Thoughts on Korg Kronos in 2021?

[NilsHugo]

I am not sure that the Nautilus was intended to be a replacement workstation for Korg's flagship offering. I could be wrong.

I would say to try out the gear that works for you and make the purchase, regardless if they come out with something new. If we swapped our gear each time a new piece came onto market, we would never get any music written and released.

I am from the school of buying what works for me, learning everything about it, and keep going with it. This is why I still have 30 year-old Ensoniq synths in my studio to this day (that, and the sound of Ensoniq synth are unlike anything else).

I would say that since the Kronos has been out for around 10 years, they may have something coming down the pipe in addition to the Kronos, but we do not really know. This topic has been talked about endlessly in the Korg Forums and the results seem to be the same - no one knows.

Korg put A LOT under the hood of the Kronos and that is why it has lasted so long. I do not know of anyone in the Korg forums or elsewhere that have truly exhausted the resources that the Kronos offers. Sure, some of the PC tech in there is dated, but if the unit is working and still sounds amazing, then that is what really matters.

The Nautilus, according to my research and time spent in the forums, is that it is a truly upper-mid level instrument between the Krome and the Kronos. It features a lot from the Kronos, but also lacks a number of things that the Kronos has. KARMA, and the lack of aftertouch are just two. The Nautilus also has a few tricks up its sleeve that the Kronos does not have. This is to be expected when a much newer product is released that has newer tech in it.

I am not sure when Korg plan on releasing a new workstation, if they do at all. I would like to think that they WILL, because the Kronos is just that good and they really need to keep it going. I could see new tech, add Wavestate and ModWave features in it, make it a bit more user-upgradeable, and many other things that are very easy to do now. I would also like to see integration with a computer keyboard, mouse, and external touch screen monitor to be added. Korg could really blur the lines of what a true music workstation could be if they did that.

I personally still believe that the idea of a true music workstation has never really been achieved. Sure we have the M1 that really put the idea of a workstation out there for everyone, but Ensoniq had the ESQ1 (in 1986) even before the M1. Korg capitalized on the emerging tech and made a winner with the M1. Look at the synthesis engines in their products today and you still see the underlying structure.

I feel a true music workstation needs to be a keyboard, like the Kronos, but also offer user integration like the computer peripherals so that it truly could be the centerpiece of a studio. We take all of this time writing our music in our synths and such, but export them to a DAW for so many other things... I even do that myself. We should be able to plug everything into our synth and create/complete from there without a PC if we wanted. Maybe I am too firmly planted in the 'old school' room, but I think that something like that would really sell well, especially for thsoe on a budget or lacking a PC with specs enough to get the job done.

Again, I would play around with both and see which one strike you the best. Only then will you truly be happy with your purchase.

Grace,
Harry

What a well thought through discussion this was for me. I'm in the market for a workstation and needed to know the latest thought about the Kronos and what options are out there. You really did well in bringing up what is relevant. Thanks

 

[NilsHugo]

What a well thought through discussion this was for me. I'm in the market for a workstation and needed to know the latest thought about the Kronos and what options are out there. You really did well in bringing up what is relevant. Thanks

 

[Spw1607]

You know... I STILL drool over the OASYS I LOVE the work surface and the atmosphere of using a workstation like that.

I know a number of owners were feeling a bit cheated (non-owners alike) when the Kronos was released as a successor to the OASYS. The Kronos certainly did not look the part of a flagship, even though the internals were vastly superior to the OASYS. There was something about the flagship OASYS, well, looking and feeling like a true flagship (along with the price tag).

I have had the opportunity to buy an OASYS at least a few times over the course of the years (my wife even was paying a local store monthly for one for me as a gift), but I never pulled the trigger on it. Now, some 15+ years later, is it even worth it to get one, or would it be a better idea to go with the Kronos? I think that we would have too much upgrading to do on the O platform to get it current (HDD to SSD swaps, battery replacement, etc...) for use today. It is also limited by only 2Gb of RAM.

I do not think that it was Korg's intention to mass produce and sell the OASYS, at least from what I have read over the years. It was more of an experiment of what a true flagship 'all-in-one' workstation could really be and do. I believe they succeeded.

I hope that they do not repeat the phasing out of support for the Kronos like they did the OASYS. With that said, the Kronos has been around for more than twice as long as the OASYS and while many feel that there could have been more updates to the Kronos during this time, they really have taken care of it for the life of the product.

The OASYS is still selling on different market platforms anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000. That is not too bad considering its age. The Kronos seems to be holding its price pretty well too, all thigns considered.

Even if the Kronos is discontinued, there are still a number of third-party developers out there producing product for it. I do not think that it will go away anytime soon. If Korg do release something new, one can only imagine how they might top the mighty Kronos...

Grace,
Harry