit plastic-y: a tad more mechanical than musical. But you can adapt your playing to it, and it will work fine, if you pay attention to the sound you're making.
I never had an M50 either, so I can't compare them directly. You owe it to your ears, fingers, and wallet to do a hands on comparison.

Right, I think I've got a very good idea of the Kross now, thanks to you guys.

One last question:
I play in a band that focuses mainly around progressive rock and a bit of blues, and mostly what I play are the pianos, EPs, organs, pads and leads. And given that I'll be gigging, I need quality in above mentioned tones. I don't have much use for the preset drum beats, and the electronic/techno-type sounds. Does the Kross fit this style?

You mean like Genesis, Gentle Giant and The Nice? They have some Keith Emerson type organs, and just tonight they seem to have released Triton sounds for Kross that you can load in, and some of those organs should work. You don't really want big ballad-like piano sounds then I guess. That's probably one of the Krome's advantages, which if you don't need it balances the 2 products a little closer together...

Exactly. Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, and the more recent keyboard genius: Jordan Rudess (although he is a bit radical)

I'd want a piano that sounds like a grand, thats it. I did check out the Triton programs for the Kross, but the previews seemed to have combis (with drum loops etc.). I'm more of a hands-on kind of player, so the arpeggio function too has little use for me. Oh, what is the limit as to how many sounds I can layer?

@ Tommy: Great additional info on the Kross. I didnt know they released a new sound set for the Kross! Will have to DL that this weekend and give it a whirl!

Tommy made a really good point about the 64 Favorites which I think would be really good for a live musician. The Krome might have a way to do favs but I am not 100% sure about that. Actually just looked over the Krome Op guide and it doesn't mention anything about setting up Favorites so its safe to assume this function is not available on the Krome.

Tommy also mentioned editing patches if you had time. There is a nice PC editor for the Kross and Korg just updated it last month to that it could run as a VST or Standalone in both x32 or x64bit platforms. I have it and find it very useful and intuitive. Would make progamming your own patches much easier. Also the Kross has plenty of empty user banks wher eyou can store your own sounds with out having to overwrite the factory ones. I believe the Krome has this too. But I have read a lot of complaints about the Kromes pc editor not working right.

You mention the great Rudess. I can say that there is a Combi on the Kross called "Mr.Pig" which is basically the "Snarling Pig" sound Rudess has used in some of his music!

As for the Drum Track and Arp stuff, you can turn that off and save it so that they arent turned on when you select those patches. I have had to do that on a few pathces in the TR.

As for sound layering, a combi can have up to 16 timbres. But keep in mind that if you start to go over the 80/40 Polyphony, some sounds may start cutting. Though from what I have heard, people usually dont run into this problem unless they are using multiple large combis with in a sequence.

Ha thats not bad. Although the Krome does have more polyphony, for the price of the Kross, I think its pretty good.

That Snarling Pig sound is totally badass btw, and might go a long way in persuading me to upgrade to the Kross.

Thanks for all the help guys,
and TW, could you post here how the Triton samples on the Kross sound, after you've tried them out? A first hand account would be really helpful

Cheers again!

Sure thing. I actually plan to do a comparison between the Kross Triton sounds and the TR. Though one thing to keep in mind is that original Tritons and Kross have 5 IFX, the TR only has 1 IFX (same as X50) which is what gives it a more raw sound.

What would be really interesting is if Tommy can give a comparison as he not only has an X50, but I belive he also has a Korg Karma which is basically a full Triton with all 5 IFX, but it lacks the touch screen the regular Tritons have and it has KARMA instaid of dual ARPs like the Tritons. So he really could do a one on one between the 2 and see just how close the Kross tri sounds are to the actual Triton.

@Rick

Might I ask what you are playing now since you mention upgrading?

I currently have just a Roland E-09, arranger. Played an M50 too before that, which is when I fell in love with the Korg sounds.

I'm 17 but I've been playing since I was 11 or 12(don't quite remember when I started out), so even though I do follow Rudess' stuff A LOT, I'm a bit new to the technicalities. I mean, I'm a fair player, but the technical stuff confuses me.

And an arranger does limit what I can play or do, so..

@ twstone1983 - good idea, tw. I will try to do a Kross to Karma to X50 comparison, when I can plug them in to the same monitor system and find same-named patches. From my recollection, the Karma piano was never that satisfying, even with the expansion board that I have in it. It's great to have aftertouch on the Karma, (which I replaced with a $100 solution soon after picking mine up, thank you Korg, great price and easy to install!) - Karma is darn heavy. But it has the knob advantage.

I've had em all. The most usable on stage in IMHO is still the Triton. I had it a long time and I guess I got so used to it. Everything else has always had something I didn't like. I did not like the pianos on the M50 as they sounded thin except for the rhodes sound and it was one of the best with the satellite tremolo stereo sounds. Couldn't ever really find the sound on any of the others. Close but just couldn't match it. I do like the rhythm patterns and drum sounds on the Kross but I found I couldn't tweak the piano sounds enough to make me happy. One thing that really stands out in my mind is except for the triton, they all sound real hollow and thin if you have to play in mono. The last band I played in for a while used ear buds in mono and I felt like I was playing a toy with my Krome. I sometimes pumped thru a single monitor also and whenever I did that with any of them they always lacked the sounds I wanted to hear. I could deal with the Triton for some reason thou with just one speaker. I think newer boards rely more on stereo patches than old ones. Thru earphones in stereo they all sound real good. I will say this though, for the money you just cant get anything any better in a synth with 88 keys than a Kross 88. Just midi a better sounding module or 61 key through it! Just my 2 cents.