Kronos 2 vs Roland Fantom 2019

KronosEnthusiastXT · Post by **KronosEnthusiastXT** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:20 pm

What are your thoughts and opinions on these two instruments??

I bought the Kronos 2 and did compare and test the new fantom in my local music instrument shop but might exchange it to get the fantom within the 30 days...

Poseidon · Post by **Poseidon** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:54 pm

Will the New Fantom Motivate Korg ?

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... highlight=

New Roland Fantom 2019

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... highlight=

benny ray · Post by **benny ray** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:25 am

That depends on your preference for specific sounds and which keyboard suits your needs.

The Kronos has more sound engines and is clearly more versatile but you have to decide for yourself which sounds better and fits your needs as a keyboard player.

I have played the Fantom when it first came out and was sorta disappointed but with the updates is seems like Roland is listening to customers and preparing for some future updates which are really nice.

I want a Fantom as well but waiting for some new os updates but will never sell my Kronos.

Mike Conway · Post by **Mike Conway** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 4:16 am

Kronos and Fantom are both great. Kronos has more synth engines. Fantom is newer, so the UI is more modern and slick. Plus, that analog filter is gorgeous.

cvanselman · Post by **cvanselman** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:56 pm

I had a chance to spend some time with the new Roland Fantom. I used to own a Fantom X7 stocked with a full set of SRX boards.

I was disappointed with several parts of the new Fantom.
1. the stock piano's were not as good as I'd hoped. Maybe no worse than the stock Kronos piano's but I use a set of piano samples I bought elsewhere.
2. the sequencer in the old Fantom as surprisingly easy to use, so much better than the Kronos sequencer. They seem to have dropped the sequencer in favour of a loop-based sequencer. I know that this is more immediate satisfaction but if you want to write a full orchestrated piece it's never going to do it.
3. most of the synth sounds I tried were just the same old things, nothing jumped out and excited me

Positives
1. Light
2. Keyboard action is very nice and a good compromise between piano and synth wights.

Devnor · Post by **Devnor** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 6:30 pm

Both. I use Fantom primarily for zcore VA/PCM & V piano. The Kronos for EPs, organ and sampled instruments. Makes for a fantastic combo. The Fantom's keyboard & control surface is nicer so it's my master controller too.

ChrisDuncan · Post by **ChrisDuncan** » Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:56 pm

I watched the Sweetwater demo videos. I'm guessing that 98% of the sounds that come out of it can be created on the Kronos as well if you know what you're doing, with much of the differences being workflow related.

While I have no need to buy one, I find things like this inspiring. Hearing all these different sounds just highlights the depths of the Kronos that I have yet to explore, as I still spend most of my time building chops on piano, Rhodes & B3.

Clearly a very cool keyboard. There's so much great stuff coming out these days you could easily fill a warehouse if your wallet (and wife) would allow.

Sweat · Post by **Sweat** » Mon Jan 27, 2020 4:37 pm

The new Fantom looks amazing, though it is 10 years too late for me. It is what I had hoped my Fantom G to be when I got it in 2010. Although I was a Roland fanboy since the 80s, I never regretted my Kronos purchase in 2011.

In the latest Electronic Musician magazine, Stephen Fortner gives high marks for new Fantom, but even says the Kronos is still a top competitor.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:51 pm

Its been a year.. and Roland made huge steps..

Lets see where they are right now compared to The Montage and Kronos..
In order from best to less best for these topics.. and where it comes to taste personal preference

Keybed. F M K
Interface F M K
Sound engines K F M
Sound creation K F M
Build quallity M K F
Sound quallity M F K. (This is very personal)
Ease of use F M K
Daw integration M F K
Sequencer F K M
Arpeggiator/karma M K F
Sampling K F M
Connections F K M
Expandability K F M

In the end, its just personal prefference,
Based on the things you deem important.

You just want one of these 3 as the heart of your setup, and the heart of your live rig. I don’t think for most of us there is much reason to change from one to the other.. so i guess everyone here is still okay with their 10 year old Kronos.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:19 pm

as a home studio musician, Fantom falls short in 2 important areas , esp given its price and its +1 year in the market place:

-each pattern is limited to 32 measures. Montage/MODX has a 256 measure limit.

- the acoustic sounds are lacking esp when compared to MODX/Montage

I am aware of Fantom's strengths. It should be strong on display, DAW integration given its a 2019 keyboard. Those are captain obvious features to be strong on.

And of course, Kronos is 10 years old and no OS updates in the future. I conclude Korg is 100% done on any enhancements. What you see/hear with Kronos is what you get.

Good chance Yamaha and Fantom will continue improving Montage/MODX and Fantom. This potential while speculative, is a plus IMO.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:31 pm

GregC wrote:as a home studio musician, Fantom falls short in 2 important areas , esp given its price and its +1 year in the market place:

-each pattern is limited to 32 measures. Montage/MODX has a 256 measure limit.

- the acoustic sounds are lacking esp when compared to MODX/Montage

I am aware of Fantom's strengths. It should be strong on display, DAW integration given its a 2019 keyboard. Those are captain obvious features to be strong on.

And of course, Kronos is 10 years old and no OS updates in the future. I conclude Korg is 100% done on any enhancements. What you see/hear with Kronos is what you get.

Good chance Yamaha and Fantom will continue improving Montage/MODX and Fantom. This potential while speculative, is a plus IMO.

Yamaha may also be done with updating the Montage, i think they want to present the Montage follow up in 2022... it will be interesting to see which direction they take the Montage..

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:01 pm

Bachus wrote:
GregC wrote:as a home studio musician, Fantom falls short in 2 important areas , esp given its price and its +1 year in the market place:

-each pattern is limited to 32 measures. Montage/MODX has a 256 measure limit.

- the acoustic sounds are lacking esp when compared to MODX/Montage

I am aware of Fantom's strengths. It should be strong on display, DAW integration given its a 2019 keyboard. Those are captain obvious features to be strong on.

And of course, Kronos is 10 years old and no OS updates in the future. I conclude Korg is 100% done on any enhancements. What you see/hear with Kronos is what you get.

Good chance Yamaha and Fantom will continue improving Montage/MODX and Fantom. This potential while speculative, is a plus IMO.
Yamaha may also be done with updating the Montage, i think they want to present the Montage follow up in 2022... it will be interesting to see which direction they take the Montage..

true, I was going for optimism for a Montage/MODX update.

Montage is 'only ' 5 years old. Korg, Yamaha, Roland historically take a lot of time to launch new expensive +$3000 keyboards like Fantom, Kronos, Montage.

Going by history, I don't see a Montage 'followup ' in 2022.

I would sooner bet on another OS rev for Montage/Modx.

kronoskarma · Post by **kronoskarma** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:15 pm

I went a different route. I bought my Kronos 61 and a Roland MC-707 which just happens to have the entire Zencore engine built in. They gave away every single preset you can get during the winter and there were already tens of thousands of presets built in.

Plug a keyboard in and you have one hell of a Roland synth (the fantom pretty much) with the ability to cook your own presets. It's deep, but you can create whatever you want. With Zenology, you can do it visually and then load it into the 707.

Much less expensive way to go AND I get my Kronos.

Mike

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:57 pm

kronoskarma wrote:I went a different route. I bought my Kronos 61 and a Roland MC-707 which just happens to have the entire Zencore engine built in.
Mike

MC-707 is a updated groove box from what I see.

Only 8 tracks for recording in this MC, correct ?

kronoskarma · Post by **kronoskarma** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:36 am

GregC wrote:
kronoskarma wrote:I went a different route. I bought my Kronos 61 and a Roland MC-707 which just happens to have the entire Zencore engine built in.
Mike
MC-707 is a updated groove box from what I see.

Only 8 tracks for recording in this MC, correct ?

Not the point. Yes, it is a 8-track with 8 In/ 8 Out through USB.

The Zencore engine is built in - you can program your own presets, but it comes with thousands and tons are available on Roland Cloud.

So it's a groove box and a sound module all in one.

Mike