KRONOS/KRONOS X Operation Guide - Korg

Introduction to KRONOS
About the KRONOS’ PCM memory
“PCM” is another way of saying “samples.” The
KRONOS has several types of PCM banks, as
described below: ROM, EXs, User Sample Banks, and
Sampling Mode data
For more information on the contents of the included
ROM and EXs sample data, see the Voice Name List
(VNL).
ROM
The KRONOS ROM contains the basic multisamples
and samples, and is always loaded and available.
EXs
EXs stands for EXpansion Samples. These can be
loaded or not, as you wish. The KRONOS comes with a
number of EXs libraries, including multiple gigabytes
of samples.
User Sample Banks
User Sample Banks may be sounds that you create
yourself, or load from imported Akai or SoundFont 2.0
libraries, or WAV or AIFF files.
Sampling Mode data
Sampling Mode is used to create and edit samples.
When you save Sampling Mode data, it becomes
available as a User Sample Bank.
Using samples in your own sounds
You can use any of these bank types, together or
separately, when making your own sounds. Simply set
the Bank as desired in the Program or Wave Sequence
Step’s Multisample Select fields, or the Drum Kit
Drum Sample Select fields. For more information, see:
• Program: “Bank (Multisample),” on page 58 of the
Parameter Guide
• Wave Sequence: “Bank (Multisample),” on page 793
of the Parameter Guide
• Drum Kit: “Bank,” on page 798 of the Parameter
Guide
Lossless compression
When EXs data is loaded into RAM, the KRONOS uses
a lossless compression technique. This yields a modest
reduction in size; for instance, EXs1 uses 284MB of
RAM for 313MB of data.
You’ll notice that this is much milder than the dramatic
size reductions of mp3, or the PCM compression
sometimes found in other synthesizers. There is a
strong advantage over these other methods, however:
the KRONOS compression is completely lossless, and
causes absolutely no degradation in audio quality.
Loading samples at startup
The KRONOS can load your favorite samples
automatically at startup. For more information, see
“Automatically loading sample data” on page 164.
User sampling RAM capacity
The KRONOS comes with 2 GB of RAM pre‐installed;
the KRONOS X comes with 3 GB of RAM.
Approximately 1 GB of this RAM is used by the
operating system and ROM sample data. The
remainder is shared between the samples in EXs, User
Sample Banks, and Sampling Mode.
This means that the size of the currently loaded EXs
and User Sample Banks trades off against the memory
available for Sampling Mode. The more space used by
EXs and User Sample Banks, the less is available for
Sampling Mode.
Using Virtual Memory for EXs and User Sample Banks
generally lets you load more samples at once, but may
still use a substantial amount of RAM.
Note: To check the amount of sample RAM available,
see “0–1f: Free Sample Memory/Locations” on
page 684 of the Parameter Guide.
For more information, see “Free RAM and
approximate sampling times” on page 123.
About polyphony
Most hardware synthesizers offer a single, fixed
method of synthesis, a predetermined number of
voices, and a fixed amount of effects processing power
for a specific number of effects. KRONOS is different; it
has no fixed synthesis method, its polyphony varies
depending on which synth engines are being used,
some synth engines provide additional effects
(augmenting the 16 normal effects slots), and there are
sometimes trade‐offs of processing power between
voices and effects.
This flexibility means that the system can deliver
power where you need it the most. As you play
different sounds from different synth engines, the
KRONOS automatically divides its processing power
appropriately.
Unlike most computer‐based systems, KRONOS also
monitors the overall processing power, reducing the
overall number of voices if necessary, to make sure that
there are never problems with the audio.
Normally, you shouldn’t need to think about this at all;
it will just happen automatically. Sometimes, however,
it can be convenient to know how the system is
allocating its resources. The Performance Meters page
shows this information; you can find it on the Perf
Meters tab of P0 in Program, Combination, and
Sequencer modes. For more information, see “0–2:
Performance Meters” on page 7 of the Parameter
Guide.
16