Kronos 1st Gen VS 2015 Kronos2 

Still have mine here in December 2020. I bought it when they first came out. So in 2021, it'll be 10 years old. I keep finding more and more and more possibilities for creativity this far along. I have composed over 25 full songs, with my virtual singers that I created right from the stock library in the unit. It's the best investment I ever made.

@@hoozerob Just saying they are literally the same you're not really missing out its the same machine! bigger SSD installed as standard - Maximum RAM installed as standard - New serigraphy with red X Faster loading speeds? Thats it lol this dude just wasted his money on the same machine rather than improving on his gear

@@tuneunleashed On the newer version, up till now, the only other difference, is that they don't have the libraries in the same locations. That's all. I should do some minor maintenance with my Kronos though. Maybe put a new key cushion under the keys, J, Y stick because its getting a bit loose and clicky sounding. But other than that, It works as good as it always has. Some people talk about how much the Yamaha seems "built for performance", based upon the buttons and other surface controls. But have no complaints about my Kronos. Also, look at all the artists over the years who are using it and love it.

Dave Bellamy 1 - Depends on how you're going to use them. Personally, MOST of my usage is through headphones. When I make sounds, I feel like I can get them more accurate with headphones, but this is entirely a personal feel thing. Good monitors sound good, good headphones sound good. The stereo separation with headphones is more drastic, but personally I tend to be focused more on headphones. 2 - The string resonance I'm referencing isn't a function of the sympathetic string resonance, but rather the resonance the piano they sampled made when they initially sampled it. I could tell based on velocities; It would resonate pretty badly while playing a specific velocity layer, but play louder or more quiet and it wasn't a problem. 3 - Nope. I don't have a Nord Stage 2 and don't really have a lot of experience with them. When I've played them, they sounded great but until you do a direct A/B comparison with similar playing and such, it's hard to remember anything other than how it made you feel at the time unless there's something glaringly wrong. The Berlin Grand (Any pianos with an S appended after it's name) uses stretch tuning. I agree though that one of the notes that was sampled sounded a bit flat compared to the rest. I have to admit, the Berlin is starting to grow on me... But then as soon as I hear that resonance, it just rubs me the wrong way and I switch back to the German grand.

well, this is my que to ditch the video midway through

Kent A. Vander Velden Thanks! That's a good question. The more I use it, the more it grows on me. I like it for the solo piano playing but in a band mix I find it feels punchy with a too-fast decay. That said, it could just be the live settings and amps I've been going through. I still tend to fall back to the Oasys piano sound for live stuff that isn't too nuanced. If you need a raw piano sound, I end up with the Oasys... But I find myself going to the Berlin for the Berlin Dark, turn up the reverb and it feels like I'm playing in a huge hall somewhere. So it depends. It's growing on me after using it for 4-5 months now, though personally I wouldn't spend $150 on the expansion for my older Kronos.

+David Champagne I auditioned a Korg New Kronos recently, and completely agree with you about the center-octave resonances in the Berlin Grand voice. E above middle C was most annoying, with the piece I was playing. The German Grand, though, is clean and sweet - one of the best piano samples I've heard.

Fred Liviou It's never been a problem. Every keyboard I've owned has made noise. The Kurzweil 2500/2600 was the most noisy, the PC3K8 was better. Yamaha S90 was the most quiet, but I didn't like the action of the keyboard. The Kronos is the best in between in terms of how it plays but the loudness will vary by what you have the board placed on. Just remember all keyboards make noise. Even pianos do but you can't turn down the volume of a piano. It's never been a problem ever for me, and keep in mind that the mic on my phone at the time is most sensitive to the vocal range which is around the same frequency that the noise is so it'll sound louder than it is.

Thank you David.

I usually play that loud I can't hear the keyboard noise. The people who live three streets away think it sounds great.

Yup! The Kronos 2 has all of the sounds as the Kronos 1, and they're identical. The sounds are just in different places on the Kronos 2

@@AudoraAudio Got it, Thanks a lot!

They're factory on the Kronos 2 but can also be downloaded!

Amazing - thanks for including the exact values!

The Polysix is, but the Prophecy isn't no.

Thank you very much!

+lyniseuk He bought a 2nd Kronos just to compare it for us :)

Kurzweil K2600 has an out of tune middle c that sticks out badly too.

There is a list here: www.korg.com/download/global/kronos2/KRONOS_VNL_EFGSJ3.pdf Also, When in Program mode, you can do a search in the top right side, just below the tempo indicator on the screen. There's a search function where you can type in the name of something and it'll show all instance of that item in that mode.

They could know, but probably don't care. The cost involved for no financial gain isn't something companies tend to do even if it's the right thing.

I hadn't actually planned on it to be honest. I already have the two kronos boards, so getting a third would be a little... superfluous maybe?

Just having 2 Kronos's to begin with,seems superfluous...but since you are running a sound design business,thought perhaps...that you would have a purpose for having a third.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I could totally USE a third. I just can't justify spending money on a third. Perhaps my back would disagree? I'd love to sell my K73 and upgrade to the K2 88 LS and maybe use that live instead but it's still a cost investment unfortunately. Otherwise... I would very seriously consider it!

Selling your K73 would make perfect sense actually(IMHO)...as upgrading to a lighter,less expensive Kronos with the latest & greatest OS features,seems ideal.I am really impressed with the LS...so much so,I am considering returning my Krome,but I'd prefer to keep it and eventually have 2 Korg keyboards(as I have 2 PC's) and I need the Krome as a midi controller for my main PC.Yeah...no matter how you slice it,buying a Kronos is a major investment and I'm not sure I could float the payments on one,at this point in time.

David Champagne wouldn’t lack of aftertouch on LS bother you?

Skip to 7:30 -- there I saved you 7 and half minutes of your life

@@laurajohnson4086 I started at the beginning so i wasted over 7 minutes of my life.

I think its on one of the expansion packs from Korg.

Does korg kronos have touch problem?

+tommy p Good question Tommy. I use the Kronos 2 more than the Kronos 1, but it's not a functionality issue. It's entirely a location issue: I've been gigging and such, and the Kronos 1 has been in the studio while my Kronos 2 is in my livingroom. I bought a Surface Pro 3 tablet and have been using that with an interface to record audio here and there, so the majority of my playing has been on the Kronos 2. Also, when I do sound editing, I tend to sit in my livingroom and have the TV on in the background while I edit and so most of my 'work' happens there now. It's not because I don't have a need of the Kronos 1 so much as it's a function of where it's located.

Thank you for your response... Synths have such amazing personality.. It really takes a lot of energy to learn it.... Once you do its hard to let it go....

+Venatt1 It can absolutely be edited. The Kronos is all about being able to edit and manipulate sounds in the most flexible way possible. So yes, it can be edited.

David Champagne Also wanted to ask you, can the wrong notes from Sweet Dreams be corrected ?

+Venatt1 Totally can yup. I don't have the directions at the moment, but you're going to need to look at the step sequencer that's controlling the pitches. But yes, it can be fixed.

David Champagne I currently own a Yamaha Motif XF but I think the Kronos has a clear edge on many things and I am considering selling it to buy the Kronos 3.

It could have been the stand it was on, the other stand I have with just the 88 key Kronos doesn't sound nearly as loud.

The screens are exactly the same size. The Kronos 2 has a small bezel surrounding the screen that the K1 does not, but they're identical otherwise.

Dave Champagne thank you buddy, I’m actually gonna apply for a loan next month to get a new Kronos...it has been too long without my previous one and I miss it every day 😂

Not quite; The Kronos 1 has a smaller hard drive, comes with 2 GB of ram instead of 4, and is missing the EXs17/18 that ships with the Kronos 2.

You can get the K1's at a VERY reasonable price these days - they might not have the Berlin Grand (EXs 17/18) which come pre-installed but will have very comparable things like Polyphony. The K2 is very slightly more powerful but it's negligible. It depends on how much you want to pay for a newer keyboard, keybed, extra EX's, more memory, more RAM out of the box, and what kind of deal you'd be getting on the K1. That said, I'd absolutely try and find a K1 over a K2 for the price difference and upgrade it myself to a K2 status.

Well, Kronos II is officially launching on April 27th, so not for a while yet. (www.kronos-wow.com/2016/04/24/kronos-ii/) The Kronos 2 I'm mentioning above definitely supports the solo campaign as well as PvP and Coop mode.

asian flash They're part of a bundle which is the EXs 17 and 18 which includes the popular sounds on the Korg website.

Its not just about playing the piano he is explaining the main differences between the two generation keyboards

Thank youuuuu 🤭

J. B. Taylor Just want to echo want JB said. I have an early US Kronos, and it had the double hammering problem. Korg replaced the keybed, no charge, outside of warranty. Just contact product_support at korgusa dot com and tell them what's happening.

J. B. Taylor Does the Kronos 2 also have that problem or any other keyboard issues.

Meld Magic Hahahaha haha

The keyboard is a personal thing. You dont give that away for free and you can keep an older model for sounds that the new model plays differently. Every Keyboard is different.

I DO I would love to have the 2nd KRONOS :)

+Manuel Giorgi Not really - I didn't record the sound from my Kronos directly so what you're hearing is from the keybed directly. Admittedly it sounds to be in the peak frequency that the phone records at so it sounds louder, but it's not really that loud in person. (Especially now that I've had it for 9 months, I don't notice it at all compared to how loud it sounds in the video.)

Nah, it's just my mic that's picking up the sounds. I've had it for years at this point and it's really no louder than any other keyboards I've had

@@AudoraAudio oh, thanks, good to know. I've bought already Kronos 2 and now I wait...its on the way to me,. Then I saw your video and I was scared :D I use to record a lot songs when I am singing and playing at the same time and I don't want to have action noise in my voice track... :)

@@aaddixx2307 I think with any weighted keyboard, a LOT of the noise comes from the stability of the stand to be fair too. I have padding below my stand that I use for the K2-88 and obviously there is still some key noise but it's definitely not as bad as the video makes it out to be. Happy Keyboarding! If you get stuck with anything Kronos related, feel free to reach out.

Dave Champagne sure! Thank you :)

The official version included with the Kronos 2 is part of a sound library expansion and comes with EXs 17 and EXs 18 which can be purchased on the Korg website. That said, there is a free version which is also excellent: www.purgatorycreek.com/styled/styled-4/page3.html

thanks a lot!!! I download the zip right now

Most of the preset and sounds that come with the original disks are stored on the hard drive under Preload and Extra Sounds or Extra Options. I forget what it's called. To load the sounds, it really depends on how they programmed the sounds. If they use samples, there's a loading process for that. If there's just the PCG, there's an additional process for that. (Check out my channel, I talk a bit about loading sounds and using things like PCG Tools which is an important tool) And I check in frequently, have started a company (www.audora.ca) and also give out private lessons for the Kronos so if you ever get completely stuck, I might be able to help!

Thank you for the speedy and helpful reply!

Which one would you use on stage Eva?

+Anibal Morales It's basically the 'cheap' version of the QuikLok Z-726L - www.quiklok.com/catalog/?p=productsMore&iProduct=99&sName=Z-726L

+Anibal Morales There we go: This is the exact one I'm using: www.herculesstands.com/keyboards/KS410B.html

I haven't looked into it specifically, but my understanding that, besides the color, it's identical to the Kronos 2

Great thanks!

Korg Kronos Platinum is a limited platinum colored version of the same Korg Kronos 2, I have one and It's amaizing :) www.korg.com/us/products/synthesizers/kronos2_platinum/

Yes, sort of. The Kronos has a combination of wave sequencing, several real time step sequencers, some basic arpeggiators as well as a full blown Karma implementation which is far, far more powerful than anything else out there. Also yes, it has a 32 track sequencer; 16 midi tracks and 16 audio tracks. There's not much comparison, to me the Kronos is the obvious choice. They're both very good machines but Kronos has more power generally.

Audora Audio Thanks for your reply,I’m just about the buy the Kronos 2 but what is that you mention about something being heard while playing the piano on the Kronos 2 is it a fault with all the Kronos 2’s produced.

What is that at 9 minutes 50 seconds where you mention about something in the piano on the Kronos 2 does this mean that every Kronos 2 has this Fault,as I was planning on purchasing one next week.

@@paulallenMacca Hi John - yes, it's a fundamental sample issue. I purchased the EX17/18 for my Kronos 1, and the same sample has the same issue. It's that the sample itself (the piano sampled) had a pretty bad resonance/detuning issue. That said, there are LOTS of pianos in the Kronos that are all usable and even live, it's not really noticeable. It admittedly is me being nit-picky, but when you pay $4000+ for a keyboard, something like this shouldn't go unnoticed. It's certainly not a fatal flaw by any stretch, and it's really just one note that I noticed.

Audora Audio thanks I don’t think I will buy the Kronos 2 now have you ever played the Yamaha montage 8 it is my second choice,so is that fault in one particular piano sample only like in the available external samples. So with built in piano samples the fault isn’t present in any of them is that right,I’m told there is a Berlin piano and Steinway piano is this fault present in them.

+Bart C I think people have, but there was no point more or less from my understanding. I'd check out the Korg forums though for more details than you'd find here.

+David Champagne I hoped that could be an "easy" way to reduce booting time. I have upgraded ssd with higher read and write speed but outcome is not as expected anyway thankS for being so responsive and i also wanted to let you know that your vids are pretty cool wish i found them before spending my money on the paid Kronos tutorials which were not worth its price ... Happy weekend

Yes they should do