Korg Forums

[ProgRckr]

Greetings all. Just upgraded to a Kronos 73. Been using Korg gear for about 30 years and always loved their stuff. I have to say though, while some of the sounds are incredible, I'm not blown away by it. Out of the box, I was surprised to see that a weighted hammer action keyboard did''nt come with a sustain pedal. Would seem like common sense to me. Lack of manuals was also a bummer. OK, you can access them in the keyboard or online. Not much help if you want to read them in bed or on a plane, etc.! Not everyone owns a lap top.

Major gripes - Keybed is stiff and quite loud. You hear a dull thud under every note when it bottoms out. Despite adjusting the velocity sensitivity, I am experiencing doubling notes when playing gently. Aftertouch is HORRIFIC! Worst implementation I have ever experienced. Completely non musical. I adjusted the aftertouch sensitivity, but it did'nt help much. I can't believe a keybed with a 3K price tag would be released like this.

Pianos, EP's, organs and pads are superb.

Guitars, strings and orchestral instruments are a bit weak. Electric lead gtr is an embarrassment. The acoustic guitars and orchestral instruments / strings were MUCH better on my PC1X, a 10 year old board!

All in all, it's ok, but seems like more "bells and whistles", than usable solid sounds. If your "low tech" like myself, this thing will have you pulling your hair out. I'll give it another week or so. Hopefully I'll warm up to it, but right now I'm thinking I made a major mistake. Newer is not always better.

[nitecrawler]

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Montage M7, Pa5x76, Nautilus, PA3Xle, Oasys 76, Mini-Moog, EMU Audity 2000, Motion Sound KBR 3D amp, Presonus and Reaper DAW W/Tannoy Reveal 501A powered monitors

[padking]

Hy!

Funny,your post is almost a copy of
one of mine six months ago.

Accoustic instruments like guitars suck's
that's why I have a Yamaha MOX8
(not enough cash for a XF) I keep the Kronos
for electronic stuff, Karma, and the drum track
''life savers'' for jamming, and to get a spark
sometimes.

Will not upgrade memory and buy the
expensive XS stuff, enough (too much?) money went the Kronos way.

Padking

[GregC]

[ProgRckr]

[quote
sounds like you did not give it a trial run before buying ? Hmmm ?[/quote]

I did try it out at a local Guitar Center, meaning it was a noisy chaotic mess! Mono output, no pedal etc. The only way to really check out gear is to get it home, in your work environment and see how it fits in. I have 30 days to decide. Anyone else think the aftertouch is a joke?

[simajanpa]

[tiggie_00]

Im kinda new here but I think the reason Korg doesnt do much with electric guitars because you should be passing a real guitar through a Korg Pandora Mini.. Then lay it down as a track or sample from there.

[MarPabl]

If you have 30 days for return period, do it now, because considering your description your Kronos has a faulty RH3 keybed.

Make sure to exchange it from one which doesn't have the issue. If you get a serial number above 3600, it's likely you'll get a fixed (working) RH3 keybed.

Read those threads:
- Kronos 88 and RH3 keyboard faulty
- Kronos RH3 Keybed Fix Thread

The aftertouch can be calibrated. Maybe you need to do that. But before doing so, make sure you have a fully working RH3 keybed beforehand.
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Current gear: Access Virus TI2 Whiteout Keyboard (111/150), Access Virus TI2 Polar DarkStar Special Edition, Gibson Custom Lite 2013, Roland MV-8800

[Ojustaboo]

Lack of manuals bugs me too, although that isn't a fault with Korg, everyone does it now days.

I too like buying something new whether it's a piece of software or hardware etc and lying in bed with a cuppa and having a good read.

Years ago everything whether software or hardware came with nice printed manuals (and in my opinion was something that made a lot of people actually buy sw products rather than pirate them), over the years, the prices have steadily risen but the printed documentation has all but disappeared, to the point that it not really worth buying a physical disk for s/w any more, might as well pay for a digital version as you get nothing extra.

I'm having a bad day by the way Spent 3 hrs printing off the 300 odd page Parameter guide for my Triton extreme double sided and realised I'd made a huge mistake right at the start so after 200 pages, had to start again

My local print shop wants around £65 to print this one document out, had I used original ink, it would have cost me around £20 in ink (without my mistake). I also spent £10 on decent bright white paper that I can print double sided on without the ink leaking through.

Then I have to pay £4.50 to have it bound.

Then I only have 3 more manuals to do

I can see why they don't print them now as many people sling them in the box and forget about them, preferring to use online ones instead. However, for those like me who like a printed manual over one on the screen, its a pain.

Mind you I've recently brought Goodreader for the Ipad that allows highlighting etc, I may find when I get used to it that I too no longer want the printed media

[michelkeijzers]

Actually I used to read manuals better when they were on paper.

On the other hand, a manual as PDF is much more convenient for easily searching (PDF search function works great). I read it on a big (24" screen so that is quite convenient).

Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
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Developer of the free PCG file managing application for most Korg workstations: PCG Tools, see https://www.kronoshaven.com/pcgtools/

[MrDuke]

[GregC]

[DocBambs]

I think the lack of print manuals is a bit frustrating - I love to sit down with a paper manual. However, I am very used to getting work documentation now as PDF. What I do observe is that some of the companies now format the documents for good viewing on the squat widescreens that are so common on laptops.

For my convenience I have stored the Kronos manuals on Dropbox. That means that I can get at the manuals on all my computers, iPod touch and my Android phone. On the Galaxy IIS the manuals are reasonably usable (especially if you zoom to columns) and more convenient than using a laptop.

It's an interesting question to think which single manual you would choose if you were to just choose one - I thought the VNL would make sense but I'm now not so sure as I've found the Op guide quite good as it references the other documents.


I agree with you (ProgRkr) about the orchestral and string sounds. However, I think I am being affected by the pre-installed Progs and Combis. I have already started customising the presets and am already feeling much happy. Having been using the Korg Triton, which comes with a massive range of string sounds, I am used to not having to do too much work. The Kronos is more of a set of equipment for making tools rather than the tools themselves and needs to be understood that way.

I was actually a bit disappointed with the preset organs but I can see that the tools exist to get great results.

I have the 61 key and it's a wonderful keybed.

DB
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...why say more?

[Ojustaboo]

[cobray]

I've done some reading of the manuals on my laptop but I absolutely would prefer a printed version. As Ojustaboo has suggested, I'm going to find a print shop that will do a few hundred pages for me and see if I wind up doing more reading and learning that way.