Advice/Feedback: I'm Thinking of Buying a Kronos

[xp50player]

Did you happen to play the Kurzweil PC3LE? If so, what did you think of the sounds in it. On youtube, that one sounds great, but I don't think you can do much editing to those sounds.

I owned a PC3LE. It has some nice sounds, (including low-aliasing Virtual Analog oscillators) and you can do full editing to them, but it is like fixing an engine from the tail pipe with the circa 1990 display. There is an optional PC editor, which is free on the higher series. It does have the rubber pads for triggering loops and chords, which some people lament the lack of on the Kronos. The PC3LE also has Quick Access banks like the Set List section on the Kronos.

[MarPabl]

The sad reality of the dislikes
- I simply cannot believe it.
- Spurious Lock Up on Kronos 73
- And so many more threads like those, which I pointed to because those are happening right now that you're asking

[Bertotti]

I didn't buy an 88 because of the threads with problems here. As much as I love the x61 I do wish I had the x88.

I let the threads here lead me away from it. I am of the opinion that it is worth the risk. I do have a louder then I would le fan but I also have the replacement that will go in eventually. Don't let the negatives here sway you like they did me. I am of the opinion there are many more boards without problems then there are with. Just my opinion of course.

[MarPabl]

I didn't buy an 88 because of the threads with problems here. As much as I love the x61 I do wish I had the x88.

I let the threads here lead me away from it. I am of the opinion that it is worth the risk. I do have a louder then I would le fan but I also have the replacement that will go in eventually. Don't let the negatives here sway you like they did me. I am of the opinion there are many more boards without problems then there are with. Just my opinion of course.

I'm somewhat sure there are many boards around without problems (at least for now), but when I'm reading other forums from other workstations I own or I've previously owned, I just don't find this huge amount of threads regarding issues like those we often read here. Indeed, it's unusual to find such kind of threads

So, you may get a Kronos and you may not face any issue... but the fact is that the risk is clearly higher compared with other brands. There's no easy way to quantify the actual risk, but it's a shame I usually find threads here like "I haven't found any issue with my new Kronos"... which means that new owners are making sure their Kronos has no issues, instead of enjoying their new board, and being totally assured it's rock solid.

[Bertotti]

I hear you and can't disagree, I have no history with other boards this is my first. I am going into it now thinking of it more like a computer though, with all the headaches that can and will entail. They just don't make things like they used to, sad really.

[Ojustaboo]

1. Your favorite thing/characteristic/sound, etc about the Kronos

You get a lot for your money. I've had mine about 9 months and haven't even really scratched the surface with what can be done with it.

I love the setlists

I love the vector Joystick

I lover the feel of the RH3 keybed (on the X version)

2. Ease of breaking the learning curve on getting around on the board, tweaking sounds, and writing songs

I only use mine at home and have cubase for my DAW. I occasionally use the sequencer if I need to record something quickly and cubase/PC isn't on and I also use it for its metronome, so cant really comment about writing songs on the Kronos.

The learning curve is going to be different for each person, someone with a history of synth programming or Korg Synths will pick it up a lot quicker than someone new to it all.

Personally I find it easy to tweak sounds.

Korg supply a few videos on the 2nd DVD to explain various functions on the Kronos, plus there's numerous youtube videos. Qui has done some really great in-depth training videos for the Kronos, all totally free.

3. Your biggest dislike on the board (or anything you find frustrating/have had trouble with.

The number of people having major problems is actually quite small. But those that have reported problems on here (myself included) almost without exception have had a nightmare getting it fixed by Korg, often being without their Kronos for weeks if not months, sometimes having to return it 3 or 4 times to get the problem finally fixed.

I'm on my 3rd actual Kronos, I had two original versions both with problems, the second one came back from repair with the problem still there. Had my store not offered me the X version I would not be a Korg customer today.

I'm glad I did get offered the X but I don't have confidence in Korg as a quality company any more which is the only reason I have not pre-ordered their new MS20 yet., The fact that music store staff recently commented on how Korgs quality has gone downhill over the past few years does nothing to boost my confidence.

Next time Korg brings out a new synth, doesn't matter how ground breaking it is, I will NOT buy it however good it is as I have lost faith in them as a quality company that cares about their customers. I waited over a year since release with the Kronos presuming by that time I would be safe with my purchase, turns out I could not have been more wrong.

If they do ever bring out another ground breaking synth, I shall wait until it's a good 2 - 3 years old and pick one up from ebay (if it hasn't had the quality problems the Kronos has had)

The original Kronos has been released with two completely different versions of the RH3 weighted keybed with completely different action, different textured black notes etc (both my original Kronos had completely different keybeds), but Korg have never publicly acknowledged this. This then leads to confusion when people give reports as to how good/bad they think their keybed is because I don't know which keybed they are playing on. And you could try one out in a shop, hate it but find that if you had bought a boxed version it had a different keybed you would have loved.

My X has 3 keys that make annoying noise (mechanical). One makes a boing boing boing noise as though when it's released suddenly the key weight is still bouncing up and down, two of the others rattle like a cheap plastic sound when played very lightly or fingers resting on them, not a major problem, but not something I expect on a keyboard that costs over £3k/ Had this been my first Kronos I would have returned it or sent it to Korg for adjustment, but after what I experienced from my previous two, I don't have faith in them to fix it properly and seeing as the notes all sound fine and the velocities are all great, I've decided to put up with the noises (again that says something about my belief in Korgs ability to fix it)

I cant believe they didn't change the fan in the X version when so many people had problems with the original version.

Korg know the exact serial number that guarantees you the newer keybed contacts but will not make this information public.

I find spending any reasonable length of time editing on the screen gives me bad neck ache to the point I've had to buy myself a neck support to help stop the pain when doing so.

The PC editor is best described as a joke and the lack of 64 bit DAW integration is in my opinion unforgivable.

The price of their sound addons are way overpriced, especially as they are locked to your Kronos and cant be unlocked and transferred to a new Kronos or sold to someone else (so if you purchase two $250 sound packs and in 3 years time your Kronos died and you pick one up cheap from ebay, you have to either buy those sounds again, or not have them)

Selling the Austrian piano for $249 and the legendary strings for another $249 feels to me like they deliberately sold the Kronos without these two libraries just to try and get another $500 out of us. if the Kronos has the great pianos Korg claims, why the high price for the Austrian one?

Korg do something weird in that if you have a 3rd party half damper pedal, it wont work in half damper mode properly with the Kronos, you need to buy the actual Korg one instead.

I would personally never trust this board for gigging (although many do without any problems) and unlike every other synth I've owned in the past 32 years, I don't see this one still working happily in 10 years time (I really hope I'm wrong).

The file name length limit is ridiculous in 2013

It takes a while to grasp how everything is saved, at first if your anything like me, you will find yourself often loosing changes you made.

I have to play sitting down due to health problems and the tall knobs and the way their function is written above them, means I cant actually see the functions from the sitting down position (doesn't take that long to get used to what each button does though)

4. What do you think are the strongest sounds/patches in the Kronos? Which are the weakest?

Everyone's going to have a different opinion on this, I love the pianos and I love the various synth sounds. That said, I have Alicias Keys on my PC and can get that sounding virtually the same as the Kronos Japanese grand (wouldn't tell the difference unless you heard them side by side, even then it's pretty close) and I bought Alicias keys in one of NIs sales for £50


I have said and I sort of stand buy it that having owned a Kronos, there's no other hardware synth I would want and even if mine fell to bits I would get it fixed rather than change for another make. But part of me looks at the price of Korgs addons, lack of Daw integration the neck ache etc and worry about the long term reliability and as I have Komplete 8 Ultimate, wonder whether I would be better off simply selling it, getting komplete 9 Ultimate and omnisphere and another Triton Extreme or something similar and still having about £1k left in the bank.

Bearing in mind my PC takes 16 secs from pressing the power button to being at the desktop (and I could get it quicker if I removed the add-on sata card) and under 7 secs to have Kontact running with say Alicias Keys, 23 seconds in total,

Whereas my Kronos takes 2 minutes 26 secs (just timed with a stopwatch), the argument of a hardware synth being simpler to use simply turning on and playing sort of goes out the window.

I do love the Kronos but at the same time due to what I've been through, I've never felt this negative towards anything I've liked so much before in my entire life.

I could never recommend the original version of either the 73 or the 88, sure there's people out there without problems but its still a risk.

[Diego5150]

I was so busy being an idiot I did not read your response beyond your apology.

The Casio thing was just me being a dope. I do use my Kronos as my midi controller for midi, some say what an expensive controller.......but I am mostly recording with the Kronos as audio mostly. I really like the synth's piano's and effects.

" So for the next three weekends I brought my headphones to GC and Played the Kronos, the Kurzweil and the all the higher end boards and I really dug the Kronos.

Whatever you choose has to fit you,

I hope I do well on this essay......
Best of Luck.

A++ Diego . No worries on the casio 5150--I thought you were wise-cracking and razzing me a bit. Good point about the fit. I've had one play on the Kronos, and have been reading the user guide. Unfortunately, there aren't any musical stores close to me that stock the Kronos (not even my local GC, which is weird), but I'll probably go again to the one that has it and do a marathon play on it. That store has it a lot cheaper than some others, so that's the added attraction of the drive there. Did you happen to play the Kurzweil PC3LE? If so, what did you think of the sounds in it. On youtube, that one sounds great, but I don't think you can do much editing to those sounds.

My GC did not have the Kurzweil PC3LE on the floor when I purchased my Kronos late last year. But funny you mentioned it because I was on the Sweetwater site yesterday and I was listening to the sounds and I was thinking of checking it out in person because I was looking into a second keyboard for rehearsals.

I am surprised that your GC does not have a Kronos on display. Did you ask one of the associates why no Kronos? If you have a Sam Ash by you they might have one to check out.

Thanks for the good grade I will print it out and hang it on the fridge

[R Brenon]

I Love My X88.
I have a recent one with no problems at all.
I don't use it for sequencing or loading other libraries into it.
My Kontakt and Halion take care of all my sampling needs much better anyway.
There isn't any hardware on the market that can come close to any of the software daws out there so I don't bother using the sequencing features either.
Some people complain about the memory patch buttons, not being logical (given) but hey, touch the screen, choose the type of genre you want, choose the sound. It doesn't get any easier. Logical to me.
My midi drivers work fine on my PC if i need my Daw to play the Kronos.

I really bought it for the purity of most of the sound Engines. Awesome !
There's a certain quality you'll get here that you just don't get with plugins, and I have a lot of high end ones. Then again, it's my opinion that Korg really doesn't come close to sample libraries that are made for software samplers that have been out for a while. There kinda substandard for the price of what you can get elsewhere. (Korg really needs to get a contract with a good sampling company)
It really is a beautiful instrument and I love playing it but I think Korg could of saved us a little money on the design as far as leaving out features that just don't even come close to what common software that everybody has is doing today. I understand the terminology of "Workstation" and it's supposed to have those features but it's 2013. Everyone uses Daws these days unless your old school and if you are you wouldn't comprehend the Kronos sequencer very easily anyway.

*The traditional sounds in this keyboard are the best in the business. It doesn't get any better.
*Sample libraries to date way overpriced and substandard.
*Pay for extra patch libraries? Don't do it. Learn your expensive purchase.
*X88 keybed feel not as good as my Fantom X88 but O.K.
*No I won't get rid of it. It's a keeper as of now, but with the way software is developing, a couple of years from now? Maaaaybeeee bye bye.

[Bugra Ekuklu]

Get an X one. I've got X 73. There is no problem, I have encountered until now.

Before I bought, I had read all the things about its keybed, screen, fan etc. .

Despite the fact you may buy faulty one, just buy it. If you are considering all of the flagships, Motif XF - PC3K - Kronos; create a comparison chart and decide best one which will meet your needs.

Questions;

1. Your favorite thing/characteristic/sound, etc about the Kronos

Its filters. I've always fallen in love with Korg's filters. It sounds nice. Furthermore, SGX-1 / EP-1 / CX-3 have very impressive sounds.

2. Ease of breaking the learning curve on getting around on the board, tweaking sounds, and writing songs

At first, all come French. Somehow it is easy to get use to it. Hardest parts are KARMA and Sequencer mode, in my opinion. Nevertheless I learnt at least %50 of them at first week, especially Sequencer mode.

3. Your biggest dislike on the board (or anything you find frustrating/have had trouble with.

Sequencer mode has only one undo function.

4. What do you think are the strongest sounds/patches in the Kronos? Which are the weakest?

Personally I don't use whole of the patches. I use what I strongly like. German Grand, Japanese Grand, all of the EP-1 EP's, MOD-7 FM EP's, Slow-Legato Stereo Strings and %90 of the guitars, especially the STR-1 acoustic ones.


Finally I repeat, do not take heed of what people say. Just buy it, you won't be dissappointed.

Buğra

[flemmings27]

I owned a PC3LE. It has some nice sounds, (including low-aliasing Virtual Analog oscillators) and you can do full editing to them, but it is like fixing an engine from the tail pipe with the circa 1990 display. There is an optional PC editor, which is free on the higher series. It does have the rubber pads for triggering loops and chords, which some people lament the lack of on the Kronos. The PC3LE also has Quick Access banks like the Set List section on the Kronos.[/quote]

Thanks X5o; given the significant price diff between the Kronos and Kurz PC3LE, what would make you choose one over the other if you we're trying to buy one board to tackle many things, including playing out? And which one would you choose?

[pedro5]

A bit late in responding to this,here are some of my views.

1) Favorite sounds….The piano voice,it was the real reason in buying one,for me.
(Even though I'm now having problems .See answer to q 3).

Being a workstation with all that it can do,sample playing,karma on board,a hammer type keybed (RH3),combination of sounds,programmable and many other little gems that are still being discovered.

2) The learning curve is quite steep for many,others just get on with ease,I'm taking a long time to do simple things,but am happy to do so at my own pace.

3) The piano voice in particular has a fault with the keybed regarding velocity…which will get repaired one day,soon.(My fault for the delay).
I believe it may be related to the key contact rubbers which are replaceable.
Korg has told me directly that my keyboard has the newer type rubber contacts fitted,according to their records and should not have had any problems(to the best of their knowledge,of course).
However,I've got the velocity problem regardless,meaning that there's no guarantee as to which contacts are fitted..a problem may occur anyway,but can eventually be repaired.

4) As for the strongest sounds,well,it's a matter of taste and preference,it can produce most quite well and of course there are libraries(depending on affordability) available to cater for any "weak" ones that are felt to be missing.

I would recommend buying a Kronos,preferably an X version with only one reservation,that being,to be prepared to discover some faults…..but persevere with a repair as or if required.
On balance though,many have faultless instruments and probably the ones that have had problems are,just unlucky...
You won't be disappointed with a good working one and will probably further enjoy music making!!

Best Wishes.

[flemmings27]

I owned a PC3LE. It has some nice sounds, (including low-aliasing Virtual Analog oscillators) and you can do full editing to them, but it is like fixing an engine from the tail pipe with the circa 1990 display. There is an optional PC editor, which is free on the higher series. It does have the rubber pads for triggering loops and chords, which some people lament the lack of on the Kronos. The PC3LE also has Quick Access banks like the Set List section on the Kronos.[/quote]

Thanks Nathan. If you were planning to buy only one keyboard, that you could use in a live or recording session, which would it be, the Kronos or the Kurzweil PC3LE, and please do pretend as if costs were a factor, but not necessarily a deal breaker.

[flemmings27]

Did you happen to play the Kurzweil PC3LE? If so, what did you think of the sounds in it. On youtube, that one sounds great, but I don't think you can do much editing to those sounds.

I owned a PC3LE. It has some nice sounds, (including low-aliasing Virtual Analog oscillators) and you can do full editing to them, but it is like fixing an engine from the tail pipe with the circa 1990 display. There is an optional PC editor, which is free on the higher series. It does have the rubber pads for triggering loops and chords, which some people lament the lack of on the Kronos. The PC3LE also has Quick Access banks like the Set List section on the Kronos.

Thank you XP50 - given the significant price diff between the Kronos and Kurz PC3LE, what would make you choose one over the other if you we're trying to buy one board to tackle many things, including playing out? And which one would you choose? PS - I reposted this b/c when I quoted it the first time, I accidentally deleted the HTML coding and it looked like it was all my post, so maybe you didn't see this.

[flemmings27]

The sad reality of the dislikes
- I simply cannot believe it.
- Spurious Lock Up on Kronos 73
- And so many more threads like those, which I pointed to because those are happening right now that you're asking

Thanks MarPabl - I read the info on those links you posted.

[flemmings27]

I didn't buy an 88 because of the threads with problems here. As much as I love the x61 I do wish I had the x88.

I let the threads here lead me away from it. I am of the opinion that it is worth the risk. I do have a louder then I would le fan but I also have the replacement that will go in eventually. Don't let the negatives here sway you like they did me. I am of the opinion there are many more boards without problems then there are with. Just my opinion of course.

Thanks Bertotti - I'm thinking of the 61 simply because of the cost differences and the space in my home studio.