Korg Kronos 88 2025 Workstation

General

The Kronos returns! The 2025 edition of Korg's mighty workstation features the same tried-and-tested design as the original but comes loaded with extra sounds and options, including an impressive Italian grand piano, a Tine-EP, and a stack of sounds pulled from the immense KRONOS Sound Libraries. Needless to say, you're also kitted out with an extensive sequencer that grants access to 16 MIDI tracks plus 16 audio tracks; all of the potential of the Korg KARMA; an internal SSD for storing custom samples; and the option to plug something like a nanoKONTROL controller for enhanced control of everything that this 88-key powerhouse has to offer.

The Kronos 2025 Edition: Sounds

The Korg Kronos is powered by no less than nine sound engines. In addition to an engine dedicated to bread-and-butter samples (the HD-1), you get two piano engines (the SGX-2 for inspiring grand-style sounds and the EP-1 for Rhodes-style e-piano sound); two analogue synth engines based on the Korg MS-20 and Polysix; a more generic analogue modelling engine in the form of the AL-1; the CX-3 engine for old-school tonewheel organ sound; the extensive MOD-7 engine for FM synthesis; and the STR-1 engine for physical modelling of string synthesis.

Workstations: Still Relevant?

The Korg Kronos is the latest addition to a long line of Korg-made workstations like the M1, the 01/W, the Triton, the Trinity, the Oasys and the Nautilus, which goes to show that workstations are anything but outdated or made redundant by DAW software and modular synths. What's more, workstations like the Kronos have become Korg's speciality and cater for both studio and stage-based musicians — the most famous example being Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater).