A Closer Look At The Krome With Richard Formidoni, Korg’s Technology Product Manager

Korg Krome Workstation

Korg recently introduced a new line of workstations, the Krome series. The Krome workstations start at about $1,000 and have some pretty interesting features, including a full-color touchscreen interface, deeply sampled keyboard sounds & DAW integration.

After the Krome was introduced, though, we found that we had a lot of questions – about its synthesis capabilities, how it compares to the Kronos and how it can work with your DAW or other gear. So, we asked Richard Formidoni, the Technology Product Manager at Korg USA, to answer some questions about the Krome and how he sees it fitting into Korg’s lineup.

Synthtopia: Some people didn’t know what to make of the Krome when it was introduced. What’s your ‘elevator pitch’ for the Krome? How would you sum up what it is and how it fits into the Korg lineup?

Richard Formidoni: Krome is a new music workstation keyboard.

It is a direct replacement for the M50, and distills some of Korg’s best workstation features into a lightweight, affordable, great-sounding instrument that is great for live performance as well as studio production.

Synthtopia: With the pricing of the Krome, is Korg trying to bring workstations to a new market?

Richard Formidoni: We do believe that Krome will appeal to a larger audience, because of its bang-for-the-buck ratio. It’s got a lot going for it, and many features that have never been seen in its price range.

Synthtopia: Based on feedback we’ve heard, a lot of people are going to view this as a sort of ‘Kronos Lite’ – even your own marketing materials mention that the Krome features sounds from the Kronos.

How do the two workstation product lines compare? Is there some overlap, or are they really entirely different beasts? What capabilities or features do users lose, going from the Kronos to the Krome?

Richard Formidoni: They are certainly two different beasts, but there are similarities.

The biggest feature from Kronos that also appears in Krome is the large sample collections. With these, Kronos transcends the limitations of traditional PCM-based instruments. Krome takes advantage of the same capabilities, at a much lower price. The 2.8 GB German grand piano, for example, sounds startlingly similar to the larger version found in Kronos. The Jazz Dry/Ambient drum kit is a near-carbon copy of the one in Kronos, down to the separately mixable room mics.

Both Kronos and Krome have Drum Tracks, 16-part Combis, plug-in software integration via USB, and of course the large, color TouchView displays.

With Kronos, you get additional benefits such as 9 distinct synthesis engines, Set List mode, Smooth Sound Transitions, sampling/audio recording, KARMA, additional hardware controllers, etc.

Synthtopia: Something that’s not very clear from the Krome marketing materials, is what its sound design capabilities are. Can you explain what the Krome’s capabilities are when it comes to tweaking existing sounds, creating new sounds and loading new sounds?

Richard Formidoni: OK, this is a big question, so I’ll give you a big answer. In short, the EDS-X engine within Krome has a ton of sound design capabilities.

If you’re looking to start from scratch and build sounds with analog-style subtractive synthesis, you’ll find everything you need in Program mode. Each Program can have two oscillators, and in Krome’s library of multisamples, you’ll find a big collection of single-cycle waveforms (saw, triangle, sine, pulse, etc.) to use as the foundation of your sounds.

If you want to get a little more complex than a single waveform, each oscillator can play up to eight stereo multisamples at the same time. Next, you’ll find familiar synth elements: An amp section, detailed envelopes, LFOs, filters, and of course a huge library of effects. You can also use our AMS (Alternate Modulation Source) system to connect the different elements together in various ways, creating a very “modular” vibe. Tweaking and editing sounds is done via the display. The new input gestures are really useful here… For example, you can actually touch and drag envelope points to create the shape you need.

The next level of Krome’s sound design power comes into play with Combi mode. Here, you can take the program you just created, and combine it with 15 other ones. Those 16 programs can be layered, split, and velocity-switched all across the keybed.

Each of Krome’s preloaded Programs and Combis can be deconstructed and modified as you see fit. You also never have to worry about permanently overwriting a factory sound, because you can recall them at any time from within Global mode. For quick live tweaks, you can always use the X/Y joystick, assignable Switches, and the four Realtime Control knobs. They’re preset to do useful things for each sound, but, you can reassign them to do whatever you’d like.

As far as loading new sounds, Krome can load .PCG files from the Korg M50, as well as its own format. As with all our other workstations, you’ll likely find users creating and sharing their own Programs and Combis online. Korg also plans to make additional sounds available in the future.

Synthtopia: Many of our readers have other synths and MIDI gear that they work with. Can you explain some of the scenarios of how the Krome can be used with other gear?

Richard Formidoni: Korg workstations have always had extensive MIDI capabilities that allow them to “play nice” with other gear.

For example, in Sequence mode, you can set each of the 16 MIDI channels to play an internal sound, a sound on an external device, or both. The hardware controls can also be used to control external gear, as well as the keys themselves.

If you want to get really creative with your MIDI chain, you can create key zones right on the TouchView display. One octave could be controlling an external synth on channel 2, another octave could be playing another synth on channel 3, another one could be set to play internal sounds, and so on. It’s very flexible!

Synthtopia: For studio use, how do Krome workstations fit into a computer-based production workflow?

Richard Formidoni: The USB port transmits and receives MIDI, making Krome a capable and customizable controller for any software synth.

We also provide freely downloadable Editor/Plug-In Editor software, which allows you to edit Krome’s parameters with your mouse. The Plug-In Editor also works natively with VST/Audio Units-capable DAWs. So, really it’s like adding 16 new software synths, with our hardware doing all the processing instead of bogging down your computer.

Plus, when you save your work in a DAW running the Plug-In Editor, you’re saving the state of the Krome along with it, so it is quickly recalled the next time you load that particular project.

Synthtopia: In your view, what are the most important or unique features of the Krome?

Richard Formidoni: First and foremost is the sound. There isn’t anything that sounds like Krome, and that’s due in part to the huge sample collections, which are larger than any other dedicated music workstation (except our flagship Kronos).

Second is that huge, color TouchView display. The size, resolution, and responsiveness of the new display really draws you in, and the interface is similar to other Korg workstations, so if you’ve played one of our boards before, you’ll instantly know how to get around, but the new touch/drag/swipe gestures add a lot to the experience.

And our Ultra-lightweight 88-key version comes in at a mere 32 pounds! As of the time of this writing, it’s the lightest weight workstation we know of.

Synthtopia: Do you have something on the Korg website that lists the sounds or the range or sounds on the Krome? Are audio demos available on the Web?

Richard Formidoni: Yes, we have audio demos and full documentation on our site at www.korg.com/krome. Just click the speaker icon to hear the audio demos, and click on the “Support and Downloads” link to download the Voice Name List.

Synthtopia: Finally – can you let us know the date when you anticipate the Krome will be available, and what you expect the street prices to be?

Richard Formidoni: It’s appearing in stores as we speak. The U.S. street prices are as follows:

  • Krome 61: $999
  • Krome 73: $1199
  • Krome 88: $1599

More information on the Kromes is available at the Korg site.

15 thoughts on “A Closer Look At The Krome With Richard Formidoni, Korg’s Technology Product Manager

  1. The price looks pretty good considering the features.

    I’ve never been too big on workstations because of their complexity. Tons of features but too much messing around with menus. The touchscreen and the DAW plugin make me think that this might avoid a lot of that.

  2. Looking forward to trying the Krome out when it shows up at GC.

    When this was announced, i thought it was going to be in the 2K range and wasn’t that excited. At $1,000, it looks pretty sweet. My main question is how flexible the synth is – the Korg site doesn’t really say much about it.

    1. The manual is freely available on Korg’s web site. That should tell you everything about it except exactly how it sounds.

      Personally, I am just a hobbyist in the music field, but I love hardware synths. For one, just look at resale value. How much can you get for a 10-year-old synth? How much can you get for a 10-year-old pile of floppies that will probably not work with your current setup at all?

      I also see a lot of concerts with a Mac up on the stage. I wonder how they would handle a computer failure? Hard drives do die. Operating systems crash. Hardware synths also fail, but not nearly as much as computers.

      1. Of course computers are subject to failures but it’s so easy (and light) to bring a backup laptop.
        That said, hardware synths offer more and more sounds and fonctions but also use more and more computer technology..

      2. I understand where you are coming from, but can you really get a feel for a synth from a manual?

        The Krome sounds like its probably pretty powerful for the price. I wish companies would do a better job of showing off their synths, though!

  3. This looks good, and I’m still considering it, but I need audio tracks, and I’m leaving PC soft synths, so Kronos is almost only option to me. And considering the other synthesizers it has in its belly, its roughly the best value there is in the HW synth market.

    1. The Kronos has tons of features, but it does so much that seems daunting.

      What’s it got, something like 9 synth engines? That’s probably awesome for some people, but I don’t think I’d ever figure it all out. I’ve got a Kurzweill that is like that – so deep I can never wrap my brain around it.

      For that reason, the price and the touchscreen, the Krome looks interesting to me.

  4. I like the price point on these keyboards, and I hope we get some in soon at the store I work for. The Kronos, which we carry, is amazing but sadly most musicians who sit down to play it only play the pianos or organs. The Karma engine is amazing, but it’s a bit complex for someone who’s looking for bread and butter sounds. And the price is a bit daunting as well for the 88-key version. Most musicians at my store don’t have $3 thousand plus to blow on a keyboard.

  5. it’s a great bang-for-buck board.. with a cheap key bed (you’ll find higher quality keys on toys) and mid range quality sound. Check YouTube for a video comparing Kronos vs Krome fidelity. No comparison. Korg cut many corners to get this board in at this price range, but they forgot musicians want quality over affordability. Korg needs to use the same key beds Yamaha uses on their Motifs and they need to ..spend a bit more on converters and circuitry and less on touch screen bells and whistles… IMO

    That said, once you get the hang of the workflow, it’s a fun board to around on

  6. I was almost sold on this thing till I played it. The action is really unsatisfying. I’m a piano player; uninspiring, cheap, shoddy action is a deal-breaker. I’d rather play a digital piano that can’t do one-tenth of what this thing does.

  7. You either need a keyboard or synthesizer that has a converter that hooks to your computer, or you can buy a card for your computer that hooks up to your keyboard. See Roland or Yamaha.

  8. Would “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” be a good song for a gradation karaoke party to sing?

    WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD KARAOKE MUSIC FOR FREE ?

    IAM BRING THE KORG LAST 1 MONTH BUT I DONT KNOW OPERATING TONE AND RYTHEM
    CHANGING AT A TIME .PLEASE EXPLANE

  9. I had a Korg Kronos 88 low serial number.. Had the typical key bed issue, some notes not playing or playing very softly, almost sticking. usually in the manual just below middle C. Kronos sounds, most acoustic sounds all needed tweaking, acoustic guitars, basses, sax (horrible), and a lot of others.

    I purchased to use in my home studio with Cubase 5, and use the soft synths that I have installed, Kontakt, East West, Fab Four, Sax Lab, Real guitar / strat / les paul. etc. Use Cubase as the external clock, record midi into Cubase and use instrument plugins + effects on track and sample it back to Kronos through 1/4″ jack from my mixer’s D buss. Cubase never saw the Kronos and this never transpired.

    So Kronos is gone, replaced by Krome 73 (sounds are better except organs and pianos.) Still doesn’t hook up to Cubase 5. This is a huge problem, as I do record with sequences not using most internal sounds. Key bed on 73 is horrible, keys are not hinged in proper spot, hinged at end of case, so you have to play board differently.. Am very disappointed in Korg, and have used Korg a very long time and had nothing but Korg on my rigs for years. Poly 800, Poly 6, Bx3, DW8000, Korg Vocoder, MS10, DSG1, M3R with Re1, X2, X3, N264, Prophecy, Triton Studio, X50, M50, Kronos, Krome and I know there were a few more. But my love affair is almost over if I can’t figure this out.

    Yamaha with seem less integration will be next and combine it with Rolands Fantom G7 or G8. Hope someone can shed some light on the problem.

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