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If you're unsure of what is mean by the title I am referring to the Korg KRONOS, the flagship workstation that was announced by Korg at the winter NAMM show in January 2011 with general release later in 2011.
Video edition
There is a slightly different video version of this Korg Kronos blog on the The Music Tech Guy UK YouTube channel. It can be accessed by clicking here.
A Brief History of the Korg Kronos
It all started with the Korg Kronos released in 2011 supplied with 2Gb of RAM and a 30GB SSD. This followed the design characteristics of the Korg OASYS which was discontinued shortly before the release of the Kronos.
The basic premise of the Korg Kronos is a 9 engine sound generation system, a 16 track sequencer, digital sampler and digital effects processor.
A year later in July 2012 Korg released an updated Kronos distingusied from the first by the X being added to the name making this the Kronos X. This was the first Kronos I played and it truely blew me away, but it would be a few years before I was able to aford my own version of this keyboard.
The Kronos X was a substancial upgrade over the original a year earlier with both the memory and SSD being doubled.
Next came the Kronos 2 which is distinguished by the hardwood cheeks at each end of the keyboard design. This is the keyboard I finally purchased in late 2015. In fact I was going to buy the Kronos X in the fall of 2014 and then heard rumours that a new version was being launched so stopped.
The case of the Kronos 2 had its hard edges knocked off (i.e. its more curved than square). The motherboard and CPU were updated, it had better ventilation and came with operating system 3 pre-installed.
In 2016 Korg sprayed the Kronos 2 platinum and released it as the 88 Platinum edition.
In 2017 Koog sprayed the Kronos 2 gold and release it as the 88 Gold edition. In both the Paltinum and Gold editions there was no new functionality just a funky colour scheme (I still prefer my black Kronos 2 though).
The next new model to emerge was the Korg Kronos LS in 2017. In the 88-key version it used a different keybed and saved 14lbs over the previous Kronos 2 based machines, which made is significantly lighter to move around. This keyboard was introduced with the version 3.1 of the operating system and sunburst side panels.
2019 saw another Kronos 2 special edition called the Special Edition, the key upgrades were the EXs21 Italian and Exs272 KApro sound libraries
The last release was the 2020 Kronos Titanium, which again is basically a Kronos 2 made from brushed alluminum and ebony wood ends and a series of special sound libraires installed.
Now if you reading this you might be thinking so what?
I am writing this at the end of 2021 and this keyboard has been around for over 10 years and still selling. And the Korg Kronos 2 format has been in place for 7 years. And I have owned mine for 6 years and never regretted buying it new.
Korg Nautilus the young upstart?
We the Korg Kronos community view Korg Nautilus as an upstart. And that is possibly wrong. Nautilus was release last year and while esentially the same engines are running in the Nautilus, Korg originally told the community that you could not transfer sounds from your Kronos to the Nautilus, so why would a Kronos user buy it. Because its a Korg of course? Wrong!
Korg have now released a conversion utility for the Nautilus that allows you to transfer sounds from the Kronos to the Nautilus and not vice versa.
This interoperability between the two workstations starts to build the argument for the Nautilus. But is it enough at the moment?
I read somwhere recently that the Nautilus has 70% new sounds over the Kronos. This does feel like OASYS to Kronos playing out again.
The Nautilus has removed Karma and opts for a simpler drum and percussion engine instead. This is part of the reason for the incompatibility.
The one thing I do like about the Nautilus though is the redesign of the case for the 76 and 61 key versions. But would it persuade me to part with the cash I dont have at the moment? In a single word 'NO'.
What is signalling the death notes for the Korg Kronos?
For a few years the community has been expecting Korg to announce the new flagship workstation. Something that would surpass the Roland Fantom which I feel is starting to take over in this space.
But what I think has signalled the end of the line was the launch of the new Korg.co.uk website aimed at a UK then European audience. If you go to this website and search for new synths you will not find the Korg Kronos listed for sale. This space is now squarely occupied by the Nautilus.
You have to omit this keyboard has had a good run. 10 years as a keyboard concept and 7 years in it current format. All versions of the keyboard from the first one delivered to the last one delivered can operate on the latest operating systems and load the same sound banks.
And this compatibility is maybe why we have come to the end of the line. Technology moves at a pace. The architecture for the Kronos was developed more than ten years ago and to make a machine that can take on and surpass the Roland Fantom a new architecture is required.
The Roland Fantom has borrowed a number of ideas from the Korg machines. Engines to generate the tones, sampling and sequencing. They have analysised the weaknesses in the Korg linage and fixed it. The latest V2.0 operating system for the Fantom has had very good reviews from those that know their stuff.
The Nautilus I think is an update to fill a gap. Honestly it is too expensive and not different enought to make a musician flip from Kronos to Nautilus and it is not strong enough to make a musician not flip from Kronos to Fantom.
But the fact that the Korg Kronos is no longer for sale from the website means that it has finally come to the end of the road.
I wonder whether Roland will still be pumping out Fantoms in 8 or 9 years time. To be honest and given Roland's reputation I some how doubt it would like to be proved wrong.
You see this longevity is one of the endering features of the Kronos, for the grass roots musicians like me. It means that my investment into the platform is supported by the manufacturer with software updates etc to fix the bugs and introduce new features.
My Korg Kronos is not going anywhere, that combined with the Korg OASYS prove to be some heavy weight production tools when my studio is re-built in the future.
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About the Author
Jon describes himself as a frustrated musician with a passion for the electronic instruments that help him and other musicians be creative. He started playing keyboards in his late teens and re-ignited his passion and built a new studio following his seperation.
About the Blog
The Blog, Website and YouTube channel were started to share Jon's experiences and views on the industry at large and how these effect the small musician. Plus technical tips how to configure and maintain the equipment he owns.
He is open to collaborations with manufacturers to undertake independent equipment reviews. Representative please contact him through the contact section of this site.