My search for a controller for my Kronos.

[danmusician]

For what’s worth (which may be nothing), here’s my journey to find an 88 key controller for my Kronos.

For about a year, I had been using my aging Yamaha S80. When new, the touch and action was a beautiful thing. But after a dozen years of heavy use, it no longer responds evenly across the keyboard. It also didn’t seem to play nice the Kronos. Especially when playing Combis, it seemed that layers didn’t always play correctly. Not sure what that was about.

I decided to get a cheap to moderately priced 88 key weighted controller. Took a look at the M-Audio 88, but I didn’t care for the touch at all. Decided I would get a Yamaha P-105 or P-35. Before I made the purchase, I got a flash sale e-mail from ProAudioStar, and they gave me an excellent price on the Korg SP-170s.

Playing the SP by itself, I like it quite a lot. But I was never able to get a velocity curve between the SP and the Kronos that I liked. When setting the curve on the SP to normal, I felt like I had to bang too hard to get to full velocity. If I set the SP to light, I liked the feel when playing loudly, but I didn’t feel like I could play softly enough. Adjusting the curves on the Kronos yielded similar results.

I decided I would spend a bit more and considered the Kross. I thought perhaps having more velocity curves on the Kross would be helpful even though it has the same keybed as the SP. While I won’t use it often as a stand alone instrument, I’d like to have the ability to use it as a piano on occasion. Just couldn’t take the Kross piano timbres after being spoiled by the Kronos, so I ruled it out.

That took me to the Casio PX-5S. (PianoManChuck’s video reviews help me a lot with the decision.) The touch feels pretty similar to the Kronos when using the normal curve on the Casio and the 9 curve pre-MIDI on the Kronos. The Casio feels just a little bit lighter than the Kronos RH3, but the difference is minimal.

As a piano, the PX is pretty nice. I still prefer the Kronos German over it. The PX piano seems a bit compressed to me in the lower octaves, but for live use it is definitely usable. I like the EPs on the PX, but most of the rest of the sounds don’t cut it for me. The only other thing I don’t like about the PX is the ivory textured keys. Mostly I can ignore it, but I would never get the textured keys if given the choice.

For me, the German Grand on the Kronos is best thing going in digital pianos. When I bought it, I wasn’t necessarily looking for a workstation. I looked at the Roland V-Piano and the Yamaha CP-1. Both the V and the CP had timbre imperfections to my ear that the K didn’t have. I like the RH3 over the V and CP beds as well.

By the way, the reason I needed a controller for my K73 is that the 73 was damaged in a car accident. The instrument is still usable, but the keys on the upper 5th are broken.

I had considered getting an SV-1, but it seemed like just too much money to pay for a controller. I got my PX on Tuesday - a great price thanks to a coupon at Music and Arts. Thursday, ProStarAudio put the SV-1 on sale for $1249. If I had known, I might have waited and bought it instead.

I took the time to post this because I appreciated PianoManChuck's video reviews. His impressions helped me a lot. Perhaps my journey will be of use to someone else.

[Low Class]

I have owned 2 SV-1's and now have the PX-5S. As a controller the PX-5S is much better and you are much better off with it instead of the SV-1. I tried the SV-1 as a controller with the Kronos and Kurzweil as well as synth and piano software and it just never felt right, whereas the PX-5S worked like a champ with anything I tried it with.

[JPROBERTLA]

I was in much the same situation. After using one keyboard for the last 12 years (Trinity and Triton 88's) I decided to get a Kronos 61 because of all the reported keybed problems. I continued to use the Triton Studio 88 as a controller. A while back I decided that the weight and size of the Triton was too much to deal with as a controller so I began my search. I narrowed it down to 2 prospects. the Roland A88 and the PX-5S. After careful consideration I decided n the PX-5S. Besides being 10 pounds lighter, it has back-up sounds and a really good piano action; different from the Roland but good. After working with it for the past 3 months, I am very satisfied with it. My only complaint is that you cannot use a continuous controller pedal (?).

[LZ]

After working with it for the past 3 months, I am very satisfied with it. My only complaint is that you cannot use a continuous controller pedal (?).

Pick up the MIDI Solutions box that will allow you to plug in a foot pedal and merge data with the stream to the Kronos. Only caveat, I think I may have heard that the Privia MiDI out won't power the MIDI Solutions box, which means you need the power supply to go with it. Can't confirm that, but I seem to recall that discussion from another forum.

[ferchis]

why not try repairing the kronos' keybed? I couldn't live with mine broken that way...

[dfahrner]

By the way, the reason I needed a controller for my K73 is that the 73 was damaged in a car accident. The instrument is still usable, but the keys on the upper 5th are broken.

Replacement keys are available from Parts Is Parts (www.guitar-parts.com), p/n 5004220088, I think, for $8 each...and t's not that difficult to replace KRONOS keys...they can get any other parts you need from Korg, too...

For piano, getting the key velocity curves to match and feel right on the KRONOS and on an external controller is tough for solo piano playing / quiet gigs (loud / rock & roll is easy, since it don't really matter)...I tried several keyboards (Yamaha, M-Audio, Roland) as a controller, but none felt as good as the KRONOS RH3 keybed...no other keyboard sends release velocity, either, which to my ears is important when playing quietly...

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[danmusician]

I had considered repairing the K73. It seemed easier and more cost effective to go the controller route. The accident effectively turned it in to a Kronos 65 with weighted keys.

It's more than just replacing the keys. Probably need to replace the entire keybed because the end is slightly bent. When last I checked, the price was over $700 just for the bed. Having just checked Parts is Parts, I could get one for $573. The metal frame inside the endcap is bent and the endcap itself is cracked. That's just the cost of parts. I don't know if I could do the replacement work myself, but paying a shop would be expensive. Spending the money on a controller keyboard just makes more sense to me.

The good news is, the insurance company gave me a check for the broken Kronos, less my deductible. So I did get a new one. They were going to scrap the broken one, but let me keep it for parts. There was no guarantee it would keep working, but it's been over 2 years.

My broken keyboard and controller are sent up semipermanently at church, where I play most weekends. My "good" Kronos I take with me to gigs and practice with at home.

[danmusician]

Some folks also suggested turning it into a module. But that wouldn't be cheap either. I've had a couple of offers to buy it, but it's worth more to me as is.

I really only needed a controller that would get as close to the feel of the RH3 as possible. With the Kronos on the top tier, I can reach it's control surface easily, so I'm not using any knobs or sliders on the controller. As it is, I basically play piano with backing tracks, so I don't do a lot with knobs and sliders anyway.

[jeremykeys]

Glad to hear your insurance came through for you.up here in Canada it would be like pulling teeth. And there would pretty. Uh be know way they would let me keep the old one even if it was just a pile of rubble.

On another note, I'm using my old Wavesation right now as an alternate controller. I have a K73 and I'm doing some organ recording and it just feels better.
I'm in seq mode and when I have the control panel set to tone adjust I can access all of my organ prog parameters and adjust them in real time while I'm playing/recording organ parts.

Truly awesome!

[danmusician]

Played my first worship service this morning with the PX-5S as a controller for my K73. I played several songs with sequenced backing tracks, a couple with KARMA patterns and one with just German Grand.

Completely pleased with the results. Felt very close to actually just playing the Kronos.

[wascomat]

Others have mentioned this but just wanted to say that the Nord Stage 2 is really great as a controller for the K61. I use 2 expression pedals, one for each keyboard and use it to blend the sounds. I get the full 88 key response from the Kronos without using the sw1 sw2 to switch octaves.

The sounds compliment each other and some of the blends are amazing especially with the grand piano on the NS2 and the strings from the K61 .

I bought the midi external drawbars for the NS2 which now makes the organ a lot easier to use and the combination of organs on both keyboards is something to hear. (reminds me of 2 147 Leslies as the speedup and slowdown is slightly different on each unit) I no longer use a ventilator as a result.

I was going the same route with just a controller for the main keyboard but now that I have used this combination I really don't think I would be satisfied with anything else.

[danmusician]

Now that I've played a few more times with the Casio PX-5S controlling the Kronos, I'm loving it more all the time. So much so, that I would consider playing on the road with the 5S and a K61. I just really don't want to drag 2 keyboards on the road. It's not just the extra keyboard, but the double tier stand, extra cables and set up time. I've done that before, I enjoy the simplicity of the one board setup.

What I would really like is a K88 that had the Joystick above the keys instead of to the side. The narrower body would fit in my car. My next choice would be a K73 that was C-C. In the meantime, the E-E is good enough, but more of a compromise.

[pizzafilms]

Wow, is this the thread I've been looking for!

I've been using two controllers (a 61 synth action and an 88 weighted) with MainStage and a bunch of great plugins (VB3, Omnisphere, Pianoteq, etc) for the past few years. I've been using a Novation 61SL for the synth/B3 stuff and it's been awesome, but I've gone through several 88's looking for the best controller. Most suck. A few months ago I decided to pick up the Casio PX-5S to use simply as a controller. Great feeling keybed, some sliders and knobs and very light. It's worked wonderfully.

I just recently decided to remove the laptop from the situation. Not that it wasn't reliable (MainStage 3 has been wonderful), but mostly from an ease and simplicity standpoint. I'll be picking up a Kronos 61 in the next few days and plan to make my rig just the Kronos and the PX-5S usb'd into the Kronos.

My concern, not having the Kronos yet, is what would be the best velocity curve situation between the Kronos and the PX. It seems that everyone is saying to use 9 on the Kronos and Normal on the PX. But, by putting the Kronos on 9, will that be odd when playing the actual Kronos keyboard for other sounds? I believe the velocity curve is a global setting and not a per-patch setting. Advice?

Thanks!

[jeremykeys]

Yes, velocity is global.

[SanderXpander]

9 is recommended for piano on the 73 and 88 weighted beds. It's mostly fine for other sounds too. For a 61, you may want to go for 4 or 5 depending on if you like heavier or lighter. I think by default, the Kronos doesn't actually process the incoming velocity from another board, so if you plan to be playing your piano from the PX keyboard, the point is moot. SGX1 does have a bunch of parameters to tail the dynamic response to your liking.