Kawai K5000R

For ease of use, in general, I find Kawai synths relatively easy to get around on. This one, being more complex than the earlier K-series units, definitely has a steeper learning curve, but not too bad. That is, until you get into the deeper editing parameters like formant filters, etc. Although I know that the SoundDiver software is supposed to make this much easier, I haven't gotten around to trying it yet. I've been programming synths from the front panel for years and am just used to it.I'd love to get a hold of the original Macro Box, but they are very hard to find. I have a Behringer midi controller, but haven't hooked it up to it yet. I just got the K5000R and have been busy checking out the sounds,editing, re-arranging the banks, etc. I had a K5000S a few years ago that I reluctantly sold to buy a Korg Karma, so I'm familiar with the K5000 in general.

I bought mine used and it didn't come with a manual, but I downloaded one from the Kawai website. It's ok, but could go into more depth. I also have the Wizoo K5000 book, which is quite different from the manual and offers lots of tips and programming advice.

The features have been covered in other reviews, so I won't go into detail. For me, the main feature is the sound (see below).

This is where this synth shines. For the kind of ambient/electronic/New Age music I play, this is one of the best. It doesn't sound like any other synth and can create some of the most unusual and interesting sounds. It excels at pads, evolving textures, atmospheres, bells, strings, and more. I wouldn't consider this as a main synth, especially if you need a lot of "realistic" sounds like piano, organ,etc. But for sonic exploration, it's amazing.

The onboard effects are very good, and the arpeggiator is decent.
Mine had to go back to the factory for repair, where they installed the latest OS (4.04). When I got it back and checked out the new sounds, I thought they were horrible. They were much more meat and potato type sounds, with very little of the intricate textures I described above. I really don't know what they were thinking with these sounds, given the incredible capability of this machine. If these sounds were my first introduction to the K5000, I would have probably passed it by and not given it another thought. Luckily I saved a disk of fantastic sounds that I tweaked when I had my K5000S. I loaded them in, and was back in business. So my rating for this category is based on the potential of the synth engine, not necessarily the factory presets. But speaking of factory presets, there are lots available for download at the Kawai website. Kudos to Kawai for that.

Not sure what to say about this. I bought it used from an ad here on Harmony Central and had it shipped from Canada to where I live in San Francisco. When I got it, it had a number of problems which necessitated sending it back to Kawai. More on that below. Luckily, the guy I bought it from was great and paid for the repairs. Hopefully, now that it is fixed, I won't have any more problems with it. I've been a big fan of Kawai gear and have owned a K4, K4r, K1, K1r, K1m, MM16 as well as line mixers, eq's, and other equipment, and have never had any problems.

In the past, I've had nothing but praise for their customer support, and have said so in other Kawai product reviews on this site. I still do, although they did drop the ball a bit on this one. When I sent it in for repair, I listed three things that needed to be looked at: the rotary knob, the arpeggiator, and the disk drive. They fixed the first two, but seemingly didn't even look at the third before they shipped it back to me. When I got it back (after paying almost $100) and saw that the disk drive still wasn't working, they told me to ship it back to them again. However, before doing that I decided to open it up with a friend who has a background in electronics and see if there was anything obvious that could be easily fixed. This was, in fact, the case. There was a small wire with a plug on the end that was just sitting loose inside. We determined that it was the power supply for the disk drive. When we plugged it back in, it was fine. Why they didn't see that when it was on the bench at the factory is beyond me, especially when the disk drive was cited for repair. I'm just glad that we discovered that and didn't go throught the hassle and expense of sending it back just for them to plug in a wire.

Other than that, I still give very high marks to Kawai for customer service. The two people I dealt with most were Troy and Kent, who were both very friendly, responsive and helpful. Some of the best customer service of any company I've dealt with.

This is one awesome and unique synth. I'm a total synth freak and have a large collection of some of the best ones available for atmospheric ambient music, including Korg Karma, Triton Rack, Wavestation SR, Roland JP8000 & JD990, Kurzweil K2000r, Yamaha FS1R, Emu Morpheus, and a few others. You would think that the last thing I needed was another synth module. But after owning and selling my K5000S a few years ago, I was determined to someday buy a K5000R if I ever saw one at a reasonable price. Even with all the synths I have, the K5000 offers original sounds that no other's have. I plan to use it a lot on the new album I'm working on.

It's really too bad that Kawai took this series out of production and hasn't expanded on it or developed any new pro-level synth products in a while. I would imagine that it was a profit issue and that they just weren't selling that well. Kawai has always been under-rated in the synth field and has produced some great sounding products at very reasonable prices. But I guess it's hard to compete with Korg, Roland, Yamaha, etc. and they seem to have put all their resources into pianos and consumer level home keyboards. I don't know if Kawai will ever build any more of the kinds of innovative products they have in the past, so if you can find a K5000R, or any of the K5000 models, I would definitely recommend buying it. They are highly regarded by knowlegeable synth users, and could become collectors items some day.

the rack is not the easiest to use as it has so much to program
and you have quite a few abreviations to learn. i am using os3, i have
a copy of os4 but i will wait a while before i fit this.
half the presets are good, the pads take too long to evolve so i
pull the mod wheel around to liven things up. the other presets are
boring old pianos and organs- a waste of space for me.
the manual is fine if you understand the principles behind additive
synthesis. but it gives no guide to creating sound and misses a few
menu options.

polyphony is 24 voices but this is allocated dynamically in regards
to the amount of sources you use in each voice. i dont know how this
is worked out as the manual makes no mention of this. the same problem
with storing you patches, you have a maximum of 2 banks of 128 spaces.
but you cant store 128 patches in each if you use 6 sources. god knows
how it is allocated. the effects are fine with plenty of flexability
in the routing, their sound fits in well with the sound from the synth.
but no midi control.

the sound can get well mangled by velicity/aftertouch etc. in fact this
is how the kawai comes alive. this is a real synthesiser, i use it
for electronic music so i am not fussed how it reproduces pianos etc.
i know it is a cliche but this little fella really does have a unique
sound, which is no suprise given its synthesis engine. i think i will
use half my life getting grips with all the prgramming options but i am
already getting meaningfull results after a week.

it worked out of the box, that is all i can tell so far

i think they have stopped making them, no one knows for sure

i dont think anyone could steal it as i am using it all the time at
the moment. i would try for a replacement at once if it disappeared.
i love the fact that you need to program it to enjoy it and it is a
real synth and not some s+s idiot machine. i put it in the same league
as my microwaveII. i has a unique sound but it is far from a one trick
synth. i would like the lfos to sync to midi, for there to be some
flexability in the triggering of the envelopes and for there to be some
midi control of the fx.

Software Version 4.00: I found a little less than half of the factory and supplement disk presets useful for my music composition, it comes down to taste, since many of the patches I threw aside were favorites of other users I was acquinted with. I do not use computer-based editors for patch creation and modification, some may consider this the "hard way", but I prefer being free of computer-based systems and applications for my music. Patch editing isn't difficult, although it can be time-consuming depending on what kind of sound you want and how much work you are willing to put in to achieve it. The manual is rather poor except for reference purposes, but this seems to assume you know how to operate this model in the first place (?!).

Polyphone (at thirty-two voices) is rather weak considering the minimum of two "sources" per patch (hence, sixteen voices in actuality). Considering multi-timbral functions at four channels at a time, the voice usage can get reasonably steep. Harmonic Envelopes, Formant Filters and Envelopes, Velocity, and LFO control is rather impressive giving you an almost unprecendented level of control for a synthesizer of this price. Expansion is the ME-1 board (which adds two extra banks), and the macro knob box which allows real-time control (with full fledged knobs) of the rackmount units (the K5000S already has this inboard). MIDI control is rather impressive and responsive, and expression is very substantial. No real onboard sequencer, but I prefer it this way since I prefer modular systems with an external sequencer. Arpeggiator is decent, permitting chords to be arpeggiated along with single notes, but performance control is not quite as expressive and more mechanical than the arpeggiator found on my Kurzweil MIDIBOARD. While it is generally an additive synthesizer, PCM synthesis has been provided to conserve memory and to aid in sound creation.

Sounds quality is very good, despite the tendency to alias like all hell at higher notes. Sounds are often very digital, but incredibly versatile and flexible. With practice, warm pads, bells, analogish tones, and other off-the-wall sounds are all in the realm of this module and the user who knows it well. The possibility of both additive and PCM synthesis (best if used in combination) is especially helpful and cool in sound creation.

Reasonable reliability, although the knob on the K5000R rackmount is rather poor in construction in comparison to the K5000S. I had the knob replaced on my first of my two K5000R's since it was becoming difficult to even use the knob without it going in random directions. This seemed an exceptional case, and since the repair, no outstanding problems have surfaced. One peculiarity with the LCD screens on all K5000 models is that they darken after about six months, but it does not affect performance nor readability.

Customer support seemed helpful and fast, although my knob repair on my first unit took about three months to return. The job was done well, so I won't complain much.

The Kawai K5000R is the mainstay of my setup, hence why I own two and intend on purchasing a third. This will overcome my need for a full effects bus for each patch, and to be somewhat more liberal with my available polyphony. The sound is fantastic, and the flexibility is almost beyond realism. I recommend the ME-1 upgrade for everyone, and the knob-box for the pedantic. A little EQ on the overall sound will improve it still, but otherwise, I have very little grievances with this module and would certainly purchase not one but three if I lost my current pair. I wish the multi-timbral capability had a max-out limit for voice allocation, so sustaining notes (such as leads) wouldn't be tramped by other sounds which have notes being rapidly introduced beyond the maximum polyphony limit. Beside that, it is what I hope to be my trademark instrument in the future.

Version 3.0
With a big, bright LCD and a well-designed front panel, the K5000R is pretty easy to use....if all you want to do is select a patch or program a multi setting. However, due to the complex nature of the additive synthesis, programming the K5kR from its front panel would be nearly impossible. That's why Kawai includes a special version of Emagic's SoundDiver editor/librarian. Even with the help from SDiver, it takes knowledge & patience to come up with a decent patch. But thanks to the K5kR's awesome real time tweek-ability, you can alter the presets very easily & eventually come up with totally new sounds.
If you're looking for a synth for any types of emulations (e.g., real instrument emulation, vintage synth emulation), please stop reading here. The K5kR is THE synth for "Never-heard-before" sounds. Most of presets defy description. More on K5kR sounds later.
The manual is disappointing. I was expecting some in-depth discussion about the additive synth engine. No such luck. I'm using a full version of SDiver which has excellent on-line help (I don't know if the Kawai-supplied version has on-line help files). Thus, the quality of the manual isn't important to me.

The K5kR has 32 voice polyphony and 4 effect processors plus a reverb unit & a 6 band EQ. Since most good patches use 3 or more layers, the polyphony can be consumed quickly. However, this shouldn't an issue. One or two critically used K5000 patches will be enough to take a song to a higher level. Speaking of effects, they sound good to me. Since I use only one or two patches at a time, having that many effects is surely a luxury.
You can buy the ME-1 memory expander, which provides two additional banks. Also available is the Macro Knob Box, with which you can control up to 16 different paramenters in real time. Of course, you can control parameters in real time from any programmable MIDI controller like the Peavey PC1600.
The K5kR features one of the best arpegiator I've ever tried. The arpegiator is totally programmable, so you can do very cool things with it.

So, how does the K5kR sound? In a word, "Breathtaking". Please read on.
1. Sound Quality The K5kR has exceptionally crystal clear sound quality. It is the best sounding machine I've ever bought (I've bought 13 synths/samplers since 1987). It sounds unbelievably crisp, sparkling & digital. I have to say that I didn't like anything that sounded digital....until I first heard the K5kR. If you think "Digital" cannot be good, give a listen to the K5k.
2. PCM sounds The K5kR does contain some PCM samples. So, you can use your good old analogue programming skills if you wish. Using some PCM waveforms, I came up with some of the most brutal resonant filter sweep sounds. BTW, although the filters do not sound analogue, they are EXcellent. You can easily make in your face sounds using only PCM samples thanks to the filters.
3. Additive This is the heart & soul of the K5kR. I still have only a vague idea of how the additive synthesis really works, but by simply playing around with the formant filter I could achieve various sounds ranging from "lush, beautiful, angel-like" pads to "dirtier than any lead guitar sounds ever used in thrash metal" leads. Since you can use both PCM samples & additive DCO in a single patch, the sonic possiblities are only limited by your imagination.
In conclusion, the K5kR is not for the fainted hearted. Although most of presets sound good, it SHINES when you program it. Well, I've posted reviews of some other synths here, and this is the first time I am giving a 10 for Expressiveness/Sounds.

The first one that I received had a bad LCD. The second one has been working great.

Kawai has the best customer support. I sent some email questions and Howie Shen of Kawai USA has sent replies within 24 hours. I once talked to him on the phone and I have to say he is the best rep I've ever talked with.

The only thing I'm regretting about my purchase of the K5000R is that I should have bought a second K5000R or a K5000S (keyboard version) while Sam Ash still had some. Had I known that the K5kR was this good, I would have surely bought it for its original retail price. If you've always wondered how much a modern synth can push the sonic boundaries, look no further.

K 5000 is advanced additive synth, so the shear number of parameters to tweak is huge! But the way Kawai handles the issue makes it quite simple and straight forward to edit sounds. I'm using 3.0 software with MCB control box which gives me the ability to change a bunch of different parameters in real time. With this facility, you can easily edit factory presets (which are pretty awesome) to get totally new sounds without even going into some deep patch editing. Also, Kawai provides sound diver with the synth, for those with PC.

It has 32 voices, 4 part multitimbral. I have a rack mounted version, so it doesn't have a sequencer, but you can get K 5000 W (Workstation) which has it. Effects are great, and quite flexible.

To me, this is one of the most versatile and expressive synth on the market today! The sounds that Kawai can produce you just simply can't get anywhere else. With the power and the amount of control that it gives you over the sounds, you can do wonders. Since any sound, when broken down to its basic components, consists of simple sine waves, it can theoretically produce any sound you can think of. I'm saying theoretically, cause programming sounds from scratch is still not that easy on K5K, but it does have some quite amazing emulations of early analog synths.

Never let me down so far.

Wrote e-mail to Kawai about memory upgrade, they answered the same day!

Would I buy it again ? As a matter of fact, I am thinking of buying another one. Was waiting till Yamaha's EX-5 comes out, checked it out last week. Although it does look and sound good it didn't impress me that much (you loose voices and effects flexibility in multi mode big time). Now, if Novation's Supernova is not what they say it is, I'm buying me another K5000!