WOW!!! Prepared to be amazed....ha, yes Im prepared...check this out Mr Korg:

.....I just opened up my Kronos..Before even playing it I just gently pushed the knob from the edge and it came off. Here is a pic.. It goes back on OK but as you can see its a cheesy setup. $2800 and they cant even put a decent quality data knob on this.. ?? Just checking out the touch screen now.. not good! Cant see it worth a crap.... Jeez..

.....The knob and pot assembly is all plastic.. the Knob is a drum and has small notches on it where the tape is crisscrossed. The knob sets down on the pot drum inside the keyboard and is held in place from just the 4 crisscrosses of the tape?? Where the crisscross touch the outer edge is where it makes contact. Thats it. The Pot drum on the circuit board turns and allows the selection to be changed. Unfortunately I dont see anyway to make the knob fit tighter other than permanently gluing it. Mickey Mouse would not be impressed. The smaller vector joystick isnt much either.

.....I do have to admit, this does seem to be a rather bizarre design. I am not a giggling musician, and so this should not create a problem for me in my home studio. However, if I were moving this keyboard from gig to gig, I would certainly be concerned with the wheel falling off and getting lost.

....Played a Kronos 61 tonight at GC. The datawheel does feel flimsy. This one was little off-center too as it sort of rolled around the panel. I can see if you used the edge to move the wheel it could pop out. It feels as if they really went cheap when it came to the control surface of the instrument. This along with RH3 keybed issues on other boards isn’t giving me the warm & fuzzies about my preorder.

Well at least I have company now. lol

....I can’t even use my data wheel without it popping out. It seems like me sending it in to Korg will result in them just glueing it back on. It probably isn’t worth the effort…

...But they do know that this is a terrible...terrible design flaw. Why would anyone with any common sense use double-sided tape to keep a major hardware component in place? Kronos’ data wheel should be designed the same way its knobs are designed. Underneath the data wheel should be a long cylinder shaft (male). The data wheel (female) should slide down the shaft and remain in place.

....So..you mean the data wheel knob is held in place with “Double-sided tape” ?? Are you serious?? OMG..What the…

I wonder what the inside looks like?? probably bread bag twist ties, rubber bands, tape, paper clips and modeling clay… LOL.......

Side panels are also hard black plastic.. which look nice but they will get scratched very easy I am sure. I wish I had some better news but doesnt look good to me...as Korg cut quite a few corners on the hardware.

OK here are better pics..
Lou You cant bend this as it is plastic. There are 4 larger notches and 4 smaller ones in between. It looks to me as though the tape fits into the notch of the drum on the bottom circuit board. It is a definitely weird pot!!
It does not take much side pressure to get it off.. not like a stove knob or metal shaft knob pot.

And as usual no KORG Staff responding on this topic…

“What a piece of junk!”

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

This still don’t take away from the sound on this board it is amazing!!!! One person just glued it back on and said everything was fine after that.

yamaha fan boys will be loving this....small issue though, still an awesome board, thats why I’m getting both the xf and kronos...will be a great pair!! cant wait!

...small issue at the beginning, could be a big problems at the end…
“business is business” my friend, and after you crack your bank account to buy a new synth and find a small “issue” like this one, will piss you OFF right away or not? come on Dud...You are a lucky $$$ guy, enjoy both.  Lol!

macalister - 11 June 2011 02:56 AM

WOW!!! Prepared to be amazed....ha, yes Im prepared...check this out Mr Korg:

.....I just opened up my Kronos..Before even playing it I just gently pushed the knob from the edge and it came off. Here is a pic.. It goes back on OK but as you can see its a cheesy setup. $2800 and they cant even put a decent quality data knob on this.. ?? Just checking out the touch screen now.. not good! Cant see it worth a crap.... Jeez..

.....The knob and pot assembly is all plastic.. the Knob is a drum and has small notches on it where the tape is crisscrossed. The knob sets down on the pot drum inside the keyboard and is held in place from just the 4 crisscrosses of the tape?? Where the crisscross touch the outer edge is where it makes contact. Thats it. The Pot drum on the circuit board turns and allows the selection to be changed. Unfortunately I dont see anyway to make the knob fit tighter other than permanently gluing it. Mickey Mouse would not be impressed. The smaller vector joystick isnt much either.

.....I do have to admit, this does seem to be a rather bizarre design. I am not a giggling musician, and so this should not create a problem for me in my home studio. However, if I were moving this keyboard from gig to gig, I would certainly be concerned with the wheel falling off and getting lost.


....Played a Kronos 61 tonight at GC. The datawheel does feel flimsy. This one was little off-center too as it sort of rolled around the panel. I can see if you used the edge to move the wheel it could pop out. It feels as if they really went cheap when it came to the control surface of the instrument. This along with RH3 keybed issues on other boards isn’t giving me the warm & fuzzies about my preorder.

Well at least I have company now. lol

....I can’t even use my data wheel without it popping out. It seems like me sending it in to Korg will result in them just glueing it back on. It probably isn’t worth the effort…

...But they do know that this is a terrible...terrible design flaw. Why would anyone with any common sense use double-sided tape to keep a major hardware component in place? Kronos’ data wheel should be designed the same way its knobs are designed. Underneath the data wheel should be a long cylinder shaft (male). The data wheel (female) should slide down the shaft and remain in place.

....So..you mean the data wheel knob is held in place with “Double-sided tape” ?? Are you serious?? OMG..What the…

I wonder what the inside looks like?? probably bread bag twist ties, rubber bands, tape, paper clips and modeling clay… LOL.......





Side panels are also hard black plastic.. which look nice but they will get scratched very easy I am sure. I wish I had some better news but doesnt look good to me...as Korg cut quite a few corners on the hardware.

OK here are better pics..
Lou You cant bend this as it is plastic. There are 4 larger notches and 4 smaller ones in between. It looks to me as though the tape fits into the notch of the drum on the bottom circuit board. It is a definitely weird pot!!
It does not take much side pressure to get it off.. not like a stove knob or metal shaft knob pot.

And as usual no KORG Staff responding on this topic…

“What a piece of junk!”

If you’re going to directly quote several people, especially if taken from posts on a site other than Motifator, attribution would be appropriate. Doing that allows us to determine for ourselves whether we want to trust the source or not.

Apparently most of the above was from several posts in this thread:
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62318&start=0

Hi there,
Correct, that’s exactly what I did my attribution was more than appropriate, I love the high quality construction of my Yamaha XF6 and I’m reading than the new Korg flagship “Kronos” construction looks more close like a cheaper toy Made in China...Lol!

The best keyboards are the Fantom G and the Motif XF but because the Kronos playing together is a bit of the Fantom G and some XF Motif
1 The best sequence is G famtom
2 The Best in the motif sounds XF
3 The Kronos is a bit of nothing else 2
But there is a better keyboard dedicated to one thing
The Kronos is a poor imitation of both and in fact that there will be many happy people
NEED TO quje what a keyboard
1 A sequencer, sound editing advanced, easy and powerful sampler with up to 1GB of samples, midi tracks 128 channels, I’m talking about (Fantom G) I have it in my studio.
2 realistic sounds, pianos impressive real Brasses, programming quick and easy access, up to 2GB flash memory, smart arpeggiator with multiple rhythms from around the world, control the system forexample Daw cubase 5 or 6. I’m talking about (Motif XF) I have it in my studio.

I have the Fantom G7 and xf7 motif and tell them the best combination in the world

TheShineNZ - 11 June 2011 03:11 AM

yamaha fan boys will be loving this....small issue though, still an awesome board, thats why I’m getting both the xf and kronos...will be a great pair!! cant wait!

I have $$ in the bank but I guess I’ll wait till Korg introduces the second generation Kronos. My biggest problem is its screen. Text is microscopic. When I tested a 61, I could read well when my head was right above the screen. In the normal playing position, it was very difficult to read. Plus, because everything’s so small on the screen, it was difficult to touch what I wanted even when my head was right above the screen. I don’t understand why Korg decided not to angle the screen.

But it seems all the keyboards with all they do are getting harder to read. Even my Motifs are hard for me to see in some of the task windows,with so much there on the screen..I think like the Tyros keyboards they all should have video outputs for sure. It just makes sense with all the tasks the keyboards/workstations do today..  But at least YAMAHA did put a new great screen on the Motif XF..  Not that the Motif XS is bad XF is just sharper to me better graphics and interface.. Lets face it Yamaha builds one hell of a great keyboard like a TANK !!  Besides with Motif using IPAD and PC/Mac software and I think every company is headed in that direction,I did see BadMister demonstrating with the IPAD at Namm and it looked awesome!  I know it will just keep getting better and better, I had someone tell me wait on my Motif XF , and I just went for it and I never looked back the new sounds , screen, flash ,new look. Well I own many Yamaha instruments never had a problem with a new release product.. They just work.

I thought the Kronos touch screen would work like the iPad. Touch and hold, say, a knob on the screen and move the finger to adjust its value. Boy, was I wrong.

Kronos review....

http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/keys-synths/pianos-and-personal-keyboards/personal-keyboards/kronos-459340/review

Loc-Tite comes to mind

But hey, you guys, that chose to, all went ape-shite about
this great and wonderous new Kronos…

Now that a few of you actually have the beast at home,
some of those real issues and truths are bared.

Nothing in life will ever be perfect anyway, plus when ever it’s man or machine made… What day of the week made, counts too.

& always remember Nothing good lasts forever. Dreams.

Make your choices and decisions that cost big bucks, after thorough review. It’s difficult to test drive a keyboard though, then Why would anyone preorder one, before it even see’s the lights of day in store or studio ?

Please, Sir Be sure to explain your unhappiness (cry the blues) at the Korg Forum too.

Chas

Korg “Kronos” scary ....chek this out!!! WTF...ha,ha,ha,ha Korg’s quality…

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62414

i have an XS8 and Kronos 61.... they compliment each other perfectly.
sonically, the kronos is amazing. the DATA wheel will come off if it’s pulled off… that is a design flaw, but it wont pop off during normal usage.

Korg isn’t the only company to experience design flaws, especially during early production of a model. While in general I like Yamaha gear (my current rig includes six Yamaha synths/samplers), every one of them had problems that I needed to address. That doesn’t make the Yamahas bad products, just not perfect. One of the two Korgs I have has required attention as well.

Whether the Kronos will prove to be reliable or not only time and use will tell.

The Kronos loose dial issue is being dealt with by Korg. The following is from
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62318&start=120

Hi everyone,

Thanks,
-Rich
_________________
Richard Formidoni
Technology Product Manager
Korg USA,Inc.