Korg NAUTILUS

[Mighty Motif Max]

It's up at Korg now!

 

https://www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/nautilus/

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXDs5WMVlas

[Mighty Motif Max]

[video:youtube]

[video:youtube]

[video:youtube]

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[Mighty Motif Max]

I have to say, the 88 does have a nice look going for it.

 

[Fleer]

60GB SSD. Sweet.

[Docbop]

This appears to be way too complete to be fake, manuals video and PDF, photos, pages on Korg website. Per the one stores webpage release is Jan 2021 so this would be about the time they would annouce to get holiday pre-orders. Appears it on Korg's webpage now and there is already a detailed review below is the link"

 

[video:youtube]

[Mighty Motif Max]

I highly doubt it is fake since Korg added it now.

[Mighty Motif Max]

It's up at Sweetwater. And we have some starting prices in USD too.

 

[Mighty Motif Max]

Now, the burning question for me...did they put a better semi-weighted or synth action keybed on the 73 and 61?

[Mighty Motif Max]

Video from loopop - Demo, comparison with Kronos, pros/cons, some tutorial content, etc. He called it a "little brother" to the Kronos, which is a good sign.

 

[video:youtube]

[Mighty Motif Max]

No KARMA, no Chord Pads.

[Mighty Motif Max]

From Sweetwater: "Korg has developed a new Light-Touch keyboard that facilitates smooth glissandos and lightning-fast synth solos." Hopefully that means no Krome keybed.

 

They also say that Korg is expecting limited numbers to ship in February.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Also: Internal PSU and MIDI Thru. Good.

[Keepitsimple]

[ElmerJFudd]

Sub Kronos, but not quite MODX price point. But it"s nice to have options.

[Al Coda]

Now, the burning question for me...did they put a better semi-weighted or synth action keybed on the 73 and 61?

 

Better than which action ?

 

I see the 73-key is C - C,- reminding me on the KORG M3.

IIRC, that was a good synth action.

 

A.C.

[jeffincltnc]

Same Atom chipset from 2011. That's too ancient for me.

[bfields]

Same Atom chipset from 2011. That's too ancient for me.

 

Not sure if that was tongue-in-cheek.... I always got the impression the main Kronos performance bottleneck was in the storage not the CPU. Good news if it's true that they've switched to an SSD--maybe it will boot in less than two minutes....

[AnotherScott]

Kronos has always had SSD.

[bfields]

Kronos has always had SSD.

 

D'oh, sorry!

[cphollis]

First thought: this looks like big fun for solo jam sessions with the volume cranked. It sort of splits the difference between a full workstation and an arranger.

 

Second thought: that's a lot of control surface packed into a teeny tiny screen. My weak eyes could struggle.

 

Third thought: any mention of an external app to program all of this goodness?

 

I'll be waiting for more hands-on reviews

[Fleer]

Same Atom chipset from 2011. That's too ancient for me.

Kurz PC4 isn"t rocket science either, but sounds so good. As will the Nautilus.

That said, the Nautilus GUI, once inside, is too cumbersome.

They should have learned from the Roland Fantom.

[Radagast]

No KARMA, no Chord Pads.

 

And no aftertouch and no 9 sliders that can be used as drawbars for the organ engine. Very disappointing.

[ElmerJFudd]

My feeling is that Kronos is not moving in the current market at its price point. Hence $500 price drop to make fourth quarter targets going into holiday shopping season. So what do they do long term? Can"t drop the Kronos to $2k so quickly develop Nautilus - focus on the sounds, thin the capabilities, cut a few corners on build to make price point. So it"s more of a Kronos than a Grand Stage or VOX Continental but they can price it in an area where there"s less competition.

 

For comparison, the MODX came out unusually quick following the release of Montage and it"s definitely trickle down tech from the flagship. Yamaha made an aggressive price point with it but cut it down considerably.

 

Kurzweil, also focusing heavily on the $1-2k market at the moment. Lots of sounds and capability, lesser build - more affordable stuff.

[Adan]

A good semi-weighted action in a reasonably light package, like under 20 lbs for the 61, would make this an attractive gigging board. Lack of sliders to use as drawbars is a bit disappointing, but in my past life as a gigging musician, I would bring a clone if I was using that much organ anyway. Lots of gigs where a good organ sound without drawbars is sufficient.

 

From my perspective as a gigger and not a workstationer, this competes directly with the PC4, which seems much better bang for the buck. But my familiarity with Korg might still incline me towards the Nautilus.

 

I don't need either of them, but like many on this forum, I go through this thought process just for self-entertainment.

[konaboy]

don't wanna spam you

[AnotherScott]

From my perspective as a gigger and not a workstationer, this competes directly with the PC4, which seems much better bang for the buck. But my familiarity with Korg might still incline me towards the Nautilus.

Nautilus has the sonic depth of the 9 sound engines and huge SSD-based wave capacity; PC4 has the additional control/expressivity afforded by all the knobs/sliders/buttons, aftertouch, pedal support... and from a gigging perspective, the 88 and 7x weigh a lot less than their Korg counterparts.

[CEB]

Looks like same sampling file management which could be rude if someone buys this expecting a basic simplified sampling hardware platform. ð

 

I would never be interested in a Workstation without physical zone faders. Yeah I know there are alternative means but they suck. Give me faders so I can do one handed cross fades.

[Fleer]

Is that 60 GB SSD only for audio recording (which I prefer to do on my laptop in Logic Pro) or can it be used for other stuff like sampling?

[Adan]

From my perspective as a gigger and not a workstationer, this competes directly with the PC4, which seems much better bang for the buck. But my familiarity with Korg might still incline me towards the Nautilus.

Nautilus has the sonic depth of the 9 sound engines and huge SSD-based wave capacity; PC4 has the additional control/expressivity afforded by all the knobs/sliders/buttons, aftertouch, pedal support... and from a gigging perspective, the 88 and 7x weigh a lot less than their Korg counterparts.

 

Put me in the camp of folks who think that, for most gigs, sound quality is far less important than functionality and ease of use. This is a gross generalization of course, but I'm thinking of the vast number of cover band and function band gigs that constitute the major source of income for many of us. Beyond a certain threshold of quality, it just doesn't matter whether you have the best of the best sounds. From that perspective, comparing two boards like PC4 and the Nautlius, I'd strongly lean towards the Kurz.

 

Again, that's just the perspective from a foot soldier in the trenches of the gig war, which seems to be one of the market segments Korg is aiming at with the Nautilus. That's a lot of military references for one sentence!

[nadroj]

Alas, it seems we're entering a new season where the 73/76 weighted options are dying out again. Forte7 and Kronos 73 were perfect little(ish) boards. Are they just too niche?

 

I got excited about the MODX when I saw that it was the Montage in a cheaper package, but it never really grew on me. Trying to remind myself of that when I see things like this come out!!