Kronos x 61

[MusicaL]

I have an opportunity to buy this board for around $2,320. Is this a good price or should I hold out for something less expensive? It's from an online store.

 

I checked the sold auctions on eBay and ballparked the price to around $2,200. So this one is roughly $100 more.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

aL

[JimboK]

Sounds like you just answered your own question. I wouldn't mind paying a higher price then the sold auctions but then I'd want a retailer I could trust.

 

If you want motivation/affirmation to buy a Kronos, that's yours to say, but I love mine.

 

 

[Song80s]

I have an opportunity to buy this board for around $2,320. Is this a good price or should I hold out for something less expensive? It's from an online store.

 

I checked the sold auctions on eBay and ballparked the price to around $2,200. So this one is roughly $100 more.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

aL

 

Call sweetwater for a quote on the brand new kronos 2

 

I thought I read they were $200 less

[Sven Golly]

Kronos 2 isn't shipping until Feb 2015, folks. Lets relax.

[Song80s]

Kronos 2 isn't shipping until Feb 2015, folks. Lets relax.

 

if you state it, it must be so

[Outkaster]

Great keyboards

[Dana.]

 

I'm not hearing anything here that your current boards can't do better, including the new Berlin grand which, quite frankly, sounds lousy. Good luck making it through the first demo.

[MorayM]

 

You're right, I couldn't!

[Song80s]

 

I'm not hearing anything here that your current boards can't do better, including the new Berlin grand which, quite frankly, sounds lousy. Good luck making it through the first demo.

 

That's good to know. Not only will bunches of money be saved, tons of discussion time will not be wasted on the Internet

[burningbusch]

 

I'm not hearing anything here that your current boards can't do better, including the new Berlin grand which, quite frankly, sounds lousy. Good luck making it through the first demo.

 

That's good to know. Not only will bunches of money be saved, tons of discussion time will not be wasted on the Internet

 

Just remember, if Korg made it IT SUCKS. If Nord or Yamaha made it, IT'S GREAT. If Casio made it, IT'S GREAT BECAUSE IT'S A VALUE. If Roland made it, IT PROBABLY SUCKS UNLESS IT'S REALLY CHEAP AND REALLY LIGHT. And so on...

 

Busch.

[Dana.]

That's good to know. Not only will bunches of money be saved, tons of discussion time will not be wasted on the Internet

See how easy it can be?

[MusicaL]

That was a tough few seconds listening to the demo.

 

My thinking on the Kronos is simple. I have two to three boards that are essentially gathering dust. The An1x has not been fired up in a while because programming that thing is a pain. The PC3 is sitting in my son's bedroom also sort of being unused. I just never warmed up to that board.The Moxf8 has been a nice addition but I've been there done that with the motif soundest through my initial S80 and then my motif ES. If the updated CX3 engine is all it's cracked up to be, the Numa may also be on the chopping block. Bottom line is I would like to consolidate and reduce the number of boards.

 

Yes the Nord pianos are more to my liking than the Korg's, but the Kronos does many things the Nord doesn't (good sequencer, arpeggiator, and combis, besides all the engines and editing possibilities.) If nothing else, since I've been looking for variety in the EP soundest I currently have, the Kronos is going to fill that need quite nicely. Also, as a utilitarian Swiss army knife kind of a board, it gives me a passable if not solid B3 emulation (certainly a different flavor from what I currently have), synth leads and pads galore, good bass guitars out of the box for my pop blues band (where I play LHB) and of course the EP's.

 

The Nord pianos are not that great sounding live unless you go stereo. I've been playing mono for several years now. There is a chance (albeit slim) the Kronos pianos can pass muster in mono, but the jury is still out on that front and I'm not holding my breath.

 

Last but not least, I pulled the trigger on the board. Looking forward to using it on my next gig in December.

 

Thanks for all your feedback.

 

aL

[Dana.]

Busch,

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your Rhodes and Clav samples against the stock sounds in the Kronos?

[Song80s]

 

I'm not hearing anything here that your current boards can't do better, including the new Berlin grand which, quite frankly, sounds lousy. Good luck making it through the first demo.

 

That's good to know. Not only will bunches of money be saved, tons of discussion time will not be wasted on the Internet

 

Just remember, if Korg made it IT SUCKS. If Nord or Yamaha made it, IT'S GREAT. If Casio made it, IT'S GREAT BECAUSE IT'S A VALUE. If Roland made it, IT PROBABLY SUCKS UNLESS IT'S REALLY CHEAP AND REALLY LIGHT. And so on...

 

Busch.

 

now I wonder why I even invested in those many years in school, university, MBA classes , to develop critical thinking, skills, etc, etc.

 

I could have skipped all that by listening to the gurus !

 

There is still hope for those under 16 yrs of age. Don't do what I did

[MotiDave]

 

I'm not hearing anything here that your current boards can't do better, including the new Berlin grand which, quite frankly, sounds lousy. Good luck making it through the first demo.

 

That's good to know. Not only will bunches of money be saved, tons of discussion time will not be wasted on the Internet

 

Just remember, if Korg made it IT SUCKS. If Nord or Yamaha made it, IT'S GREAT. If Casio made it, IT'S GREAT BECAUSE IT'S A VALUE. If Roland made it, IT PROBABLY SUCKS UNLESS IT'S REALLY CHEAP AND REALLY LIGHT. And so on...

 

Busch.

And if its a newly launched Kurz ... for gods sake DO NOT mention any minor bugs. No matter how minor or trivial, all it will do is prove you are a saboteur out to destroy a great company!

[burningbusch]

Regarding the stock clavs in the Kronos, they're pretty basic ROMpler stuff. I did this compare against the Nord clav (which is obviously one of the better hardware clavs)

 

Nord Clav <-> Purgatory Creek D6

 

I have the Mark I (1970) and Mark V available for free download. These have been completely redone with release samples, re-voiced, new programs, etc. but the new versions have not been released.

 

I have also been working on two other Rhodes. One is my favorite, 1975 (week 4) Suitcase.

 

Here's what Chicago Electric Piano Company says about this era of Rhodes, and I couldn't agree more.

 

Mid 74-Late 75: The Golden Year of the Mark I

For just over one year in the mid 1970′s the Rhodes piano hit its stride. Although most of our favorite pianos happen to be from 72, this single year of production has some of the best design characteristics. Mid 74 is the same time that the Fender Rhodes name was changed to Rhodes and the curved skirted plastic key caps were replaced with the fitted key caps that you find on an acoustic piano which greatly improved the feel of the instrument. However, the key pedestal design was still lacking and some of the pianos from this era have sluggish action without being properly setup or modified for better response.

 

These are the only Rhodes pianos that still have the quintessential Fender Rhodes bark with beefier bass and mid tones."

 

Here's very quick, rhythmically flawed demo. Nearly every note sampled, plays like a dream in the Kronos.

1975-4thweek Suitcase

 

My goal is to provide the largest library of highly detailed electro-mechanical instruments in hardware--Kronos only. These will be offered free or at very reasonable prices. This is what the list looks like so far.

 

Mark I [1970] - Done

Mark V [1985] - Done

Mark II [1984] - Sampling done, needs programing

Mark I [1975] - Sampling done save release samples, needs programing/voicing

Clavinet D6 - Done (8 velocities, full duration, release samples)

Clavinet C - Sampling done two pickups (8 velocities, full duration, release samples)

Pianet T - Sampling done (5 velocities, full duration)

Wurlitzer 200a - Sampling nearly done (8 velocities, full duration, release samples)

Jen String Machine - Sampling done

ARP Quadra Strings - Sampling done

Pianet N - Unit is in repair, status unknown

 

The Kronos is a sampling powerhouse. If you're only using the stock sounds it's nearly criminal.

 

Busch.

[burningbusch]

Here's a quick demo of my Clavinet C in the Kronos

 

Purgatory Creek Soundware Clavinet C

 

Busch.

[Dana.]

Busch,

 

No question, your samples are excellent, with better tone and detail than ROMpler stuff (including the Motif, lest there be any doubt). In fact, a while back, I downloaded your Mark V -- and I paid you for it.

 

But here's one of the points I'm getting at: what does it say about Korg -- one of the "big three" -- that the stock sounds in their flagship, $3,000+, "game changer" workstation are bested by sounds made by a -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- relatively unknown independent musician/sound designer with little professional sampling experience (you)? What does it say about Yamaha, Roland, Nord, Casio, etc., with all their money and resources, that they can't get sounds that are better than yours in their hardware?

 

It's obvious to me here who is the real game changer. Score one for the little guy.

[MusicaL]

Update: Seller flaked. Full refund in process. I guess I won't be owning the game changer after all. I'll make do with my current crop of boards -- not complaining...

 

aL

[Song80s]

Update: Seller flaked. Full refund in process. I guess I won't be owning the game changer after all. I'll make do with my current crop of boards -- not complaining...

 

aL

 

eBay ? or CL seller ?

[Sven Golly]

Update: Seller flaked. Full refund in process. I guess I won't be owning the game changer after all. I'll make do with my current crop of boards -- not complaining...

 

aL

 

eBay ? or CL seller ?

 

I have an opportunity to buy this board for around $2,320. Is this a good price or should I hold out for something less expensive? It's from an online store.

 

[Song80s]

Update: Seller flaked. Full refund in process. I guess I won't be owning the game changer after all. I'll make do with my current crop of boards -- not complaining...

 

aL

 

eBay ? or CL seller ?

 

I have an opportunity to buy this board for around $2,320. Is this a good price or should I hold out for something less expensive? It's from an online store.

 

 

Ah, an online store. Maybe an online store on eBay ?

 

What you say, oh wise man ?

[MusicaL]

Ah, an online store. Maybe an online store on eBay ?

 

What you say, oh wise man ?

 

You got it!!

 

aL

[burningbusch]

Busch,

 

No question, your samples are excellent, with better tone and detail than ROMpler stuff (including the Motif, lest there be any doubt). In fact, a while back, I downloaded your Mark V -- and I paid you for it.

 

But here's one of the points I'm getting at: what does it say about Korg -- one of the "big three" -- that the stock sounds in their flagship, $3,000+, "game changer" workstation are bested by sounds made by a -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- relatively unknown independent musician/sound designer with little professional sampling experience (you)? What does it say about Yamaha, Roland, Nord, Casio, etc., with all their money and resources, that they can't get sounds that are better than yours in their hardware?

 

It's obvious to me here who is the real game changer. Score one for the little guy.

 

Thanks for the kind words and support, but little guys have been creating some of my favorite instruments, virtual and otherwise for years.

 

Thomas Scarbee's Rhodes and other keyboards and bass are sampling masterpieces. AFAIK, the Scarbee Rhodes was his first sampling project and it remains a benchmark example of sampling.

Guido Scognamiglio single handedly created the best B3 emulation with VB3

Urs Heckmann's soft synths are legendary.

The two guys at VILabs (True Keys) have created some fantastic ac. pianos, and they are relatively new to this.

And the list could go on and on and on... If it weren't for the little guys, the last 15+ years of computer-based music would suck BIG time.

 

Now let me say, it DOES take a lot of talent to squeeze all the sounds into a sample-playback instrument given the small amount ROM they have to deal with. They sound quite remarkable given those constraints. But this is a prison of their own making and their instruments could sound a TON better without it. The only two digital hardware pieces that interest me are the Kronos and the Forte (at least what I know of it so far).

 

I view the Kronos as a platform, not unlike a computer or tablet, as opposed to a closed, proprietary keyboard. If you expect Apple to provide everything you need when you buy an iPad, you're really missing the point. Korg is now providing OS updates that bring the original Kronos to the level of the newest one, again similar approach computers/tablets.

 

Busch.

[Dana.]

little guys have been creating some of my favorite instruments, virtual and otherwise for years.

 

Thomas Scarbee's Rhodes and other keyboards and bass are sampling masterpieces. AFAIK, the Scarbee Rhodes was his first sampling project and it remains a benchmark example of sampling.

Guido Scognamiglio single handedly created the best B3 emulation with VB3

Urs Heckmann's soft synths are legendary.

The two guys at VILabs (True Keys) have created some fantastic ac. pianos, and they are relatively new to this.

And the list could go on and on and on... If it weren't for the little guys, the last 15+ years of computer-based music would suck BIG time.

Oh, no question.

 

Here's a recent interview with Skarbye. He's working on another EP.

 

http://speakhertz.com/7849/interview-scarbee-founder-thomas-hansen-skarbye

[Ashville.Guru]

Musicians have been obsessing over instrument tone since the dawn of mankind. Electronic keyboards hold a very unique and special place among instruments - no other gives the musician as much freedom to sculpt tone. This is a great legacy handed down from pipe organs and has evolved from analog circuits to digital.

 

While synthesis enabled the musician to build a tone from scratch decades ago, doing the same with samples was always very limited. We've always needed keyboards to emulate so many other sounds - APs, EPs, clavs, orchestral. But were always at the mercy of manufacturers when it came to tone.

 

Like it or not, the Kronos has changed that(*). For the first time, the musician has the freedom to sample just about any AP or EP tone of his choice, and take it on stage.

 

Busch is right. The world of apps and plugins has proven one thing over and over again. The consumer wins when big companies focus on open platforms that enable smaller content providers, rather than trying to do everything themselves. And it's well-known that smaller companies often build better apps than native ones. It's a simple consequence of more people focussing effort on doing one small thing well.

 

But granted, it's not for everyone. Many musicians will simply want good tone out of the box, and that's perfectly fine. But fixating upon tone as the sole yardstick on which keyboards ought to be judged, is a disservice to what sets them apart from other musical instruments.

 

- Guru

 

(*) I'll refrain from using the term 'the game'