Korg Forums

[MinorKey]

Hi there guys,

I bought my first "real" synth this April - an M50. You can imagine how pissed I was 2 days ago, when I heard the Krome was coming out. If I knew it back then, I would have waited and could have got a somewhat better machine for the same price. Now, however, I wouldn't sell my M50 mainly for 2 reasons.
First of all, I have grown attached to it and its sounds. For 5 years my only keyboard was a Yamaha DGX-220, which is a beginner's keyboard no matter how we put it, and so the M50 is a huge leap forward for me in terms of about everything.
Secondly, I believe that if nothing else, the Krome with its 3 or so gigabytes of sample data at least sets the standard for rom size in this price category. From now on, I think, it would be very foolish of Korg to include smaller roms (= lower quality samples) at least in their 1000 Dollar + synths. And this is the reason I don't want to sell my M50. I'd like to get another machine when I save enough money (something in the class of a M3 or even a Kronos) anyway, and so I think that anything that will come after the Krome will sound at least as good.
Any thoughts on this or Korg's future strategy?

PS:
Hope I posted this topic in the right forum.

[Stargazer]

Ahoj Minor Key,

well, workstation market is very predictable; Korg changes it's middle range workstation every 4 years, usually in autumn. M50 came out autumn 2008, Krome came out exactly 4 years later. So, it was predictable.

But, as far as those gigabytes are concerned, do not be overly sad for not having them on M50 because Krome has exactly the same waveforms like your M50. Those gigabytes are rather a marketing trick; they all belong to piano and e. piano section that is, in comparison to M50, added to Krome. Simplified, it means:

Krome = M50 + extra Piano set measured in gigabytes

So, don't worry. Krome has somewhat larger number of effects (still, the number of simultaneous effects is just like in your M50), and a few changes/additions in parameters, somewhat bigger screen, but other than that, Krome is your M50 in a new casing.

I hope you feel a bit better now

[mocando]

Agree. I don't see any mayor improvement in the Krome that will justify replacing an M50. I was expecting drawbar emulation and maybe some sort of sampling, but sadly nothing. In fact, when I first saw the japanese video, and saw the drawbars in the screen, I felt so excited. It resulted to be just eye candy, not real CX-3 emu. Sad, very sad.

I'm in the market for a new workstation, and I put my eyes on the microSTATION. It has everything I need for the moment, I'll be missing Tone Adjust and the touchscreen from my M50 that I sadly sold, but I won't be spending too much money either. I have a Kronos in mi sights, and that is my target, so I better save for that.

I might even look for an used M50, if I can find one at a decent price, but definitively the Krome does not offer any groundbreaking feature.
_________________
Martin Ocando

Korg Gear: Wavestation
Korg Software: KLC Wavestation, iWavestation for iPad
Non Korg: M-Audio Code 61 MIDI Controller, Nektar GX49 MIDI Controller
Music Computing: 16in Macbook Pro with Touch Bar Mid 2019, i9 32GB RAM 2TB Flash, MacOS Catalina - 2019 iPad Air 64GB
Software: Apple MainStage, Arturia V Collection 7, Arturia OB-Xa V
Visit: Synth Fans :: Everything Synths Twitter: @korgfans

[guillex]

[mocando]

Hola Guille!!!!

[MinorKey]

Hi guys and thank you - I actually do feel better now.

I too believe that drawbars (and in my case even more sampling functionality) would have been a great addition. I hoped so much that the M50's successor would have at least one of these. Didn't happen and when I think about it I don't completely understand why the Krome is just what it is - more or less an M50 with Kronos piamo samples. Have to admit though, I'd love to have the Kronos piano sound and that I also like the Krome's extra F bank for storing user-made patches. And if the Krome really shares the other samples with the M50, the Krome shows no 'true' sense of evolution. BTW, how do you know what waves the Krome has?
- I haven't seen any documentation for the Krome on Korg.com yet?

And if the Krome really is a gigging keyboard, couldn't they have at least included some PS60-like buttons to make that impression? Because if the Krome is a gigging keyboard, I guess that makes my M50 one too - and I don't remember this being explicitly stated anywhere.

One more thing...
A little incorrectly put, but is there supposed to be something between the Krome and the Kronos (something around $ 2000)? I ask because the M3 currently occupies this spot. But is it because it's in a different category than the Kronos, or is it just because the M3's price dropped after the Kronos came out?

In terms of category I always thought of it this way:
Category 1: Kronos (Oasis before that) > Category 2: M3 > Category 3: M50
- Or was the M3 actually in the highest category at the time?
- I'd like to know how much I should save to get something better than the Krome.

[kimu]

for what i know:

m50: 256MB samples - all sounds

krome: 3,8 GB samples of which

2,8 GB grand piano
600 MB EPs
400 MB all remaining sounds

if this is true, i would not be so sure that m50 and krome samples are the same...
_________________
"Don´t let your Blofeld beside children, mothers-in-law or pets. This could lead to critical interactions."
Waldorf Blofeld User's Manual, Jan 2009

http://rsto.bandcamp.com/album/constellation - Free download of "Constellation"
http://www.youtube.com/user/RedShiftingTheOceans
http://soundcloud.com/kimuz

[billbaker]

MinorKey,

A better question than "how much should I save?" is "how much would I save?", or even "when will I save". And the answer is "about two thirds of what you think."

My advice is to wait until the unit's been out and in use long enough for some of the "ooh, SHINEY!" reaction to wear off. It's too hard to make an informed decision without test driving the thing; right now all opinion is based on past performance, biased (korg's own) opinion, and pure speculation (like mine).

You might want to consider looking at the last generation in picking out the best proven solution for what you want -- if you think there is one.

What that means to me is that I'd probably look at picking up a blow-out of the M-series before I'd get a Kronos or Kronos-X, and the only one of the M's I'd consider getting is the M3M module version. For me that makes the most sense. Its the easiest to achieve with the budget I've got, fits better with the other gear I will be integrating it with, doesn't have a keyboard I don't need, and doesn't represent a compromise in sound or capabilities.

----------------

I'm not immune to this dilemma myself, having considered ditching a bunch of gear for Kronos when it first appeared... I still may -- but that was before I heard about some issues regarding build quality and boot time that made me think Kronos would not be as suitable for gigging (at least not considering the way I store, move and set up my keyboards and the power issues in the places I play) as it would for studio.

Krome? Man, it looks good to me. It has a bunch of stuff that I want and not much that I don't, and it's priced very competitively... right in that $1000-$1500 range that will make my wife just shake her head and say "boys, and their toys" rather than throwing dishes.

BUT... I'll happily wait until I can give it a hands-on test myself.

Bottom line: Save $2000. Then try to spend no more than $1300 on the most solid, reliable, proven thing you can get... buy your wife/girlfriend/other jewelry with the leftovers (or apply it toward your budget for the next big thing).


BB
_________________
billbaker

Triton Extreme 88, Triton Classic Pro, Trinity V3 Pro
+E-mu, Alesis, Korg, Kawai, Yamaha, Line-6, TC Elecronics, Behringer, Lexicon...

[Stargazer]

[MinorKey]

[michelkeijzers]

[MinorKey]

[Stargazer]

Just look above and see, his name on the forum is RichF. I don't think he would mind a simple PM question about a current model, am I right Rich?

[MinorKey]

[guillex]