Hey guys, I am about to purchase a Korg Kronos 88 Keyboard.
However, I was wondering on how the Korg Kronos compared to the Motif XF8? Especially the Piano and the Electric guitar patches (as I am not a fan of Lead sounds).
Also, is there any other synths I should consider before making a purchase.
I played a Kronos 88 at Guitar Center recently and hated the RH3 action. I thought the action was loud and klakity and not very expressive to produce the beautiful sounds the Kronos is capable of. Really liked the AP's on the Kronos. Strings, Synths, and Brass were also quite good. Did not try any of the guitar patches. Not sure where I would rank them compared to the XF8. That would be rather subjective anyway. I would give the XF8 better grades on the action. I really disliked the Kronos 88's action. I think the 61 key Kronos has better keys as I briefly played around with that as it was on the same display.
I have the Kronos 88... and I would recommend the Roland Jupiter 80.
Are you happy with the Kronos? How is the Piano sound? If you could go back in time, would you still buy the Kronos or purchase a different synth? Thanks
Well the Motif XF8 works and has a good action ...the Kronos isn't turning out so well (check the korg forums for the hundreds of pages of complaints about the note cut off and repitition issue) and the RH3 action is rubbish. I have hardly used my Kronos as its unstable and in my opinion not a quality instrument. The Motif ...well its part of my on stage rig and is my "go to" board for nearly everything.
This is what a lot of Kronos 88 users are experiencing ....
Kronos has very good sounds overall and other features motif does not. Piano is also very good comparable finally to motif XS/XF pianos. I have motif but at this point I'd buy kronos without hesitation but 61 keys version. Way easier workflow, internal HD, touch screen etc etc. Kronos is more up to date technologically speaking.
I did a bunch of gigs this summer where my two boards were a Yamaha MOX8 and a Kronos 61. While I could have easily used the Kronos piano sound and triggered it from my weighted MOX, I didn't, because at least based on the main presets in the Kronos, I thought the MOX sounded better, more musical. I did adjust the EQ a bit, but that's all. The XF has the piano sound of the MOX as well as a supposedly better one which I haven't heard. OTOH, some people love the Kronos pianos, there is definitely some personal taste to this. (Personally, my favorite is the Nord!)
Also, is there any other synths I should consider before making a purchase.
If you're planning to spend such a serious amount of money you should at least give the Nord Stage 2 a try. It's a different animal altogether from the two workstations but I'd take it over either any day of the week.
Kronos has excellent EPs and synth engines. Also has great workstation features. Pianos are very good but I much prefer the Roland SN pianos. The Kronos is weak in other sound categories that I would consider important for a workstation. The Kronos has marginal build quality IMO.
If you don't need weighted keys or workstation features I would highly recommend the Roland Jupiter 80. It has great sounds across the board and isn't a pure rompler like the Motif. It also has a very deep synth engine and is built like a tank. There really isn't anything like it on the market.
Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I have decided to go with the Korg Kronos. Unless, someone can convince me Yamaha Motif XF is the way to go. Roland Jupiter didn't feel like it was the type of sytnh I was after and Nord 2 is almost $1200 more than the Kronos.
As I just recently started playing the keyboard and currently own a Casio CTK 4000, I actually don't understand half the stuff you guys mentioned and don't really know how a good professional keyboard should sound and work.
However, hopefully the Korg Kronos won't let me down!
Although it's a great board, I don't think a Jupiter 80 makes any sense at all in this comparison because it doesn't have a weighted action. Unless maybe you were also going to have a second, weighted board to MIDI to it. Piano is your primary use, yes?
All you've asked about is acoustic piano and electric guitar patches. Is there any other sound or functionality you need?
The Yamaha S90XS gives you most of the same sounds as the Motif XF, including the same pianos and same guitars (though it's possible that the XF may have some additional guitars, I'm not sure). If you don't need to work with your own samples and don't need a built-in sequencer, that would save you over a thousand dollars. (For less money than the S90XS, there is the S70XS and even the MOX8, but there are some trade-offs.)
If you prefer the piano sounds of the Kronos to the Yamaha, you'd have to stick with the Kronos, as they don't have that available in any lower priced board.
If you want to check out the Nord, it doesn't have to be $1200 more than the Kronos. You can get the same piano sound as the Nord Stage 2 in the Nord Piano for $1100 *less* than the Kronos, which then gives you $1100 to put toward some other board which might be able to give you the electric guitar and whatever other functionality you might be looking for. You could almost get a Yamaha MOX6 for that, which has most of the sounds of the Motif XF in it. (For less money than the Nord Piano, you could even look at the Nord Electro 3HP, though there are some trade-offs.)
Hey VP- I haven't used it on a gig yet but this weekend I might. It does seem to play better with the long release feature and the new Yamaha sample is pretty good. I still can't say I'm overly thrilled with it and will keep it long term. The little time I have played it at home, when I go back to the CP5, the Yamaha seems more like a real piano and just more fun to play. The only reason I did get the NP was from a portability standpoint. The CP5 is still a superior DP, with the exception of the EPs, to my ears and fingers.
I would highly advise you to take a look at the numerous threads reporting problems over at the Korg forum.
As a Kronos owner I can tell you that I regret purchasing the weighted Kronos. The action is probably the poorest on the market and overall construction is in line with a sub $1k product, not a product costing almost $4k.
It does have some great sounds and functionality but I would at least wait until they release the OS update to see if it fixes some of the reported issues.
I would highly advise you to take a look at the numerous threads reporting problems over at the Korg forum.
As a Kronos owner I can tell you that I regret purchasing the weighted Kronos. The action is probably the poorest on the market and overall construction is in line with a sub $1k product, not a product costing almost $4k.
It does have some great sounds and functionality but I would at least wait until they release the OS update to see if it fixes some of the reported issues.
I think there's a fair chance that the next batch of Kronos keyboards will have had a revision (both in software and hardware). It might be a great buy in a year from now. I haven't written it off yet, but I'm going to wait and see how things progress. Not much help for people shopping or owning now...
I love the idea of the Kronos, however there are often teething problems with such 'breakthrough' products that can unfortunately hamper its success. I'm hopeful that the Korg engineers will resolve any software issues in the near future, and use the experience gained from the Kronos development to deliver a killer SV-2.
Although it's a great board, I don't think a Jupiter 80 makes any sense at all in this comparison because it doesn't have a weighted action. Unless maybe you were also going to have a second, weighted board to MIDI to it. Piano is your primary use, yes?
All you've asked about is acoustic piano and electric guitar patches. Is there any other sound or functionality you need?
The Yamaha S90XS gives you most of the same sounds as the Motif XF, including the same pianos and same guitars (though it's possible that the XF may have some additional guitars, I'm not sure). If you don't need to work with your own samples and don't need a built-in sequencer, that would save you over a thousand dollars. (For less money than the S90XS, there is the S70XS and even the MOX8, but there are some trade-offs.)
If you prefer the piano sounds of the Kronos to the Yamaha, you'd have to stick with the Kronos, as they don't have that available in any lower priced board.
If you want to check out the Nord, it doesn't have to be $1200 more than the Kronos. You can get the same piano sound as the Nord Stage 2 in the Nord Piano for $1100 *less* than the Kronos, which then gives you $1100 to put toward some other board which might be able to give you the electric guitar and whatever other functionality you might be looking for. You could almost get a Yamaha MOX6 for that, which has most of the sounds of the Motif XF in it. (For less money than the Nord Piano, you could even look at the Nord Electro 3HP, though there are some trade-offs.)
Hey, thanks for this post. It was very helpful. Yamaha S90XS looks like a good keyboard.
Will re-evaluate my decision on the Kronos after reading some posts here. It looked like a mighty fine keyboard though.
Hey, thanks for this post. It was very helpful. Yamaha S90XS looks like a good keyboard.
The S90Xs is a great board and I used to use one on stage before the XF came out ...its got a few drawbacks mainly relating to the small display being difficult to see on stage it does not have all the pianos of the XF or the ability to sequence or write custom arp's or access to KARMA which is another reason why I like the XF better these days.
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Will re-evaluate my decision on the Kronos after reading some posts here. It looked like a mighty fine keyboard though.
Unfortunately sometimes looks can be deceiving.....the Kronos has great pianos, dp's, synth engines (although to standard patches aren't great.) but poor guitars, pads, strings etc. But when you look at all the quality issues and bug's along with the lack of a editor and any communication from Korg about the long list of issues and bugs, some of which are hardware not software related and the terrible RH3 action. I feel its just too much of a risk to advise anyone to purchase one. Maybe in a couple of years when they have fixed the quality issues and the action it will be a more mature product and a better choice.
The S90Xs is a great board and I used to use one on stage before the XF came out ...iit does not have all the pianos of the XF
Really? I thought they both had two acoustic piano samples... the CFIIIS (same as the Motif XS and MOX) and the S6 (not in the XS or MOX). Does the XF have some other acoustic piano not in the S90XS?
The S90Xs is a great board and I used to use one on stage before the XF came out ...iit does not have all the pianos of the XF
Really? I thought they both had two acoustic piano samples... the CFIIIS (same as the Motif XS and MOX) and the S6 (not in the XS or MOX). Does the XF have some other acoustic piano not in the S90XS?
Yes its got the famous and fabulous S700 piano sample set as a free add on. A far nicer sound in either sample or real life slab of wood format then either the CF111s or the S6B. Coming soon are more even newer acoustic pianos which will also be free updates and they sound pretty great too !
The S90Xs is a great board and I used to use one on stage before the XF came out ...iit does not have all the pianos of the XF
Really? I thought they both had two acoustic piano samples... the CFIIIS (same as the Motif XS and MOX) and the S6 (not in the XS or MOX). Does the XF have some other acoustic piano not in the S90XS?
Yes its got the famous and fabulous S700 piano sample set as a free add on. A far nicer sound in either sample or real life slab of wood format then either the CF111s or the S6B. Coming soon are more even newer acoustic pianos which will also be free updates and they sound pretty great too !
My regular S90 has the same triple strike S700 sample in it as well and I do have fun playing it even today. However the S90 that I have has 64 polyphony while the S90ES and S90XS both have 128 which makes a difference when adding pads to the piano sound since you will less likely hear not cut-off's. What I had to do with my S90 for gigs is buy the PLG-150AP which added an extra 64 polyphony CFIIIS new concert grand triple strike sample set which was a great addition to my regular old S90. I also have in there the PLG150-VL which I use with a breath controller for expressive modeled sounds of wind instruments like the V-piano. You can read more about the S90 series below. http://www.sninety.com/
My regular S90 has the same triple strike S700 sample in it as well and I do have fun playing it even today.
I'm not surprised I actually think its a nicest piano sound ever to go into a DP. I am actually thinking of buying a S700 (a real one) I love the slab so much.
Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I have decided to go with the Korg Kronos. Unless, someone can convince me Yamaha Motif XF is the way to go. Roland Jupiter didn't feel like it was the type of sytnh I was after and Nord 2 is almost $1200 more than the Kronos.
As I just recently started playing the keyboard and currently own a Casio CTK 4000, I actually don't understand half the stuff you guys mentioned and don't really know how a good professional keyboard should sound and work.
However, hopefully the Korg Kronos won't let me down!
Thanks
Good choice. I have owned a Kronos 88 since July. Best board I have ever owned. I just sold my Motif as the Kronos sounds so much better. I have had no issues with it. The RH3 works fine for me.
Taking it to a recording studio this weekend. Looking forward to recording the pianos.
Thanks