Korg Kronos?

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:14 pm

For those who feel that the KRONOS disappoints because if offers nothing really new, consider the alternative: KORG also could have decided to play it safe and match Yamaha's current offering, discard alternative synthesis engines, streamline the M3 to function as a flashROM-equiped sample player, increase the PCM-ROM to one whole gigabyte, and release it as the T3-XF.

I'm glad KORG decided differently and came up with something far more adventurous than that. It looks like KRONOS is going to be a great performance instrument and a very worthwhile addition to any (home)studio.
I know I definitely want one.

cello · Post by **cello** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:16 pm

Hedegaard wrote:
MartinHines wrote:
cello wrote:
Think Korg should be encouraged to give something to O users in recognition of this basic fact.
If you buy any electronics product, and a newer model comes out later, do you expect those companies to "give you something"?

This isn't how product life cycles work. After a product is designed, built, and sold, manufacturers then work on creating the next version.

I personally don't expect Korg to give OASYS owners anything.
Excuse me, but M3 users got programs and stuff, that was cut and bled out of Oasys for a long time afterwards.
So cant we get things cut out of the Kronos and give it to us?
Make the Kronos bleed a little blood, like the Oasys has been giving life to so many other products!

AND WE NEVER GOT OUR EXF FOR F/*/*/* SAKE!!!!

That's exactly it - the O has contributed to so many things and now it has literally spawned a son; Kronos. No OASYS sales = no Kronos born.

If Korg wants to show prospective Kronos owners that their investment is worth making, then Korg should prove that they value it and show some committment with new sequencer or something - they've clearly developed it (as on M3 and presumably now on Kronos), so let us have it. Korg said the OASYS would get future releases, not me.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:18 pm

Everyone is considering that this will be the new M3 but there is another distinct posibility:

This is the OASYS 2. It may (might possibly) be slightly cheaper, but it has more features. It seems that a lot of the engines that were sold extras before will come with the unit, as only the legacy instruments say EX on them. I don't know, but I don't see any mention of purchasing additional sound engines. So technically it is not the OASYS in that it is not 'open'. Anyway I'm getting caught up in technicalities...

The M3 is still technically that 'HD-1 derived' workstation, and KRONOS has HD-1. So we don't know that M3 is going anywhere, its just that there will be a premium flagship product again above Korg's standard workstation offering.

TSUNAMI · Post by **TSUNAMI** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:19 pm

early adopters of technology in any field not just synths always, ALWAYS get stung a few years down the line !!! FACT !

cello wrote:
Hedegaard wrote:
MartinHines wrote: If you buy any electronics product, and a newer model comes out later, do you expect those companies to "give you something"?

This isn't how product life cycles work. After a product is designed, built, and sold, manufacturers then work on creating the next version.

I personally don't expect Korg to give OASYS owners anything.
Excuse me, but M3 users got programs and stuff, that was cut and bled out of Oasys for a long time afterwards.
So cant we get things cut out of the Kronos and give it to us?
Make the Kronos bleed a little blood, like the Oasys has been giving life to so many other products!

AND WE NEVER GOT OUR EXF FOR F/*/*/* SAKE!!!!
That's exactly it - the O has contributed to so many things and now it has literally spawned a son; Kronos. No OASYS sales = no Kronos born.

If Korg wants to show prospective Kronos owners that their investment is worth making, then Korg should prove that they value it and show some committment with new sequencer or something - they've clearly developed it (as on M3 and presumably now on Kronos), so let us have it. Korg said the OASYS would get future releases, not me.

bobbybee · Post by **bobbybee** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:21 pm

X-Trade wrote:Everyone is considering that this will be the new M3 but there is another distinct posibility:

This is the OASYS 2. It may (might possibly) be slightly cheaper, but it has more features. It seems that a lot of the engines that were sold extras before will come with the unit, as only the legacy instruments say EX on them. I don't know, but I don't see any mention of purchasing additional sound engines. So technically it is not the OASYS in that it is not 'open'. Anyway I'm getting caught up in technicalities...

The M3 is still technically that 'HD-1 derived' workstation, and KRONOS has HD-1. So we don't know that M3 is going anywhere, its just that there will be a premium flagship product again above Korg's standard workstation offering.

I don't think M3 is going anywhere either - it will remain around for another couple of years until a Kronos Jr. is spawned off.

Fantom G8, Yamaha XF8, Kurzweil PC3K all street at the same price. Is Kronos going to be in that same mix? If so, I think it's quite a bang for your buck.

cello · Post by **cello** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:22 pm

TSUNAMI wrote:early adopters of technology in any field not just synths always, ALWAYS get stung a few years down the line !!! FACT !

I hear ya - I know...

No harm in asking for it - and if Korg can make some money out of O upgrades, then why not?!

Surely would be good marketing because anyone who buys a Kronos and does any research before buying is going to learn about it's daddy and see how Korg kept its commitment to the O (not!)...

Naviára · Post by **Naviára** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:23 pm

The technical specifications posted are exactly the same like Oasys, except for the audio I/O, TFT and the SSD - It's not nice from Korg to discontinue a high end product like the O and work the same time on a new "Oasys like board" in behind offering new synthengines and advanced features. Take a look at the ROM Expansions, O users never got.. In general a slap in the face for O customers...

Don't understand me wrong I really really like my O for what it is...

At least I'm still for a (paid) Kronos OS Software update for existing O customers.... (since the specifications are the same - even the polephony count)

greeetings
A.

kimu · Post by **kimu** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:24 pm

think kronos as a Oasys for the mass

cello · Post by **cello** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:26 pm

Naviára wrote:The technical specifications posted are exactly the same like Oasys, except for the audio I/O, TFT and the SSD - It's not nice from Korg to discontinue a high end product like the O and work the same time on a new "Oasys like board" in behind offering new synthengines and advanced features. Take a look at the ROM Expansions, O users never got.. In general a slap in the face for O customers...

Don't understand me wrong I really really like my O for what it is...

At least I'm still for a (paid) Kronos OS Software update for existing O customers.... (since the specifications are the same - even the polephony count)

greeetings
A.

Well observed... and right that we all appreciate how good the O STILL is - I adore mine!

But we could send a friendly message to Korg - see here: http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=58151

Kontrol49 · Post by **Kontrol49** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:31 pm

Lets see all the Oasys haters crawl out of the woodwork now to buy this.....

but one thing that puzzles me.....Korg pulled the Oasys because of perhaps a shaky economy yet this machine seems rather ambitous in an already volatile workstation sales environment so how can they develop newer products based on the oasys yet can't support the older models with Software updates???

vEddY · Post by **vEddY** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:35 pm

Kontrol49 wrote: but one thing that puzzles me.....Korg pulled the Oasys because of perhaps a shaky economy yet this machine seems rather ambitous in an already volatile workstation sales environment so how can they develop newer products based on the oasys yet can't support the older models with Software updates???

They did say that the global state of the economy is the reason, they didn't say it's the only reason.

iksrazal · Post by **iksrazal** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:42 pm

kimu wrote:think kronos as a Oasys for the mass

I agree, and think its a smart move by Korg. Doesn't mean much to us lowly Oasys users though, unless you think 2 new engines, DAW integration, the M3 sequencer and 12GB of SSD are are worth around $4K to you. For that type of money I'd be well on my way to a new poly analogue, ymmv. Wake me up when they announce the polytron

.

Kontrol49 · Post by **Kontrol49** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:44 pm

vEddY wrote:
Kontrol49 wrote: but one thing that puzzles me.....Korg pulled the Oasys because of perhaps a shaky economy yet this machine seems rather ambitous in an already volatile workstation sales environment so how can they develop newer products based on the oasys yet can't support the older models with Software updates???
They did say that the global state of the economy is the reason, they didn't say it's the only reason.

Yeh perhaps....

However if we all felt a slap in the face when they pulled the development of Oasys.....this is a full blown kick in the Bollox.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:46 pm

ozy wrote:amen

another jazz player here.

Korg used to work, doesn't anymore.

Too obsessed with "cutting through the radio mix", too harsh, hasrshness being mistaken for "definition"

Let the techno/trance/bounce/hoover people have their way if that's Korg's target. Fine with me.

There's nothing I can see which is trance oriented. Even the sample sets are more toward traditional instruments:

EXs1 - ROM Expansion
EXs2 - Concert Grand Piano
EXs3 - Brass & Woodwinds
EXs4 - Vintage Keyboards
EXs5 - ROM Expansion 2
EXs6 - SGX-1 German D Piano
EXs7 - SGX-1 Japanese C Piano
EXs8 - Rock Ambience Drums
EXs9 – Jazz Ambience Drums

Along with the SGX-1 Acoustic Piano, EP-1 Electric Piano, CX-3 Tonewheel Organ and STR-1 Plucked String.

No dance stuff there whatsoever. In fact it looks heavily geared toward jazz/orchestral/pop/rock.

Of course dance music uses analogue and as such there's AL-1, MS-20, and the Poly6, but they're not specifically geared towards any particular genre, let alone techno/trance. No supersaws here.

The only Korg piano that has been used extensively for dance music really is the one from the original M1.

There's no one single magic piano bullet for all, but the Kronos looks like it should offer heaps of room for uploading waveforms from your favourite piano sampleset/library. Might require a little work but pianos are a very personal thing to get just right, like finding a favourite aftershave/cologne.

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:48 pm

I have not read anything about the use of a KRONOS as software controller: besides the pedals, switches and the sticks, can the sliders and knobs be used to transmit MIDI data to control software on the computer?