At the 2012 Summer NAMM Show, Korg USA announced the arrival of the Kronos X Music Workstation, an expanded Kronos, featuring boosts in internal memory capacity and the size of its SSD, plus enhanced sampler functionality.
Korg has also announced lower prices on its original Kronos workstation models:
- Kronos 61 – U.S. street price $2799.00
- Kronos73 – U.S. street price $3299.00
- Kronos88 – U.S. street price $3499.00
Kronos combines nine individual synthesis engines in a single instrument (SGX-1 piano; EP-1 electric pianos and the enhanced CX-3 organ; Korg’s Waveshaping and VPM synthesis; HD-1 High Definition PCM; STR-1 Plucked String modeling; and three distinct analog modeling engines).
On the workstation side, it offers 16 MIDI tracks, 16 audio tracks, Open Sampling System, KARMA, Drum Tracks, 16 effect processors, and more. Performance features include Smooth Sound Transitions and a Set List mode.
See the Korg site for more details on the Kronos.
$200 cheaper? Well hell, let me break out my wallet…
$200 by itself, esp. in comparison with the total price, may not seem much.
But put into the proper context it becomes a whole different game. Don’t forget that Korg doesn’t look at one device when they decided on this. They’re looking at the entire spectrum. So lets assume that they predict to be selling 2000 to 3000 units (I honestly have no idea). Then we’re suddenly talking about a total price drop (or /loss/) of, say, 2500 x 200 = $5000,-.
This too may look small when taken the sale price into consideration. But keep in mind: a $3299,- /sale/ doesn’t mean a $3299 /profit/ for Korg. For example; any idea on the production costs of these things?
So bottom line; don’t take this too lightly even though things may appear small at first.
Errrrr…
SynthFan
2500 X 200 = 500,000 …!
That’s a half million in profit lost for the sales of 2500 keyboards with the price drop.
I agree with your post, but at least get the math correct!
🙂
I’d look at it a different way. Nobody drops prices unless they need to. So the loss of income after a price drop ALWAYS looks better than the even greater loss of income due to not enough units moved.
good point sf. if I’m already shelling out $2000 plus for new keyboard spending an extra 200 to get the better model isn’t a big deal. it however is not enough of a discount to make me go yes!!! the deal of the century. aymat is right…quick let md get my wallet…besides go buy a Mac book and mainstage…it will do the same thing as Kronos for a lot less.
>>> … besides go buy a Mac book and mainstage…it will do the same thing as Kronos for a lot less.
I own and still happily use 2 different Korg workstations, but as impressive as the Kronos is, it can’t better my Mac and Logic. I can apply instruments and sound banks that are denied the locked-in Kronos world. The range in variety is vastly larger. It also does not help that every demo is full of bloody techno or jazz EPs. I feel sure the Kronos has a good build, as all 5 Korgs I’ve owned have been pretty hardy. Still…. $2800 will loosely buy a well-appointed Mac, Logic, Omnisphere and a decent mid-line controller. If you want a dedicated central instrument, a Kronos would be a good choice, but a Kronos PLUS a Mac/PC setup will leave you with NO creative excuses. Besides, a 61-key Kronos will be on ebay for $1600 within 2 years and their next workstation will be a Kronos and a half, for a mere $2000 retail. One big plus, though… I have to upgrade Macs & etc. every few years, but my floppy-driven 01Wfd still works fine… and it was made in 1991. A Mac made in 1991 is now a planter.
why are you using korgs at all if mac is best? if you really wanted to economize, why not just borrow the software and use a cheap laptop/controller?
When you compare it to the price of the OASYS, it’s amazing. I feel sorry for the suckers who bought the OASYS. I told some of them on Sweetwater’s OASYS forum that they were going to regret paying that high of a price in a few years. I was booted off for saying that. Sometimes I get tired of being right all the time. It’s such a burden.
Too bad “iControlMIDIDesign” didn’t take a page from the Korg book on his salesmanship…
Make a better design, and sell cheaper, if your sales are slow.
Maybe lack of sales indicates your doing something wrong.
I work in the concert world and even doing synth heavy bands like Tangerine Dream and Ziggy Marley, I have yet to see a Kronos come off the truck…
Props to Korg for recognizing this…
>>>> I told some of them on Sweetwater’s OASYS forum that they were going to regret paying that high of a price in a few years. I was booted off for saying that.
Maybe the fact that they were selling them had something to do with it, heh heh….
Besides, WTF, everything faces obsolescence, even us. I made a big budgeted buy a few years ago and a pal said “Aren’t you sorry you settled for a TR61 instead of getting an M50?” I said “No, because its a somewhat refined Triton inside and a real bargain at the price. I didn’t miss out on getting a good tool at all. Instead, I got that plus a couple of potent softsynths by spending that way. Its win-win.” Anyone who bought an OASYS and is now grousing over the Kronos wasn’t focused enough in the first place. Before you upgrade your gear, you should also upgrade your goals. We all WANT new toys, but we don’t always *need* them.
I don’t agree with the “buy a mac” POV. Karma makes owning an M3 or a Kronos far different from a Mac running Mainstage with a controller keyboard. Best of both worlds is to be in both worlds of course. Plus it’s great just firing up a keyboard and not having to turn on the computer.
it’s great just firing up a keyboard and not having to turn on the computer.
I’d love to have one of these, but I just cannot afford one… I need a sponsor or something 🙁
These seem to have everything you could ever want in a keyboard.
Two points.
First of all the profit margins on these high end music tech products is very slim. I worked for a greedy, big box retailer some years ago. For our purposes let ‘s call them Banjo Center (thanks to Suit and Tie Guy for that one). People were always asking me to know the price down for them because they figured the store must be doubling their money. That is true on certain items, drumsticks, strings, cables, books, videos, etc. Not true on high tech where the margin can be as slim as 8-15%.
Second. NEVER buy the latest and greatest new. Never, ever. If you bought a Kronos enjoy it, skip the next 3 or 4 upgrades. Learn it, use it and replace it with a used Kronos XYZ9000 in a few years. It will be an upgrade on your tech and someone else can eat the loss on equity.
so exactly how long should we wait to buy such gear?
Prices drop a lot these days and quite suddenly too. Great for those of us who haven’t spent anything yet, but a kick in the teeth for those who recently bought.
I get that its supposed to be the all singing all dancing eight wonder of the world, but Ive watched enough videos on youtube by disenchanted Kronos owners to know that a $200 discount is not going to compensate for Korg’s lack of quality control. Malfunctioning keybeds, usb memory issues, and faulty chasis are things that should come with a $2,900 price tag.
Which really has to make you wonder. Are they dropping the price because times are tough, or are the dropping the price because they are aware of these issues?
that should have read as “…are things that SHOULDNT come with a $2,900 price tag.” 🙂
They’re dropping the price to move product. This is being done 1)They’re overstocked. 2)Resellers are demanding it (Korg will compensate them based on the discount). 3) Making room for something new. 4)They have gotten to a point where it cost them less to produce and yet still make the same or better profit. 5)Deadmau5 needs 300 for another studio.
I have work for a large product manufacturer. We would never lower a price based on the product not working as it should. Every thing you buy has warranty costs built into the price. This goes into a pool of sorts. Now warranty issues are a problem for manufactures since it cost time and money for the resellers.
You just don’t sell them broken if you want to keep your resellers. We had issues with firmware on a product. Once known they’re all quarantined and re-flashed. Now I can’t speak for Korg, but you really don’t have a choice. My assumption is that hardware issues are being fixed on newer models. If not, Korg is paying resellers for returns, troubleshooting, and other behind the scenes efforts. And when something new comes out those issues are not forgotten when resellers place orders. I’m not saying they won’t support Korg, but what I am saying is that resellers make pre-commitments to the number of items they buy. This is how Korg forecasts units to be produced. I’m rambling here, but you get the point… there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, or behind a price drop.
@Lux,
Thanks for the input. I’m naive about how manufacturers handle product sales but I do have some faith in Korg. Ive owned several synths from them and my experience is that they are decently built… I wouldn’t compare them to Clavia quality but its good enough. Its also good to know that they are aware of issues and I wouldnt assume otherwise form most manufacturers. Kronos has had two firmware updates since its release which I can only assume fixes major/minor bugs with the OS. Hardware issues are a different matter and I’m not entirely sure how that affects their bottom line but if they can resolve them and still provide a discount, then they must be doing something right.
O/S updates to Kronos have been for the following reasons;
V1.5
KRONOS software version 1.5 adds a number of new features, including the ability to load more sounds and samples at once, support for installing additional RAM, and support for USB MIDI Devices (including Korg USB pad controllers such as the nanoPAD2). In addition to these new features, the update includes various improvements and important resolutions to specific operational issues.
V1.6
System Version 1.6.0 adds a new “Uninstall EXs” page menu command in the P6: Options info page in Global mode. It will uninstall selected EXs data from the internal hard drive. You can use this command to remove demo mode EXs data, for example, if you need more space on the internal hard drive. This EXs data can then be re-installed at any time.
V2.0
User Sample Banks let you create extremely large sample libraries that take advantage of the generous PCM RAM and SSD capacity.
A second internal SSD can be added to support massive sound library expansions, including KORG and third-party Sound Libraries.
USB Ethernet support enables high-speed data communication between the KRONOS and your
computer.
The nature of any software based product is that updates will fix and improve the system, nothing is ever perfect. I salute KORG for continuing to add features to this great product….for FREE!!!
I don’t get it. What’s wrong with my Kronos 73? Nothing.
Who is the nearest competitor? Yamaha. Their technology is far behind the Kronos.
I think the Kronos Operating System could be better in iOs times but no company can afford to write a new OS for every product. So after Korg includes all the M3 features in the Ronos I will be more then happy with it and if others get it cheaper I will not quarrel with that. wkr from Germany.
Kurzweil also makes a pretty damned good competitor in the PC3 series. I won’t get into a pissing match over which is better (both it and the Kronos are excellent instruments) but it is a viable alternative (and presently available from some retailers for significantly less).
korg should offer current kronos owners a discount on sound libraries.
Wait a second. With knowing very little (ie: not in the way of music creativity) about the Kronos other than past BASIC sound design as KORG uses back to the M1 you can do a heck of lot to create new sounds, not just copy and then make “changes”. It has a root. AND it sounds better than past KORG products that’s hardware like an O1W or Wavestation (or a Roland JD 800/JD900always sounds better than the software version of it’s emulation. The Kronos should not be compared to a computer setup. It’s a computer that thinks its a synth…..and it is what it thinks it is so lieve it alone. Sure there were a few bugs in the OS….but thats life and evolution of a concept supporting patents owned by others so don’t think it was easy to build it. Money is connected to time just like energy. It’s just not a constant……
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