Korg Kross 2-61-MB 61-key Synthesizer Workstation - Super Matte Black Reviews

Bravo Korg! My sales rep at Sweetwater was right on the money recommending the Korg Kross 2. I have a vintage Roland keyboard that has retro sounds that just were not doing it for me. The Korg Kross 2 is affordable, extremely lightweight, and with YouTube tutorials, very easy to learn. I look forward to years of fun and creativity with this little gem.

Love this keyboard! It sounds great and the controls are very intuitive.

My fellow musicians. You won't find a better keyboard for this price. Upon arrival I opened the box, powered it up and started playing piano sounds. I tapped a button that when I struck a note it immediately played a drum rhythm that matched the sound. I had not tried any other feature and I was already jamming and improving on this keyboard. The actual keys are a tad bit larger than most in this class. That was a welcomed improvement. Add to this the ease of use, the excellent sound engine and the list goes on. I have a Roland DS-61 that is in this class and price range. The Roland product is excellent, however this keyboard trumps that one easily. Way to go Korg! you really out did yourself with this Synth.

I just bought mine a few days ago. I have an M3 and a Kronos 2 so I'm biased, but I liked this over the other equivalent options because I already know how Korg organizes programs and combis. The synth engine is known to me as is derived from the previous workstations and it even have some sounds from the microstation (which I owned but sold because I wanted an option with normal size keys). The sounds feel a bit lite compared to the Kronos but it weights like 5 times less, which I appreciate given that I have back and neck chronic pain, and lifting an M3 or a Kronos it's a real workout. I also liked the quick layer/split feature (which the Kronos have as well). It's a shame we didn't get something like that for the M3. Anyway, I'm happy with my purchase!

The last time I bought a new keyboard was 1996. I needed an update. Well, I got one in the Korg Kross 2. weighing in at a little over 8 Lbs. It Is a breeze to set up and play. The sounds it has are wonderful and with the extra 8 GB card that Sweetwater gives you, you would be hard pressed to be wanting more sounds to use on your gig. Drums, Sequencer, audio recorder, split your keyboard and Favorites to call up instantly gives you a working musician lots of options to use.
Bottom line are the sounds it provides. B3, Bass, Piano, Synth, Pads all very usefull. Dynamite in a small package.
I highly recomend this Korg Kross 2 for your next gig and you can"t beat the price.

Awesome experience from top to bottom
Keep up the good work,,, definitely will continue to shop Sweetwater....
Thank you

I was looking for a good upgrade to my Korg X50 and after looking at several synths from several brands I decided to stick with Korg. For the price I honestly don't believe there is anything better on the market. I don't feel I can give a full review though because I have yet to touch the manual so I'm really only hitting the tip of the iceberg as to what this thing can really do. It sounds amazing. I had listened to demos on youtube and different channels but once you get it you'll realize that none of those really do the sounds justice. 95%o the sounds are completely usable right out of the box. I've fairly easily just by playing with it recreated the majority of my custom sounds off of the X50, and again I haven't touched the manual. I can't wait to really dive into it and get into the step sequencer. This has completely replaced my X50. I will be using it on stage and in the studio with my King Korg and my trusty Korg R3 which I've had forever.

I've only had my Korg Kross 2 for a couple of months from an excellent salesman here at Sweetwater. I'm very pleased with it's price per performance. This little guy is packed with everything. It really is a great little workstation. I decided to compose something and release it on Soundclick. Out of 316,477 entries. I posted number one in the Mellow Instrumental category. Using just the Korg Kross 2. Not bad for Korg's littlest workstation.

Lot to learn but once you learn it feels great!

Wonderful and flexible sounds with a nice keybed. So many options that makes it a versatile performer. Battery powered and lightweight make this ready to go. Only had it for a month, but I enjoy it so very much. I would recommend spending time with the manuals to get the most out of it.

I had my doubts because of some of the demos I seen on YouTube, but I took a chance and got one. It is a great synth. It has a great mix of sounds and it has a lot of bang for the buck. I really don't understand the 1 star review from the one customer. Maybe he was expecting a flag ship Kronos?
The synth has modern and classic sounds. I was shocked to see new genres represented in the presets. Also I like the fact that favorites can be accessed so easily. If you are like me and you like to mix sounds together (VST or Rack), The Kross mixes well with everything I have.
I think it will be an awesome compliment to my Electribe 2. It has so many features that I am going to really dig deep to get my head around all the possibilities.
If you are on the fence about the Kross, checkout a guy named Synthasaurus on YouTube. He is a major Korg Kross fan and he does some really interesting videos on the Kross.
If you are into modern music, the Korg Kross can be very inspiring. I highly recommend you check this synth out.

I want this synth now!!!!

This portable lightweight (fits great on my desk in between iMac and remote track pad and keys next to my mixer) workstation keyboard has it all! Has really great sound , easy to use and flawlessly interfaces with Logic Readon and Protools! It even tuns on batteries ! Just make sure you save everything to the SD card right away as it defaults to turn off mode when not used in 4 hours!

i want dto get this keyboard from sweet water last week and they didn't have any in stock and thought they wouldnt get them to 1st of the month but looks like they got them before they expected. i needed up ordering from kraft music which i really didn't want to do but i was pressed for time. this keyboard is way better than all the demos shown on youtube it offer so many combos and varations of sounds to work with .this is the first keyboard i have had in a while that has inspired me to write just from the preset sounds . i originally ordered the roland juno ds 61 this is way better

The Korg Kross 2-61 does well everything that it is designed to do. As with any new piece of equipment, there is a learning curve. One reason I chose the Kross 2, is the sampling function. I've wanted a sampler for years. I like the Kross 2. After I become more familiar with it, I'm sure I'll like it even more.

Lots of good grooves and sounds. But if you do't want all the arpeegiator stuff going on, it takes a bit to learn how to re-program the combinations.

The Kross 2 is a very capable instrument with alot of great features. My only concern is has a steep learning curve and alot of button pressing and it seems overwhelming at times. I am now getting used to it and practicing using the various features,so that when I get some SD cards, I can start writing and saving songs.

This keyboard is phenomenal considering the price point and is a great starting point for musicians that aren't looking to spend a fortune on a keyboard.

PROS: The Kross 2 is super convenient for live performances thanks to its light weight and intuitive layout. In each sound category there are at least 2-3 samples that sound almost professional and when buried within a mix work very well. The drum sequencer is pretty great as are the stock drum loops; and the drum track feature can lead to some nice inspiration when messing around. Some of the basic effects are pretty decent too. The keyboard action on the white keys is acceptable and it's possible to be quite expressive even though the keys are not weighted.

CONS: The action on the black keys is atrocious so I tend to choose the key I play in carefully in order to avoid playing them as much as possible. Even the best sound samples lack the depth and fullness you will find in higher tier synths and lack the inspirational beauty found in the other keyboards I've played such as the Nord Piano 4 or Roland RD-2000 (this is a totally unfair comparison given the Kross 2 costs a third of the price). I will say that this is only super apparent to the trained ear; the average person wouldn't notice unless you were to play them side by side. In general it just leads to your mixes sounding a touch below professional if you arrange them well.

In summary, I really love this little synth. I'll certainly be keeping it around! If you're looking for an option in this price range you absolutely can't go wrong. Hope this helps!

Been a Korg fan for years, owned and enjoyed Kross predecessor workstations X3 and M50. Bought the Kross to supplement my Roland VR09, and think it will fit my needs nicely. Overall the Kross reflects improvement in navigation ease and sound quality, though I do have some fairly minor gripes.

The first thing I noticed was how long the Kross takes to power up in comparison to predecessor units and other synths. Next was back panel design, which slopes inward from the top so that the plug ports are quite recessed, making them really hard to discern and access from the front, and really hard to see from the back. Next, while the category selector let's you go straight to the kind of keyboard sound you want (ac piano, electric piano, organ, etc.) There is no way to select and go directly to a specific version within the category--- you have scroll through the various category programs to get to the one you want, which takes time and is inconvenient. Finally, though I prefer the Kross grand piano, strings and horn ensembles to Roland, I had hoped for a lot more improvement to the electric pianos (can't find one with that nice Rhodes "bite") or electric lead guitar (can't find one with nice thick sustained tone)... pretty much the same as the M50. Fortunately my Roland superb electric piano, but guitar is also weak.

Shifting to the positive, the layout and functions are pretty user friendly, particularly the quick split, effects application and the easy access 64 favorites pads where you can store and immediately call up frequently used and customized patches once you have found or created them. I have not tackled sequencing or the very appealing audio record function that allows direct digital recording, storage and playback of external sound sources (guitar, vocal, other keyboard, etc.), so can't speak to those functions yet, but hopefully they will provide a lot of creative flexibility and options in constructing and performing songs.

Overall I am happy with the Kross, which is loaded with helpful functions, solid and useful qualuty sounds that dont need much tweaking, in an extremely light frame and at a much lower price than comparable rigs.

Bought Korg Kross 2 after reviewing many products in this price range. Great product with many options. But, real bad thing about this is Korg company not keeping their word as mentioned on their web site that they will release expansion packs for Korg Kross 2, and after more than a year v2 is released , still nothing, checked with support and they said no ETA. I doubt they will release expansion pack, which makes this unit pretty much end up with the standard sounds that came with it, unless you have enough time to play around and create/find patches from outside,


Great support from Sweetwater as usual, though living close to stores with big names in Musical instruments world, I always bought from Sweetwater and never had any issue.

Other than that this s a great product

Thoughts on the Kross 2:

I"ve always liked the design of the Original Kross, and kinda wanted one however, it did kinda look like a toy but it"s portability was appealing. I"ve play Keboards for almost 40 years now and I"ve have always been a gigging musician so the comparison I"ll make to two other keyboards will almost not be fair but you"ll be surprised how well the Kross 2 did, in my opinion. Right out of the box it looked smaller than I thought which was a positive. I don"t like to carry big heavy keyboards. At barely more than 8 pounds this thing is lite! It"s well constructed and solid. I will be comparing it with the Motif XF and The MoXf (keyboards that share the same sound set) and I should add that I also at some point bought the Krome which was basically a Recycled Triton with less features (I also have the Triton Studio) and I spent one day with the Krome before I sent it back and exchanged it for the MoXF (Which I love!) if your considering Kross or Krome , I suggest Kross.

So you may ask why with so many cool keyboards would I want a Kross?
My MOXF"s are setup in different rooms that I play at as a house musician, the Motif and the Triton are in the recording studio. So here is where the Kross shines and what attracted me to it. I write a lot of music and when I"m jotting down ideas sometimes I just record the ideas either in a portable recorded and lately mostly on my iPhone on the memos app, you record ideas to come back to the later or to collaborate. So I just sit down in my acoustic piano and of course the recordings are very noise as the recorders pickup every single noise. So why not do it in the studio? Musty lack of time. When inspiration hits the last thing I want to do is turn a computer on and launch LogicPro etc. or turn a keyboard on and fetch chords and connect things and maybe format things, it"s distracting and by the time you get done setting things up you forgot the idea or just don"t feel like playing anymore!

The Kross 2 to the rescue! With an SD Card installed you can record and overdub audio with a click of a couple of buttons! So I leave the Kross 2 always connected with a mic and all I have to do is turn it on create and name a song and press record. My 32 gig sd card gave almost 47 hours of recording time and it comes out super clean, that"s where the Kross 2 shines!

The sound set first impressions was a bit weak, don"t get me wrong the sounds are fine, pianos are fine love the electric pianos and the synth leads. Overall it just sounded a bit weaker than motif or MOXF"s sounds, (however, the Kross comes with 7 effects (a bit deceiving I"ll explain later) 2 master fx and 5 int fx. I grabbed and eq and placed it as a master and then a Hall reverb that I had to work with, originally it comes set at 1.3 I had to make it brighter and set it at 5,5 and the sounds came alive! Now I can go from the Yamahas to the kross without that much difference in sound, I mean the kross 2 it"s truly playable.

The fx are deceiving because you cannot have a reverb and a delay at the same time. Once you pick a reverb the delay presets become unavailable, you still have access to eq chorus compressors etc. but it is either delay or reverb. I think that was a mistake.

The Motif also can record to a USB thumb drive with true access to ALL the FX available. However with the Motif XF it"s a longer setup to be able to get it ready to record to usb and it only offers 97 minutes. The result is a super clan wave file also but that"s it press record, play, stop and wave file that"s all. The Kross shines here too besides almost 47 hours in a 32 gig sd Card, you can also have overdubs. It is not a multiple track audio recorder but it does allow overdubs, so you can play a part with a sound or a combination while singing along and than overdub a solo with a different sound or sing harmonies. The resulting file is also super clean and it"s so quick to set it up.

Sampling with the Motif XF it"s a pain in the butt. You have to keep track of wavesamples, where they are, where they are saved, what notes are they assigned to, etc. and if you want instant recall you have to buy Yamaha"s own flash ram... than you have to save your samples there and it"s a long painstaking thing. The Kross on the other hand is a breeze! You sample either audio or the keyboard and it samples directly to the available 16 pads, so for every bank you can have 16 samples, there are 8 user banks, so that"s 128 samples you can assign and recall instantly, cause they are all saved on the SD Card, no maintenance necessary, I was sampling drumloops, chord progressions, my guitar, ukulele, vocals, one shots in less than 5 minutes, it truly is a breeze. Each pad can hold a sample of up to 14 seconds which is long enough for any drumloop or phrase that you may trigger, there is a hold button that acts as a latch loop, handy for drum loops and repeating chord progressions or the Arpeggiator.

I recorded the same songs on the Motif XF and the Kross 2 both audio recordings directly to USB and SD respectively. Both saved to .wav listened to the results the next day and other than the effects on the vocals, there was almost not that much difference, there was a difference but not enough to not want to use the Kross.
(The MoXF does not have the feature to record audience to usb.)

The Kross 2 is so easy to use is amazing, the sound set is decent, easy to find and it has just about every sound you would need for pop, jazz etc.

In combination mode it"s better than the motif since you can layer or split up to 16 sounds, in the motif you can only layer and/or split up to 4.

The Arpeggiator is easy to use as well. And where it also shines above the motif is that either on voice mode or Combi mode each preset has a dedicated drum track
With tons of useable preprogrammed drum patterns. You can program you Combi with your split, layers and arps, assign a drum pattern and save it as a user preset also do t forget you still have access to the 16 samples available on the pads.

Any drum pattern can be reprogrammed or edited on the step mode also using the pads, which is very intuitive if you are familiar with drum machines.

I am very impressed with this keyboard so far, so much power, good sounds, great sampling and audio recording features, weighing at 8 pounds and change. You cannot go wrong. I forgot to mention it also runs on AA batteries if need be.

As mentioned before the MoXF does not have the audio recording to USB feature...

I think this is a great little keyboard, would it replace my MoXF , not likely, sounds in the Yamaha specially the Acoustic Pianos are way better however, would I do a gig with the Kross 2 as my only keyboard. Sure I would, it can definitely handle it with flying colors. When I travel, it will be the Kross I take with me.

Great keyboard!

Old Kross 1 user and now happy whit my new Kross 2.......great little synth,whit brillant price perfomance ratio and lot of possibilities.....!!!! Not 5 stars because dont have PC Editor yet...!!!

I had this synth for a month or two looks like the DW 6000 and the DW8000 i returned it because it only had 2 knobs to tweak but after a while i been really thinking that some of the sounds in this thing was good and would really fit my snthwave music style or retrowave and my Psytrance acid techno style as well so i may get it again

Patches and combo ok
Sequencer is a nightmare
Have to go to YouTube each time to figure it out

sad day for KORG. way to many silly patches, key action is probably the most horrid most un playable keypad Ive ever played felt or seen on any keyboard. Far to much banking to get to modify presets, which most all are generic and disappointing.
I spent two hours and was running back to the store to return i t.
a joke for KORG to even released these worthless keyboards DO NOT BUY
TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.
Jack