Korg Forums

[splinters]

Not sure if its the bargain I think but i got a week old, mint, boxed and unregistered Krome 61 which I am collecting tomorrow.
Just glancing through the manual but had a few questions.

1. Is this the same sound engine as the M50 with samples from the Kronos?

2. Can you load M50 sounds into the Krome?

3. Are there any additional sound sets available yet?

4. As i plan to get an 88 note keyboard if i decide to go back to gigging, is the piano sound on the Krome really good enough to drive from a full size keyboard rather than buying a dedicated stage piano.

5. Aside from the screen, full size keys amd extra PCM memory, will the Krome be a substantial upgrade from a Microstation? I noticed a drum combi and another i saw were the same as those on the Micro.

6. Despite owning Korgs since the Mono/Poly i never got one with the Microstation, setting up combis and using the sequencer. Is it much easier on the Krome?

7. I intend to use this with Logic Pro. The Microstation connected without a hitch, any issues using this board with Logic Pro?

8. I ran my iPad from the MicroS via USB cable, i presume this will work exactly the same?
All input welcome although i imagine it would be easy enough to sell on if its not for me.

[csteen]

Yes you can load sounds from the M50 into Krome but you can not load from krome to the M50.
There are already additional sets available indeed. Given that you have the ability to load M50 pcg's there are indeed quite a few new programs and combis already available for krome and of course there will be more coming exclusively for Krome but this keyboard is fairly new on the market keep in mind
I myself have not played one yet but from all I have heard they do indeed sound that good. In fact they sound better than many stage piano's IMO>
You can in no way compare the microstation with a krome as there is absolutely none to be made. Whilst the little micro is an excellent tool. You will find that the krome vastly outshines it by a mile.
You say aside from the screen , lol.. The screen is a HUGE improvement from the micro rest assured. The screen alone would make this a worthwhile investment just for editing purposes if all you compare it to is a non touch screen keyboard like the micro. Not only that but the krome's screen is the new improved version, more respnsive, color and draggable sliders and wheels., how coll is that.
Let's make this simple, if you could not easily set up combis or programs on the krome then you problably could not have typed your questions you posed. That is how easy it is to write new combis and programs on the krome and the M50 and M3 for that matter.... You start tweaking paramaters and one drop down command and you have a new combi or program. Just name and save it all with the touch of a finger.
It does indeed support usb but I've no idea on Logic Pro as I am using ableton and Reaper.
Also keep in mind that the PCM or Samples of the micro is 49MB only. The M50 has 256 MB's and the Krome a whopping 3.8 GB PCM and enhanced EDS
I have considered many times upgrading to the Krome from the M50, however I do use the Karma feature that is available for the M50 which I purchased as a third party add on quite a lot and that feature is not available for the krome however and there are no plans to make karma available for krome at the present time.
If piano's are predominantly what you work with I would be looking at the Krome. You would however find even the M50 a huge step up from the micro and they can be had for a very nice price now I might ad.

[csteen]

If you have not tried the touch screen editing feature you are in for a Huge improvement over the micro or most other keyboards on the market today. It is perhaps the most useful tool on Korg workstations available.
Check out how useful this feature is in this video. When you try one yourself you will be blown away by how easy and worksaving this feature is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWlACmLhwPQ

[splinters]

Thanks for that. I have the Krome sat here now and you are absolutely right....i am blown away. From the keyboard which feels great after the Micro to the screen and the sound. Am just playing with it for now, not even touched editing. Lovely keyboard and for what i just paid...a steal.

The studio i picked it up from gave me a tour and let me try out a new Yamaha grand piano. The guy liked my playing and took my details for session work.

Sometimes, days just start good and get better...

I am finding it very easy to get around the synth and have already filled up the program user bank with programs I downloaded tonight. Some excellent electric guitars in there to be discovered. There are many combi's and programs in the Krome that are also on the Microstation...and the PS60.

[splinters]

Last night i loaded up several M50 sound sets and, while many were assigned to the right category, many were not. Still working my way through the manual but is there a way of doing this manually?

Also, is there the option to generate a combi from a sound? I am trying to get the perfect Jump patch (please, dont flame), its just my way of learning a new board. I have the perfect sound but want to layer some more synth and a bass to fatten it up. If i start a new combi and load up the sound it doesnt have the same eq and effects as the original. Is there some function (like the microstation and ps60) where you use a sound as the main component in a new combi?

[billbaker]

Any sound in the wrong category can be put into the correct one by saving it -- one of the prompts, aside from program name and location, is category which can be changed to any of the available.

If you don't like the categories you can invent your own list in the global menu.

You can create a combi that is essentially empty, then fill it in with a single program. The most important part of copying the program to a combi though is copying the insert and master effects correctly -- they have a huge part to play in how a one program combi should sound.

Look in the top-right pull down menus on any given edit page to see where "copy xxxx" functions are hiding (not just effects). You can even pull in effects from programs other than the one you're working on.

One of the techniques I use at the program level is substituting in new waves (samples) in place of the original ones to see what results. It is particularly effective with synth sounds.

But sounds like electric guitars depend heavily on effects to get their sound. They are so dependent that if the effects are not there don't just sound "not as good", they sound actively bad. (There are probably a hundred threads here from players setting up combis and sequences who haven't quite wrapped their heads around the need to copy the effects... and to prioritize the needed effects... that give the programs that make up the combi the effects they need to sound their best.)

The best solution then is to copy the effects exactly. There's a method for that... "copy insert effects" "copy master effects".

That means that if you have a great amp and distortion worked out for one guitar patch you can quickly apply it to any other patch to make a better sounding guitar out of one of your other guitar patches.


BB
_________________
billbaker

Triton Extreme 88, Triton Classic Pro, Trinity V3 Pro
+E-mu, Alesis, Korg, Kawai, Yamaha, Line-6, TC Elecronics, Behringer, Lexicon...

[splinters]

Thanks so much for that, I was able to put all the sounds in to the right categories in no time at all. Coming from a microstation with its tiny screen, the Krome is a breath of fresh air for programming and setting up.
I know what you mean about the guitars as well.

[splinters]

Yes, they keep on coming.
is it possible to add your own images to the Krome for the Oscillators?
Being the arty type I thought it would be cool to make some custom images for each group, especially as a few are quite bland.
Anyone know if it is possible...or actually managed to do it?

Krome has such a visual interface seems a shame not to make the most of it.