Though nobody can see into the future, the general consensus on korgforums.com is that there will be no ASIO driver from Korg. Certainly Dan Phillips, Rich Formidoni and Jack Hotop have never even given any hint of support on the idea, and they really do tend to listen to the user base.

Definitely try to make the Scarlett work. Check those inputs!

I don't know the Kronos and might well be missing something obvious, but the wave forms in that screen shot look very much like digital clipping caused by overloading a convertor to me.

What happens if you turn the volume of the Kronos down? Does it have it's own mixer software? If so what happens if you turn that down?

If you're recording in 24 bit aim for a peak recording level of -6 or even -12 Db.

As for using the Scarlett, a low level of hiss will almost certainly be "lost in the mix" of the finished project, especially if a bit of noise gating is done and the recording levels aren't too high. I use a variety of hardware synths through my UA 101 and the level of hiss is negligible even using unbalanced cables and analogue hardware. It can help if the synth is set as loud as the interface and recording level require so the pre-amps in the interface can be run at lower levels to get cleaner gain staging.

The Kronos USB audio mimics the L/R outputs. There shouldn't be any clipping and if there is it should be immediately obvious during playing.

tlw
I don't know the Kronos and might well be missing something obvious, but the wave forms in that screen shot look very much like digital clipping caused by overloading a convertor to me.

^^^this ,if you look at the meters you are way to hot coming in. You've got to get those levels out of the red and into the comfort zone. Somewhere around +odb would work.

While it may seem that way, the sound doesn't even leave the digital domain if you record the Kronos using its USB connection. It seems to be clipping digitally somewhere internally, but if it's in the K it would be audible over the L/R outputs.

You would think that but maybe the path is different from the actual drivers from the preamps. If all of the programs do this then there is a problem in the internal interface USB part of the K. If it's just that particular patch then it's a programming issue perhaps like a big attack rate or something. If you take the 1/4" phono plug and send it to the return of an amp and it's distorted than that will at least tell you that it's distorting before you even get to the interface.

Hang on, do you have input echo enabled during record? You could be having a feedback loop of some sort. Although I would kind of expect that to be instantly problematic, not "within a few moments". In your screenshot, your meter seemingly remains at 0dB, suggesting constant clipping is coming in over the USB connection, without you even playing anything. If you are also using the K to monitor the sound, you can't really use it to record, because anything you route to the L/R outputs (including the USB ins) will be recorded.

Sanderxpander
 In your screenshot, your meter seemingly remains at 0dB, suggesting constant clipping is coming in over the USB connection, without you even playing anything.

 
Those meters are way pass 0db in the screenshot. They are pegging out at +6db

There's no such thing as +6dB peak in the digital domain. They are at 0dB. You may be confusing the meter with the fader scale.

Sanderxpander
There's no such thing as +6dB peak in the digital domain. They are at 0dB. You may be confusing the meter with the fader scale.

K yeah when you said meter was thinking input meter from the cord to the interface. Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no signal through the usb port. You have 2 power supply wires +5 volts and two control wires and 1 ground. ? I'm thinking he's clipping out of the main out of the K. I think the USB is ok.