Korg Forums

The lack of pads is no big deal for me. I have a Novation SL61 controller and dislike it's drum pads. I've also played both a Roland Fantom X and Fantom G and couldn't get used to their pads. I know it's a personal thing, but I feel much more comfortable using an actual keyboard to play drum sounds.

Attic wrote:

But would others have done that?

This is being marketed as a workstation class keyboard, but its missing a workstation class feature or more. I'm also going to laugh when you start beating on those screen pads and the screen itself fails. I bet you will wish you could have paid 150 more when that happens.

I would not consider drum pads to be a "workstation class feature". Most pros consider drum pads to be somewhat gimmicky on a keyboard.

As others have mentioned, while you might have been willing to pay an extra $150 for drum pads (that was a guess on my part, I don't have any inside info), I suspect many others would not, especially on the 61 key models (where $150 extra has a bigger impact percentage wise).

Companies like Korg, Yamaha, and Roland create products to hit specific price points. If Korg had added drum pads, they probably would have taken something else out rather than raising the price.

This thread is utterly ridiculous from the point of view of.... Nowhere will you get as much power and sound quality in a single workstation for such a price. The keyboard is insane value for money across the board.

There's nothing else even on the market that comes close, other than a KORG OASYS.

Regards
Sharp.

synthdogg wrote:

EvilDragon wrote:Blergh. One potential buyer gone. Hundreds of others still wanting. Bad for you. Good for Korg!

What do you mean..."Bad for him?" This is good for him...he knows the Kronos is not the right keyboard for him. Why is that bad? He already owns a keyboard that has what he wants the way he wants it, he doesn't need to sell it at a loss and spend a ton of extra money on a new keyboard...just because it's new.
WTF?

Forget him, he often comes here, makes a sentence-or-two post to provoke and then moves on....

Oh well. You know I will figure something out. I should probably buy an extra M3 for parts and work on getting an Oasis to hold over until Korg makes another keyboard with them on it. They probably figured the cost of the pads would help to offset the cost of the SSD Drive. Also yes I am aware of osc's pixel level its the immediate reaction to taps that is problematic or the reaction time.

Nowhere will you get as much power and sound quality in a single workstation for such a price.

Depends on what you consider useful and sound quality is subjective but yes the Kronos sounds good. I don't find the Korg sequencers to be useful when we have such a wealth of software to pick from, also the sample loading on the M3 was a pain. I find that many of the small things matter allowing for you to get music done at a faster rate. I love the sounds of Korg keyboards so that is the primary reason to buy.

My friend, you can do whatever you wish to do. I love the pads on these instruments. Every factory Combination and Program I've created (well over 400 in OASYS and many more in KRONOS) has chord pads assigned. I love composition via chord pads - it's a very unique and special ability. I totally respect your wish to have that. And yea, it can be sweet for triggering drums, but I didn't use it that way very often.... I've used my 10 fingers on keys for many years.

My guess is it's a LOT more than adding $150.00 to the price tag and you have to realize that once you cross that magical $2,995.00 mark into the 3K+ mark, the market of possible buyers shrinks BIG TIME. Oh and we're still in a financial mess around the world and releasing something like this in 2011 is a risk in and of itself.

I don't know what to tell you, Attic. If you keep a KARMA or M3 around, then you already have pads you can use. I don't know, there are a lot of black and white keys to press that work well, too.

I'd suggest going to a music store when Kronos is out and play it. It's truly the best sounding and most capable single instrument I've worked on for Korg since 1988 (and that includes the M1, Wavestation, Z1 (AMAZING SYNTH!!), Trinity, Triton, OASYS, Wavedrums (both versions) and many more).

Maybe you'll find a way to use this instrument (I'm guessing you will ). However!! If you don't want the best sounds we've ever created because of rubber pads...... there's not much else to say.

Peace.

Attic wrote:Oh well. You know I will figure something out. I should probably buy an extra M3 for parts and work on getting an Oasis to hold over until Korg makes another keyboard with them on it. They probably figured the cost of the pads would help to offset the cost of the SSD Drive. Also yes I am aware of osc's pixel level its the immediate reaction to taps that is problematic or the reaction time.

Sharp wrote:This thread is utterly ridiculous from the point of view of.... Nowhere will you get as much power and sound quality in a single workstation for such a price. The keyboard is insane value for money across the board.

There's nothing else even on the market that comes close, other than a KORG OASYS.

Regards
Sharp.

+100

Congratulations, most ridiculous Kronos thread so far... An OASYS for under 3k. Forget it, no 8 pads. Um yeah. Was offered an MS-20 for $400 but it doesn't have pads so I'll pass.

Hi

I would love to see Attic posting on a Roland forum about they forgot to put more synths engines or multiGB samples xD

It's almost incredible read a complain about a real minor feature on a workstation. at this time, none of the competition can offer something like KRONOS and for a keyboard/piano player it's almost unnecessary the drum pads, for others its fun and for a for others util... but a deal breaker?!?!? it has KEYS!!!!! if they forgot to put all C or a few sharp keys I would understand, but a few rubber pads!!!!

But, maybe Attic would find a real deal to pay the same for 16 rubber pads and a few more for a few expantions and lose 8-6 synth engines and a "few" GB of samples.

yep a real deal breaker, I dont understand when all of us lose the focus and we are starting to think that the synths engines and tons of samples are more important on a synth that the drum pads. I can't understand the success of the M1, DX7 D-50 or Triton or the Motifs and K2000 series without the drum pads. xD

Regards.
Alvaro.

-
Come on guys...he needs the rubbers for sex with the kronos...yes, we will all be having musical orgasms once we take delivery of this baby

Billy

Why do you need pads when you have keys? They were designed for drum machines and it cracks me up everytime I saw someone playing pads on a Roland fantom when the keys are right there? Lol... Good riddance, Korg

I'm glad they didn't - they take a lot of beating (pardon the pun), and if one breaks I much prefer being able to send off just the pads for repair rather than the entire keyboard.

Besides, it's a synth, not a drum machine!

Slovenec wrote:The lack of pads is no big deal for me. I have a Novation SL61 controller and dislike it's drum pads. I've also played both a Roland Fantom X and Fantom G and couldn't get used to their pads. I know it's a personal thing, but I feel much more comfortable using an actual keyboard to play drum sounds.

The pads on the fantom are unusable because they are very hard and it's difficult to trigger them.
Triggering chords or drums is not the only possibility to use the pads.
I was using the pads on my M3 in quite a lot of my live combinations. They are very handy for triggering samples, sampled effects and similar stuff.
It's sometimes more convenient to hit the pad, instead putting the sample somewhere on the keybed. On the keybed you usually put them somewhere far left or right to avoid the important keys where you play sounds. And than it can be difficult to reach for a key far left or right. Hitting a pad is in that case far more easier. Even complex riffs and lines which consist of some difficult chords can be preprogrammed on pads and be triggered very easily from the pads.
I would never play drums from the pads too.
It's definitely not a deal breaker for me, but I fell somehow sad that they left the pads out of the keyboard. I consider them as just another controller or way to play sounds and in quite a lot of cases they can be a very handy way to support your performance.

I wonder if I could use that Arturia Spark(Or DSI's Tempest even) as midi controller for Kronos.

Just get a padkontrol. You get 16 of them. Very handy and the pads feel great. Plus, the pads on the workstation can get worn and some complain they wear out. With an external controller midi to your board, you don't have to worry.

Megakazbek wrote:Well, if you think it's worth it to miss all the fun of Kronos just because you don't want to use external pad controller and for some reason require it to be necessarily onboard, then good for you. But why do you need to tell the whole world about it on the internet?

probably for the same reason why you felt compelled to answer him.

Bitter petty recriminations and brainless cheerleading feed each other.