Kronos 73 has arrived but.......

Cpilot · Post by **Cpilot** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:36 pm

Hi Mathieu

You can make like an arranger with the Kronos. Try Combi Int-B-127 Jazz Organ Trio. That's a pretty good imitation using Karma and could give you something to work on.

Bryan

mathieumaes · Post by **mathieumaes** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:04 pm

An arranger usually has buttons for intro/ending, fill-in, break, ...
There really is no way you can make a song end well without simply turning off Karma.

Also, I didn't seem to find a way to trigger Karma with only a lower note. When you turn on Karma, even a note in the upper part will trigger karma to start.

I've heard Karma doing cool stuff but it's just not an arranger, and I don't expect it to.

danmusician · Post by **danmusician** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:10 pm

runningman67 wrote:It's a rubber compound that doesn't behave as it should, which is being replaced by Korg.
It's where the key strikes causing an unnatural rebound.
It's a simple fix I believe. My keyboard is being fixed at the moment.

This is correct. I watched the service tech replace mine. It is simple and was done in well under half an hour.

My understanding is that there is no "new keybed," but rather new rubber contact strips under the keys. Each strip holds the metal contacts for several keys (I didn't count how many per strip.)

It's a simple and effective fix.

miden · Post by **miden** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:19 pm

Yes if it is the same as on the PA series (1 and II) the strips are 12 semitones each, and are a doddle to replace....it takes more time to remove keybed holding screws and keybed than it does to replace the strips!!!

They are an industry standard replacement, as in, MOST keybed manufacturers use the same ones and they can be bought after-market at places like Parts Is Parts in Vermont in the US, which I think is still a supplier.

They cost about $3 per strip!!

miden · Post by **miden** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:27 pm

mathieumaes wrote:
miden wrote: I am about to buy it too!!
Exactly my point :p

I really dislike the fact that there was a flyer inside the box of my Kronos that tried to sell me third party software which probably should've been included for free...

Well, I think I have to disagree here. Karma does NOT belong to Korg, they merely licence it from Stephen Kay...So therefore I really do NOT expect any PC editing software to be free from Stephen...If Korg want to buy it from him and then GIVE it to Kronos owners then that is entirely different

Just the same as Karma 3 available for the Motif series is far and away a far superior product to Karma 2.5 (the max available for the Kronos, as Korg did NOT renew the licence for future versions of Karma from SK- more cost cutting I presume).

The features of Karma 3 would blow your socks off - you really should check it out.

Infact I am going to start a "Petition Korg Poll" thread (which I hope Sharp makes a sticky) to try and persuade them to re-licence a Karma 3 version for the Kronos, even if we (K owners) have to pay for it. I am sure Korg would not make it too expensive. It is currently $170 US for the Motif version from memory.

And I reckon (and this is JUST personal opinion) if Korg approached SK, he might just be amenable to such an idea!!

1jordyzzz · Post by **1jordyzzz** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:13 am

miden wrote:
1jordyzzz wrote:what's the serial number on your kronos?
1886

Based on the peoples experience on this forum (ive heard some people got their kronos with a new keybed installed have serial number of 3600+), i describe kronos with serial number 2000< are the old batches (i CANNOT confirm it really.. Based on experience on the forum)... which means, yours MAY have defective keybed.. however, some people who have kronos with old batch didn't experienced the issue...

The issue itself, has a different way of "starting". Some people got their kronos out of the box and immediately experienced the double trigger, and some people might have to perform with it 2 weeks or so before experiencing the problem... Well it's about luck actually..
You can try to reproduce the issue by playing legato with 5 notes in a row (depending on which notes you are trying to reproduce) or playing a sustained chord repeatedly with hard pressure.. if you heard that one of the notes getting cutted off so suddenly, well there you have it...

miden · Post by **miden** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:24 am

Okay thanks...had it for a few days now, and still no sign...but as you say it might not appear for a couple of weeks!!

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:02 am

I have a 73 K, serial number 695 and have not had any key bed issues at all. Good thing too. My wife would have lost it! We paid more than we could really afford but since she loves me, well, I don't need to say any more.

1jordyzzz · Post by **1jordyzzz** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:39 am

miden wrote:Okay thanks...had it for a few days now, and still no sign...but as you say it might not appear for a couple of weeks!!

well as jeremy says, if your kronos is flawless, then there it is... you have a perfect unit.. as korg says, the problem affect small portion of kronos users.. so, don't worry

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:23 am

jeremykeys wrote:I have a 73 K, serial number 695 and have not had any key bed issues at all.

Neither did I, and mine's also in the 600.

I guess we got a batch of good ones here in Canada.

miden · Post by **miden** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:40 am

Well now that I have read elsewhere that the issue is actually the rubber contacts, and not the keys, it is not so big an issue I don't think...they are so simple to replace, and cheap too!! As I wrote in another thread.

Might be all academic as like Canada, we in Oz must have got a good batch too.

mathieumaes · Post by **mathieumaes** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:38 am

miden wrote: Well, I think I have to disagree here. Karma does NOT belong to Korg, they merely licence it from Stephen Kay...
...
So therefore I really do NOT expect any PC editing software to be free from Stephen...

Well, I guess this is a matter of perspective. You're right that the guys who made Karma probably don't like giving away free software.

But in my perspective:
- I buy a Korg keyboard worth 3500 eur
- It includes a very sophisticated arpeggiator, I don't care who actually created it
- There is no built-in way to edit or create those arpeggiators
- It comes with an advertisement to buy software from "some company" that allows you to edit the arpeggiators

Korg isn't the only company that does this kind of business, I'll give you more examples:
Garmin: A year after buying a GPS device, I had to buy a lifetime subscription for map updates for another 150 eur...
=> I rather had bought a GPS which includes a lifetime subscription for map updates.

Apple:
I have an iPod touch 2G, and I love it. But after a few months, they sell an OS update which is free for the iPhone. This update includes support for bluetooth.
So, I bought a device with a bluetooth chip, but I can't use it until I spend another 12 eur for a software update to make it work ...

There's nothing wrong with this legally, but morally and it makes me sad

QuiRobinez · Post by **QuiRobinez** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:48 am

mathieumaes wrote:Also, I didn't seem to find a way to trigger Karma with only a lower note. When you turn on Karma, even a note in the upper part will trigger karma to start.

that depends on the note range you've entered for that specific KARMA GE, you can set a KARMA module to any range you want, even 1 note for instance.

it's really easy to setup, here's how

- choose a program that you want to use
- press the KARMA tab on the touch screen
- press the KARMA GE subtab
- here you see the section Key zone with the bottom note and the top note
- Now lets say that you want to assign this KARMA GE to every note below C4, do the following steps:

- press the top value so that it's selected
- hold the enter button and press the B3 key on your keyboard (this is a quick way to setup splits on the Kronos, you could also select it manually of course with the dial.

Now the program KARMA module only reacts to the notes in that key zone range you set up.

Maybe it's a good idea to create a KARMA thread here where these kind of questions can be answered.

miden · Post by **miden** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 7:53 pm

qrobinez wrote:
Maybe it's a good idea to create a KARMA thread here where these kind of questions can be answered.

Terrific idea!! Being a Karma novice myself, this would be an excellent resource imho...