Kronos X sound quality?

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:09 am

This is ridiculous.
Not even sure which filters the OP is referring to, there are no analog ones and the digital ones are different for each engine.

But everybody can believe what he or she wants to, I suppose. I'm absolutely adamant about this.

ed_f · Post by **ed_f** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:26 am

SanderXpander wrote:This is ridiculous.
Not even sure which filters the OP is referring to, there are no analog ones and the digital ones are different for each engine.

But everybody can believe what he or she wants to, I suppose. I'm absolutely adamant about this.

I believe MY kronos sounds better than yours!

godparticle · Post by **godparticle** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:59 am

There's a chance i could be wrong, but i did listen closely when doing the tests. Are there and Korg employees that frequent these forums who might be able to chime in and confirm or deny?

I can't see how Korg synths could rumble the stage more than Yamaha, the bottom-end of both these brands is huge, actually i've always had the impression that Yamaha Motif series had huge bottom-end.

Ned · Post by **Ned** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:45 am

I've heard the same thing myself and so I'm with Godparticle

I don't think it has anything to do with whether it is an "X" or not...as i have original

i'll put my cards on the table... i'm amazed the rest of you cannot hear the difference since the last firmware update and from 2.06 to 2.10
You all must be amateurs after all

ha ha ha ha
I don't need anyone from Korg to tell me, i already know as it can be heard.
I used to play through all of the analogue lead synth sounds and none of them were...well as they should of been to be honest...
Now though, they sound far better frequency wise, not as weak and watery....

And another thing seems that they respond better to the touch...almost as if i'm getting a more immediate response when i touch the keys... seems like the latency has been tightened up....
ps, i can't wait for the korg employee to come on and then you will all smell the beef

Mike-pol · Post by **Mike-pol** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:01 am

Hello
Interesting thread, but I think you are talking about two different things here.
godparticle said about sound quality difference between original Kronos and X version – which in my opinion is absolutely possible. Why would Korg release X version without even small adjustments in sound engine? Ok, they say it is all the same, except factory installed bigger SDD and RAM additional memory, but well, if this is a case, it would be enough just to release hardware upgrade kit. Besides what would they say to the owners of original Kronos – sorry guys, you bought yours too early and now X version is really ultimate sounding machine?
From the other side, Ned is talking about sound difference before and after updating last versions of software and firmware, which is also very possible.
So for me there is still a question open – whether it is possible to have exactly the same sounding machines , if we take original Kronos upgraded hardware and software – wise to the last updated versions of soft and firmware and compare it 1:1 with say brand new Kronos X with all those things factory installed.
Regards
Mike

Ned · Post by **Ned** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 10:12 am

Yeh Mike you are right, slightly different topics

My thinking was that the kronos x and the original kronos would both be in the same place now after the firmware and software updates if they are installed on both.. then it would just be a hardware difference.. ram, sdd.

It is also likely that they have only tweaked certain engines in the updates.
so they may not have touched sgx or ep.. but modified polysix and al-1.

which will mean only certain things will sound different

Mike-pol · Post by **Mike-pol** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:00 am

I have got your point, Ned, hope you are right

However there is also a slight chance they overdone that. I read the post here, from one guy, like this:
"I have to say that I am little bit disappoint with final update 2.1.1, in segment of sound. In some combies (A026 Tribal Dancers, A054 Dance Of The Spirits...) sound distortion is stronger! Some Programs like A028 J.Lorber MarkV EP w/Pad (much more worse then before), sound of EP now is with stronger effect of hammer strike witch is with little unclear and distortion sound in the end. I noticed before some unclear combies and sounds but now it is worse."
Of course it all may be related with very personal approach, but still this little nuances are the reason why we all choose Kronos and not other machines

Hard to make everybody happy

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 1:25 pm

This thread is how myths are born.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:46 pm

Mike-pol wrote:I have got your point, Ned, hope you are right
However there is also a slight chance they overdone that. I read the post here, from one guy, like this:
"I have to say that I am little bit disappoint with final update 2.1.1, in segment of sound. In some combies (A026 Tribal Dancers, A054 Dance Of The Spirits...) sound distortion is stronger! Some Programs like A028 J.Lorber MarkV EP w/Pad (much more worse then before), sound of EP now is with stronger effect of hammer strike witch is with little unclear and distortion sound in the end. I noticed before some unclear combies and sounds but now it is worse."

there is only 1 owner who has said this( compared to +1000 owners who have updated to 2.1). and it could be more of an audio ( amp, speakers, headphones) problem. Turning down Kronos drums might also solve this posters issue.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 3:48 pm

ed_f wrote:
SanderXpander wrote:This is ridiculous.
Not even sure which filters the OP is referring to, there are no analog ones and the digital ones are different for each engine.

But everybody can believe what he or she wants to, I suppose. I'm absolutely adamant about this.
I believe MY kronos sounds better than yours!

And my Kronos midi files sound better than yours

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:31 pm

godparticle wrote:I can't see how Korg synths could rumble the stage more than Yamaha, the bottom-end of both these brands is huge, actually i've always had the impression that Yamaha Motif series had huge bottom-end.

I own a Yamaha Motif XS, and it produces excellent sounds but nothing I would consider as "huge." I've done a lot of tweaking with it over the years and it's better, but not with the same drive as my Triton or M3.

And I'm not alone either... I've read posts on the Motifator forum from folks complaining their Motif's aren't loud or "fat" enough.

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Dec 14, 2013 9:46 pm

+1
This thread is just a waste of time.
An obviously completely clueless chicken makes an assumption based on nothing but guess referring to a phantom impression, and now we can read even more nonsense concerning Yamaha keyboard sounds.

It's not worth discussing, and should only be discussed based on (obviously completely missing) hard facts. People who want others to check their nonsense always use the same trick: they inverse the burdon of proof or of serious assumptions, and want others to do the job of checking their nonsense, instead of checking things in any serious way themselves in the first place. And then they hope that the whole chicken yard will live up to it.

So: just give the OP a lot of time for a full research done by himself!

We will be excited to hear about the breathtaking results in some weeks or some months!

godparticle · Post by **godparticle** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:59 am

Listen to reason jimknopf.

I don't see how this thread is a waste of time at all. This is a very relevant subject, and i have done the tests (as i said already!); also when did i put any burden of proof on anyone? So stop misquoting my objectives and concerns.
I asked if anyone cared to chime-in or comment or if they had heard anything from official sources, quite an innocent and fair approach i reckon... and what's more, another forum member affirmed my assertions, he said he can hear a clear difference.

To sum-up, i think it is entirely possible that the filters or sound-patch parameters were tweaked for the kronos X version, and that anyone who upgrades to the latest OS will get the benefit of that too for their original Kronos.
Remember, all the synth emulations in the Kronos are digital code, so are the filters, therefore it is entirely possible that Korg has tweaked them, thus resulting in a different tone for the better.

Do you ever read the small print of these products and many others... "All features subject to change without notice."

Korg is always interested in giving us the best sound they can, and in the interest of that, it is their prerogative to tweak or modify the filters or HD-1 engine any way they see fit, just sayin.

Rigel · Post by **Rigel** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:44 am

godparticle, it seems to me that you don't have the faintest idea about the differences between K and KX. I am afraid you aren't well informed about the whole idea of Kronos either. K and KX both have the same parameters and the same software. No tweaking at all...

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:14 pm

+1

As I said, just utterly clueless, and not based on a single hard fact (analysed output or a qualified sound comparison as proposed by Bush).

And what you call "tests", godparticle, is certainly nothing I would dare calling "tests". I heard old and new Kronos devices side by side without ANY noticeable difference in sound. But I would never call this impression a "test".