KRONOS + nanaKontrol2 ??

engineerjoel · Post by **engineerjoel** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:51 pm

I just came across of video of Rich Formidoni demo’ing the new Kronos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZWxF6YSsYk

Towards the very of the video (8:35), Rich mentions that it is possible to connect a NanoPad to add pads to assign chords.

My question: would it also be possible to connect a nanaKONTROL2 so to be able to assign additional parameters for more tactile control?

Thanks,

voip · Post by **voip** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:06 pm

The nanoPAD2 user manual is almost identical to the manual for the nanoKONTROL2 and neither manual makes any mention of connecting to the Kronos, which the nanoPAD2 does perfectly out of the box. The Kronos manual does state that the Kronos supports nanoPAD, nanoPAD2, microKONTROL, padKONTROL and KNOTROL49, but no mention of nanoKONTROL2. However, the Kronos Parameter Guide, page 1132, might be worth reading. It starts by stating:

"The KRONOS supports direct connection of USB MIDI class compliant devices to the rear-panel USB A ports. Multiple USB MIDI controllers can be connected simultaneously, if desired. The KRONOS provides no user interface for USB controllers. Any settings stored in the controller, including controller assignments, MIDI channel, and so on will apply in the communication between the controller and the KRONOS. If the controller supports different internal setups (such as Scenes on Korg devices), you can switch between them to change the controller’s functionality."

So it seems there's every chance the nanoKONTROL2 will do something useful with the Kronos, provided the control surface is mapped first to produce relevant MIDI messages to the Kronos by programming the nanoKONTROL2 using the KONTROL editor that can be downloaded from the Korg support website.

A note of caution. I tried plugging the nanoPAD2 followed by the Akai LPD8 into the Kronos' two USB ports and the Kronos wasn't a happy bunny. It went totally crazy!!! After power cycling, and disconnecting the two controllers, the Kronos didn't seem to have suffered any lasting harm, and works well with either controller on its own.

.

engineerjoel · Post by **engineerjoel** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 6:53 pm

Hey voip, thanks for that excellent information!

ed_f · Post by **ed_f** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 1:18 pm

Funny I actually have a nanoKontrol sitting on my Kronos that I use to control my DAW and I never even thought of plugging it into the Kronos since I have a nanoPad. I will try and give it a go soon.

musicman2011 · Post by **musicman2011** » Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:13 pm

the nanokontrol generates midi CC only, some Kronos controls respond to sysex only, for example the drawbars on the cx3 engine, I can turn rotary on and off with the nano, but not use the sliders to control the drawbars...