I have a PC3K8, a Kronos 8 and a Montage 8. The PC3K8 is irreplaceable. The organ and orchestral sounds are better than any of my other instruments. And the EP and synth sounds are excellent as well. The acoustic pianos are just Ok, although the layered pianos are useful. The keyboard action is also not my favorite, although I recognize that it's a compromise for organ and synth use. The Kronos is inferior overall, although the action is better. The Montage also has a better action, sounds nearly as good and runs it very close. But the PC3K8 is more portable. But the FM sounds on the Montage and some of it's other capabilities are unique, so I'm keeping that one too. The PC3K is a staple in Broadway shows and other professional venues, where they need authentic and atmospheric sounds. It's a great unit.
I own both. I have the Kurz since last we. Well, that's very different gear. The user interface is simple and efficient on the Jupiter 80. It's more involving and powerfull into the Kurz. They have a lot to share : keyboard playing oriented, greats sounds on board (not in the sames category) : the JP pads are unreachable for the Kurz while the Kurz's EP, Rhodes are incredible. And so...Tons of presets, soundbanks... If you intend to PLAY music, improvise, compose, they are both great synth.
casio px-350 som fantastico pianos realistico , casio privia uma placa custo- beneficio que me surpriendeu ; hoje os privias compete tranquilamente com placas com o dobro do seu preço ; principalmente com este!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'd have to say my biggest (& pretty much my only) complaints about the PC3K are: 1. Not enough sample RAM. (only 128MB) 2. Slow, slow, slooooooooow load time for the Flash RAM. (like 30+ minutes to load 128MB of samples) While there is nothing to be done about # 2, # 1 is not as much of a problem as it seems. The PC3K is more of a synthesizer. I have no idea how Kurzweil can do so much w/so little, but they do. Some sounds/samples are just a few megabytes in size & some are even just kilobytes! But they sound great. Some of the acoustic type sounds are a bit lacking, but the analog type sounds are just incredible. I am fortunate enough to own both a Korg Kronos X & a PC3K. I really wouldn't want to trade 1 for the other.
Cool that you have both. I guess they both have their own features. Some say the Kurz is a powerful midi controller too. I like the fact the Integra 7 now can add even more sounds to the Jupiter 80. I see there are a large number of third party companies making sounds for the Kronos now which will help it. I wish the Jupiter 80 had a 88key version. I do like the Jupiter 80 super natural sounds and the fact they don't need alot of memory because the way they are made. Many people don't know this
Its really to bad that Kurzweil has not come out with a all new system with more memory and a updated screen control system. They need it now before the company is no more.
I can't decide between Kurzweil or Yamaha.....they both are so AWESOME but Yamaha sounds are just absolutely PERFECT but the Kurzweil Keyboard action is none less than the REAL DEAL....i mean it feels like the Full Grand that cost $100,000(over exaggerating but) yeah its hard to choose....
Hi! Very nice video! I watched it a couple of times before buying the pc3k7 keyboard. I have a question though: what audio gear do you use to play this keyboard at your home/studio? I have to buy something (I've been using earphones so long), but I don't know what exactly. I'd like the pianos to sound ok, which is -as i've been told- the most difficult thing to achieve. Thank you!
Do you have a Nord Stage 2 also? How do you like the touch or the Kurzweill to the Nord Stage 2? The Nord Stage 2 does have some amazing pianos. I wonder if their sound could be produced by modifiing one of the pianos in PC3K8 with VAST to be close to the Nord Stage 2 pianos.
Do you think the PC3K stands up to more recent boards? Obviously it doesnt have the flash play or large memory of the Forte, but how do you think the basic sounds (as opposed to the synth engine) stands up to its competition?
Looks like Kurzweil will not be coming out with a whole new system for a long time or ever. Roland and Korg seem to be the only companies making progress forward. I think Im going to go for the Jupiter 80 and then add a Integral 7 for even more sound which is around 6000 sounds. I would like to add a V-synth GT to for voice control no other keyboard has.
It´s strange becouse on my k2000 from the 80:s the piano is still one of the best.What happened to taking care of what they had? Agree allthough pianos sound much better in a quality speaker setup on my pc361
Okay, I know this is will six years later… But could you possibly tell me what patch you're using (and the parameters) at 6:39? Absolutely transcendent!
I use to look vids like this one but you guys always play pinos/keys/strings/pad but rarely saxophones, brass. These are WORKSTATION and dispite the fact there's tones of "good" sound libs out there I'd like to hear what these machine got inside. You pay 2500 $ and more to get a piano sound? Come on!! Make more vids on the diffeerent sounds they got don't be shy..
Actually he does, check his other videos! But I agree videos showing the sounds using the powerful VAST, K2vx and VA1 engines drown in all the videos of people buying it for the superb bread and butter stage keyboardist sounds. Still looking for more such vids, if someone reads this link us to the videos :)
Could it just download such sounds like Final Countdown, Against All Odds songs and etc without do programming? Because I am not professional or sound engineer to do such of amazing sound. If do yes, where I can get it without program it? I do have Kurzweil PC3X and quite difficult to edit sound due to complicated for me.
Can you switch sounds with a foot switch so you don't have to take you hands of the keys. Does it transitions to the next sound as a fade in if you want.
This is a sample playback unit with just a few extra features... NO, No, no.., I'd rather choose Roland Integra or V-synth GT, at least, those has supernatural sounds which brings expression into soundtrack!
Oh no....you underestimate the KURZ' engine extremely. Just have a look, what V.A.S.T. can do. Yes, its concept is over 20 years old, but 20 years ago it was able to do much more than Roland does now.
Dude, I was the same way until I actually bought I tried one. I've always been into Korg. (M1, T1, O1/W, Trinity, Triton, Kronos X). I also have a Roland XV5080, which is like basically like an Integra 7's little brother. I love my Kronos, for many reasons & it's a far better "workstation" & sampler/ROMpler (sample play back unit) than the PC3K. But the PC3K is a better "soundstation" & "synthesizer". V.A.S.T. gives you total control over every individual aspect of your sounds. Each sound can be made of up to 16 layers & different FX can be assigned to individual layers. Overall you can probably do more with the Kronos, but IMO the PC3K is a more "inspirational" keyboard.
gjc82071 I guess you didn't wrote me especially, but I want to correct some small things ;-) I didn't talk about presets and piano sounds, that you can get from every other machine. Nevertheless the KURZ' piano sound works for me and still has its lovers, especially on stage it was THE piano sound for well known reasons. I also liked the piano sound of my good old Roland JV-880. And I also liked the piano sound of the Yamaha S30 and of the Alesis Fusion. Maybe the Kronos offers some really nice models of "real" instruments. And of course the sample library and quality is absolutely genious, so please don't get me wrong. But in my opinion, those "models" are nothing more than a bunch of some hardwired parameters with a (really!) nice GUI. Let's talk about facts: The PC3(K) doesn't offer "only" 16 layers (and every layer offers you more than an "Element" of Yamaha's MOTIF XF series) - we're talking about 32 layers per PROGRAM (multiplied by 16 zones in "Setup" mode). And those layers are interactable. In every layer there're 1-4 DSP blocks (number of DSP blocks depends on the kind of DSP block you are using) which can be wired in a nearly modular way. Every parameter in a DSP block has 2 modulation inputs + velocity tracking & key tracking. That's not only useful for analog/electronic type sounds... OK, the display is a mess. I don't get a reason why KURZWEIL didn't change the display and the user interface in some ways. I like the possibility to search for strings by alphanumeric keys, but why aren't they ordered in that way? Look at (older) mobile phones (with "real" keys) - I want to have the SAME at the KURZ. OK, I will get used to it and live with it. There's an editor for desktop and iPad (which now works fine for me). So no problem at all. And now compare the price. You'll see that the PC3K is far away from what the Kronos' costs.
+gjc82071 AND... you can go from one sound to another seamlessly without the "Hiccup" between patches. To me, that is another main seller! And the KB3 organ cant' be beat (IMHO). As a concert trained pianist, I like using large sample libs so for me, this would work perfect in a live setup using Kontakt and White Grand along with Scarbee Mark 1 and other synths like Omnisphere 2 etc. to layer with!
czy sequencer w tym modelu pozwala na tak dokładną obróbkę "eventów" jak np w Motifach albo poczciwym MC-50 MkII ? Czy przy gęstych aranżach tworzonych na sequencerze pokładowym polifonia nie "wysiada" za szybko ? Pozdrawiam
The best speaker is always a quality headphone. Something went wrong during sampling this piano sound. the other thing what i can't understand is that they use only one sample for every piano. All the pianos in the instrument based on this doubtful sample. They call it Award Winning Triple Strike Piano. What kind of award could it be? What could the opponents be like? Ununderstandable.
Just a doubt, the sounds of K 2600 are presets on PC3K series ? or you need to buy cards or expansion memories to get the K 2600 sounds ? Thanks in Advance
The strings are what win this for me. The piano sound is pretty thin compared to the Kawai mp7. The Kawai beats the Kurzweil hands down as far as piano sounds go.
Impressive. Yes. Every sound of it are impressive excepting the pianos. These are thin, noisy, chirpy, unacceptable, terrible, horror. I have a PC3X which is basically the same instrument. The piano sounds don't even remind of a real piano! Avoid it, if you can! The worst piano sound I have ever heard! Shame.
The worst piano sound ever, actually all acoustic sounds are terrible!! Kurzweil is for saws, and for the spacey techno sounds. I'm selling mine, and I'm buying a Nord electro 3 or 4HP.
Both has an amazing, clear and super realistic piano sounds. Electro 4 is a bit better but not worth the money for a 10% improvement. It's not that much better. HP means it is a hammer action, so it is quite realistic. Like a normal piano. You can find electro 3HP as well. That will be my choice.
Clear to me that you know nothing about synthesis. The Nord Electro pianos are "fixed", while in Kurzweil are modifiable, editable and you can modify its settings to your liking, yes, you have to "study" your synth is not for beginners or only pianists. The other thing is that Kurzweil has orchestral sounds close to Motif, but also its great plus is its powerful "Virtual Analog". Therefore, it becomes the best workstation in the world. The Korg Kronos pero..nada more sounds good, does not have the weight.
