Korg Forums

[Kevbo]

I see a lot of people posting issues with their Kronos, regardless of what version, even the new SE.

Are these common among Kronos users, or are these people just an unfortunate bunch that may have got some "duds", just like any other electronic out there?

[Falcon2e]

Kronos players/users that don't have problems are not reporting "gee, everything is great with mine". There are folks that have genuine issues, maybe got a unit that is a 'dud', or maybe it fell out of a delivery truck before arriving, who knows. But, IMHO there far more units out on stage that are doing great than duds. This forum provides us with information about a vast number of issues and operational questions. Many times it seems like a question is asked here because someone is not willing to take the time to refer to their Kronos manual. That's just what I think.

BTW, everything’s okay with mine.
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Kronos2-61..(2) Triton Classic, Nord Stage 2, Previously owned lots of other gear dating back to the 70’s.

[GregC]

[KK]

[GregC]

[danmusician]

I don't know what it is about the Kronos, but since the beginning there has been a lot of complaining on this board. First it was build quality and then issues like the keybed problem began to pop up.

I played an 01/w pro for most of the 90's. Solid keyboard, great build quality. The display eventually went out, but it was a great instrument. I switched to the Yamaha S80 and gigged with that for about 8 years.

I came back to Korg with an M3-73. I was shocked at how cheap the build quality seemed. Not nearly as solid as the 01/w. Yet in this forum, the M3 was getting raves for build quality while the Kronos was ravaged. To me, the Kronos has much higher build quality than the M3.

There have been problems, which Korg has addressed. But this forum became an echo chamber. I have an original K73 that had the keybed problem. I was standing next to the tech while he replaced the rubber strips. I asked him about issues, referring to the complaints on this forum. His response: "Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

By comparison, my former employer had a Kurzweil 2500 back in the day. There was no internet forum for complaining. It had a couple broken hammers. I took it to an authorized shop for repair. There were several 2500s stacked along the wall waiting for repair. That instrument was much worse than the Kronos ever was.
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Kronos 2 88, Kronos Classic 73, PX-5S, Kronos 2 61, Roli Seaboard Rise 49

[danmusician]

I've had FIVE different Kronos keyboards that I've either purchased or been responsible for. All of them have been excellent instruments with no major issues.

I bought my first Kronos 73 in August 2011. In October, 2011, I was in a car accident that damaged the top 5 or 6 keys. Even with the damaged keys, it still plays fine. I use it most often with a controller keyboard.

I bought another Kronos 73 in November 2011 that I still use for gigging. That instrument had the keybed problem. Strips replaced in spring 2012. No problems since.

October 2012, my former employer bought a K88. I retired in 2017. It lives on a cart and gets wheeled from room to room. It's subjected to vibration and gets bumped into doorways. It's still going strong, no problems.

In August 2015, tired of playing with only 73 keys, I bought a K2-61 to use with a Casio PX-5S for gigging. The 2 together are lighter than a K2-88 and fit in my car. No problems with the K2-61 at all.

In December 2017, I was tired of setting up 2 keyboards and I had recently bought a minivan, so I got a K2-88. It's been getting the most use since I bought it and has had no problems.

Until recently, the damaged K73 has been set up at my church and used 2 or three times a week with no problems. The good K73 and the K2-61 both saw significant usage before my K2-88. I still take them to gigs depending on location and type of gig.

I had one spontaneous shut down at a gig in the fall/winter of 2011. I've been using a UPS ever since and never had the problem again.

I know some folks have had issues. I'm not downplaying those. But the majority of users, like me, have had no problems.
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Kronos 2 88, Kronos Classic 73, PX-5S, Kronos 2 61, Roli Seaboard Rise 49

[19naia]

Mercedes Benz used to have legendary reliability but over time, they added so much and seem to add more to the vehicles each edition.

So now you have every system in the cars being expanded into all kinds of complexity that even the Starship Enterprise needed an academy trained fleet crew just to manage.
And also new systems being added on top of old systems being expanded into greater complexities.

Toyota keeps its reliability rating, but if you look at Toyotas or Lexus, they are loud in the simplicity area. Sure they keep up with the times, but a quick look over and you can tell they are rather simple compared to cars like Mercedes.
And the most legendary Toyota cars seem to change minimally from year to year. Maybe aesthetic changes and additions to the info/entertainment systems, and whatever they can do to better drive efficiency....
The Toyota i have is a 2001 that was the peak year of reliability for that model. As late as 2011, that model was having a few major issues come up before the basic full breaking in point of the vehicle(100k miles).
Then 2016 saw reliability come back but still a few issues related to the modern complexities and systems added to compete with less reliable cars that get bogged dwon by complex systems and additions.

Kronos was the epitome of a model breaking the mold with complexities and features so advanced that the model holds relevance even 10 years later.
So many more outputs and inputs, and all kinds of sliders with multiples of functions and hardware pushed to the cutting edge before all the rest did.
That is exactly what Mercedes Benz does to stay at the cutting edge and it has shown over the years where the complexity goes ever deeper into the realm of “smarter than human”.
And yet we think it is easy for humans to perpetually push designs of “smarter than humans” contraptions, and do it without showing that it is not easy.

I am still not sure if there is a more reliably functional workstation out there
(but i almost fooled myself into thinking the new Kurzweil PC-4 could be).
And i doubt there is any workstation out there that can do what Kronos does for me.
So i have no better option really, and that is common in a world full of “one of a kind” products. People go through reliability issues with rare or valuable cars, and other contraptions.
And at anytime, they are free to ditch the Range rover luxury and get a mere land cruiser, but it will never come with what Range rover offers.
Same with Kronos.

As long as Kronos is repairable, then i will stick with it because i have no idea how to get situated in some other brand or model after giving up what makes possible my combi style of work that integrates onboard Karma and the factory sound set of Kronos.
If not for Karma, i probably would be more open to another brand of workstation.
I would consider right now another keyboard brand along side Kronos, even as backup for Kronos during system failures, but not to replace Kronos.

[GregC]

[Derek Cook]

It's been said above, but happy people rarely post their non issues.

As forums are places where people post questions/issues for help, then it is easy to get a skewed view.

Had my Kronos for 5 years now, and it is as awesome and rock solid as when I purchased it.
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Derek Cook - Java Developer



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[Hector Space]

It is good to read the responses in this thread. Thanks for taking the time to share. I’m a relative newcomer to the Kronos, it’s taken me six months to program up our set (35 combis) during that time I’ve gradually developed a big respect for the power and flexibility of the K. But it’s also been a continual worry reading all the negatives. So I’ve bought the ups and backup everything I’ve developed at every stage. It’s been great to finally take out the Kronos based rig (a lightweight K2 61 + Casio PX5s controller) not only does it sound better than my rig for the last 4years (Kurzweil Forte + Nord NE3 + EHV256) it’s actually quicker to program on the fly.. takes up less stage space and is easier to carry!
But in all this I do worry, every time I power up. I’ve had a couple of those “ disconnect everything wait 10..” Which in my case seem to occur only during the scan system files stage (before the red line goes beyond the edge of letter K). I’ve also had an “there’s been an error.. please turn off” That was caused by plugging in a thumb drive to backup! I suspect that was the thumb drive not the Kronos. Beware tight fitting thumb drives with a metal lip across the front of the plug.
So an ex IT electronics engineer and someone who starting playing keys professionally 40 years ago. I’d say the Kronos is naturally closer to a PC in terms of ruggedness and reliability than my Kurzweil Forte or my RD2000. Does stop me? No way I love it!!

[karmathanever]

Hi Kevbo

Go get one and open up a whole new world of music creation (whilst maintaining the old worlds too)!!

Pete

(No Korg gear issues with me)
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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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[voip]

No issues here with any Korg gear, either. Kronos has been rock solid. The only problem in several years occurred when a second USB pad device was plugged in, and fixed by disconnecting said devices and rebooting. Oh, and the Kronos output became distorted twice. Once was caused by a noisy PA system pot and the second was down to contact oxidation on the jack plugs. So none really down to the Kronos.

.

[GregC]

[Rigel]

Absolutely no problems here for the last eight years. KronosX 73.
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Korg KronosX73, Kurzweil PC3K6, Roland V-Synth GT, Kawai K5000S, Waldorf Blofeld, Novation Ultranova, Behringer Neutron, Yamaha HS80M, Boss Micro BR80, Zoom H6, Sony PCM D100, Tascam DP32SD, Mackie 1202VLZ4, Zoom MS-70CDR, Rode NT1, Sony MDR 7506.