Pulling the trigger on Kurzy PC3.... Should I?

[evildragon]

Pardon, dudette!

 

 

Hm, why being insulted when "faggot" is male gender word and generally used only towards males? It's not insulting your whole population.

[syzygywell]

I guess the only way I could explain it is that some guys might be sexist for example and another guy might be offended even if he isn't a woman, he has a wife, he has a daughter, he definitely has a mother, or maybe he just thinks it isn't right period. I don't think someone has to be something to think it's wrong. I'm white, but I still cringe when I hear white people say racist remarks. KWIM? Anyway peace bro and sorry for the thread derailment..

[Tomkeen]

I'm not big fan of the word faggot myself. I like queer better .

 

Anyway, I've been thinking about getting a PC361 too. For my new band, I like to keep things simple and wanted to just use the NE3 and NL2x. I just really need the multitimbrality and controller options that the PC3 offers, and would also like to use some of it's sounds every now and then. I have a PC3x, but it's pretty big and heavy and I'd rather leave it at home or use it for other gigs (that need more piano playing...)

 

A K2661 would be rather nice too....

[syzygywell]

The K2661 is a very flexible board but the pc3 sounds way better to me. I've never absolutely "loved" the sound of the k, but when it gets mixed into the rest of a song.. it really shows how well it goes with almost anything. I kept the K because I do have the sampler installed and you can really crazy with sound mangling in that instance.

[Tomkeen]

I only thought about the K because it's something different from the PC3. Different patches and stuff (I'm not really into programming VAST). It's pretty hard to think of any other board that has the controller capabilities of the Kurz's, is compact, has aftertouch and great sounds. I'd get the Korg M50 if it had aftertouch. The M3 is too big and I would only use a percent of what it can do.

[The Hamburglar]

I'm offended by decidedly arbitrary use of the offensive word being discussed (faggot.)

[Thorhead]

Damn kids. WTF - is that expression supposed to be funny or something? Anyways, to the OP - I like the PC3, so naturally I think you should get it. I'm just wondering if there's something you don't like about the Fantom. Or something you may have gotten used to that you might miss if you get rid of it.

I didnt like the sounds - thats pretty much it. All strings had too long attack times sampled in ETC. Also I pretty much hated the piano, and organ was just plain terrible.

Not to say its a bad board, I will be still using it for hapsicords and slower strings probably. As well as some vocal and bell stuff.

Also, someone here seems to be missing some sense of humor.

[Thorhead]

Guess what just arrived to my doorsteps evildragon?

#hint 1: Gonna make you jealous :cop:

[ChristianRock]

[Franz Schiller]

I use a K2661 on the job, for producing "stingers" and doing some sound design. What great is that I can usually use 95% presets, they're all so good. Then I can usually not worry too much about "mastering" because the source samples are so frackin' well recorded and mastered already. Then when I do have to tweak things, I can get in there and find just the right parameter. And really, the K2661 just SOUNDS expensive.

That said, I loathe the "feel" of the K's sequencer. I can't quite explain it. It makes my performances sound bad. On the other hand, the sequencer on my $100 Ensoniq VFX makes everything feel great. And is a little more efficient.

Also, sometimes the analog emulations on the K2661 mostly sound great, but sometimes I wish they were a little "tighter" and a little less liquidy. I imagine the VA1 functions on the PC3 have improved this.

I'm not really in the market to replace my K, but I really wish I could try out a PC3 in person, because I know in my heart that its kick ass. On the hand, a severe bout of PC3 GAS might kill me, especially when I'm still trying to fend off Moog Voyager GAS. I swear Moog said to Kurzweil, "I'll take the top tier if you take the bottom," and Kurzweil said "Deal" if you know what I mean.

Damn you awesome synth companies!

[evildragon]

Guess what just arrived to my doorsteps evildragon? #hint 1: Gonna make you jealous :cop:

 

Congrats!

 

But I want a PC3K8

[Thorhead]

Is it meeting your expectations?

Havent had chance to open it yet =(.

[evildragon]

Fail.

[poserp]

Welcome to the Cult. Your silly hat and kabooba initiation ritual guide should be in the box, right under the manual. Secret meeting is on Thursdays...

[Thorhead]

Welcome to the Cult. Your silly hat and kabooba initiation ritual guide should be in the box, right under the manual. Secret meeting is on Thursdays...

 

 

hehe, This is great board indeed! Hopefully they update the hapsicords and brass in the sample update though. And maybe some new church organs too. EVerything except those is perfect, almost =).

 

Anyway, I have 2 questions for you:

 

The low pass filter curve sounds really steep, like almost if I played that curve, how can I make it say 12db? (using the 2 block algo).

 

How do I cascade on the editor?

 

-thx

 

Uh, one more, How do I turn the portamento OFF, cause its ON, even if its OFF? Strange. (this is for the blank patch, but I still disabled portamento).

[evildragon]

Hm, the 2-block filter (if it says 2pole) in fact should be 12 dB/oct.

 

 

Get that manual in hands

[Thorhead]

Hm, the 2-block filter (if it says 2pole) in fact should be 12 dB/oct. Get that manual in hands

Yeah, I got to read it /sad.

[Miket156]

by Thorhead: I dont really have any samples, though I do sample the roland hapsicord in it for sure. But this doesnt really warrant the extra 1000 price tag soo....

 

 

I use the sampler on my Motif ES8 more than I thought I would. Any sounds from the previous Motif series that are not resident in the ROM of my ES8 can be loaded into the sampler and saved as a user voice or saved to a song. Any .WAV file I have or can get will load into the sampler can be saved and used the same way. I can also sample sounds that are not available anywhere. I find it very usual for adding sound effects you find on records you sequences, if you use the sequencer. Sometimes playing in a group will require playing sound effects live to duplicate what is in a song. It makes it more authentic.

 

That said, if you feel you won't use it, don't wait around for the K series, get a PC3 now.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Thorhead]

I use the sampler on my Motif ES8 more than I thought I would. Any sounds from the previous Motif series that are not resident in the ROM of my ES8 can be loaded into the sampler and saved as a user voice or saved to a song. Any .WAV file I have or can get will load into the sampler can be saved and used the same way. I can also sample sounds that are not available anywhere. I find it very usual for adding sound effects you find on records you sequences, if you use the sequencer. Sometimes playing in a group will require playing sound effects live to duplicate what is in a song. It makes it more authentic. That said, if you feel you won't use it, don't wait around for the K series, get a PC3 now. Cheers, Mike T.

 

 

I probably would have used it to sample stuff from the fantom to the kurz, since the kurz has a better engine. Maybe some other stuff as well.

 

But overall the price difference is not really worth it for 128mb of memory.

[Miket156]

The other thing that comes into play with the PC3 and PC3K is the small screen size. I know there are editors available for most synths these days, but having to connect to a computer all the time to use an editor doesn't float my boat for work flow when I get a rare creative moment and want something right now. Many times we just want to power on our keyboard and play. To me the screen on the PC3K looks like a screen from a KB from days gone by. Considering the power of VAST, the small screen is a poor interface into that potential power. For what they are selling their PC3K for, Kurzweil needs to upgrade not only the screen, but the user interface.


Mike T.

[poserp]

The other thing that comes into play with the PC3 and PC3K is the small screen size. I know there are editors available for most synths these days, but having to connect to a computer all the time to use an editor doesn't float my boat for work flow when I get a rare creative moment and want something right now. Many times we just want to power on our keyboard and play. To me the screen on the PC3K looks like a screen from a KB from days gone by. Considering the power of VAST, the small screen is a poor interface into that potential power. For what they are selling their PC3K for, Kurzweil needs to upgrade not only the screen, but the user interface. Mike T.

 

 

 

I happen to like the sparser interface myself, actually -- for some reason it makes it easier to understand what's going on at any particular time while I'm editing. Also, I feel like a lot of thought went in to the interface; it's different, but generally speaking I find it much faster to use than, say, the desktop editor.

 

I've played with other synths with nicer displays and I feel like there's always too much information onscreen and that they aren't really using the screen to display information in a more useful way. Generally they're just showing a bunch of knobs/faders/buttons, which is mostly to make up for a lack of real knobs/faders/buttons. I say if you're gonna have a touchscreen or a full-color display, then it might be a good idea to implement an interface that actually uses those properties to speed up the creative process, rather than bog it down by showing fake hardware interface elements that don't really function well on a touchscreen anyways. Being able to see a bunch of meters at once is cool; seeing a bunch of knobs and only being able to turn one at a time (and having to perform funky finger maneuvers to twist the "knob" in the first place) serves to only remind me how much I'd prefer real knobs. At least with the PC3 there's no pretense to editing using "hardware", aside from what you might set up yourself with midi CCs and a good knob/fader/button box.

[Miket156]

Well, its your money. I think the screen is poor and the interface is primitive. To each his own.

Edit: to be fair, the PC3 is a great sounding instrument, no question. Because I really don't care for the screen and the interface doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone that has one and is happy with it or anyone that is considering buying one. You know what they say about opinions.


Mike T.

[Bernard]

This thread is a roller coaster ride. I feel like having another go

[dreamstasis80]

I owned a Kurzweil K2vx back in the day and got a lot of good music out of that little board. I always thought the sequencer was very tight on the K2000 series. Then I went and bought a PC3 and while yes I agree the SOUND is way better on the PC3...some people might find the sequencer limited as they built it from scratch and didn't include some important features like the ARRANGE function which allows you to string patterns together into songs. So I returned the PC3... I now own a K2661 with the sampler and am very happy with both its compatability with the rest of the K-series sounds (just gotta get one of those media readers to go from floppy disks to smart media cards), the spot on sequencer, and the endless possibilities of VAST. From a songwriting point of view, if I were gonna own the PC3 I would need to use another sequencer like an MPC with it. From a stage/general purpose point of view... if I just wanted the biggest, baddest sounding keyboard on the planet for live gigs and such I would definitely go for the PC3 today, tomorrow, and most likely the day after.

[evildragon]

The interface is crystal-clear. Screen may be small, but everything is laid out rather logically, and I had absolutely no problems getting my way around it. So yeah, you would probably wait for the new K if you want a bigger screen and newer UI, but since PC3 was originally intended to be a simple PC2 upgrade (but turned out to be a whole lot more), bigger screen and new UI weren't even on the blueprints.