KRONOS Polyphony Problems

[chini]

... you could add a second one and stream your samples from there.

Hey! Sander!

I do have a second drive installed, have done since day one! My machine was refurbished by Korg to full KRONOS X spec before it left the factory in 2012. I have not filled up the second drive yet but yes! the user files are definitely a more ergonomic way of running my sound pallet.

Per chance have you updated to OS 3.04 yet? Am eager to take advantage of Korg's claim that disengaging the meter displays now does in fact improve polyphony where it wasn't happening in the previous OS.

[JPROBERTLA]

I have updated to 3.0.4 and have found a slight improvement in polyphony. That said however, I still have significant voice stealing going on in many sequences. I am not willing to make the program selection trade-off necessary to increase polyphony by using watered down programs; this negates the strongest point of the Kronos. I have also tried recording to audio tracks, but that significantly reduces editing capabilities.

I had 2 Kronos for a while and that did the trick. I guess here is where a Kronos rack would be applicable, but I don't think thats going to happen.

[chini]

I have updated to 3.0.4 and have found a slight improvement in polyphony. That said however, I still have significant voice stealing going on in many sequences. I am not willing to make the program selection trade-off necessary to increase polyphony by using watered down programs; this negates the strongest point of the Kronos. I have also tried recording to audio tracks, but that significantly reduces editing capabilities.

I had 2 Kronos for a while and that did the trick. I guess here is where a Kronos rack would be applicable, but I don't think thats going to happen.

Yes! It really would be fantastic if they did bring out a rack. My guess is if they are planning to release a new flagship keyboard they will first use the remaining KRONOS nuts and bolts in the factory to create a run of Kronos rack modules before they move on to the next model. We have seen this in the past with the Triton and Trinity.

I would get a K61X simply to share the polyphony but I simply can't have 4 keyboards on stage! My rig is enough to set up as it is!

[Maristokeys]

Take a look at the performance meter tab for the sounds you're layering and you'll quickly find out who the offending patches are. In the couple cases where I've had to look at this, it's been relatively easy to find ways to simplify it without drastically affecting the sound quality - especially since when the patch is loaded up with 5 other things going on at the same time, you're unlikely to hear the nuances anyway.

Sound advice (forgive the pun)! Downgrading from a dedicated synth engine, say SGX-2, EP-1 or CX-3, to an HD-1 counterpart has helped me a few times.

[chini]

Take a look at the performance meter tab for the sounds you're layering and you'll quickly find out who the offending patches are. In the couple cases where I've had to look at this, it's been relatively easy to find ways to simplify it without drastically affecting the sound quality - especially since when the patch is loaded up with 5 other things going on at the same time, you're unlikely to hear the nuances anyway.

Sound advice (forgive the pun)! Downgrading from a dedicated synth engine, say SGX-2, EP-1 or CX-3, to an HD-1 counterpart has helped me a few times.

Indeed when a sound is not featured heavily in a mix I take your advice about using the less exhaustive HD-1 for bog standard colours of sound.

In my case it is not layering of sounds causing the problem. I use a lot of other hardware synths in my sound pallet when I need to layer textures. In fact although the Kronos forms the hub of my rig the work;pad for my overall sound is completed with other sources of sound/polyphony. It's simply that most of the time all the timbre slots are occupied either in a song or combie usually being played selectively via KARMA zoning or/and indeed being effected by live running KARMA effects. This in combination with a full drum kit playing in the background, even with priority assigned to it, sometimes forces the kit to loose/cut short a cymbal crash with that unpleasant glitching typical of a struggling processor. One way to relieve a lot of the polyphony is to make a stereo audio backing track audio sample of the drums programming it into a "one-shot" program (where the "hold" function is activated). I then assign this to the drum track using a pattern containing up to 99 bars but with only a single note at its start to trigger the drum sample sitting in the desired timbre slot. If I need a longer drum backing track I use a song template instead where one can do the same thing except with up to 999 bars! The one problem with using a song template is that if you perform various live switching the song will stay in the state you left it. This is not such a bad thing between live shows as one reboots the original file containing the original start positions but if one forgets to switch it back to that position after a sound check for instance one can find oneself in a bit of a pickle!

(By and BY..Regarding the sharing of the burden of heavy sound tasks I often wonder if EXT/EXT2 assigned timbre slots do actually reduce the strain on the Kornos processor as they are only sending out midi data and not asking the Kronos to also provide the sounds for those slots…? I imagine logically it must be less of a strain for it to simply send the midi data externally.)

Also taking a closer look to see if any effects can be deleted has also helped at times when I have inadvertently left some effects blocks assigned when they are not being used by any of the timbres.

[In-the-CHORD]

I have updated to 3.0.4 and have found a slight improvement in polyphony. That said however, I still have significant voice stealing going on in many sequences. I am not willing to make the program selection trade-off necessary to increase polyphony by using watered down programs; this negates the strongest point of the Kronos. I have also tried recording to audio tracks, but that significantly reduces editing capabilities.

I had 2 Kronos for a while and that did the trick. I guess here is where a Kronos rack would be applicable, but I don't think thats going to happen.

Note to Korg,
Hire this guy to test your new keyboard when it is ready. Solve his issues and you remain number one ten years ahead...

[chini]

Yes! this all points to the popular demand for Korg to release a rack K!

It is a possibility especially toward the end of the Kronos production line where Korg may well have enough K spares to make a short run of K racks!

We all hope so!

[GregC]

Yes! this all points to the popular demand for Korg to release a rack K!

It is a possibility especially toward the end of the Kronos production line where Korg may well have enough K spares to make a short run of K racks!

We all hope so!

yes. Get Korg to promise to build a Kronos Rack

For .... how much money ?