Kawai K5000W

I'm not sure off-hand which O.S. mine has, but I kknow it isn't the latest. Still, all of the features seem to respond without fail. Although I haven't tried it, I can definitely see a patch-editor making this easier. The Wizoo guide strongly suggests using Sound Diver, and with it, you can apparently do stuff like taking an audio waveform sample, analyzing it, and use it as a base waveform for you additive editing. Which sounds pretty damn cool, and something I'll probably try when I get around to buying a Mac. The manual sucks at explaining what you can really do with this machine (unless you want to know about the should-be-common-sense use of the effects section)... definitely get the Wizoo guide if you buy this synth, it explains the principles thoroughly and provides lots of "example" exercises. Most of the presets in mine were wiped by the previous user, but the ones left were pretty lame for the most part. This synth really excells at making other-worldly sounds, and can go from smooth/clean digital spaciness to nasty/gritty and/or downright weird, all with a move of the pitch/mod wheels if they're assigned to the right parameters. It's pretty tedious, or rather, time consuming, to edit from the board itself, though, so be warned: it's definitely a programmer/tweaker's machine. That said, it's still easy to figure out with minimal reference to print guides if you know how to navigate menus and aren't afraid to push some buttons and see what happens.

I'm not sure of the exact polyphony, but it's more than enough for using pads, etc. Built in effects section is quite thorough and easy to use, parameters can even be assigned to controllers. No expansion slots anywhere on the outside - since I haven't looked at the manual too thoroughly, I'm not sure if it can take internal upgrades. O.S. updates can be downloaded, copied to DOS-formatted disks and installed from the disk drive. There's a sequencer on this version though as yet, I haven't used it. However, this thing makes a great controller... I should explain my set-up to preface my comments, though: I use my synths and samplers purely for sound-design - any beats I write to accompany the sounds are usually done from scratch or by chopping up loops with computer software, then imported to multi-track wave editors and layered with the synths sounds, which I create and record individually and mix digitally. That said, this synth has two sets of MIDI ports, allowing 32 external MIDI channels (the sequencer has 40 tracks, 40,000 notes). Which is perfect for me... I have the A port feeding a MIDI-patchbay, which goes to all of the synth modules (most of which I use monotimbrally)... the B port is shared by the two samplers, 16 MIDI channels between the two of them being more than adequate for my purposes. I realize my set-up is pretty idiosyncratic, but the K5000W is perfect as a controller for my needs.

The keyboard itself is quite nice as well... keys are semi-weighted - we aren't talking a digital piano here, but it's a step up from the cheap plastic keys found on a lot of other synths. Even though I don't really play keyboard (except for very simplistic monophonic melodies), it has a great feel.

As I mentioned, little left of the presets when I got this and it's way better suited to creating intersting/evolving sounds anyway. Which it does very well.

As for the sounds, well, as I've hinted, they are great for what I do. Without (hopefully) being too long winded, here's a summary of how you can program this thing:

Up to 6 PCM or Additive sources can be layered in a patch. I've yet to even touch the PCM - since I'm a tweak freak, I go straight for the Additive, so that's what I'll cover. Each source can have either the first or last 64 (of 128) harmonics under your control. And I do mean CONTROL... overall harmonic levels can be adjusted either individually or in "group" modes (bright, dark, odd, even, octave, fifth, each or all). Each harmonic gets it's own four-stage envelope (with two different envelope looping modes, also adjustable individually) - these envelopes can be adjusted individually, or in any of the "groups" mentioned above. Then there's the formant filter. It has 128 bands, each of which is editable in much the same way, for level, as the harmonics, except that it's "groups" are: GEQ, 20-band, 15-band, 10-band, 5-band and each. The formant filter, however, has a single envelope with the same looping features. This envelope can also be modulated by a dedicated LFO. There is also the Bias parameter: at 0 bias, the center band of the filter is fixed at A440, if I remember correctly. So setting positive or negative Bias values essentially moves the entire filter, in your defined "shape", up or down the frequency spectrum. AND Bias (among many many other things) can be assigned to various controllers for real-time movement. The formant filter is only available on Additive sources.

Leaving the Additive section, we come to the more straight-ahead synth basics (which can also be applied to PCM sources). DCO has the pitch envelope (which is in the same place on both Additive and PCM sources), DCF has basic resonant high or low-pass filter and DCA is the overall envelope, independent of any already tweaked on an Additive source.

Effects Matrix has four different algorithms to which the sources can be fed in any combination. Effects include reverb, early reflections, various delay types, chorus (including "ensemble" and "celeste" varieties), flanger, phaser, exciter, distortion, etc). They aren't Lexicon, but they're pretty damn good for on-board synth effects.

And control: LFO goes to all the basics (this LFO is seperate from the one that modulates the formant filter, I believe). Then pitch/mod wheels and expression pedal can each be assigned to one of the myriad available destinations (too extensive to mention here, but you can probably extrapolate from above). You also get two assignable controllers (which can be MIDI CC's, if I'm not mistaken) with two destinations each.

OK, so I've summarized the Wizoo guide (minus the cheesy humor) - but that should give you an idea what you can do with the sounds on this beast.

Mine is studio-stationary, but it's a heavy board weight wise and I'd certainly trust it if I gigged with it. Not quite a tank... well, maybe a small tank.

No need.

I would be lost without this thing in my studio if I didn't have it. I think I've probably already covered what's great about it, but suffice to say, if I lost this somehow, I would search long and hard for another one. I considered buying a Roland XP-series workstation and getting a rack version of this - until I found out about the Workstation version and found someone who was selling one. Already knowing the programming capabilities of this machine, when I found out it would double as a controller, Roland went out the window faster than an opportunistic indoor cat (ah ha! Some Wizoo humor!)... Wish list? Nah... sure there's stuff you can't do with this that you can with others, but that's why I own more than one synth. Each has it's specialty and I wouldn't want it any other way. Pack too much into a machine and you start to wonder what to use it for, I find.

I've used several versions and am currently using 4.02. All of them are quite easy, specially the current one, takes no time to manage sequencer and sound editing.

All features are just great, there's much bigger sequencers around now but 40 000 notes' still nice.

Effects and sounds are good enough. Very realistic, but it can get spacey, moody, electronic, prog if needed, just a matter of playing around with the patches and their parameters.

I'd use it on a gig without backup, very reliable, never failed.

I've communicated with Kawai US and Kawai Germany and I've received answer from Germany only.

I just love it, plan to keep it for a long time.

Well let's see. It's pretty easy to use as long as it doesn't have to get along with a large set up. But it can't be your only board either.
I use it for those strange combis and that's about it.

Features are great for the $ 799 I paid, nothing comes close. but as with most Kawai stuff they always seem to have such great potential but never quite get it right.

Of course this is why I bought it. I wanted something different. Some say the K5000s is better but if you want to layer the sound
I think this is the ticket. This is because usually a sound has a foundation or background that's fairly conventional. We even say " well it sounds like a piano/bell sound but different" to describe weird noises. On the 5000s you'd have to get good sounding
background patches first - not an easy think.Now the GM / PCM sounds aren't great but when layered with the add section look out!And no, it doesn't have all the controllers but I can't twist 9 knobs and play anyway. I'm doing good using the Mod wheel and pressure so
I don't see that as a limitation. I agree with someone who said it can " out wavestation the wavestation " and I've owned both. Nothing sounds like the K5KW!

so far so good

They sent the new sound diver right away.

Not sure I could afford one again but I don't ever want to seel mine.

Using version 4.03 which seems to be a minor improvement on 3.0 in a couple of areas.
The patches don't seems to take quite as long to settle down after changing,
and there's not quite as much inherent distortion in the resonance filter.
The presents sound, well, much like they always did.
Some good ones, some very mediocre PCM samples, and of course the ADD is the best part of the synth.
Editing on the "W" can be tireseome. The manual isn't totally useless, but it's not the best I've read.
I'd imagine editing on the "S" to be a more satisfactory experience. Things aren't always laid out very intuitively on the edit menu.
Terminology is a bit different to most other synths.

NICE keyboard action! One of the quickest I have played on a synth. A bit "bouncy", but not too bad.
I like a heavier action, so this one feels OK. The black keys are a bit smaller than I'm used to (I play a lot of Korg stuff),
but that only helps the speed on those chromatic runs!! The note-stealing when the polyphony runs out is not subtle at all,
in fact it just sucks! The on-boards sequencer is a bit pedestrian. 40 tracks - big deal. Only 2 songs - Damn!! And it's SLOW!!
It's got to be the slowest load from a disk I've ever expereinced. It's just a joke. Worse than the old Yamaha SY series.
The effects are fairly easy to get around for a keyboard. They're not a touch on, say, the Trinity for example, but they're certainly adequate for
the bandwidth of the rest of this keyboard. Pretty flexible. Quick MIDI seems a handy function, but I don't know that I'll use it that much.
MIDI transmission is fair, but those bloody bouncing keys mean you need to set a low PPQ on your sequencer, or you'll have notes hanging all over the place.
This is REALLY annoying. On top of that, the engine occasionally when it's busy, and sends spurious crap out the port. Also very annoying! The engine in this machine
in this machine just doesn't seem to keep up.

No doubt about the ADD part of the machine. A great concept, even if a bit dated,
and a great way to create new and unheard-of sounds. The PCM and GM parts of the machine are pretty "Ho-Hum".
I don't think you'd bother with it as a GM device of any kind. Some of the PCMs are quite useable with a bit of work,
and most of them work well in conjunction with the ADD generated sounds. There's no doubt that you can get really creative
sound-wise on this board. Responds pretty well to nuances in playing as well. Generally gives you satisfactory connection between
the sound being played, and how you're expressing it on the board.

Hmmm..... I don't really trust it yet. I don't think I'd take it to a gig without my trusty 01W as a backup.

Only had it a few days. Can't comment.

If I lost it, I wouldn't be too concerned. The operating system really does need a bit of work. The engine is as slow as a wet week,
and the display has had little consideration aesthetically. The display, in short, looks like crap. I've seen $200 Casios with a better looking display.
I've been playing various keys from old Korg MS-20s to Kurzweil K-2500s for the past 20 years. I've owned samples of just about every manufacturer,
but find I've always owned a fair percentage of Korg stuff. M series, O series, Trinity, that sort of thing. The Kawai feels like a bit of a toy.
Great concept, poorly executed. I do like the feel of the keyboard, and some of the sounds, and I love the sound creation possibilities.
I hate the display layout, the fonts, the menus. Looks like it was done by a 6 year old. I hate the glitches. It's just not a professional package.
It's not "finished". I'd like to see it with some real development, particularly in it's processing power and speed. At it's current sell out price, it's OK,
but not a "bargain". I'd suggest saving some more. Let's be real, if you're into sound creation, it's hard to beat the Kurzweil.

My K5000W has software version 3.0, which all seems to work. There are three sets of sounds - a GM set, which is OK, another set of sample- based sounds which are pretty good (on a par with most mid-priced workstation synths) and a set of sounds which use the special additive sources available in the K5000. The presets in this latter set are variable, but mostly unusable for anything much. The additive synthesis engine is clearly capable of producing really good imitations of real sounds, in some cases better than most physical modelling techniques (the factory "Pyper" and "Shakkiri" presets are good examples), but sadly nearly all the presets are dubious fantasy-type noises and New Age guff. A few nice synth basses though. As regards programming, the additive stuff is so complex that it's pretty daunting. Apparently some K5000s come bundled with a version of the Sound Diver editor which probably improves matters. The onboard editing facilities are probably as good as they could be, it's just that there's an awful lot to take into account - 64 harmonics per source, each with its own individual envelope, not to mention the formant filter and other stuff like effects. Two major gripes: the manual is dreadful, and it's a pain using the K5000W with an external sequencer as there doesn't appear to be any way to tell it not to respond on all MIDI channels. Contrary to what the other review on this database says, however, it will transmit and receive aftertouch - mine will, at least.

64 note poly, 32 part multitimbral (though some patches use more than one note of polyphony per note played). Good and flexible effects, with some cool stuff like distortion and rotary speaker simulation. Two sets of MIDI ports. Apparently you can get a "knob box" for real-time controllers and an extra memory card. I wouldn't count on these being easy to find though. Nice action for a non-weighted keyboard. Haven't used the onboard sequencer, but it looks very well specified, and includes some quite sophisticated compositional aids like auto-arrangement.

At its current knockdown price, I reckon this beats everything else on the market. Basically you get a decent sample-based synth, and also one of the most sophisticated sound design sources around. The additive synthesis is incredibly flexible, and good both for real instrument emulations (you can get some great electric pianos, for instance) and weird stuff. The only limiting factor seems to be that it's hard to produce untuned sounds, or sounds that have a large enharmonic component to them. The effects are good too. It's all very clean and quite digital sounding, but not cold or harsh.

Seems pretty stable, though it can occasionally crash if you try hard enough (eg. by changing modes while it's receiving lots of MIDI data). Slight whine from the power supply (I think), not serious though.

I've tried emailing them about turning off response on MIDI channels, but got no reply.

If I lost this one and could get another at the same price, I'd do it. I feel quite lucky cos I bought it completely blind in Turnkey's sale - it was reduced to such an extent I thought I'd just sell it again if I didn't like it - and it turned out to be pretty cool. The sample-based sounds are just as good as in the other synths I was considering (QS7, N5, etc.) and you get the huge additive power on top. However, programming the additive sounds really does require a lot of time and effort. I find that you can program an entire arrangement - say 7 or 8 parts - using the K5000W alone, and it doesn't sound dull or samey. The sampled sounds are perfect for bread and butter drums and basses, and the additive sounds add sparkle on top.

This is the best synth for the money. Version software 3.0, the presets are exhilarating. You have PCM sounds and Advanced Addititve synthesis (Sound Harmonic editing with formant filters!) the synth comes with a program to convert pcms (like a piano) to a additive! that means MAJOR editing capabilites (once connected to a computer! increadible

64 note polyphone with a 32 track sequencer. The sequencer has realtime, step, event editing, and the disk drive save feature remembers all info such as effects editing, start volumes etc. Interesting, the k5000w does not transmit or receive aftertouch information. Well, I never used it anyway. the keyboard itself is incredible. very piano like. the effects are many and various! Exciters to true stereo phasing etc. In addition to upto 4 effects simulataneous, you get a reverb setting and an EQ setting for each patch! If you owned a korg N5 (like I did until I saw this thing) you'd know a Eq and reverb would take up all the space you'd have for effects! I don't know what to do with the luxury honestly.

OK! string sounds right now suck. and bad. the rest are great I don't know what's going on with those strings but I'll have to get to work, they're better than most keyboards, but for some reason sounds like they're lfo-ing resonance when they're not. maybe that's my inexperience. the effects as mentioned are great as is the keyboard. the keyboard expressive overall lends itself to experimentation for whatever music from prog-rock to go-go to disco to eighties to drum and bass to hip-hop to jazz to...

the sequencer has been known to mysteriously delete notes. I don't know why again, maybe inexpereince. gigging is another thing, this thing is heavy!

Haven't had to talk to them, a good sign. I think I will but just to congratulate them on a great product.

THEY STOPPED MAKING THESE! RIGHT NOW THEY ARE ON BLOWOUT! I got mine for 900 dollars and list price is 2400. The company is taking a loss, because it wants to move on. Why? I don't know. If you're interesting in making truly progressive music, I recommend this, although if you are truly progressive you might not need it. I know this will help me like NO OTHER synth will or could definitely not the old Korg N5! HAHAHAHA! For my price I feel like i stole this thing. Let me put it this way. I saw it one friday, and had it into my waiting bedroom by tuesday of the next week. 3 days! I sold everything I had (well not everything, but just about.) a keyboard, sequencer, pedals, the works, just to get one of the 5 they had left in the store. my paranoia worked to my advantage. one of the clerks sold 3 to his friends that same week I bought it (By Monday!) Find one and buy it. Only good can come of it.