a master piece

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:32 am

magikroom: Very cool with the June! Good score. I myself have an old Poly6 but it needs work. The Juno to me was the serious competition except for the lack of memory. Tons of great sounds to be had there.

As for the KK. Still have to think about it. Budget wise and for other reasons. I do like the live tweakability of it but it just doesn't seem solid enough to me. I could be wrong though. I toured for 3 years with a Roland U-20 and that doesn't seem like a solidly built keyboard but it held up fine. The only problem I had with it was the switches failed under the heat of playing hard.

magikroom · Post by **magikroom** » Sun Apr 28, 2013 11:39 am

jeremykeys wrote:magikroom: Very cool with the June! Good score. I myself have an old Poly6 but it needs work. The Juno to me was the serious competition except for the lack of memory. Tons of great sounds to be had there.

As for the KK. Still have to think about it. Budget wise and for other reasons. I do like the live tweakability of it but it just doesn't seem solid enough to me. I could be wrong though. I toured for 3 years with a Roland U-20 and that doesn't seem like a solidly built keyboard but it held up fine. The only problem I had with it was the switches failed under the heat of playing hard.

I stopped Gigging about 6 years ago, but used to take out a Trinity and a Triton, as well as an X5DR, but I went through 2 PSU's with that, as they always go at the join. So, if I was still playing live, I wouldn't take a KK out...if it was made of metal and internal PSU, then yeah, no problem.

Thankfully, my days of lugging PA, Lighting and Synths up stairs are gone now, but i'm still into the studio side. I'm glad I didn't buy it and I think I may have had a bit of buyers remorse if I had to be honest. Like I said, maybe when they pop up on the used market, I may go for a KK.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sun Apr 28, 2013 1:26 pm

The only problematic thing for gigging I see, is the silly wall wart of the KK: a really ugly sub par decision by Korg. But even that can be handled.

Else, I regard all this "built like a tank" talk, about gear made of flight steel and possibly Flintstones stone, as severely outdated. A KK is such a lightweight, that it is extremely easy to carry in a case or even gig bag, without anything happening during transport or play, unless you behave really careless and amateurish.

I'm no fan of cheap plastic, but I am still terribly glad, that nowadays gear does not require two people to carry something like a Rhodes or an old-fashioned heavy 88key synth or master keyboard, not even talkingh about former B3/Leslie removal parties and keyboard castle building.

So to me it's just the other way round: as long as gear does it's job, I will always prefer what's easier to carry and handle. And I see nothing which could stop anyone from using a KK anytime, anywhere. I think it's rather a decision about the kind of sound and synth design you want to use. To me the KK is like a gift in due time concerning that, without any alternative being of bigger practical use to me for the money right now. Simple as that.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:06 pm

I have to admit that the KK is growing on me. I absolutely hated it when I first heard about it. But every time I go to the store I check it out for a while and it does sound really nice.

I wont go into what it should or shouldn't have been or any specific features so I'll just say that's its not so bad compared to most of the other poor excuses for keyboards that are out there right now.

magikroom · Post by **magikroom** » Sun Apr 28, 2013 7:55 pm

jimknopf wrote:The only problematic thing for gigging I see, is the silly wall wart of the KK: a really ugly sub par decision by Korg. But even that can be handled.

Else, I regard all this "built like a tank" talk, about gear made of flight steel and possibly Flintstones stone, as severely outdated. A KK is such a lightweight, that it is extremely easy to carry in a case or even gig bag, without anything happening during transport or play, unless you behave really careless and amateurish.

I'm no fan of cheap plastic, but I am still terribly glad, that nowadays gear does not require two people to carry something like a Rhodes or an old-fashioned heavy 88key synth or master keyboard, not even talkingh about former B3/Leslie removal parties and keyboard castle building.

So to me it's just the other way round: as long as gear does it's job, I will always prefer what's easier to carry and handle. And I see nothing which could stop anyone from using a KK anytime, anywhere. I think it's rather a decision about the kind of sound and synth design you want to use. To me the KK is like a gift in due time concerning that, without any alternative being of bigger practical use to me for the money right now. Simple as that.

For me, it wasn't the transporting of my Synths that was the problem, I had Flightcases for it all, bit in 10 years of gigging in Pubs, Clubs and Corporate events, it was the piss heads in the audience, the drunk compere or DJ that caused me problems. Had people spilt their Pints over my gear, fall into it on 2 occasions while dancing and had one bloke turn off all the power while halfway through the song...for a laugh!

I can only talk about my own personal experiences and I know what level of quality I needed at that time and in that environment...the KK wouldn't have fared well...just my opinion. Like i've said a few times, I as ready to buy it, even made a space for it in my Studio and put down the seats in my Car before going to the Music Shop. But for "me" in the cold light of day and with my objective head on, it wasn't worth the money...If others enjoy it, gives them inspiration, then all the better, but we can't look at gear through Rose Tinted glasses.

JPWC · Post by **JPWC** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:27 pm

magikroom, what kind of beer joints are you playing? You need to get better gigs like me. The pay isn't very good, ($0), but the audience is much kinder, my mother in-law.

Joking aside, in the environment your describing, very few keyboards would survive for very long.

good luck.

(although, my old korg prophecy survived a mixed drink spill, had to disassemble and clean.)

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Mon May 13, 2013 2:52 am

I've had the fortune;or misfortune depending on how you look at it; to have played both sides of the fence. I once had a drunk knock over 2 keyboards; they we're stacked on top of each other; and I wasn't exactly nice to him about it. I know for a fact that he badly needed dental work after. I was much younger then and prone to shall we say aggression behaviour? Maybe!

But then on the other side, in a rock band during my keyboard solo where all the rest of the band members are off stage, I've had 33,000 rockers dancing!
That was in Austria at a huge biker convention/show.
Nowadays I play much smaller pub gigs. Just last Friday I played with my rock band and used just the Kronos. It's my local pub and I can walk to it although that's not with my gear of course. Most people there know enough not to touch my equipment. There is the odd idiot but usually someone will steer him away before he gets into trouble.

My wife will cut off his bits if she doesn't know him and he decides to touch my Kronos! I LOVE her!

Gigs are funny, eh?

Chriskk · Post by **Chriskk** » Sat May 18, 2013 2:44 pm

The tube thing is just a gimmick. I am not sure what a single tube can accomplish. Take any rompler and run it through a real tube amp which uses multiple tubes and you will be amazed.

kevinh_12345us · Post by **kevinh_12345us** » Sat May 18, 2013 11:05 pm

Usually you want to run your synth through a PA house system and not a guitar amp.

A guitar amp is not designed to produce the full frequency range that the KK is capable of. An acoustic guitar amp would be more full frequency.

The tube really does make a difference in sound or you can turn it off.

Almost everyone comments on the tube (positively).

I own a KK and even with some of the limitations it sounds wonderful.

djcactus · Post by **djcactus** » Sun May 19, 2013 6:21 am

the tube wasn't even a part of the considerations when i picked up the instrument. Though it does sound better then the stock electribe's tubes

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sun May 19, 2013 3:09 pm

Chriskk wrote:The tube thing is just a gimmick. I am not sure what a single tube can accomplish. Take any rompler and run it through a real tube amp which uses multiple tubes and you will be amazed.

1. I am very sure what a single tube can accomplish, because I play a KK.

The KK tube is extremely well adjusted within the signal flow, and the result is a kind of warm saturation up to overdrive, which you normally only get from full tube amplification. I have heard preamp tubes in various instruments and effect boards, and none I tried delivered such a great warm (up to overdriven) synth sound as this one does within the KK.

2. Running a Rompler through a real tube amp is quite a silly suggestion. In former times you really had do do so with analog synths to get overdriven sound for certain leads etc. (Jan Hammer playing through Marshall stacks and the like). But normally you don't want tube/overdrive sound for any synth sound you play, and need a neutral frequency range for other sounds (bass end for synth basses, all frequencies for airy pads etc.). No guitar (or bass) tube amp/combo/stack delivers that, and so you normally play synths through neutral sounding active speaker systems or (house) PAs.
It would mean a ridiculous amount of money and work to get both kinds of amplification and sounds working at the same time in a live situation, and being able to switch between them, even adjusting the overdrive during play. The KK solves that problem in an elegant way for you, and provides BOTH kinds of sounds just with a switch and a turn of a knob. I don't know of any other VA delivering that, and in that quality.

The comment above shows no awareness of 1. or 2., and to me as KK user it looks quite clueless.

kevinh_12345us wrote:I own a KK and even with some of the limitations it sounds wonderful.

+1

djcactus · Post by **djcactus** » Mon May 20, 2013 5:02 am

Im going to have to agree with jim on this one.

If you sat down and played one in an isolated environment im sure you would only be trying to prove a point if you still felt the same way.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Tue May 21, 2013 12:33 am

The best tube/no tube example to me is the fact that I use tube pre-amps when recording vocals or acoustic guitars. For me it all depends on the sound that I'm looking for for that particular song part. I think the tube in the KK is a brilliant idea. I don't know what tube it is but if it is a 12 AX7; which is a very common pre-amp tube; then I know exactly how it's going to colour the sound. It'll be really good!
Those of you who already have a KK already know this!

Those who think the tube is silly, well, you're wrong. Sorry but it's true.

djcactus · Post by **djcactus** » Tue May 21, 2013 6:05 pm

Its a sweet board that doesn't hide its functionality behind hours of programming, i picked it up because its features were accessible, its light, i already have a weighted 88, and it sounds good. I wanted some synth action because i learned to play keys on a wurlitzer so this thing pretty much fits the bill.

antitolg · Post by **antitolg** » Fri May 31, 2013 10:55 am

Got mine a few days ago and here's some thoughts off the top of my head:

Pros: Nice sound, quite accessible, easy to grasp

Cons: So-so build quality (especially the black parts of the keyboard, though even Kronos gave me the same feeling),
- somewhat pointless PCM section (could serve as oscillators to create sounds other than subtractive but useless as acoustic emulations)
- overpriced for what it is

Conclusion so far: If it was meant strictly as a VA Korg could have left out PCM samples (thus lowering the price maybe?) and add more hands on controls to get rid of menus as much as possible (a la Nord Lead),

or they could have added a decent PCM section (with flash memory) for usable acoustic and electric pianos (even those two would be enough since this is no Hammond clone and the rest of Korg's acoustic emulations are pretty bland anyway). This makes me think of a hybrid of KK and Krome (and somewhat similar to a Nord Wave).

Alas it is what it is now and I purchased it since I immediately needed a VA and don't like the way Nord, Novation or Virus sound. So far so good.

If anyone happens to have questions I'll try to be of assistance.

Regards.