Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

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Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by OneWorld »

I am not looking for an equivalent as such, but I note that the Oasys and Kronos have the ability to record 16 audio tracks to an internal HDD/SSD, for all intents and purpose, seemingly equivalent to a multitrack HDD recorder.

Am I correct in thinking that and if so, are there any other workstations (Yamaha/Roland/etc) that have this multitrack audio recording facility?
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Re: Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by Eddy Deegan »

Well, sort-of. One thing to point out is that although you can record audio into the sequencers of a number of workstations now, you can't edit it in any meaningful sense.

The Yamaha Motif XS, MODX (latest versions of the OS) and Montage all allow you to record audio into them for example but to be honest I wouldn't really want to work that way when it comes to audio. Some drawbacks that spring to mind:
  • You're looking at saving a lot of data in proprietary format (if the synth becomes faulty or unavailable, you'll need another one to get your work back out again)
  • Load/save times are inevitably longer than on a PC
  • You have limited-to-zero editing capabilities for the recorded audio
  • You can apply any onboard FX to recorded audio but no other plugins or additional processing
  • The interface on a workstation isn't particularly good for an audio-recording workflow in my experience
  • Very limited physical inputs (usually only stereo)
I'm sure there are other reasons to consider but to me although it's a bit of a romantic notion, the practicalities are less attractive!
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Re: Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by IAA »

Eddy has hit the nail on the head - as per :clap:
I’ve used a Kronos for 7 years and programmed it lots. I occasionally mock up midi tracks before exporting to my DAW, but I’ve rarely recorded audio into the sequencer. I’ve recorded and sampled audio lots into the Kronos but now I tend to use my DAW even for that and export the waves into the Kronos, easier to manage.
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Re: Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by OneWorld »

Sorry to be a pain, but is it really that ‘bad’ I have seen a few YouTube’s and it seems you can use the Kronos as a hdd recorder, once you set up the track, is the process so convoluted/impractical such that turning on a computer/starting the daw software/creating a project/setting up an audio track etc is simpler and quicker. What is it about using the oasis/kronos so impractical?

I am not too bothered about a paucity of editing facilities but I’d like to be able get down a few basic midi tracks and just add a few vocal/acoustic guitar tracks, using the oasis/kronos as a sketch pad
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Re: Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by The Elf »

OneWorld wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 9:24 pm Sorry to be a pain, but is it really that ‘bad’...

IME yes. Workstations are 'OK' for MIDI, but for audio? :thumbdown: No. Almost any dedicated audio recorder is preferable.
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Re: Korg Oasys/Kronos equivalents

Post by IAA »

If you just want to record with no editing (which is a faff too far) then yes it’s ok. It really depends on where you want to end up and what flexibility you aspire to. I wouldn’t track a project on one.
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