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looking at the history of korg's flagship models history, when can we expect the next kronos II ? or whatever it'll be called

In about 5/6 years.

All i know is that My Kronos 1 will not be traded in when Kronos 2 arrives.
It would be like giving one of my children up for adoption

thanks. wow that long huh

You will not get an answer from Korg, however they probably have already started (some years?) at the Kronos II.

However there might be an alternative. Maybe future software engines might be sold also for the Kronos (I), probably for quite high prices to not let the Kronos II sales being in danger.

It had better not be until my bank account goes back into credit!!!!!!!

OASYS was released in 2005. Kronos came in 2011.

Highly likely it will be about 5 years from now (as SanderXpander says above).

I would suggest there may be Kronos LE type products based on Kronos next, to exploit the current technology; but no Kronos 2 with features superior to Kronos. My reasoning:

The OASYS to Kronos relationship (or lack off) was a harsh lesson for us OASYS owners and revealed that KORG can be brutal when they have to be.

For several years OASYS owners felt like KORG's chosen customers; but then development of OASYS ceased prematurely, leaving many feeling betrayed (I was not one of them - the OASYS has been among the most positive experiences of my life, from its feature-set and performance/compositional use, to being involved as a beta-tester on LAC-1 and MOD7; and then opportunity to meet everyone on this forum / community - it has all been hugely positive).


Nevertheless, KORG DID abandon OASYS prematurely and many were (and remain) very annoyed and abandoned.

What shocked me was the complete denial of the existence of OASYS at the KORG Kronos launch. I couldn't believe that even KORG themselves could bring themselves to deny the existence of the OASYS after the 5 or so glorious years of its release and existence. But they did, and they did for financial reasons - to give the Kronos a separate identity, market and indeed complete disconnect from OASYS so as not to have to bare the burden of backward compatibility (KARO similarly abandoned their OASYS user base lock-stock and barrel at the same time, as in, removed all OASYS products from their store and abandoned repair of quite flawed sample libraries).


From this, it is extremely clear to me that there will not be a Kronos 2. If there is an advancement of technology in hardware that uses Kronos technology and extends it, it will be released as a separate instrument, with no backward compatibility to Kronos.

So do not bank on very long-term compatibility with future OASYS/Kronos-like instrument or library releases from Korg (or from KARO) - be happy with the amazing instrument you have right now and through to the surely several more year life span for Kronos; but it will come to an end for financial reasons and Krog (and KARO) will move on - even if what they release next seems like Kronos 2 to you; it will not be compatible with Kronos 1. It's business - don't take it personally!!


Kevin

Very well put Kevin - much better than I would've stated the position...

Kevin Nolan wrote: ...
Kevin

I fully agree, what I mean with Kronos II is the successor, not necesseraly being compatible. Or maybe internally compatible but on purpose made more or less incompatible to make sure the successor will be sold better.

I think "intentional incompatibility" would have to be carefully considered based on the market competition. Backward compatibility is a strong selling feature. There are always young people entering the market, but based on demographics, the majority are going to be repeat buyers.

Suppose it is 2018, and I'm in the market for my next keyboard.

If Korg has a new instrument that is backwards compatible with the Kronos, I would probably buy it just because of the investment in time and effort going into 6 years with the Kronos.

On the other hand, if there is little or no compatibility and I have to start over, I would look closely at all competitors. Maybe Roland will have something that is just as good? Or maybe by then I just need a MIDI controller and my synthesizer can be a tablet or notebook computer?

I just hope, if not compatible, that Korg stick to making 'workstations' and don't go to far down the Computer software 'thingymajig' route. I like an 'all in one' self contained box of tricks.

I'd say at least another 3 years, at which time i'll only have exploited 25% of its possibilities

Blink

I really don't see what Kronos 2 could bring to the table that would make me say... "I want to trade in my K1 for that new K2"

i mean how much butter can you possibly want your piano/ep/organ/synths to sound...?

to me it would be minor improvements that I'd be looking for. nothing to warrant an entire keyboard purchase. I would love to have more RAM available. that is one of my major main "concerns"... not really an issue, but just something that I would like to have more of (not much more, but just enough more)

other than that, there's not much more I can even think that I'd want....

dammit somebody already ask about kronos 2 while i still don't have the capability to use the kronos to it's maximum potential....

if there is a kronos 2, i will not buy it until i fully master my own kronos..

back to topic, i think maybe 5 to 6 years..
BUT if any competitor didn't release something that is equal to kronos in 5-6 years (which is almost impossible), i think korg will only did a major upgrade to kronos... but knowing than 5-6 years later the technology will greatly developed (maybe an intel atom 5 which has same capability as now intel core i7), and more advanced and faster USB / Firewire, and faster data link from SSD to MOBO, i'm looking forward to see what kronos 2 has to offer.. what i'd like to see on kronos 2 =
1. unlooped 32 layers acoustic piano chromatically sampled with SYMPHATETIC RESONANCE (sgx-2 ??)
2. 3 - 10 velocity layers sampled for other keyboard based instrument ( cp80, EP, etc)
3. woodwind modelling and better string modeller (str-2?)
4. direct streaming of user samples
5. 16-32 GB's of ram (if not ram, maybe a 512 GB's super fast SSD)
6. instrument natural behavior modelling (similar to super articulation on yamaha)
7. larger screen and HDMI output maybe??
8. 1000 + polyphony max for sample based engine, and 500 polyphony max for modeling engine... which leads to
9. 32+ tracks of midi track
10. multiple layers of smooth sound transition ( needs changing patch / combi at least 3 times before first sound disappear)

well more in my mind actually, but those are enough
imagination cant really go wrong