Kronos and Seattle Section

[Jishan]

Hello all,

this is my first post here. So I am absolutely sorry if this is the wrong subsection.
So I am a synth player from India and what I do mostly is Indo-western classical performances. This means I need lush acoustic strings, great atmospheres and powerful dsp effects to modify my synth strings. I am not really a daw person, btw.

So here is my query. I am really looking forward to buying a Kronos2 however a few musician friends said me that strings and overall ensemble performances are way better in the Yamaha's new Montage (something called the Seattle Perf. voices).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_5-zGCvxec


Is it really the case? Are Kronos sounds a little thinner than Montages? Also can the kronos do what the Montage can? I am not really a very qualified ground up patch editor though I make small tweaks to my patches.

I can't really test Montage as I don't have it in any store near me, however Kronos sounded brilliant. Still I would like a owner review!

Thanks and regards

[GregC]

Hello all,

this is my first post here. So I am absolutely sorry if this is the wrong subsection.
So I am a synth player from India and what I do mostly is Indo-western classical performances. This means I need lush acoustic strings, great atmospheres and powerful dsp effects to modify my synth strings. I am not really a daw person, btw.

So here is my query. I am really looking forward to buying a Kronos2 however a few musician friends said me that strings and overall ensemble performances are way better in the Yamaha's new Montage (something called the Seattle Perf. voices).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_5-zGCvxec


Is it really the case? Are Kronos sounds a little thinner than Montages? Also can the kronos do what the Montage can? I am not really a very qualified ground up patch editor though I make small tweaks to my patches.

I can't really test Montage as I don't have it in any store near me, however Kronos sounded brilliant. Still I would like a owner review!

Thanks and regards

That is an effective demo for orchestra.

The Kronos is still brilliant. You can set up sections in the SEQ.

[SanderXpander]

I don't think the strings are the strongest point of Kronos. FX are very good though as are pads/atmospheres. You could buy an expansion for strings if those sounds are important to you - there are a bunch. The Kronos doesn't have a lot of options for "articulations" but those are more important for solo instruments usually.

The other day I tried a Montage and was massively disappointed by the quality of all the classic keyboard sounds and "analog" synth sounds. I didn't make it to the orchestral sounds

[Jishan]

I don't think the strings are the strongest point of Kronos. FX are very good though as are pads/atmospheres. You could buy an expansion for strings if those sounds are important to you - there are a bunch. The Kronos doesn't have a lot of options for "articulations" but those are more important for solo instruments usually.

The other day I tried a Montage and was massively disappointed by the quality of all the classic keyboard sounds and "analog" synth sounds. I didn't make it to the orchestral sounds

Thanks for the honest information. Just a question, is it possible to buy articulated solo instruments/programme articulation (Like Korg's DNC or Rolands SuperNatural) in the Kronos?

[SanderXpander]

In short, no. DNC and SuperNatural are patented technologies that have no direct equivalent in Kronos. Of course you can get close by clever use of velocity switches or controllers, but it's not quite the same thing.

The question is of course what will ultimately get you the best sound for what you need to do. I mostly need good keyboard sounds, good synth sounds, good fx and the occasional string or brass section. For me the Kronos is a great fit. If you mostly rely on acoustic/sampled non-keyboard instruments it would definitely be worth checking out both Montage and JP80 (or 50 or even the Integra-7).

[amit]

Kronos has karma though and a lot of articulation a can be done through it.
Also as sanderxpander mentioned there are some excellent scoring libraries available at Kong shop.

[Jishan]

In short, no. DNC and SuperNatural are patented technologies that have no direct equivalent in Kronos. Of course you can get close by clever use of velocity switches or controllers, but it's not quite the same thing.

The question is of course what will ultimately get you the best sound for what you need to do. I mostly need good keyboard sounds, good synth sounds, good fx and the occasional string or brass section. For me the Kronos is a great fit. If you mostly rely on acoustic/sampled non-keyboard instruments it would definitely be worth checking out both Montage and JP80 (or 50 or even the Integra-7).

Thank you for the suggestion. Just an afterthought, why doesn't an $2.5k board doesn't' support what an Yamaha PSR supports? Anyway now I know where to look at. Maybe I will look at PA4X and Montage or the new Jupiter.

[SanderXpander]

I don't think the PSR series have any kind of intelligent articulation?
In any case, you might also wonder why the Korg Krome has a multi GB unlooped piano when Yamaha, Roland and Nord's top models don't. Choices are always made. I honestly don't really miss articulations much but as I said I don't need a lot of "acoustic" non keyboard sounds. For what it's worth, articulations or not, all of those SuperNatural and DNC and whatever sounds still sound super fake to me. I get a "decent" string section out of the Kronos, mostly for paddage and I have the Korg string expansion which has a nice smaller section for faster more melodic passages. One benefit of the Kronos is that it's extremely expandable, e.g. the JP80 isn't at all.

Regardless of all the tech stuff and what everyone here says, I'd really recommend going out and trying stuff.

[Jishan]

I don't think the PSR series have any kind of intelligent articulation?
In any case, you might also wonder why the Korg Krome has a multi GB unlooped piano when Yamaha, Roland and Nord's top models don't. Choices are always made. I honestly don't really miss articulations much but as I said I don't need a lot of "acoustic" non keyboard sounds. For what it's worth, articulations or not, all of those SuperNatural and DNC and whatever sounds still sound super fake to me. I get a "decent" string section out of the Kronos, mostly for paddage and I have the Korg string expansion which has a nice smaller section for faster more melodic passages. One benefit of the Kronos is that it's extremely expandable, e.g. the JP80 isn't at all.

Regardless of all the tech stuff and what everyone here says, I'd really recommend going out and trying stuff.

So true. Just waiting for Montage to arrive. Thannks again.

[burningbusch]

How one of these keyboards come out of the box and how you can enhance/personalize/expand the sounds can be two very different things. The Kronos is massively expandable, the Montage is modestly so, and something like the Jupiter-80 has virtually no way to expand the base sounds.

With the Kronos 2 you get the KAPro EX19 Private Collection for free (you must register and download). The KAPro orchestral libraries are extensive (and can be expensive) but there's nothing out there in hardware land that can touch them, IMO. EX19 is gives you a solid base of ensemble strings + other sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSHovjL0UY

Busch.

[Jishan]

How one of these keyboards come out of the box and how you can enhance/personalize/expand the sounds can be two very different things. The Kronos is massively expandable, the Montage is modestly so, and something like the Jupiter-80 has virtually no way to expand the base sounds.

With the Kronos 2 you get the KAPro EX19 Private Collection for free (you must register and download). The KAPro orchestral libraries are extensive (and can be expensive) but there's nothing out there in hardware land that can touch them, IMO. EX19 is gives you a solid base of ensemble strings + other sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSHovjL0UY

Busch.

I do not like the Jupiter's myself. I am no vintage synth expert but it seems while the original was a flagship, the new one is a failed attempt. Yamaha is reasonably expandable, but I hate how Tyros has a plastic finish while Pa4x is built like a tank. I think I am gonna settle with Pa4x for its end and build quality. It seems I can fairly expand it as well.

[GregC]

How one of these keyboards come out of the box and how you can enhance/personalize/expand the sounds can be two very different things. The Kronos is massively expandable, the Montage is modestly so, and something like the Jupiter-80 has virtually no way to expand the base sounds.

With the Kronos 2 you get the KAPro EX19 Private Collection for free (you must register and download). The KAPro orchestral libraries are extensive (and can be expensive) but there's nothing out there in hardware land that can touch them, IMO. EX19 is gives you a solid base of ensemble strings + other sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSHovjL0UY

Busch.

I do not like the Jupiter's myself. I am no vintage synth expert but it seems while the original was a flagship, the new one is a failed attempt. Yamaha is reasonably expandable, but I hate how Tyros has a plastic finish while Pa4x is built like a tank. I think I am gonna settle with Pa4x for its end and build quality. It seems I can fairly expand it as well.

makes sense to me

[73keys]

How one of these keyboards come out of the box and how you can enhance/personalize/expand the sounds can be two very different things. The Kronos is massively expandable, the Montage is modestly so, and something like the Jupiter-80 has virtually no way to expand the base sounds.

With the Kronos 2 you get the KAPro EX19 Private Collection for free (you must register and download). The KAPro orchestral libraries are extensive (and can be expensive) but there's nothing out there in hardware land that can touch them, IMO. EX19 is gives you a solid base of ensemble strings + other sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNSHovjL0UY

Busch.

I just downloaded the KAPro EX19!

Thanks Busch!

[aron]

Will try the KAPro. I just used the Seattle Sections live and it was ridiculously great on the Montage.

[kronoSphere]

sometimes a real emotion don't come from a so called "truly great sampled real string orchestra" but instead just from an approximative sound of pseudo violins. All gets fire in the mix. Only the mix makes magic things happen. Montage has some great sounds. Kronos too. Roland also but all has to be done by our work.