A sleek workstation with 9 sound engines and advanced virtual memory technology for unbelievable results. The 61-key Kronos is more than just another instrument. It is a landmark in synthesis and workstation evolution; one that represents fresh ideas and groundbreaking technologies. Kronos unites multiple sound engines working in tandem and interactive performance functions that reflect the way musicians play. Most importantly, Kronos provides a seemingly endless supply of stunning, spectacular sounds. The Kronos Music Workstation is the singular instrument built for live performing musicians; for artists creating in a studio or computer-based production setup; and for musicians and sound designers looking for the ultimate synthesizer. In designing Kronos, Korg heeded the advice of many musicians, listened their requests, and has vowed to deliver. Kronos offers the pinnacle in keyboard sounds; accurate and responsive to any player's individual style. The expansive control surface boasts joysticks, sliders, knobs, switches, a ribbon controller, assignable pedal inputs, and, obviously, Korg's enhanced resolution color TouchView display. New features include the easy-to-use Set List mode for song-specific and gig-ready sound pallet, and Korg's Smooth Sound Transition function. It also includes the responsive action shared with the Korg M361. For many, the studio is where the real work gets done; from laying down tracks, to filling out grooves for an on-stage blowout, to providing the soundtrack for today's media rich environment. For these creative leaders, Korg has armed the Kronos Music Workstation's sequencer with 16-track MIDI tracks, plus 16 audio tracks, Korg's Open Sampling System, stunning hi-fidelity effects, as well as perfect plug-in integration with lots of popular DAW platforms. Kronos is also stocked with incredible sound, dynamic drums, and an amazing array of high quality sound effects. Add to that the ability to utilize KARMA (explained below), the Drum Track, and the sequencer's RPPR to significantly speed up and enhance the music creation process. In addition to being Korg's finest workstation, Kronos has it in its DNA to satisfy the programmer, sound designer, and synthesizer fanatic; the musician who dreams of making visions of the cosmos into sound, of tweaking parameters to conjure unimaginable sounds from the ether. Kronos reignites Korg's founding dream that is at the center of synthesis: the excitement and enjoyment of crafting new sounds, sounds never heard before. A multitude of exclusive Korg technologies power the synth engines to generate incredible results—VMT (Virtual Memory Technology); CMT (Component Modeling Technology); Physical Modeling, Digital Synthesis, Wave Sequencing, MDS (Multi-Dimensional Synthesis); KARMA and more! Kronos contains 9 different synthesizer/sound engines. While each is deserving of a separate product in its own right, Kronos unites them all into a single, integrated musical instrument. Dynamic voice allocation and new technologies enable all sound engines to fluently share a stable, enhanced hardware platform. The results are nothing short of amazing. ?SGX-1 Premium Piano?Piano sound engine, to correctly capture the rich character of a concert piano, Korg declined to work within the limitations of existing sampling methods and made use of Virtual Memory Technology (VMT), able to play large samples right from the internal high-capacity Solid State Drive (SSD). The SGX-1 Premium Piano sound engine boasts two distinctive grand pianos; a rich German D piano, and a powerful Japanese C model. Each utilizes superb, unlooped stereo samples sampled at 8 velocity levels for every single key. Meticulous attention to detail retains the realism and warmth of the piano sound; this extends even to sampling and reproducing the body resonances of a real grand piano, as well as the mechanical noise that happens when the keys are played, or the damper pedal is pressed and released. The framework of any keyboard instrument is the piano, and the SGX-1 engine enables Kronos to confidently deliver on this sonic ideal. Korg's new EP-1 sound engine is committed to accurately recreating 6 of the most ubiquitous vintage electric pianos. The MDS (Multi-Dimensional Synthesis) technology gets rid of the transitions between velocity-switched samples, and gets rid of the unnatural behavior of looped samples. It also offers the user unique control over the tines, reeds, and noise components that make up the essential characteristics of these timeless and legendary electromechanical instruments. The MDS sounds respond naturally to the finesse of the player's keyboard touch. This technology also provides an incredible dynamic range so that the energy of climactic passages is well preserved. Every one of the 6 electric piano models offers realistic emulations of the period amp, cabinet, speaker, and even the difficult-to-find 
vintage effects that gave the original instruments their unique sound. From the sounds, to the feel, to the effects; every part has been coordinated into a single package to craft the ultimate electric piano experience. The original Korg CX-3 combo organ appeared in 1980. Revered by musicians around the globe, this classic organ reemerged in 2000 as a brand new product with the same name, but utilizing the latest technology of the time to accurately model the tonewheel organ sound. In Kronos, the CX-3 engine meticulously models this classic tonewheel instrument. Proprietary Korg technology has been utilized to flawlessly reproduce the vacuum tube amp, and effects like the Vibrato/Chorus and the "must-have" rotary speaker. Even the instability, fold-back, leakage, and noise aspects of the tone wheels have been painstakingly analyzed and emulated. Take complete advantage of Korg's exclusive EX mode and go from 9 to 18 drawbars (13 footages plus 5 to determine the percussion) and create even richer and more detailed sounds. The organ sounds featured in legendary performances—some of which are recreated here by the original artists—are now available for the playing. Go ahead and experience these legendary organ sounds, remade for the present day. The HD-1 was labeled "High Definition" because of its remarkable sound, beginning with Korg's proprietary low-aliasing sample playback oscillators, full-bandwidth multimode resonant filters, and incredibly fast & smooth envelopes and LFOs. Once more, Korg's SSD and Virtual Memory Technology (VMT) provide the HD-1 access to a larger sample set—gigabytes in size—than would normally be stored using internal memory. The HD-1 boasts all of the essential sounds in incredible detail, from orchestral to hip hop, to classic rock, all immediately available. The huge array of samples offered by Kronos is unmatched by previous hardware synthesizers or samplers, and is a superior fit for film, video, and sound effect work. Originally introduced on the Korg WAVESTATION, and used here as component of the HD-1, Wave Sequences play a series of samples over time, generating distinctive rhythmic timbres or smooth, intricate evolving sounds. Additionally, step-sequencer modulation outputs enable Wave Sequences to control any modulate-able Program parameter. Take advantage of this robust sample content to craft incredibly realistic drum parts. The Ambient Drums offer two kits. Each one provides three separate miking positions, capturing the entire kit, (with the snare on and off), and the individual hits. The HD-1 voice architecture enables custom blending of the drum's direct sound with the ambient sound layer, adding a finished quality to the track. Feature-packed, the AL-1 is the same top quality analog modeling sound engine that was first debuted on the Korg OASYS, the Open Architecture Synthesis Studio back in 2005. Its proprietary ultra-low-aliasing oscillators (utilizing totally different technology than the HD-1) emulate all the might and glory of real analog synthesis without nasty artifacts. Morphing waveforms enable users to change the oscillator shapes in real time. Resonance modeling allows users choose between classic filter sounds, and the incredibly flexible MultiFilter lets users make their own hybrid filter shapes. Analog-style FM, hard sync, drive, low-boost, and ring modulation provide lots of tone-twisting power. Emerging in 1978, the MS-20 united a 37-note keyboard with a vertically positioned control panel, and was easily available by those inhibited by expensive and huge furniture-sized synthesizers. With a thick, solid sound, aggressive filters, and patching capabilities that opened up unlimited potential for creating sounds, the MS-20's rich personality enamored countless synth freaks. Using Korg's CMT (Component Modeling Technology) the MS-20EX accurately reproduces the MS-20 at the same time dramatically expanding its patch panel capabilities. Modulate filters with audio-rate oscillators; make audio inputs into control signals; manipulate all of the original knobs with mod sources including added envelopes, LFOs, and realtime controllers. It's a knob twiddlers dream, but even with no patch panel, the MS-20EX 
would make a splash with its one of a kind, aggressive tone—due largely to its signature filters, which are totally different from those in either the AL-1 or the PolysixEX. The Kronos version is now extremely polyphonic. The Polysix first debuted in 1981, providing six-voice polyphony, program memory, and an impressively competitive price tag. With its self-oscillating four-pole filter, silky analog oscillator and sub-oscillator, plus a deep Chorus/Ensemble effect, the PolysixEX enhances the capabilities of the original in many intuitive ways. The strings and pads that were such an important feature of the Polysix will be indispensable when users need the tones of the early '80s. The classic arpeggiator built into the original Polysix is also featured. Korg added modulation of every parameter on the front panel, for a universe of sounds impossible on the original. It's also extremely well-suited to tactile control via the Kronos' Tone Adjust; with a knob, slider, or switch for almost every one of the original Polysix parameters. As a bonus, it's also capable of extremely high polyphony. Combine Variable Phase Modulation (VPM), wave-shaping, samples, ring modulation and subtractive synthesis, as well as a modular patch-panel system, and the result is the MOD-7. Incredibly versatile, it offers everything from vintage FM keyboards, bells, and basses (including the capability to load sounds from vintage DX synths) to rhythmic soundscapes and shimmering, epic pads. Vast sample-morphing capabilities, with impressive flexibility and power, allow users to create incredibly rich processing environments: blend multiple stages of filtering, waveshaping, and ring modulation—as well as utilize samples as FM modulators—all patched together however users like. Based on the physical modeling knowledge Korg cultivated over the course of many years, the struck/plucked-string physical modeling sound engine makes use of cutting-edge technology. The STR-1 starts with highly playable sounds whose tone responds to touch in ways that are hard for a PCM sound engine to recreate. These include acoustic guitar, electric guitar, clavinet, harpsichord, harps, bells, and ethnic instruments. Then the STR-1 goes above and beyond, enabling the creation of sounds that obey physical laws, but which don't exist in real life. Play harmonics on a metal bar "plucked" by a piano or even sing into a guitar string—with the STR-1, all of this is possible. Users can also process samples and live audio input via the physical model—which includes audio feedback from any of the Kronos effects. Some of the Kronos engines peer back in time, this is truly a sound engine of the future, one that enables the synthesizer programmer to build truly unique sounds. In order to make full use of all 9 sound engines, Korg has called upon respected musicians to lead their sound design team towards their individual ideals. Responding positively, various world-class players contributed their time, energy, and critical ears to help them hone in on making the sound behave the way they hear it. Specific artist signature sounds were tested, and tweaked by people like Jordan Rudess, Russ Ferrante, George Duke, Lyle Mays, Tom Coster, Frank McComb, Jeff Lorber, John Novello, and several other artists known for their genuine love of sound and for their critical, demanding ears. Features 9 sound engines, each offering a unique sound-creation technology 16-part Combis allow all engines to function together in perfect harmony Dynamic Voice Allocation keeps the polyphony high 61-key keyboard borrows the responsive synth action from the Korg M3-61 (Natural Touch Semi Weighted) Comprehensive interface, based around a new large 8" TFT TouchView display Virtual Memory Technology (VMT), aided by a fast SSD (Solid State Disk) provides high polyphony and massive, ultra-long, and unlooped samples Smooth Sound Transition allows held or sustained notes to keep sounding when changing sounds or modes Set List mode: Organize the Programs, Combis, and Songs you need to perform your set in a single, easy-to-select screen—including performance notes Use up to 16 premium-quality effects at once; individual effects rival dedicated units: 12 Insert effects 2 Master effects 2 Total effects On-board sequencer offers 16 MIDI tracks + 16 audio tracks (24-bit, 48kHz recording quality) Open Sampling System: Instant sampling and resampling from any mode: Program, Combination or Sequencer Sophisticated KARMA technology generates infinitely variable performance-driven phrases, musical effects, and backing tracks to catalyze your creativity Expanded Drum Track for play-along grooves and inspiration