Think I should sell my K5000S to fund a Waldorf XTK? :)

I love my K5000S. My K5000S is part of me, and...(sorry that's Buzzsaw's quote from the Running Man)

Anyway, I really like my K5000S. It is, however, a productivity killer when it comes to sound design. Even though I have MidiQuest, taking a sound from conception to creation in this machine is a hours-long endeavor.

Ive been listening to demos of the Waldorf Xtk, and while Ive yet to hear the same level of 'digital lushness' out of it in the pad department, its knob bristled surface and unique sound thats kinda/sorta in the same vein are starting to make me thing a gear swap may be in order.

Honestly, I think the Z1 can do very similar style of ever-evolving pads while at the same time sounding thicker/warmer.

I dont know, just a thought. Interested to hear your opinions, especially from those who have owned and used both synths.

Thanks!

Go and make some music with what you've got!

Just go with a microwave II, very very closed to being identical to an XT but costs a bunch less.

Why would I want to do that?? Hell Im not even a musician I just collect keyboards....

The majority of those who get rid of their K5000s regret it. Just save up and snag an XT rack when you can.

Good point BillyWa...

And don't forget to get a Q-rack to go with it!

Originally posted by Awake77 Why would I want to do that?? Hell Im not even a musician I just collect keyboards....

If you collect you wouldn't sell the K5000!

The price of GAS.

Lol you GAS inducing bastids:D

Yeah, I cant part with my K5K Im just making excuses...I actually turned off its semi-crappy reverb last night and had it running through Waves Rennisance reverb, nearly brought a tear to my eye.

BillyWa you've got the rack AND the keyboard??..lol now that's some righteous GAS right there!

WTF is that tag on the Waldie's alpha dial?

Originally posted by Awake77 ...BillyWa you've got the rack AND the keyboard??..lol now that's some righteous GAS right there!

Well...actually two racks and the keyboard. I sorta resemble your collector remark...

This is the 30 voice...

Factory inspection sticker?!?

I recomend getting something else before sellign the K5000s. That way, you can see if your going to miss the K5000s. Nothing is worse than selling gear, and then missing it later..

Oh, and just for the record, I got rid of my k5000 a long time ago and never regretted it. The immediacy factor on that synth is horrid - it just took too long to get where you wanted to go. It was far to surgical an instrument.

also, I own a Z1. Cant reccomend that board enough. It does *everything*.

I also got rid of my k5000 and never regretted it. It's a great synth conceptually, and I loved thinking about how to make new and crazy patches with it, but when I actually sat down and programmed it, it was just... tedious. In contrast, you can whip up a cool MWXT sound in a few minutes if that's what you need, but you can also spend a lot longer inside it if that's what you want to do. Being able to do either one is the key for me. It's very easy and fun to use, sounds great, very inspirational and conducive to creativity.

It sounds like you love programming the K5000 though, so I would keep it. For me, it usually just sat there making me feel guilty for being so damn cool in theory, but too time consuming and fiddly to ever actually use when I felt like making music. I hate to admit it, but for the couple years I owned it, I mostly used it as a master controller.

Aesthetically, the K5000s is unexcelled. It needs a software interface to make programming at least marginally tolerable.

Hey man. I want to own both those synths eventually. I bought the XTk first, if only because the Waldorf GAS force was a bit greater than Kawai's. But I'll eventually own both. I recommend you keep your Kawai and just buy an XTk when you have the money. The Kawai wouldn't fetch enough to buy the XTk anyway, and you'd kick yourself for letting all that capability go for less than $500. Something to think about.

Did you ever own one Pighood? You had an XTK at one time too, right?

I think the K5000S is an amazing synth sonically. If it had a better reverb (does any synth have a good reverb??), and was about 30" deep and covered with real time controllers, you wouldnt be able to find one for less than $1500.

Ive been meaning to get a sysex controller, like the Peavey1600X or maybe one of the NovationSL's, and map it out to the K5000 in an effort to make editing fun rather than feeling like im lost on an alien spaceship.

I do have the custom Sounddiver for it,which allows for resynthesis, but havent tried it yet, so I want to give that a good try too.

Indeed I had both the XTK and K5K. XTK was replaced by the Q, and K5K was replaced by V-Synth.

Any regrets either way?

On the K5K....no. It wasn't fun. DEEP as poo, but unfun. (This little piggie be shallow).

On the XTK....a bit. Mitigated 95% by purchase of Q and Fizmo.

No, fun it aint. When you do hit that one patch that makes you weak in the knees its worth it...but man...to find a way to get there in a reasonable amount of time. Would make the synth a whole different instrument.

Basically it is wavetable synth, best for PPG type of sounds. If you are for that sound and have lower budget at the moment, then why not cheaper Microwave I? You can try it and see it that is type of sound your setup needs. Don't forget that it features real analog filter, that you won't find on XTk. Over here in Europe you can get uWave I for about 220 EUR. Or if you need (almost) all the features from XTk, you can get uWave II. It goes for about 280 EUR. On your place, i would go that way.

Damn, if you want knobs on, XT is 380 EUR here. And the black one - limited edition (see image below) the one i want is 480 EUR. Interesting isn't it? You need to give 100 EUR more because it is painted in another color.

So, in your position i would go with uWaveI or II and check if that is what i need. This is very important! To check if this is the right type of sound! Some people dont like wavetable at all. Later you can always get XT or XTk.

Oh..and speaking of Waldorf, it is such a good thing to live here in Europe. I can get this:

for about 700 EUR if i seek long enough. But... i'm little bit lazy, waiting to find one in the backyard ...

Thanks for the input DonSolaris. Yeah, I might just check out a Microwave I or a Micro Q to see if Im into the sound or not. The demos have been impressive...

I was initially interested in reading reviews of the XTk - thinking that because of its 'digitalness' it could possibly replace my K5K, but its a completely different animal. Ease of use says a lot though...now that Ive been spending a lot of time on sound design the K5000 is starting to scare me. I like to get in deep and program but enough already - especially considering in on the stand above the JD-800:) I did make a neat Oboe from Venus the other day though...

My next outright synth purchase (without sell/trading to fund, etc) will no doubt be an Alesis Andromeda...but that's a ways off.

I think Im going to give the K5000S a real honest effort to see if I can work effectively with it. It responds well to real time control via Sysex, and I discovered that there's actually an entire K5K template for the Peavey 1600X available on the web....including every band of the formant filter mapped out to sliders!! The inability to control LFO speed, etc manually on that synth is so wrong its almost criminal...

Well these two are very different. One is wavetable, other is VA. So you would need both.

There are some synths that just inhibit you from making music and to be honest, as much as I hate to say it, I might sell the K5000 if I was in your position. Man I hate to say that because I've heard crazy insane leads on that that I felt could totally make a name for yourself if you used it in your music and played out. Just so unique, I would think would really make an impact on listeners.

But, I've wanted to try out a K5000 for myself and am just waiting Until I get an album done. Sometime after I do that I'll open the door up a little more to possible other input from synths.

Microwave 1 and 2, both cool. I've used both and sold the MW2 b/c I liked the analog filter of the 1 and it has a vibe that I like. The 2 is bubbly, funky, industrial, ambient, and so much more. The 1 has a cutting sound that cuts through mixes really well, and shimmering highs. Wonderful, sounds different than all the other stuff out there, the 2/Xt does have a VA vibe to it, but still is a wavetable synth, only digital.