Kronos

Jem · January 14, 2011, 10:17:18 AM

First off, minus several million points for the terrible name. How the f*** are we supposed to talk about it and keep a straight face. It's like "My-First-Prog-Metal-Band's-Name". :lol: :lol:

Howeverrrrrr, the spec does look (and it pains me to say this :lol:) pretty impressive. Being as I am an ex-Oasys owner, I can see that 75% of the software is basically an expanded Oasys in a new chassis. The screens are the same and everything, but the 30 GB SSD drive, 2 USB drives AND the addition of what's always been the deal clincher for me which is seamless patch changing, not to mention the 9 different synth engines. It's certainly raised the bar. As long as it's not a million quid obviously.

Price will be the clincher, I can't see you having much change from 3 grand for the 61 key version. Lord knows what the big one'll cost. And it's a shame that the 73 key version is piano action only. That kinda rules it out for my weedy little digits on the shredding front.

I am certainly very keen to hear one in the flesh. And I kinda like the "M1-on-steroids" look to be honest, takes me back to '88.

Well done Korg.

Againesis · January 14, 2011, 10:29:34 AM

Anyone want to buy an 88 note fully loaded OASYS???

E.S. · January 14, 2011, 10:50:28 AM

Most impressive keyboard since.. well, the Oasys, I guess. I'm watching Rudess doing a shred-tastic demo of it right now.

sawtooth · January 14, 2011, 12:48:03 PM

This at first sight seems to be a bit of a drawing a line under Korg's current technology base. And i thought 'cool'.
But then doubts set in. It looks to me like they've thrown everything from their notable back catalogue of synths, such as the MS20, Polysix, Wavedrum, Trinity/Triton and Oasys and their standalone Pianos and organs, into one box. Probably for the cost of a small house.

It begs the question, will we see in the near future genuinely new synthesis tools, or simply new ways of using and connecting repurposed old tech?

Trapezium Artist · January 14, 2011, 01:26:39 PM

Quote from: "Jem"First off, minus several million points for the terrible name. How the f*** are we supposed to talk about it and keep a straight face. It's like "My-First-Prog-Metal-Band's-Name". :lol: :lol:

Well, while I'm completely unqualified to discuss the merits of a keyboard, I will (somewhat reluctantly, for fear of public humiliation) defend the use of the name "Kronos", if only because that's what my laptop's called, and has been for years.

More specifically, my first Apple PowerBook was one of the beautiful (at the time) titanium ones, and thus because Kronos was one of the Greek Titans, I thought that was a geekily appropriate name. It has stuck even though I've long since moved through several aluminium Mac BookPros, and being blessed with the usual scientist's touch of OCD, pretty much everything that ever gets plugged into it is also named after a Titan.

This includes Hyperion for my home wireless network, Iapetus for my iPhone, Oceanus and Tethys for the his-'n'-her partitions of our home backup drive, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory for my USB stick.

Oh, what a sad fellow I obviously am. Still, everyone needs a hobby ... 8-)

Againesis · January 14, 2011, 01:35:22 PM

from the Korg forums:
61: $2999
73: $3499
88: $3799

or here:
http://www.gg-digital.co.uk/new_arrivals.asp

Jem · January 14, 2011, 02:18:33 PM

Quote from: "Againesis"from the Korg forums:
61: $2999
73: $3499
88: $3799

or here:
http://www.gg-digital.co.uk/new_arrivals.asp

Really? Oh fuck, that's actually quite reasonable. Actually, at that price point, it makes the 61 probably the worst deal of all 3.

What's the betting the uk shops will charge exactly that. But in pounds. Plus VAT. :roll:

Againesis · January 14, 2011, 02:46:13 PM

Quote from: "Jem"Really? Oh fuck, that's actually quite reasonable. Actually, at that price point, it makes the 61 probably the worst deal of all 3.

What's the betting the uk shops will charge exactly that. But in pounds. Plus VAT. :roll:

It seems that OASYS 88's are going for about £3700 on ebay still too!?!? So - dilema time. Got a couple of big gigs this year so is it really worth porting everything over to a Kronos or stick with the big O. Some fuss being made by O owners saying that Kronos isn't in the same ball park as it's not Open Architecture but I don't think anyone in their right mind would believe that there'll be any more OASYS updates.

keithd · January 14, 2011, 02:54:10 PM

Isn't Kronos the Klingons' home planet :?

RWA · January 14, 2011, 03:29:40 PM

I'm much more excited about this new arrival!!!!! :shock:

Our Price £12.99

Againesis · January 14, 2011, 04:42:33 PM

Quote from: "RWA"I'm much more excited about this new arrival!!!!! :shock:

Our Price £12.99

Phwoar! Look at the cable on that!!

Mouse · January 15, 2011, 03:55:24 PM

Back to the Kronos, it's not very pretty, is it? Like someone dropped it down a coal mine. It sounds very nice, but you better keep a light on it if you get one, otherwise it might vanish into the shadows and escape. I definitely can't afford one, so that's as far as I'll go with this.

Pedro · January 15, 2011, 04:19:13 PM

If you save really, really hard and don't buy food and other such trivialities, you might be able to buy Jem's when he sells it!

Jem · January 15, 2011, 06:18:25 PM

:lol:

I'll leave it for a while I think. Let's not forget that this is (if tradition is anything to go by) the last year for the Fantom G. Who knows what Roland have got up their sleeves for this time next year?

E.S. · January 15, 2011, 06:38:34 PM

That's true. The G7 was discontinued already, and they must be working on a new flagship. I think I wanna stay on the Fantom ship for a while. I simply like it better than most.