Kronos X sound quality?

godparticle · Post by **godparticle** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 6:14 pm

Either i'm deaf, or i swear the kronos X sounds phatter and overall slightly better than the original kronos. Anyone care to comment?

Formerly I was of the opinion that the original Kronos sounded a bit thin and had the typical korg sound to a large extent, but now, listening to the Kronos X it sounds fuller and more realistic than the original kronos, am i dreaming, or is it possible that Korg modified the filters for the Kronos X? Any thoughts, or does anyone know more about this from official sources?

Diego5150 · Post by **Diego5150** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 7:15 pm

I haven't seen anything regarding any difference between the original Kronos and the X besides the memory increase. And the only people that can answer your question regarding the sound difference is someone that has had both the original and the X. I am not one of them being that I purchased the X roughly 1 year ago.

Rigel · Post by **Rigel** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:44 pm

I had a 61 key K for about a year, then sold it for a good price to buy a 73 key KX, which I now have for just under a year. I must say they have the same superb build and sound quality.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:24 pm

If those are the options, apparently you're deaf, since they use the exact same software and audio circuitry.

I'll go for secret option number three - a variation on the placebo effect?

ed_f · Post by **ed_f** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 9:39 pm

SanderXpander wrote:If those are the options, apparently you're deaf, since they use the exact same software and audio circuitry.

I'll go for secret option number three - a variation on the placebo effect?

X has to be more, doesn't it?!

R Brenon · Post by **R Brenon** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:06 pm

I think it could be ones mood. It's sickalogical.
Or, you could of had a messed up one and not known it unless you loaded the whole system all over again. The first one I got sounded like garbage. Why? because the place I bought it from messed it up and as a new user I didn't know what to expect sound wise.

shaneblyth · Post by **shaneblyth** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:00 am

Its no just the hardware that determines the sound quality it is possible that the software itself can effect the sound quality. I don't have the original to compare

neomad · Post by **neomad** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:16 am

SanderXpander wrote:If those are the options, apparently you're deaf, since they use the exact same software and audio circuitry.

I'll go for secret option number three - a variation on the placebo effect?

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:46 am

I have no doubt you heard a difference, my questions to you would be;

1 did you listen to them at the same time at the same location?
2 did they have the same version of software and firmware?

Just listen to how much better the new cx3 sounds compared before this latest software/firmware update. And Location plays a big part in this also as does where both instruments programs or combis you listened to identical? If one had some tweaking done there is another reason for the difference.

And of course place o effect, it affects us all as does how fatigued our ears our when we listen.

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:44 am

shaneblyth wrote:Its no just the hardware that determines the sound quality it is possible that the software itself can effect the sound quality. I don't have the original to compare

The software is identical, assuming both are updated to the same version.

markn · Post by **markn** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:46 pm

KronosX sounds better indeed, if you use better speakers

godparticle · Post by **godparticle** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 7:49 pm

I've done some A/B side by side tests of the same songs and the kronos X seems indeed to have a slightly fuller sound, more weight in the bottom-end, and a slightly more pleasing organic natural tone to the midrange and upper-mids. Yep, there is a more pleasing organic tone to the entire audio-spectrum. I'm absolutely adamant that this is the case. It is slight, but slight in all the right ways.

I reckon this is a good thing, because personally i always stayed away from buying korg because of the thinnish spacey sound to their tone, but i do believe they have made an attempt to rectify this with the X version. From what i'm hearing I reckon the X version has had the filters tweaked or modified slightly. Korg probably will not come-out and admit this, but i've done some very intense side-by-side tests with close analysis listening to multiple songs and this does seem to be the case.

All we need is for a Korg employee to come in and tell us the truth about this.

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:32 pm

godparticle wrote: personally i always stayed away from buying korg because of the thinnish spacey sound to their tone

Perhaps it's the headphones or sound system you're using.

I've owned both a Triton and M3 for several years now, and both have hotter signals than my other keyboards and workstations... and they sound very full and fat. I can shake the walls with them in fact! Often when playing live, the sound engineer has told me I'm drowning out the rest of the band. Never had that comment when I was using Yamaha or Kurzweil keyboards...

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:03 pm

The only way to test this objectively is to create a short MIDI file that demonstrates the difference that you hear.
-Make sure settings are the same on both keyboards.
-Record the audio output of the two Kronos keyboards into a DAW or audio editor.
-Ensure gain is the same between the two files.
-Chop the file into 2-3 second segments so that the listener can hear one and immediately the other Kronos.
-Repeat this X number of times.

It's important the listener hears only a few seconds of comparison at a time. Lengthy comparisons have far less value.

If there is a difference it should be audible when triggered by the same MIDI file.

Busch.

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:48 pm

godparticle wrote:I've done some A/B side by side tests of the same songs and the kronos X seems indeed to have a slightly fuller sound, more weight in the bottom-end, and a slightly more pleasing organic natural tone to the midrange and upper-mids. Yep, there is a more pleasing organic tone to

I reckon this is a good thing, because personally i always stayed away from buying korg because of the thinnish spacey sound to their tone, but i do believe they have made an attempt to rectify this with the X version. From what i'm hearing I reckon the X version has had the filters tweaked or modified slightly. Korg probably will not come-out and admit this, but i've done some very intense side-by-side tests with close analysis listening to multiple songs and this does seem to be the case.
All we need is for a Korg employee to come in and tell us the truth about this.

I enjoy corporate conspiracies.

My Kronos sounds a little better to me day every day I play it. I bet there is some nano organic technology baked in.

All we need is an employee to tell the truth about this, etc