Korg Forums

I think the Kronos is the best sounding keyboard on the market. Yet the fan is audible in a quiet environment. This has prevented me from buying the Kronos.

On the KRONOS Fan Fix topic, many people have found relief from fan noise by using the Noiseblocker fan (Francois added a gasket to further reduce noise).

My technical question for Korg is this: Do you know if the stock Kronos fan cools better than the quieter Noiseblocker fan?

If both fans are effective, I will happily pay an extra $500 to swap the fan (w/gasket) at the factory—so that my warranty is not voided. If Korg cannot swap the fan at the factory, yet both fans are effective, I will swap the fan myself and forego the warranty. Just let me know.

Help me buy your product.

Huh? $500 for a fan? Must be made out of gold!

davidnaggar wrote: My technical question for Korg is this: Do you know if the stock Kronos fan cools better than the quieter Noiseblocker fan?

Hi, David. We've talked elsewhere; I hope that all is well.

Please note that this is not an official forum for technical support; questions for which you need an answer from Korg must be directed to your Korg distributor (Korg USA in your case, I believe). Matters of service and warranty are solely in the domain of the distributor, and may vary in different nations. I can guess at what they would say, but you really need to talk with them directly.

Best regards,

Dan

Thanks Dan, hope all is well with you too, and thanks for your reply. Time and again I appreciate the extra effort you make on behalf of Korg.

I have already spoken directly with Korg USA, and as undoubtedly you’ve guessed, I have had no success in getting an answer. That is why I have posted the question here.

David

davidnaggar wrote:Thanks Dan, hope all is well with you too, and thanks for your reply. Time and again I appreciate the extra effort you make on behalf of Korg.

I have already spoken directly with Korg USA, and as undoubtedly you’ve guessed, I have had no success in getting an answer. That is why I have posted the question here.

David

Did you not get an answer, or did they say that they could not recommend replacing the fan? I'm guessing the latter.

Dan, I did not get an answer. They said that they've only had two or three complaints about the fan and that there was no inherent problem with the fan. One could infer that they were not recommending fan replacement.

By the way, I did ask if it was possible for me to contact someone on the hardware design side but they said no.

My question remains unanswered, so I have posted it here.

It sounds to me like your question has been answered, but you don't like that answer. I'm sorry about that, but it's normal for companies to discourage internal modifications; if I asked Apple to comment on third-party fans for my Mac Pro, for instance, I'm quite certain that I would be told something similar.

There's a thread on this forum about fan replacements; perhaps you might find some of the comments there to be helpful. Note that such modifications are not supported by Korg and may void your warranty.

2 or 3 complaints about the fan, that sounds a little optimistic!

Dan,

Choosing not to answer a question is not an answer. Please don’t Catch-22 me.

I value your work. In your role at Korg, I accept that you are personally constrained from saying anything other than the things you’ve said.

It is my hope that someone—perhaps from the Korg hardware design/manufacturing end of things—can obtain permission from the higher ups to shed some light for me.

I’d like to get on with my purchase of the Kronos X. I’d like to know if there is a technical reason, rather than a cost reason, that the Noiseblocker/gasket solution is not effective.

Is this really too much to ask?

Seems like you're getting a pretty clear answer, honestly. Korg does not generally support replacement of such parts. Advising you on replacement would, in my non-binding and unofficial opinion, constitute support. I'm sorry, I know that isn't the answer you're hoping for.

davidnaggar wrote:Dan,

Choosing not to answer a question is not an answer. Please don’t Catch-22 me.

I value your work. In your role at Korg, I accept that you are personally constrained from saying anything other than the things you’ve said.

It is my hope that someone—perhaps from the Korg hardware design/manufacturing end of things—can obtain permission from the higher ups to shed some light for me.

I’d like to get on with my purchase of the Kronos X. I’d like to know if there is a technical reason, rather than a cost reason, that the Noiseblocker/gasket solution is not effective.

Is this really too much to ask?

I worked for Sony for 10 years and all electronics co's operate and communicate in a similar manner. When a handful of consumers or potential customers have a question about a part improvements or alternative part acceptability, these companies are not going to make exceptions to the product design and manufacture.

These co's don't go back to re-engineer the product or 2nd guess what was done 2-3 years ago. It is what it is, etc.

In this case the fan is perfectly ok for 99% of customers. I understand the ambient noise bugs some. Its a personal ( what is the risk, what is the reward ) decision if a customer wants to swap out the fan.

Dont let fan noise hold you up. Its not that bad. Plus you will own the best workstation on the planet..

The fan noise is not that bad. There are times when it's a bit more noticeable but overall it is not a show stopper by any means. My concern was that if it was a defect, maybe the fan would fail sooner. But it is the fan Korg has chosen and with a 2 year warranty, I have no burning desire to open it up, void my warranty and replace it.

If I were recording ambient sound in a quiet studio and doing it with sensitive microphones, it may be noticeable, but otherwise I've come to think of it as a reassuring hum that the fan is working. Now I'd be worried if it stopped!!

In the meantime, i have a keyboard that meets ALL my needs and gives me versatility and inspiration like I've not had before.

The fan shouldn't stop anyone from buying something as good as the Kronos! But I found the noise of mine hard to tolerate in calm situations (home studio), just like half a dozen of a dozen Kronos users I know. From that and from German forum contacts I heavily doubt that the fan nosie disturbs only a small minority. At the same time it is well known that a silent high quality fan can heavily reduce the noise without reducing the airflow.

It would be wise IMHO if Korg accepted replacement by more silent fans of higher quality (with comparable specs) at least in context with authorized repair, without voiding the guarantee. This would mean tolerating a solution without acknowleding an issue (which I understand can't be expected from Korg).

I myself would anytime again go a step further and rather void my garuantee than tolerate constantly disturbing fan noise from an otherwise excellent instrument. And I would only keep the inbuild fan, if it did not disturb me (which seems to be the case for many users).

Can there be a random factor here ?

I can hardly notice there is a fan in my Kronos... Or maybe I should get my ears checked ?