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Thanks, much appreciated. I'm sure I'm not the only one here that's used to these kinds of units and prefixes. Mostly from electronics and computing in my case. While an "m" and an "M" is the same letter normally, in this context they're instead used as two distinct symbols. So while writing "mb" as a short for megabytes seems natural, it looks weird when you're used to "m" = milli and "b" = bit.

I don't have a problem with people writing "megs" and "gigs", though. Although I mostly use MB and GB myself.

"Did" = subjunctive verb in this case. It's in common use.

Really !

I do not recall ever hearing it used like that before.

But, since I am now advised of its' common usage I will look for it.

American English has a lot less use of the subjunctive than British or Australian English, so it's not too surprising that you haven't encountered it. A couple of hundred years ago it was everywhere, but the subjunctive has been gradually dying out - which is a pity because it is a very useful tool in language. Our language is much less capable of nuance and subtlety now.

Come on Ando ... Americans don't speak english

I enjoyed the demos as my favorite piano sounds tended to be the samples I had on my Korg Sg Rack. I view the 2.8gb as a big improvement over the 15mb! from back in the 1990's.
To me the 61 key model seems to be the better deal as I would expect the spread in price to be $600 from the 61 to 88.

and you guys do? crikey!

I was reading the manual and parameter guide, and it seems that, although the Krome will accept incoming MIDI signals in Combi mode, the chosen timbre must also be connected to the Krome's keyboard at the same time - i.e. no local-off for a specific timbre (such as a grand piano). This rules out playing two independent parts at the same time - one via MIDI and one via the Krome keyboard. Of course, the Krome is 16-part multitimbral, but those parts are either all to be accessed via MIDI, or layered/split internally.

Of course, I may have missed something, but if I've read the info correctly, one would either need to buy the 88-key version for playing from a hammer action board, or hook up the 61/73 note version to another weighted controller and do without simultaneous additional sounds played from the Krome's keybed.

I have been seriously considering the Krome, but given this limitation, the lukewarm response to the inclusion of the NH action in the 88-note Krome, and the lack of an organ/drawbar section, I'm wondering if it would be better to hold off and see if an SV-2 might still be in the pipeline.

NH sucks, tried it yesterday in a shop on another Korg model. Why does korg keep on crippling its products with such crappy keybeds ?! Even the synth action on a Jupiter 80 that was nearby was much better ( the best synth action I've played so far anyway, very nice!). Krome is out of my list, thanks to the keys. Way to go Korg...

Still waiting for the Casio x50 series to try somewhere...

If you want a timbre to be triggered only from an external keyboard, normally, the way to do it is to simply assign that timbre to the MIDI channel that your second keyboard is transmitting on (which, of course, needs to be different from the MIDI channel the Krome itself is assigned to... and it also need to be a channel you have not designated as Global). I would be very surprised if the Krome did not work this way.

Although the SP170S is also listed as having a NH keybed, I have not seen confirmation that that the SP170S and Krome 88 keybeds are identical. (In the past, Korg has used the same "semi-weighted Natural Touch" terminology to describe both the M50 and Kronos 61-key keybeds, and they do not feel the same, so identical terminology is not definitive.)

But if I had to guess, yeah, I would bet that the Krome 88 will use the same keybed as the SP170S. And it does make sense to use that, because at least at the moment, that and RH3 are the only weighted actions Korg has, and the SP170S keybed weighs less (and presumably costs less).

It's not the greatest action, but it's not bad. (I've even seen some people prefer it to the RH3.) Considering that a big part of the Krome 88's appeal is the low weight, I don't think anyone else is making a keyboard that weighs as little that has any action that most agree is better. (And I wouldn't offer up the new Casios until you play them.)

Ah... that makes sense. Thanks Scott. That puts the 61-key Krome back on the map for me.

IMHO even the current px3 Casio keybed is better than the NH in the sp170. Let's hope that the NH in the Krome is indeed a better revision of that keybed. They will appear at roughly the same time in the shops, so that would be a good time to compare. Of topic; after trying the NH and other keybeds in the shop I realized how much I appreciate the RH in my MP6. Therefore I'm now 99% sure I will forgo the new Casios and Krome stuff and aim for the RH II range, despite inferior piano sounds. I will use my software pianos a bit more if I get bored to much with the KAWAI presets. Perhaps a 61 Krome somewhere at a later stadium...who knows. For the keybed, no Krome 88 for me. Can't connect to the sound if I can't connect with the keys at all.

A wonderful Freudian slip! I hope the crowd goes wild!!!

Not being an English native speaker I miss the point completely , but don't explain; if in English my sentence was hilarious that's fine with me (although I don't understand myself). Probably have to work on my English writing a bit...

On topic : if more people are interested in a 61 version for the korg sounds ; any chance there will be a Kronos/Krome module ? Roland launched the integra module, so perhaps other follow ? Wishfull thinking , I know...

Your English is excellent, but yeah, there was a funny translation issue there. You meant "at a later stage" not "at a later stadium."

"Stage" has multiple meanings. One of them, though not the one you meant, refers to a place where you perform. Since a stadium is also a place you can perform, I suspect it was the double meaning of "stage" that threw you.

Korg Krome 73 on order. I decided that the 73 was the best compromise. I can use it on the top tier, and (if the acoustic pianos are good enough) MIDI it up to one of my weighted boards, but also play EPs and other patches on its own keyboard. And I won't have yet another weighted 88 cluttering up the place. If I don't get on with it, it should be pretty easy to pass on. I'll give some feedback when it's in my hands.

I have been really considering the Krome 73 to sit on top of my MOX8.
I want the 73 keys because there will always be that situation where I just want to bring one light board and I have never really been happy with 64 keys in a ROMpler.

In a VA Synth or Organ its fine, Acoustic pianos & EP's no.

The Krome 73 arrived yesterday evening. I've only given it the briefest once-over, so please take these comments as preliminary and subject to revision.

First of all, it's light without feeling flimsy. The touchscreen is easy to read and works reasonably well, although the virtual sliders don't always respond first time. The layout is typical Korg. As with Roland, I would sooner have mod/pitchbend wheels rather than joystick, but it's not something to lose sleep over.

Piano sounds are the principal reason I wanted to give this a try. The one main piano voice is quite nice and plays well from a weighted keyboard via MIDI (I wouldn't want to play piano from the Krome 73's own action as its very synth-like). It changes from mellow to bright a little abruptly at the upper end of the velocity scale, but is quite expressive, if a tad short on character. The absence of looping allows for a very natural-sounding decay. Damper resonance is there but is quite subdued by default (I don't know how adjustable this is). There doesn't appear to be any sympathetic resonance. Overall, the piano is very usable, and I would hazard a guess that it would work well in ensemble settings. I have only briefly compared it with the built-in sound on my Numa Piano. The Korg's piano seems to connect slightly better with the Numa's action than the built-in sound does, and sounds a little more open and high-fidelity. I will be very interested to do the same test using the Kawai MP6 as a controller and compare/contrast the MP's piano to the Korg.

EPs are not quite the slam-dunk I was expecting. There seem to be one or two very nice Rhodes voices in the Korg that seem quite faithful to the original, but I'm not sure that they surpass what's already in the MP6. It would be a tough call against the Nord Rhodes, too. Essentially, I need to spend more time with the Korg and play around with FX and other adjustable parameters. So far, the Wurlitzers have not wowed me. They seem to lack sufficient timbre variation. I think the Numa's wurli is better. Again, though, I've done no tweaking.

Organs are not really what the Krome is about, although if you like the kind of CX-3 rock organ tone that is somewhat reminiscent of Mr. Emerson's Hammond sound, it's there in spades. If this board had sported drawbar tones and real sliders, it would be a great all-rounder, but even without, it's usable as long as B3 emulation is not your main requirement. As others have pointed out elsewhere, there are a lot of organ tones with percussion. Whether the percussion is editable, I don't know, but at least it triggers correctly on chords. [EDIT: I've discovered that a number of the organ sounds have percussion controlled via one of the two switches above the joystick.]

Other sounds are vast in number and cover all bases. I've only flicked through a handful, but many seem to me very similar to what was in my old X-50 (same names, too), which regurgitated what was already in the later Triton series, and have since apparently been at the core of the M50's offerings. I'm sure the Krome's engine will help these old patches to sound clearer and more vibrant, but Korg certainly gets five stars for recycling!

I really need to spend more time before deciding whether this is a keeper or not. I'm also quite a critical judge when it comes to piano sounds, as these are at the heart of what I do live. But for what it is and at this price point, I don't think there's anything to touch it - although one must bear in mind that if you need the Krome with a weighted action, it'll set you back $1,600, and that's twice what the new Casio PX-350 costs (which I would also love to try). Also, there is nothing out there in hardware, other than the Krome's big brother, the Kronos, that offers fully unlooped samples. When I have the time to set up a side-by-side comparison, it'll be very interesting. I've noticed before that notes played in isolation can sound great on a DP, but when you start to play properly, the sound does not always respond and "gel" as desired.

Hi- nice review on the Krome. I played that also for the first time this morning along with the PX350.

I tried the Krome 88 and I think- i would have to go back- that the action was better than the SP170 which was also on display.

However- because I would be buying the Krome for non-piano sounds as well, I would likely go for the 61 key and pay $850 (after 15% coupon)

I would imagine I would like the pianos a lot as I loved my Korg SG Rack. I tried a few organs- would have to look up the name and enjoyed them.

What do you think of the action itself?