Bold statement here, but I don't think Kawai/Teisco made a single bad synth, analog or digital... yet every single one of them is still quite under rated. In the analog realm, the SX-400, SX-240, and 110f are simply incredible and sooo unique. The K1ii, K3, K4, and K5000S are really amazing vintage digitals. I'd go as far as saying the K4 may be may favorite vintage digital synth of all time. All of their synths have a unique flavor and sound that was quite different in contrast to the sound of the competing products that had been released around the same time. I'm a big fan of the SX-210 as well, although its reviews are a bit more mixed. However, it has a very similar timbre and tone to the SX-240. So if you like that dark SSM sound, the 210 has definitely got it. If you see one for under $1000, it would absolutely be worth picking up.
I own one and for me it was definitely worth it. After changing the battery upon arrival I spent a grand in total on the synth initially. I can confirm the Tauntek mod does give more MIDI and SysEx. I am able to save and load patches onto it easily. There’s patches up on the Tauntek website, too. Getting a Stereoping controller takes away the tediousness of programming and changing parameters with one dial. I also changed the side panels because the previous owner or the shipper dropped it and the particle board they’re made of crumpled at the corner. Looks better now anyway with solid wood. Kawai in my experience still supports their old synths. They sent to me and insisted I use a new Ni-Cad battery to replace my SX-240’s old one and not to use a Lithium-Ion battery as the forum users say. Just letting you know what Kawai says. They also sent me some keys to repair my K3’s busted ones. I’ve tried to get parts from Yamaha for their old gear and they’ve just said sorry we don’t have it and don’t support that product anymore. Kawai is a unique company.
It has always been one of my fave synths. Here is an audio demo that is entirely SX240 (Except drums) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lu1J8EcxLPs.html. If you get a SX240 the first thing you should do is CHANGE THE BATTERY!!! Please change the battery because they will leak and the designers placed the battery in a place that will allow it to eat the circuit board and destroy the synth. I found the SX240 is very good at those Boards of Canada type sounds and I think it gives the Roland Jupiter 6 a run for its money. I would say if the Roland Juno 60, Jupiter 6 and korg poly six all took LSD and had a love triangle sex romp in a posh hotel, then the SX240 would be the love child of all 3 lol
Kawai were awesome! such a shame they got out of synths. All their proaudio gear from that era was great (to this day I still use their old mixers effects, & equaliser). Only one not great was the K1- but even that has its fans.....Never had Kawai analog /SX but would love one one day.
a fantastic synth.. I have tons of the so called 'classics' and this stacks up with them... people are obsessed with 'features' and ignore the tone and end results..
the one 'bad'thing is the interface.. the one dial thing is a nightmare.. but can be overcome by burning the tauntek chips which give you midi CC over most parameters.. using a midi controller gives this synth a new lease.
Nice vid. I couldn't help but notice, there's something wrong your chair. I've noticed in several videos now. Sitting wrong way can cause spine damage. I apologize if I sound harsh, that's not my intention.
The stock MIDI implementation can be a let-down. I recall messing about with mine when I first got it, and stacking two different patches blew my socks off... but being that I'm more of a programmer than a key player, discovering I could only access one voice at a time via MIDI was a bummer. I understand the Tauntek firmware also corrects this monumental oversight on the part of Kawai, but I have yet to confirm this for myself.
Sonikbytes: The SX- 400 Is as rare as rocking horse shit. I have been looking for over 5 years now for one without any success they never come up for sale. If one ever does in great working order they fetch 2k plus.
This and the sx-400 .. 2 of Willy Wonkas golden tickets . Just Call me Charlie cause I’m gonna find one. Lol. Thanks for the review it’s been on my list for years.
Kawai's problem was that they could never find their niche and get any traction against Yamaha, Roland, Korg, etc. They released oddball stuff, which was innovative but nothing that could compete. I use their XD-5 drum synth all the time. I love it. It's really powerful. But nobody in 1990 would buy it over a Roland R8 or Alesis D4. Same with the K5000. Powerful additive synth, but cold and complex. And who in '96 would buy it over a Korg Trinity?
Nice demo, good to see the SX-240 getting some love - I prefer it to the Juno-6 (and 60/106) that I keep next to it. After seeing the great Jexus video for it I had to get one and found one back in 2009 in LA :-) they are a bit rare. I finally made a simple sound demo: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AxaqZ89mg1c.html that also was my first YT stream test on my ATEM Mini Pro, which showed some of my favorite presets, but being live it's messy and has some audio dropouts due to the stream - use my time list for the good parts
