What would you buy as a second board?

beastly61 · Post by **beastly61** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:23 pm

Hi All! New to the forum, but I've been playing and performing for over 30 years both studio and live. I'm rebuilding my rig at this point and I've bought a Kronos 73 as my bottom tier. I'm wondering, what would you buy as a top tier? Another Kronos (61 note) or what? I'm looking at a Access Virus TI2 also and wondered if anyone has played it comparison wise to the Korg. Please note: I'm leaning very heavily toward the Korg, but wanted to ask about the Virus.

Thanks all!

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:25 pm

Live or studio, and what genres do you specialize in?

ronnfigg · Post by **ronnfigg** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:43 pm

Why stop at a second tier?

80salife · Post by **80salife** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:49 pm

I'm so happy to use my KRONOS 61 as a upper tier...

Good keyfeeling and a good central for my MIDI-Setup...

In this Moment I use a CME UF-88 as a lower tier...

I'm looking for a Triton Extreme 88 with MOSSboard, to have a good Pianoboard, all Sounds of the Triton history and my missing Mossboard...

Together I think its unbeatable!

Shambler · Post by **Shambler** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:59 pm

I think I would either go for the virus or something more analogue, always fancied a prophet 12.

beastly61 · Post by **beastly61** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:17 pm

SanderXpander wrote:Live or studio, and what genres do you specialize in?

Sander - Mainly live, progressive metal and melodic metal are the main emphasis for me.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:39 pm

Ok, those styles aren't my forte but I would guess that apart from bread and butter sounds, you need good strings, pianos, pads and leads, right?
I think the Kronos has you covered with the first three, perhaps with a sound expansion for strings or piano depending on your preferences. Maybe an analog leadsynth would be good? E.g. a Moog Sub37? The Kronos is very versatile but one area where it doesn't do as well is with Moog-style sounds. In addition, there are a lot of things like analog overdrive or filter squelch that are simply hard to do on a digital synth.

I do like the Virus but for what you're going for I think an analog leadsynth would serve you better.

timbukktwo · Post by **timbukktwo** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:43 pm

80salife- Believe me when I say I'm not bragging! I have a Kronos and TEX/Moss combo which I will never willingly part with! They are a GREAT combo!! I sure hope you can find another! Please tell me what you liked about the TEX/Moss?

boarne71 · Post by **boarne71** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:43 pm

My next buy will be the dsi pro 2 to get a real nice analog capable board next to my kronos to play with.

black953mj · Post by **black953mj** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:06 pm

OK, I am lucky enough to be the owner of both a Prophet 12 and Virus TI2. I would tell you to go with either one of these two as your second board. It is great to have the ability to make adjustments to your sound easily when performing live and both of these boards fit the bill with all the knobs. The P12 probably wins on that front because it is closer to "one knob per parameter" than the Virus is.

Either one of these sound distinctly different than the Kronos so adding one of them gives you even more variety. The P12 really can cut through the mix in a live setting. The Curtis filter, which has sometimes been called harsh also makes it cut through the din of a gig really well - and the "harshness" can be managed quite effectively by careful programming when you don't need/want as much bite. The Virus is a great all around VA and is perfect if your band does any dance covers where hypersaw is needed.

To be honest, I flip between these two boards on gigs. I have patches for our entire set list programed on both and you can barely tell the difference. But they can also sound COMPLETELY different - they have their own character, I'm just suggesting that it is possible to get them very close.

So, my two cents.... Pick up either a P12 or Virus (Virus all the way if you cover any dance). You have the Kronos already, which is awesome; add some variety with tier 2.

EDIT: Just saw your musical focus - given this I would second the suggestion given of going for an analog lead synth... Moog, Pro2, etc!

countrycreek · Post by **countrycreek** » Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:54 pm

I'm using Kronos X 73, Hammond xk1c with vent and Triton Pro gives me everything I need

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:12 am

I'll also add that unless you need huge amounts of polyphony or like the idea of a "backup" board, getting a second Kronos is really a waste of money. I say that even though I would like a second one myself. To spend another 3K or thereabouts simply to get the same sounds is just a shame. If you think you can get everything you need from the Kronos save yourself some bucks and get a midi keyboard of your choice. You can hook it up to the K and do most things you would do with two.

drb32856 · Post by **drb32856** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:46 am

I have a Korg Karma with a moss board added as my top tier. I have my Kronos 61 on the bottom right now but I have started experimenting with my Alesis 7.1 76 key board on the bottom with the K61 on top. I like the extra space for zones the 76 keys gives me.

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:51 am

I'd consider a Prophet 5, but I haven't tried it yet.

80salife · Post by **80salife** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:00 am

timbukktwo wrote:80salife- Believe me when I say I'm not bragging! I have a Kronos and TEX/Moss combo which I will never willingly part with! They are a GREAT combo!! I sure hope you can find another! Please tell me what you liked about the TEX/Moss?

I want a good combination of an 88 Key, big sample library and MOSS...

The haptic of the Triton extreme is very good, The Extreme has all EXBs on board and the MOSS is the only thing that is missed in KRONOS. MOSS has additional expressiv sounds, in Triton you can use the MOSS with several sounds of it ( Instead of trinity only one sound)

I've played Trinity V3 (MOSS) and a Korg Karma together, that was a superb Live combi with astonish sound possibilities... NOW KRONOS raise up with AL1 etc...

MY opinion you will need live nothing else....

I would never use a real Analog synth live on stage, but in studio yes...