Korg NAUTILUS

[Song80s]

I am sure the Nautilus sounds are excellent, many instruments more robust than Kronos.

 

essentially, thats the siren call, how the keyboard sounds.

 

And I predict a $1200 stimulus in the US ,early 2021- which will burn a hole in many a pocket.

 

Korgs timing is smart. Fantom has been out there and Yamaha is solid with their line up.

 

Shiney new thing.

[ElmerJFudd]

I am sure the Nautilus sounds are excellent, many instruments more robust than Kronos.

 

essentially, thats the siren call, how the keyboard sounds.

 

And I predict a $1200 stimulus in the US ,early 2021- which will burn a hole in many a pocket.

 

Korgs timing is smart. Fantom has been out there and Yamaha is solid with their line up.

 

Shiney new thing.

 

No faders, no AT, no RH3, no go for me. I"d rather wait for a deal on a Kronos. $500 off ain"t bad.

[Song80s]

even better, wait for a quality used Kronos, for $1200-$1500

 

There are thousands of them out there, potentially. The used Kronos market is potentially exponential over the next months.

 

I am just as frugal as you are. But its not ' all about me ' .

 

And when Jordan Rudess and other pro's gush and drool over Nautilus, heads will turn.

 

Korg is smart like this. If the potential Korg customer is evaluating new Kronos vs Nautilus, 80% of this crowd

will get the Nautilus.

 

And we haven't heard much demo of Nautilus.

 

Most Nautilus sounds are more robust than Kronos. Owners will get used to virtual controls.

 

Watch how the Korg marketing machine plays it. They are very smart.

[David Emm]

I was listening to the excellent Woody Piano Shack presets demo and its properly impressive, but I was struck by how much arranger-type material was in it. I also heard a smidge of Triton LE, which puts an amusing perspective on the recent burst of vintage recycling in tools like the Jupiter Xm.

 

It highlights the relative weakness of hollering for "something new." We keep getting great variations and refinements, but there's an outer limit to constantly demanding novelty. These sounds persist because they ARE *The Sounds*. Its not about a brilliant new wavefolder's muscle; its about the context in which you apply it.

 

The Nautilus gives me a certain nostalgic glow. I was orgasmic to have floppies I could feed an 01Wfd, by the ton. Now my entire musical world is backed up on a few HDs and a small bucket of flash drives. Wow. I can't look at it from my own seasoned/calcified view alone. I'm thinking about some budding composer or young jazz lion whose eyes bug out like a Tex Avery character's upon laying hands to a serious workstation for the first time.

[Mighty Motif Max]

I'm curious whether the Kronos Japanese Grand and Berlin Grand are in the Nautilus. I am *not* liking the sound of the "Nautilus Grand" sound...it's almost lo-fi and has a pretty narrow stereo image, and it has a "boxiness" to it. My Krome has a better piano sound. Hopefully the Kronos pianos can all work with it.

[Docbop]

I'm curious whether the Kronos Japanese Grand and Berlin Grand are in the Nautilus. I am *not* liking the sound of the "Nautilus Grand" sound...it's almost lo-fi and has a pretty narrow stereo image, and it has a "boxiness" to it. My Krome has a better piano sound. Hopefully the Kronos pianos can all work with it.

 

On the Korg Nautilus website there is a PDF of all the sounds and which ones are from the Kronos and which are new to Nautilus.

[uhoh7]

No aftertouch? WTF?

 

This disturbing trend continues.

 

Where is my osmose?

[EscapeRocks]

No aftertouch? WTF?

 

This disturbing trend continues.

 

Where is my osmose?

 

Buy the Kronos.

 

Most of the manufactures are only including aftertouch on the Flagship version.

 

Yamaha Montage

Roland Fantom

off the top of my head

[Fleer]

PC4. Only $1999 or even less.

[Radagast]

I am sure the Nautilus sounds are excellent, many instruments more robust than Kronos.

 

essentially, thats the siren call, how the keyboard sounds.

 

And I predict a $1200 stimulus in the US ,early 2021- which will burn a hole in many a pocket.

 

Korgs timing is smart. Fantom has been out there and Yamaha is solid with their line up.

 

Shiney new thing.

 

No faders, no AT, no RH3, no go for me. I"d rather wait for a deal on a Kronos. $500 off ain"t bad.

 

 

According to Sweetwater, the $500 discount on Kronos models is temporary.

 

 

 

even better, wait for a quality used Kronos, for $1200-$1500

 

There are thousands of them out there, potentially. The used Kronos market is potentially exponential over the next months.

 

I am just as frugal as you are. But its not ' all about me ' .

 

 

After hearing all the problems people have had with their Kronos, I wouldn't want to buy one without a warranty.

[ElmerJFudd]

After hearing all the problems people have had with their Kronos, I wouldn't want to buy one without a warranty.

 

Two thoughts on that line of thinking. Mechanical problems with Kronos and other instruments are typically only a % of owners/units. I believe Korg addressed RH3 action problems with a revision at some point. The Kronos has been around for 9 years and has received software updates. It's an established instrument and has gotten as much attention from Korg as any of their instruments is going to get. Nautilus is an unknown at the moment. Mechanically they are going with a new design and new action. I am sure it benefits from time spent on the Kronos in many ways, but it is still a first run from the factory. How many they sell has everything to do with how much attention it gets after release.

[Song80s]

After hearing all the problems people have had with their Kronos, I wouldn't want to buy one without a warranty.

 

Two thoughts on that line of thinking. Mechanical problems with Kronos and other instruments are typically only a % of owners/units. I believe Korg addressed RH3 action problems with a revision at some point. The Kronos has been around for 9 years and has received software updates. It's an established instrument and has gotten as much attention from Korg as any of their instruments is going to get. Nautilus is an unknown at the moment. Mechanically they are going with a new design and new action. I am sure it benefits from time spent on the Kronos in many ways, but it is still a first run from the factory. How many they sell has everything to do with how much attention it gets after release.

 

exactly

 

Internet ' reports' will always magnify the actual % of factory/owner mechanical problems.

 

When buying used and spending a big chunk of money, I recommend a phone call with the seller. And get to the bottom of any issues, condition, cosmetic, mechanical..

 

Ultimately, the buyers credit card will provide protection for on line purchase.

[Song80s]

by the way, it sounds very good:

 

[AquilaRift]

So regarding the lack of aftertouch in pretty much all of Korg's recent products, is it really that cost-prohibitive to design and install a strip under the keybed? This is practically ancient tech, and channel aftertouch used to be standard on the vast majority of keyboards from all manufacturers. Maybe I'm too old and my expectations are too high, but I don't understand why manufacturers are eschewing aftertouch. How much are they really saving in design and manufacturing costs here?

[ElmerJFudd]

So regarding the lack of aftertouch in pretty much all of Korg's recent products, is it really that cost-prohibitive to design and install a strip under the keybed? This is practically ancient tech, and channel aftertouch used to be standard on the vast majority of keyboards from all manufacturers. Maybe I'm too old and my expectations are too high, but I don't understand why manufacturers are eschewing aftertouch. How much are they really saving in design and manufacturing costs here?

 

The question for the manufacturer is always more related, one would imagine, to if customers will miss it. They apparently believe there are enough customers who don't list it as "must have". As far as adding to cost - well you have the material, the installation and the reliability - warranty repairs are also factored into overall cost of an instrument.

 

Roland made the same decision with the Jupiter-50. Jupiter-80 gets the better action with AT, Jupiter-50 does not.

[bjosko]

There should be a video up in about 5 minutes from Dr Mix :

[video:youtube]

[ElmerJFudd]

The scooped bottom looks like Genos, No?

[Theo Verelst]

As I recall it, the first day I got my Poly800 (Korg, obviously), which was my first bought polysynth I had partially worked a summer job for after high school, and of course wanted great and thundering sounds from (...) I was terribly disappointed when after some experimentation I found out it had only 1 (one) filter!

 

Now I suppose some people will dig the sound of this one, and might feel ok about that, but I have the feeling in the long run, not so much. If I would be in a place where I could play this instrument as a choice, I don't think I would bother getting it out of the box.

 

TV

[Mighty Motif Max]

The thing about it is that the Kronos sounds way better to me. I think maybe Korg is going for mono-compatibility with the pianos this time around, but as much as I don't care for Korg pianos in general, this is significantly worse than the Kronos or Krome IMO. Although like I said it's probably decent in mono. The other sounds just sound way more artificial than the Kronos, which makes no sense considering the Kronos isn't perfect in all regards.

[Song80s]

The thing about it is that the Kronos sounds way better to me. I think maybe Korg is going for mono-compatibility with the pianos this time around, but as much as I don't care for Korg pianos in general, this is significantly worse than the Kronos or Krome IMO. Although like I said it's probably decent in mono. The other sounds just sound way more artificial than the Kronos, which makes no sense considering the Kronos isn't perfect in all regards.

 

you might have your mind made up but I don't go by YouTube audio 'quality '.

 

Soundcloud has better audio for on line listening.

[Mighty Motif Max]

The thing about it is that the Kronos sounds way better to me. I think maybe Korg is going for mono-compatibility with the pianos this time around, but as much as I don't care for Korg pianos in general, this is significantly worse than the Kronos or Krome IMO. Although like I said it's probably decent in mono. The other sounds just sound way more artificial than the Kronos, which makes no sense considering the Kronos isn't perfect in all regards.

 

you might have your mind made up but I don't go by YouTube audio 'quality '.

 

Soundcloud has better audio for on line listening.

I've heard Korg's SoundCloud examples. I still think the Kronos sounds better, even though they are basically the same keyboard underneath. Who knows, maybe it's just the specific presets demonstrated that are bad. I know that the Krome Grand on my Korg Krome is not as good as the other piano variations that are based on the same samples. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that sounds/programs that have the keyboard's name in them are generally inferior to other sounds on the same keyboard.

[Song80s]

The thing about it is that the Kronos sounds way better to me. I think maybe Korg is going for mono-compatibility with the pianos this time around, but as much as I don't care for Korg pianos in general, this is significantly worse than the Kronos or Krome IMO. Although like I said it's probably decent in mono. The other sounds just sound way more artificial than the Kronos, which makes no sense considering the Kronos isn't perfect in all regards.

 

you might have your mind made up but I don't go by YouTube audio 'quality '.

 

Soundcloud has better audio for on line listening.

I've heard Korg's SoundCloud examples. I still think the Kronos sounds better, even though they are basically the same keyboard underneath. Who knows, maybe it's just the specific presets demonstrated that are bad. I know that the Krome Grand on my Korg Krome is not as good as the other piano variations that are based on the same samples. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that sounds/programs that have the keyboard's name in them are generally inferior to other sounds on the same keyboard.

 

thats cool, I think its a bit early, and we will hear much more on the instruments.

 

As a long time Kronos owner [ and MODX since Sept] , I think I can already a diff in the Nautilus instruments [ A vs B].

 

I am biased, always been a fan of Korg sound programming.

 

So far, I would prefer the enhancements in Nautilus.

 

This is what Korg does very well, assuming one likes the Korg approach.

[Moonglow]

The thing about it is that the Kronos sounds way better to me. I think maybe Korg is going for mono-compatibility with the pianos this time around, but as much as I don't care for Korg pianos in general, this is significantly worse than the Kronos or Krome IMO. Although like I said it's probably decent in mono. The other sounds just sound way more artificial than the Kronos, which makes no sense considering the Kronos isn't perfect in all regards.

I look forward to this comparison. I have a Kronos and the pianos sound good in stereo; mono, not so much. The problem is that I usually run mono, and the only stock mono piano in the Kronos is an OASYS program. The Grandstage offers a mono version of the Italian (I think) grand, that I found to have a rather punchy sound which appealed to me. I wonder if that program, and perhaps other dedicated mono piano programs, are available in the Nautilus?

[mobi]

At current price Nautilus will be a miss, they're using the same old technology, archaic sample system,dated sequencer, 1999's file management limitations, etc,etc

 

I think the Korg marketing department are kinda aware of this, they're changing the marketing strategy, Korg never used to send so many units to Youtubers for a product lunch

[konaboy]

they sent out 3 afaik for the launch, dr mix, loopop and myself. that's very few units. opsix on the other hand went out to a half dozen youtubers, cheaper unit I guess.

 

Buying a well-made professionally produced video, with compelling demonstrations plus the exposure from the big channels for just cost price of a synth (wild guess $400 for opsix?) must be very attractive for the brands.

 

These guys get more views than the official channels, especially when combined. so it must be a no brainer really for the manufacturers, especially in these times where we aren't getting out as much to shops or expos. That's why this trend will likely continue.

[Docbop]

At current price Nautilus will be a miss, they're using the same old technology, archaic sample system,dated sequencer, 1999's file management limitations, etc,etc

 

I think the Korg marketing department are kinda aware of this, they're changing the marketing strategy, Korg never used to send so many units to Youtubers for a product lunch

 

 

It's a different world right now with the pandemic and sending demo units to stores isn't going to work right now. A handful of well done YouTubes are probably create more interest than a thousand demo units in stores. Also isn't is about 30% less than a Kronos so when talking flagship prices that's a good discount. I think the Nautilus is a way to keep a good selling product alive longer. Renaming it also justifies redesigning it to reduce manufacturing cost some and make an opening for a new flagship product and retire the Kronos.

 

Besides all my technical background I spent a few years doing product management and a lot of the above is from thinking like being a marketeer again.

[Hubi]

Here in Germany at Thomann the Nautilus 88 is 2.899,- while the Kronos 73 is only 2.739,-

 

https://www.thomann.de/de/korg_nautilus_88.htm

 

https://www.thomann.de/de/korg_kronos_73.htm

 

 

So of course I will go for the Kronos.

[mobi]

Here in Germany at Thomann the Nautilus 88 is 2.899,- while the Kronos 73 is only 2.739,-

 

 

The only logic behind this IMHO, they want to get rid of the Kronos, get some R&D funds with the Nautilus, so in one or two years bring something new

[Docbop]

That $500 USD price cut is only till December 31st so price difference will go away in 2021. Which makes me wonder if there will be something new in the Kronos space in the next year.

[AnotherScott]

That $500 USD price cut is only till December 31st so price difference will go away in 2021. Which makes me wonder if there will be something new in the Kronos space in the next year.

Could be. If nothing else, they don't have to worry about lots of people not buying the Kronos units currently in the warehouse because of deciding to wait for the Nautilus instead.