Ordered my Kronos 88 - But have some questions

[sfernald]

Hi all, I placed my order for my Kronos 88 and I'm so excited I can't wait for it.

This is my first big synth. I have one other synth (a microkorg) that I just sold off. Most of my work is done in cubase. I want to use kronos to develop ideas and then eventually bring them into cubase for final processing. I want to connect with the instrument and work more out of the box.

I have a couple questions though. There's always some worry after such a big order that I may not have gotten exactly what I need.

I am selling about 4 synth/keyboards to clear space for this beast. I basically am trying to streamline things. I want to use the kronos for everything I do with a keyboard / midi controller and I want to try to work out of the box a lot more. So this is what I'm planning on doing with the kronos.

I practice piano about 2 hours a day, so that's why I want the 88. I am practicing on a axiom pro 61 semi weighed right now and that is fine. Not inspiring, but fine. It is also connected to my computer and used with my daw as the primary controller. I intend to replace this with the kronos. I want to use it for piano and as the primary controller of my daw and for composition. It will never leave my desk sitting right in front of my computer monitors.

My concern is that the 88 is fully weighed and while everyone says that is great for piano, they say that is not good for synths and organs. I am going to be doing a lot of synth work with this. I have just gotten a prophet 08 desktop and these two are going to be tied together very closely. Also I use a lot of soft synths and such. I don't play in a church or anything but I would like to be able to use the organ as well, bringing it in as desired, into compositions. Will this be a problem with the 88 or is the keyboard weight something I can adjust to? Is the problem overstated and do people usually adjust to it? I am a strong guy with strong fingers, but I don't want my hands to be exhausted all the time either, or just find that I can't press the keys as fast as needed. I have never used a fully weighed keyboard other than a beat-up old upright piano when I first learned piano many moons ago (my parents bought it from a bar, if you can imagine, with a nice cigarette burn on one of the keys even). I really want to go 88 and not 61 because I want the extra range. I used to use two 25 keyboards (one for right and left hand) for my daw and I found going to the 61 opened up a lot of instruments for me creatively (I was surprised what a difference it is to have all the keys in front of me).

Next question is what type of connectivity can I expect between my prophet 08 and my kronos? I want to send and record midi from the kronos to the prophet and also probably capture audio out from the prophet to the kronos. Will I be able to capture the knob tweeks I make on the prophet with the kronos with midi? Will I be able to apply effects form the kronos onto audio that I bring in from the prophet? Is it possible that I can use all the wonderful knobs of the prophet as a control surface for the kronos?

Finally, even though I'm going to try to build whole songs in kronos, I know that eventually it will have to all go into cubase. There's too many advanced parameter changes and plugins I'm going to want to use. I see that kronos has a 16 midi/16 audio sequencer. Let's say I create a full song with 16 midi and 16 audio on the kronos (some of which may come from external sources such as the prophet 08, etc). Will I be able to bring all of those into separate tracks in cubase, so I can process each separately applying plugins and parameters to each instrument as needed?

Thanks for your assistance and advice! Look forward to hanging around this forum with you guy!

One more thing, does the touch screen function as a kaoss pad as it does on the M3?

[EvilDragon]

Next question is what type of connectivity can I expect between my prophet 08 and my kronos? I want to send and record midi from the kronos to the prophet and also probably capture audio out from the prophet to the kronos. Will I be able to capture the knob tweeks I make on the prophet with the kronos with midi? Will I be able to apply effects form the kronos onto audio that I bring in from the prophet? Is it possible that I can use all the wonderful knobs of the prophet as a control surface for the kronos?

This will all be very possible if you connect the audio output from Prophet to audio in of Kronos, and of course bidirectionally connect Kronos and Prophet by MIDI, so each can control the other one (of course, Kronos will have to be on a different MIDI channel than Prophet). I believe Prophet's knobs are all sending out certain MIDI CCs, so you should be able to record them to Kronos' sequencer.

[Synthesizedclapping]

As for weighted and synth-action. I've been playing on an upright for all my life and can easily play faster more synth based "riffs" I guess you could say.
You can always adjust the velocity curves of the keyboard as well on the 88 so you don't get fatigued trying to play louder. If possible you could also just get another 49 or so key midi controller. I'm sure you could easily adjust to it but because the full weighted keys still slow you down another controller might be ideal. If you're only doing studio work, when you want to play Kronos synth sounds play it via midi on the prophet and just switch the cables around depending on the application.

[sfernald]

As for weighted and synth-action. I've been playing on an upright for all my life and can easily play faster more synth based "riffs" I guess you could say.
You can always adjust the velocity curves of the keyboard as well on the 88 so you don't get fatigued trying to play louder. If possible you could also just get another 49 or so key midi controller. I'm sure you could easily adjust to it but because the full weighted keys still slow you down another controller might be ideal. If you're only doing studio work, when you want to play Kronos synth sounds play it via midi on the prophet and just switch the cables around depending on the application.

The prophet 08 is just the desktop edition, so no keyboard there. Of the keyboards I have left is 2 25k and 1 61k (axiom pro). It sounds like I should keep the axiom pro 61 around (I do really like it). I do have a spot I can clear for it on the side but it's not the best place to really play. The problem is I really only have one good spot in the room to play. I think I can probably make the side area work if I clean up some of the clutter underneath.

So I guess the new plan is I'll sell off the 2 25k, keep the 61 and hook it up to the kronos so I can use it for synth action when necessary. I'd really rather just have one keyboard (my room is getting so cluttered), but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Thanks for the advice guys.

[Lou]

Watching the videos, I don't see anyone, Rich,Steve etc. having any problem playing synth patches or doing runs up and down the keyboard.

I have been wondering about this myself and ordered the 61, but would like the additional keys also. I'm no player and the k/b will be used only in the studio. Still pondering here? ..

[Synthesizedclapping]

As for weighted and synth-action. I've been playing on an upright for all my life and can easily play faster more synth based "riffs" I guess you could say.
You can always adjust the velocity curves of the keyboard as well on the 88 so you don't get fatigued trying to play louder. If possible you could also just get another 49 or so key midi controller. I'm sure you could easily adjust to it but because the full weighted keys still slow you down another controller might be ideal. If you're only doing studio work, when you want to play Kronos synth sounds play it via midi on the prophet and just switch the cables around depending on the application.

The prophet 08 is just the desktop edition, so no keyboard there. Of the keyboards I have left is 2 25k and 1 61k (axiom pro). It sounds like I should keep the axiom pro 61 around (I do really like it). I do have a spot I can clear for it on the side but it's not the best place to really play. The problem is I really only have one good spot in the room to play. I think I can probably make the side area work if I clean up some of the clutter underneath.

So I guess the new plan is I'll sell off the 2 25k, keep the 61 and hook it up to the kronos so I can use it for synth action when necessary. I'd really rather just have one keyboard (my room is getting so cluttered), but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Don't forget you can always stack them using a double tiered stand.

[sfernald]

As for weighted and synth-action. I've been playing on an upright for all my life and can easily play faster more synth based "riffs" I guess you could say.
You can always adjust the velocity curves of the keyboard as well on the 88 so you don't get fatigued trying to play louder. If possible you could also just get another 49 or so key midi controller. I'm sure you could easily adjust to it but because the full weighted keys still slow you down another controller might be ideal. If you're only doing studio work, when you want to play Kronos synth sounds play it via midi on the prophet and just switch the cables around depending on the application.

The prophet 08 is just the desktop edition, so no keyboard there. Of the keyboards I have left is 2 25k and 1 61k (axiom pro). It sounds like I should keep the axiom pro 61 around (I do really like it). I do have a spot I can clear for it on the side but it's not the best place to really play. The problem is I really only have one good spot in the room to play. I think I can probably make the side area work if I clean up some of the clutter underneath.

So I guess the new plan is I'll sell off the 2 25k, keep the 61 and hook it up to the kronos so I can use it for synth action when necessary. I'd really rather just have one keyboard (my room is getting so cluttered), but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Don't forget you can always stack them using a double tiered stand.

Umm, this sounds exactly like what I've been thinking about. Have you got a link for something like that?

[billysynth1]

Here

http://www.quiklok.com


Vas

[Synthesizedclapping]

Here

http://www.quiklok.com


Vas

Or for a more stylish approach,

http://www.google.com/search?q=spider+p ... ent=safari

[EvilDragon]

Definitely Spider!

[EnjoyRC]

Oh yeah... Spider Pros


They will easily hold a Kronos.

[sfernald]

so those things can support a kronos 88 at about 50 pounds?

I'm just not familiar with how sturdy these synths are. Do you think it would be ok to let the kronos hang over my desk by about a foot? I'm just worried about the thing warping or something.

Also, does the kronos support using the touchpad as a kaoss pad as I saw in some of the M3 videos?

[Jon Lord]

Also, does the kronos support using the touchpad as a kaoss pad as I saw in some of the M3 videos?

Nope but the vector joystick has the same function.

[Synthesizedclapping]

so those things can support a kronos 88 at about 50 pounds?

I'm just not familiar with how sturdy these synths are. Do you think it would be ok to let the kronos hang over my desk by about a foot? I'm just worried about the thing warping or something.

Also, does the kronos support using the touchpad as a kaoss pad as I saw in some of the M3 videos?

If I were you, I'd just go for the spider pro, but if you do hang it, make sure it's secure as possible. you DO NOT want it to bang even just a foot. It's your baby, remember.

[JimH]

so those things can support a kronos 88 at about 50 pounds?

According to the specs, the Spider Pro can support 77 lbs per tier. I'm not sure how they figure in the added pressure of you pressing on the keys though.

I'm probably going to order one of these myself pretty soon since I've read good things so far. If you want a black one like I do, it looks like you can get it here for a good price. Since the same stand is sold elsewhere for $299, I was worried that it's some kind of mistake, maybe that it was actually the non-pro model. But the same site also sells the non-pro model and for less. So I guess it's correct. Seems really odd though.