Isn't the question, "do I (the buyer) need a workstation with a fully featured sequencer?"

Personally, I don't. If I spring for Montage, it will for the sound possibilities, DAW VST Editor and ease of use.

You should not compare these instruments, they are mutuall exclusive and quite different...

Ask yourself what will the Kronos add to the Montage, or the other way around....

Every time i touch my Kronos it feels like magic happening... I get excited like a little child... If only half that magic happens when playing the montage, it will be money well spend.... I prefer having ar least 2 keys in my setup, one with 88 weighted keys and one with synth/organ action and aftertouch..

So what will the Montage add on top of my Kronos? Thats the question... Will it be enough to warrant the investment?

Or what will the kronos add to the montage, which isn't a workstation? I think the machine to compare the Montage to is the Nord Stage 2. Both are really powerful and need to hook up to a DAW in order to record. But to my knowledge the Stage two has better sound and is easier to use with all the functions right there on the hardware. No searching. It's just right there in front of you. By the way has anyone used both, in which they could share some incite?

Leon wrote:

Kronos with in built sequencer vs Montage with Cubase ?

Why just the sequencer? Kronos has 9 synthesis engines. I personally don't care about the sequencer. In fact it's the least important feature to me. For me It's hard to understand why people care so much about it. Ill play along a MIDI file (which is a SONG) IF I perform live.

How about comparing the 9 synthesis engines in Kronos and the 2 in MONTAGE? How Kronos FM synthesis (MOD7) is different from MONTAGE or compare the 8xMOTIF XF AWM2 engine to Kronos HD1?
That's what I would love to read.

Hello I Have a Kronos X88 With Last Firmware, Roland Integra 7, Super Pc with tons of Vst ecc. and i Think is a Matter of the sound Quality, then i agree With Jules...... You Have to feel The Magic 😉 - Let's Hope This Montage gonna let us really Feel THE MAGIC 😉 😉 😉

I used to have the Original Kronos. Never used the sequencer. I used Cubase on Mac.
In comparison to Montage, I think the Kronos on paper is a bigger beast. But I found the Kronos uninspiring to use, the touch responce was sluggish and the UI was uninviting. The Editor was very bad and pointless (Midiquest omg). I mainly bought it for the MOD-7 and for the great piano sounds. I think Montage does the things I want as well, but better.

The Piano Demo's I've heard seem to surpass the Kronos to my ears. Knowing (to my taste) that the Clavianova digital pianos sounds the best, I have no doubt.
The UI seems more inviting and the Touch response seem quicker on Montage.
The FM-X seems to be more powerfull then MOD-7. And I feel more at home With Yamaha FM synthesis therminology and architecture.

This is why I think Montage is better for me vs the Kronos.

Leon wrote:
Kronos with in built sequencer vs Montage with Cubase ?

The best maxim is decide on an instrument that really grabs you... even a nylon string guitar. Then get to know that instrument inside out. Explore its full potential. Find out things that even the manufacturer (Korg, Yamaha, Roland, or whoever) did not anticipate. Aim to be the world master of it, instead of scattering your efforts.
That way you'll get the greatest satisfaction. And if eventually it dies before you, and you move on, so be it. You had a whale of a time!:D

Love the sound of my Kronos, it is a great board when playing live. However, the computer integration is very poor, so much so that I don't use it for recording...it is much easier to use soft synths. In addition, I find the interface rather non-intuitive for editing, saving, etc.

If my new Montage can sound as good as the Kronos AND have the computer integration promised, it will be a real winner!! I'm a little nervous, because the AU/VST capability will apparently not be available for several weeks/months.

Granted VST/AU access will greatly enhance the computer-based workflow. Particularly, for those that prefer to record MIDI first. There are routing workarounds in many of the DAWs. VST is basically a routing scheme to allow external devices to be processed in a real time manner. It is a sort of "what you hear, is what you will get, once you finally commit/render to audio." The 'external devices' can be softsynths running on the same computer as the DAW, or they can be completely external to the computer.

The MIDI data is echoed thru to the external hardware which returns audio through the special EXTERNAL INSTRUMENT setup, which creates the same routing connection as the soft synth... This allows you to FREEZE and use Export Audio Mixdown on your hardware synths, and to use multiple instances of the VSTi. The audio is 'virtual' because you have not printed to hard drive, you monitor it without printing it. AU routing is similar.
One difference exist between softsynths and the external hardware routing, when the device is external hardware the real audio is rendered in real time.

In the meantime, familiarizing oneself with the potential routing possibilities on offer is enough to keep yourself occupied. Much of the factory programming takes advantage of stereo, if not in the samples themselves (if AWM2), then in the interaction with the Effects and/or controller modulation within the Motion Control Engine. Even the big FM-X leads, pads and comping sounds are setup to take advantage of stereo. Having, in essence, 16 stereo audio outputs, opens the door to some new possibilities.

Everyone's mileage will differ... Depends on how you like to work.

I have both the Kronos and the Momtage...love them both, but they are different beasts. I liken it to owning a Bentley and a Bugatti...both awesome, but different in their approach. I am more familiar with the workflow on the Kronos at this point, having owned the Momtage for 2 weeks. But the sound of the Montage is so beautiful in a crystal "Yamaha" sort of way, if that makes sense. Yamaha hit a home run with the Montage, just as Korg did with the Kronos. It just sounds so good...like a Motif on steroids. And the GUI is great...perhaps a little better than on the Kronos. One area where they differ...the Yamaha build quality is second to none (take note, Korg)...only NORD comes close. Creating stacks/splits is a BREEZE on both. I say play them both in a quiet room with good speakers (not headphones), and see which one tickles your ear.

I owned a Kross. Granted -- that's not the flagship of the fleet. But it's only a few tiers down. The key action failed on several of the keys within 30 days. 'Failed' as in a 1 mm gap appeared between initial contract with the key and the point where firm resistance started. The retailer replaced the keyboard with a new one. Within six months the action similarly failed on about half the keys. The authorized repair center indicated that this it's a design flaw that affects all korg models. I had to plead with korg USA for several weeks to get them to authorize replacement of the keyboard assembly.

Overall I found the Kross voices to be muddled, and the interface extremely engineeringly difficult to understand and use, with pages and pages of screens to wade through.

My switch to the Montage addressed ALL of these issues. I am extremely satisfied with the product design, interface, and the sampling on the Montage voices (performances) are astounding.

One musician's perspective on some off the differences between korg and yamaha. I expect the korg afficionados to disagree.

I can't speak for the build quality of the Kronos or Montage. I've been a big fan of the original Korg M1 (most popular professional synth ever made). I have two of them very expanded with the Envision Plus One boards installed and many 3rd party & Korg expansions, plus the Korg Legacy collection. The build quality on these is excellent. More than 25 years later, I'm still using them for live gigs (one is left at practice the other I use at home and take to gigs). My rig consists of the M1 (which doubles as a MIDI controller for VSTs on my laptop), a 61 key MIDI controller with aftertouch (I switch between a few of them) and my Yamaha MX49 which I mostly use as a controller for the laptop and occasionally the internal sounds.

Anyway, Like Yamaha's, the build quality from these companies vary. The LCD screen on my Yamaha MX49 broke after only a year. It was handled carefully.
Can anyone tell me where I can buy the part, and can I have a tech friend install it for me or is it a big secret how the LCD gets changed?

I'd buy either a Kronos of Montage to replace my M1, but I'm convinced many of my favorite sounds will not be nearly as good. I've played both keyboards many times in the music stores obviously. Tweaked slight, the M1 has the best lead sax I've heard of any keyboard. I trigger it with my wireless Keytar at shows. The aftertouch gives great expressiveness. In the Plus One expansion, the Les Paul electric guitar is the best I've ever heard for allowing one to act as the 2nd guitarist in a rock band. Many other sounds I could rave about. All these years later, I'm still amazed so many sounds have not been mimicked by newer synths.

I love the MX49 for what it is. I wish Yamaha would come out with a newer "super light weight" 49 key version with aftertouch and full Montage sound set, or at least MOTIF XF. Do the newer MX49's include the XF sound set? I read mine has XS sound set but missing some.
it

Can I still edit sound using the 3rd party software on my laptop with a broken LCD screen on the MX49?

I also wish Yamaha, Korg or Roland would come out with a keyboard for live performance that allowed it to run VST, VST2 & VST software synths. Soft synths are my main instruments now for live performance. The Kronos & Montage are great, but being a player for popular music typically from between 1976 - 1986 (I cover bands like Journey, Styx, Foreigner, Boston, Genesis, Yes, The Cars, etc), VSTs provide by far the most flexibility in tones. I'm able to fully model the Oberheim OB-X, Prophet V, MiniMoog, ARP Pro Soloist, Mellotron, Hammond B3, DX7, and countless others. Please Yamaha, think about something like this. Us gigging musicians want light weight keyboards and I prefer synth/organ light touch action.

Nate,
You cannot speak for others "Us gigging musicians want..." forgive me but you only know what you need... to that end we hope you participate in the survey now going on.... that will be your ONE vote, don't speak for others you didn't run for office, speak about what you need. Make sense?

Take your MX49 to get fixed, if it was the fault of manufacture they'll replace it. I've not heard of anyone's screen breaking on its own... let us know. It is only glass which has only do much strength... it would take a lot of pressure to break it.

Hi Bad Mister,
the survey which is going on right now has absolutely nothing to do with features on keyboards. It simply asks where we heard about Yamaha, how old we are and where do we buy our staff. Not a single word about keyboards. It has a misleading title. Sorry, but that's the truth.