GSi BURN and the Korg Kronos CX-3

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 5:42 am

Anyone familiar with this?

It sounds pretty good.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/18Wgl0bmN-c" frameborder="0"></iframe>

NuSkoolTone · Post by **NuSkoolTone** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:24 pm

I've been wondering about this myself. It does so much more than the Ventilator and is infinitely programmable by comparison. Thanks for posting that. Still feel the ventilator sounds better. The Distortion is better IMO. Even though the burn has a plate starved tube, it still sounds "Digital" to my ears and the leslie is only marginally better than stock. However the Burn has lots of OTHER cool effects as a "bonus".

Was about to say the ventilator was about the same price, but seems discontinued? There's the Mini that seems to have come out, but not much info on it and not nearly as flexible. Hopefully there's a Ventilator II coming out.

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:45 pm

It's discussed extensively at the Keyboard Forum:

http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthread ... /2527836/1

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:23 pm

Fifteen pages, wow. It does look like a nice unit and I might've gotten it if I didn't already have the Vent. Pretty happy with that still

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:22 pm

SanderXpander wrote:Fifteen pages, wow

Indeed!!

Trying to find something paired with the Kronos CX-3 since the demo is very short. Maybe I'll write to Guido and ask him to do a longer demo.

SanderXpander wrote:I might've gotten it if I didn't already have the Vent

That's what I'm trying to figure out. The distortion in the demo is very convincing.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:29 pm

The Vent's seems to go a little less far into high gain, but I like it a lot.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:56 am

I have to admit that I'm still a bit iffy on the idea of a Leslie sim pedal. Yeah, I know they sound great but in a live rock band can anyone really tell the difference?
I'm still not entirely sure that with the right tweaking that I can't equal that on my Kronos without having to spend a lot of money. I still believe that I can! The thing to remember is that all these pedals, and the sim in the Kronos are trying to replicate a mic-ed Leslie. 2 mics on the top and 1 on the bottom. No stereo system will ever properly replicate a real rotary cabinet. It's pretty much impossible. It can still sound good though!

LZ · Post by LZ » Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:17 am

I think I'll end up getting it mostly for the amp sim, though an improved leslie will be nice. I've been wanting a better distortion for both CX3 as well as the Wurli sounds. My plan is Aux1 out to Burn, back in Input 1, and I can control which sounds I route to it and where it is in the effects chain. Connect MIDI cable and don't even touch the pedal, just control it from the Kronos.

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:28 am

Jeremy:

I've done a gig a couple years ago with some Deep Purple on the menu, to get that Perfect Stranger sound, I had to turn to vst (VB3).

I still haven't found a way to get that typical B3 signature growl/grit on the Kronos.

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:31 am

SanderXpander wrote:The Vent's seems to go a little less far into high gain, but I like it a lot.

So Am I right t say that givenn the choice, it would be a tough one?

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:18 am

Dniss wrote:Jeremy:

I've done a gig a couple years ago with some Deep Purple on the menu, to get that Perfect Stranger sound, I had to turn to vst (VB3).

I still haven't found a way to get that typical B3 signature growl/grit on the Kronos.

Have you tried running the sound through a tube amp effect before the rotary speaker?

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:37 pm

All I can say after a lot of tweaking efforts (including tube effect before rotary, Kronos mic preamp effect use, testing guitar amp and bass amp models etc.) is that I could not find such a thing as natural sounding overdrive/tube modelling, and I really mean not anywhere in the Kronos. The Kronos is a great instrument and has fantastic effect quality in nearly all other areas, but definitely not here. In my ears Kronos overdrive sounds cold, digital and harsh, no matter if you use a B3 sound, a Rhodes, a Wurly, lead synth sounds or whatever.

The tube overdrive in the Kingkorg for example plays in a completely other league, and it always hurts to hear both side by side in direct comparison. But even without the use of a real preamp tube I meanwhile know more and more software plugins, which definitely sound a lot more like real warm natural tube overdrive with dynamic response, than the modelled Kronos tube effects do.

A better modelling of this effect, from warm saturation up to creamy screaming, is my no. 1 on the wishlist for possible future Kronos updates, perhaps even before things like an additional MonoPoly engine, updated guitar/eguitar sounds or an updated sequencer.

Not to be misunderstood: there is no other multipurpose workstation/synth out there which leaves only 3-4 urgent things to wish to me. My urgent wishlist for other avaliable synths would be around a dozen or twenty.

So the Kronos is still my favorite, and I just really wished it had better tube warmth/overdrive modelling: that would help for a lot of purposes!

LZ · Post by LZ » Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:04 pm

I couldn't agree more. It just doesn't seem possible to get any kind of decent overdrive from anything in the Kronos unless nasty is what you're after. That's where I'm hoping I can integrate the Burn and resolve that limitation. With the MIDI implementation, I'm thinking it will be more easily integrated than something like the Vent, and the flexible routing within the Kronos should make it a pretty slick combination.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:36 pm

I would probably give the edge to the Burn purely for the integration. That is, if it sounds as nice as the Vent. My comment on the gain was purely based on that youtube vid and my personal experience with the Vent - I have no idea if they sound equal otherwise.

HwyStar · Post by **HwyStar** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:07 am

Okay... Now you guys have me worried...

I was just about to buy a K61 and with you guys making comments about not being able to get a decent distorted amp out of the KKX I am now doubting the purchase.

My background as you can guess by my avatar is that I really enjoy Jon Lord and his organ "beast" sound.

Am I going to get his beast sound or do you think a Burn is required to get the dynamics and Marshall grit that he was able to master?

Thanks for your help in making my decision since I do not have a Kronos available to demo in my area.