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Decision time... Kurzweil vs. Nord


Tomkeen

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So I managed to sell my Triton Extreme and the Nord electro rack (pratically sold, will be picked up soon). I sold these just to get the new Nord electro 3, which will allow me to leave my Fusion at home whenever I have smaller gigs. I thought the NE3 was all I wanted, but then I came across the Kurzweil PC3..

 

Basically, I want something with 76 keys (in the Nords case 73, whatever), with good rhodes/hammond/clav/wurly sounds. I know most people like the Nords hammondsounds and lesliesim way better than the Kurz, but what about the rest? I mean, I'm intrigued by what the Kurz can offer me outside those sounds (think the VA-1 engine, beautiful strings and horns and stuff..). I don't really need it, but I kinda want it....

 

Before I buy something, I really want to make sure I've made the right choice. I'll have to wait two and a half weeks from now till I get my next paycheck and can buy me one of both. The Kurz is a little more expensive (

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Personally, I'd go with the PC3...but I'm a fan of course. Certainly much more versatile. And I'm afraid I'll have to go with the PC3 as having better rhodes/clav/wurly and other vintage sounds over a Nord (in my opinion)....though i think the Nord Hammonds are slightly better than the PC3's B3 mode...but you can tweak that sound SO much on the Kurtz. Plus the PC3 has 128 polyphony as oppose to the NE3's 80....if that means anything to you.

 

But then again, with the NE3 you can upload new samples from Clavia...with the PC3 you're stuck with the onboard samples (until new ones come out for the expansion slots). I haven't heard the new sample uploads that you can get from Clavia though.

 

Good luck though, I know it can be a tough decision.

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I think you need some real analog in your setup. Maybe a really sweet monosynth with some serious punch. Portable too so you can sit it right on top of that ROMpler when you're playing live.

 

Well damn..... look at this! I just happen to have this little Mopho sittin' around here that neeeds a good home, and I could use the extra money. I'll give you special price! :)

 

Shameless........ I know....:facepalm:

 

But in all seriousness, I'd personally have a look at the Kurzweil before spending that kind of cash on an Electro with a fairly limited sound-set. Not that the Nord is dog{censored} or anything, but you might have more general uses for the PC3.

 

Would you be selling your PC2R or Fusion or do you really need that many ROMplers?

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I think you need some real analog in your setup. Maybe a really sweet monosynth with some serious punch. Portable too so you can sit it right on top of that ROMpler when you're playing live.


Well damn..... look at this! I just happen to have this little Mopho sittin' around here that neeeds a good home, and I could use the extra money. I'll give you special price!
:)

Shameless........ I know....
:facepalm:

But in all seriousness, I'd personally have a look at the Kurzweil before spending that kind of cash on an Electro with a fairly limited sound-set. Not that the Nord is dog{censored} or anything, but you might have more general uses for the PC3.


Would you be selling your PC2R or Fusion or do you really need that many ROMplers?

 

Haha, the mopho sounds really atractive indeed, but have you seen my location? :wave:

 

I admit that I have some kind of weird attraction to romplers... I won't be selling the PC2r, in fact I just got that two months ago. I might consider selling if I would go for the PC3, but let's see how that works out first..

 

I'm really kinda worried about the KB3 mode of the Kurz. I play a lot of Hammond parts in my band and in my studio-project, and the Electro always did a great job with Hammonds. I'm hoping that Kurzweil will come with a new OS with improved lesliesim soon...

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I'm really kinda worried about the KB3 mode of the Kurz. I play a lot of Hammond parts in my band and in my studio-project, and the Electro always did a great job with Hammonds. I'm hoping that Kurzweil will come with a new OS with improved lesliesim soon...

 

Have you tested out the PC3 yourself? Is it just the Leslie sim that you're having a problem with in the B3 mode, or the overall sound? You may want to address your concerns or questions at the PC3 forum at http://community.sonikmatter.com, with Dave Weiser who is the guy at Kurzweil that actually programs the PC3 and the OS. But it may be something that just can't be "fixed" to your satisfaction as we all know a board can't be all things to all people. :)

 

But I doubt that a new OS is going to come out "soon" as 1.3 just came out like a month ago.

 

EDIT: here's a post over at Sonikmatter that talks about using the B3 mode on the PC3. His conclusion (from a long post) is that the B3 sound on the PC3 is actually pretty good and the programming is solid, but the leslie sim on it needs to be reworked as he ran the PC3 through a MotionSound Pro 145 and he said it sounds great...equal to his Oasys. But the Leslie needs work.

 

http://community.sonikmatter.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42248

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I think PC3 vs Stage would be something to consider. PC3 vs Electro, though?

 

If you only want B&B sounds, the PC3 may well be overkill. The Electro will be lighter and very simple to use.

 

That said, if you think you might want synth/acoustic sounds, ever, PC3.

 

Oh, and Nord's implementation of USB connectivity really annoys me.

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Have you tested out the PC3 yourself? Is it just the Leslie sim that you're having a problem with in the B3 mode, or the overall sound? You may want to address your concerns or questions at the PC3 forum at
http://community.sonikmatter.com
, with Dave Weiser who is the guy at Kurzweil that actually programs the PC3 and the OS. But it may be something that just can't be "fixed" to your satisfaction as we all know a board can't be all things to all people.
:)

But I doubt that a new OS is going to come out "soon" as 1.3 just came out like a month ago.


EDIT: here's a post over at Sonikmatter that talks about using the B3 mode on the PC3. His conclusion (from a long post) is that the B3 sound on the PC3 is actually pretty good and the programming is solid, but the leslie sim on it needs to be reworked as he ran the PC3 through a MotionSound Pro 145 and he said it sounds great...equal to his Oasys. But the Leslie needs work.


http://community.sonikmatter.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42248

 

I had a short testdrive with the PC3x. I was very impressed with the sound quality, but I didn't have the time to fully check it out (I've only played some pianos, some strings and choirs..). I was impressed that it sounded so good even through crappy headphones.

 

Thanks for the sonikmatter tip. I have been reading a few posts there yesterday and saw the post you linked (that guy has money, a PC3x, Oasys and the rest of that stuff :poke:...). I also checked this forum: http://www.cunka.com/forum/index.php?board=13.0 which also has some info and sounds (you need to register to be able to get to the sounds section though).

 

I think the Kurz is the way to go... I guess that if I don't like the hammonds I could always trade the PC2r for a nord electro rack, since that would be overkill anyway...

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  • 1 year later...
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:thu:HELLO EVERYONE!!! :wave:

 

I'M NEW TO THIS POST AND I HAVE A QUESTION. I'M ROUNDING OUT MY KEYBOARD STACK AND I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THE KURZ PC3 76 SEMI-WEIGHTED KEY VERSION. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS BOARD AS FAR AS THE "FEEL" GOES??? I KNOW THAT THE PC3 61 HAS SYNTH ACTION KEYS AND THE TOP OF THE LINE PCX 88 HAS FULLY WEIGHTED KEYS. NO ONE WANTS TO DEAL WITH KURZWEIL SO THEIR BOARDS ARE GENERALLY NOT AVAILABLE IN THE USUAL BIG BOX STORES. SO I CAN'T ACTUALLY TRY IT OUT. :rolleyes: IV'E HEARD IT'S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN SYNTH AND PIANO ACTION. HOPEFULLY NOT BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE!!! :) I'LL PROBABLY END UP BUYING ANOTHER SYNTH TO COMPLETE THE STACK. I WOULD LIKE TO AUDITION THE KURZ BEFORE I DELVE INTO ANOTHER SYNTH. ANY DIRECTION ON THE GENERAL ACTION OF THE KURZ PC3 76 WOULD BE APPRECIATED. :)

 

PS: SWEETWATER DID AN EXCELLENT DEMO OF THE KURZWEIL PC3X. THE DEMO CLEARLY SHOWS THE STRENGHTS OF THE PC3X SOUND.

THE KURZ CLEARLY HAS THE BEST OVERALL SOUND OF ANYTHING IN THIS PRICE RANGE. THE SOUNDS ARE BOTH EXPRESSIVE AND POWERFUL. AND THEY DO BITE!!! OUCH!!! :D

THE NORD ELECTO 3 MAY HAVE A SLIGHT EDGE IN IT'S ORGANS. AND EVEN THAT APPEARS CLOSE. I'M NOT TOTALLY CONVINCED THE NE3 EVEN BEATS IT HERE EITHER. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I PLAY THE KURZ PCX. BUT THE KURZ BLOWS IT AWAY OTHERWISE!!! 128 POLY AS OPPOSED TO 80 POLY. BUT NO SAMPLING. :confused: I'LL HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER SYNTH OR RACK MOUNT IF I WANT THIS CAPABILITY. OR ELSE THE KURZ DOES EVERYTHING I COULD WANT IT TO DO. :thu:

 

MY CURRENT SET UP INCLUDES THE FOLLWOING:

 

RHODES STAGE PIANO MARK II

HOHNER CLAVINET D6

MOOG MINIMOOG

SOLINA STRING ENSEMBLE

 

AND THAT IS ONE SOLID CORE!!! :rawk:

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:freak:

...the
all caps
thing pretty much makes the above post a bitch to read. So I didn't.

 

Me neither.. it hurt my eyes :mad:

 

Old thread is old btw. I ended up with both the PC3x and NE3 in the end. It just took the NE3 more than 1.5 years to get here though :thu:

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Haha, the mopho sounds really atractive indeed, but have you seen my location?
:wave:

I admit that I have some kind of weird attraction to romplers... I won't be selling the PC2r, in fact I just got that two months ago. I might consider selling if I would go for the PC3, but let's see how that works out first..


I'm really kinda worried about the KB3 mode of the Kurz. I play a lot of Hammond parts in my band and in my studio-project, and the Electro always did a great job with Hammonds. I'm hoping that Kurzweil will come with a new OS with improved lesliesim soon...

 

Get ventiklator for the hammond.. problem solved.

 

Its the leslie that sucks.... But I do wait for the OS update that supposedly should have been released a month ago. Maybe they have improved it.

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Leslie actually doesn't suck at all. Kurzweil has all the prerequisites - it's extremely tweakable, and if you put some clever EQ and saturation somewhere in the FX chain, suddenly Leslie on PC3 becomes awesome. :thu:

 

People have done it on Sonikmatter and sounds have already been posted showcasing this.

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Leslie actually doesn't suck at all. Kurzweil has all the prerequisites - it's extremely tweakable, and if you put some clever EQ and saturation somewhere in the FX chain, suddenly Leslie on PC3 becomes awesome.
:thu:

People have done it on Sonikmatter and sounds have already been posted showcasing this.

 

Yeah, there are couple sounds there, but the leslie is still not the best, not the worst either certainly... There are bunch of much much worse sims out there.

 

Also the organs tone is quiet dark, so EQing at 5K hz might make it more like you want it, if you like more bright kind of sound. Actually this applies to almost all sounds of the PC3... Or maybe I have just used korgs too long:cop:

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