Once within your chosen tab, you then use the cursor to select whatever parameter you want to edit and the Value dial to change it. You navigate around the system using the main Value dial and cursors to change sounds, and then the Page + and Page – buttons beneath the screen to step through the Kross’ tab architecture. Hitting Shift again takes you to the audio-recorder SD file-transfer area, which we’ll cover more when we reach the section of 16 pads. Hitting the Shift button here takes you to the Global section, to make edits to higher-level parameters like tuning. Finally, Seq is for creating songs within the aforementioned MIDI sequencer. Program mode is for playing individual sounds, while Combi is for playing splits and layers of up to 16 programs (sounds). The effects setup is impressive, too: up to seven at once (five insert and two master), with a total of 134 types to choose from. One of the criticisms of the original has been addressed – some real-time controls have been added – while another hasn’t (in that there’s still no aftertouch on the keyboard). You can add your own audio – singing, guitar, whatever you like – via an all-new audio recorder (which uses SD cards, so the capacity depends on those) – and there are 16 pads to trigger said samples. There are 1,075 onboard sounds, covering a huge range of tones and optional expansions to add even more. That really will let you compose complete and fulsome tunes on the 16-track, 210,000 MIDI-event sequencer. The spec is equally as impressive – see left – and I’ll highlight the 120 notes of polyphony for starters.
The Korg Kross 2 is available for under £600 and about 30 times more powerful…you do the synth-maths. That’s probably around £5,000 in today’s cash. My first synth workstation cost £1,056 (read more on page 114), my entire second-year college grant (this is an old concept, where students were given money to encourage them to study). This thing weighs under 4kg, less than its predecessor – which was lauded for its portability and loved by gigging musicians as it didn’t break their backs. Actually, it was more like: ‘Is there actually anything in the box?’. This was the first question I asked when handed the Kross in its box.
#Sonik synth 2 sounds update#
The Korg Kross is an update of a very successful workstation from Korg and it does all of the above and a little bit more besides… What’s in the box?
“Yeah, and while you’re there, make it dirt cheap, too,” they may well ask. They want a scratch-pad sequencer to get ideas down while on the road and they also want a decent amount of effects, maybe even some sampling. There are still those who want a great and varied range of sounds, some that emulate real instruments and some that sound out of this world. Analogue is very much the beating heart of the synthesiser once more – whether real or virtual – but not everyone wants it. Now, instead of one box to do it all, people want hundreds of boxes (modular), or complete analogue mono synths, or virtual analogues, soft synths or analogue polys.
Three decades later, of course, the world of the synth has changed beyond all recognition. Analogue synths had come and largely gone and everyone was clammering for thousands of sounds, effects, onboard sequencing… basically, everything in one box. Back in the day – and this is somewhat revealing my age – when I first got into synthesisers, the digital workstation was the all-new synth fashion statement and my first gear purchase.
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