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Introduction
As Korg are marketing it ‘the King of Workstations is back’
The Korg Kronos 3 has launched.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last few weeks especially as NAMM has been running over the last few days. You will be aware that amongst other announcements Korg have announced that the Korg Kronos is back in the form of the Korg Kronos 3
The socials have lit up, Korg announcing that they are launching the keyboard. Korg endorsed musicians have started turning up on Youtube being introduced the new Kronos. And commentators and influencers posting their views and opinions on the launch of the Korg Kronos 3.
Of course the question that many have asked and that Korg hasn’t answered is ‘is this a response to negative market response to the Korg Nautilus and recent significant price drops on the Nautilus despite the launch last year of the Nautilus AT. As a side you can now in the UK buy a brand new Nautilus AT 88-key with the RH3 keyed for under £2,000.
Why Kronos 3
Why Kronos 3. Well to be frank if I ripped the light wood ends off my Kronos 2 88-key and replaced them with the black wood ends I would have a Korg Kronos 3. Yes that is a little flippant but it is not far from the truth.
Yes the new keyboard boasts some upgrades but essentially it is an upgrade to the Kronos 2 and I guess in th natural order of things Kronos 3 is completely appropriate.
But what do we know about the Korg Kronos 3
Aesthetics
Let’s start with the Aesthetics of the new Kronos 3. As I said above, take all three models of Kronos 2, take off the end panels and replace with black wooden end panels. And ‘voila’ you have a Kronos 3.
I would be careful of the socials going forward with people trying to pass off Kronos 2’s as 3’s by making some cosmetic changes!
Not 64-bit
To quote the bard ’to 64-bit or not to 64-bit’.
I like many other Korg Kronos users were hoping that the Kronos linage would be carried on by a machine that moved up to a 64-bit architecture. Alas this seems not to be the case. The new Kronos is based on the same 32-bit architecture as the Kronos 2 (and variants).
Korg have stated that the Kronos 3 will have an upgraded operating system, which the older versions will be capable of running when this is released.
That is both positive and negative. Positive because we know that the current operating system on the Kronos platform works well. Negative because the upgrade may introduce instabilities to the platform. But I think more positive than negative.
However, while the 32-bit environment of the Kronos can compete with the other major platforms in the market, some of the new features of the other platforms require more memory and processing power, that will be easier to implement in a 64-bit world.
Even though the architecture hasn’t been updated Korg claim that they have reengineered the operating system code to improve startup time by 60%. A feature that will be welcomed by gigging musicians.
User interface Improvements
They have retained the 7.5” colour touch screen format, as opposed to the smaller format of the Nautilus.
This is a newer hardware version of the screen that has been included on the older models.
Korg have stated that they have upgraded the user experience. I think this actually means they have tweaked the interface. The statement says faster and more responsive, but that could just be down to new hardware.
They have also made the statement ‘offering at-a-glance access to vital information’. The only real statements I have found in this area:
are that set list mode has been changed to provide the musician with all the information that they need to get through a song or a set.
A touch-drag mode to allows parameters to be more easily controlled.
Storage
Base storage has been increased to a new 62Gb SSD. And this is preloaded with 21Gb of preloaded waveform data.
Internal hardware
The hardware used in the previous Korg Kronos 2 went end of life several years ago, and although Korg have not explicitly stated this, the hardware would be a more modern version of that Atom CPU.
3 flavours of workstation
Korg have stated that the new Kronos 3 will be redelivered in the 3 original Kronos flavours:
The 88-key RH3 weighted hammer action keyboard version
The 73-key RH3 weighted hammer action keyboard version
The 61-key Natural touch semi-weighted action version
Unlike the Nautilus the new Kronos 3 will be launched with After Touch and Karma available.
Sound generation.
The nine sound engines of the original Kronos have been retained by this new model. These appear to be pretty much identical in operation to the previous Kronos models.
In addition to the sound engine ability to create your own custom sounds Korg have preloaded an additional 256 programs over the those available on the previous Kronos 2.
These include the Italian Grand and Tine EP 1 plus a number of other FM and other EP pianos.
The following Korg Sound library sound packs have been loaded as well KRS-08 Best of TRITON, KRS-04 Pro Splits and Layers, KRS-05 Ensemble Combinations, KRS-06 and KRS-06B CX-3 Signature Sounds.
Unlike the launch of the Korg Nautilus, the Kronos 3 is fully compatible with the sounds and programs that have been created on a previous Kronos 2 or Kronos 1/X instruments.
Korg have stated that there will be sound packs released at the same time as the Kronos 3, mid-2025, that will allow the new sounds available on the Kronos 3 to be loaded on both the Korons 1/x and Kronos 2 platforms.
Price
The prices being shown on the various portals are:
88-Key £3,200
73-key £2,950
61-key £2,650
With instruments shipping from July 2005.
Who will buy the Korg Kronos 3
If this is not a massive upgrade to the Korg Kronos platform who is this workstation aimed at?
Firstly, any musicians that rely on the Korg Kronos to earn a living will be looking at this platform to provide them with resilience. A keyboard they can use and be confident that they can get spares for. Maybe this also means that they will be able to get spares for the older Kronos 2’s that are now considered unserviceable due to the lack of spares available from Korg.
Secondly, given the perceived gap between the Nautilus and the other key players in the market, this puts a platform back in the market that means Korg have an offering that is more competitive.
But I do have a theory. My theory is that this is a stepping stone instrument to stop Korg haemorrhaging musicians that have not been investing in the Korg Nautilus. Giving these musicians something from Korg that at least competes while they are still working on the next platform.
Until next time....
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 Music Tech Guy UK's 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.
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