Kawai PHM Pop Synth

i have always liked the kawai k1 sounds, breathy pads, ambient textures et al. the beauty of this little half-sized module is that it has many useful textures, worth it even if you don't ever use the pianos and "realistic" instruments. poor man's fairlight, ha ha.
i run it thru an external filter, use different fx on its left and right outputs and thus achieve big sonic landscapes. i like turning it on because you can't edit anything and have to concentrate on outboard fx. thus it's intuitive and fun.

the trick is to use higher quality external fx.

the kawai pads were always in a league of their own. i have always preferred them over the d-50, m-1, or sy-35. the sounds are rough and noisy, that's part of the charm. very nice to mix, you don't have to eq it as much as a roland d-50.

looks + feels sturdy enough.

never had to

since i mainly own (old) analogue synths, this little module gives me sth i'd otherwise miss. all those breathy, ethereal (cliched term, but...) sounds. i think it's just right as a background instrument, plus it's fun to play. rating based on its price.

Very simple to use. Turn it on, press buttons to go up or down on the patch list, and play. It's really designed to be a kid's or hobbyist's keyboard. Has the built in speakers that make everyone think you're a dork and that your keyboard is a joke. I am a semi-pro user however, have owned and used dozens of synths, and believe it or not I think this thing is great. I actually got rid of a Yamaha DX series board to buy this. Fantastic, gritty 8-bit sounds and plenty of them. Suprisingly punchy for pcm samples. Best for buzzy electronic bass/lead sounds and odd spacey pads.

You can layer up to four different sounds on top of each-other to get some very thick results. A tiny joystick seems to be able to trigger volume boosting and patch specific effects as well as pitch shifts. MIDI is usable if not extensive, with no velocity or other fruity stuff. Unfortunately the keys themselves don't feel that good to play, and are small. 8 note polyphony which drops to 2 note with full sound layering

The only realistic instruments that sound nice are the organs. The synths, pads, sound FX, basses, are the stars of the show. I do 1980's hip-hop, and these sounds fit right in. Also do some goth stuff for fun, and the sounds fit in there too. Good for live because of it's plug-and-play nature, and also it's quite compact. Probably would be a monster if run through a multi-effects unit.
The beats in it are few, sound poor, but are very catchy and useable for some strange reason.

I can not imagine this unit ever having a serious problem. I had to fix a stuck key when I first got it, a very simple task. A speaker could need replacing someday, but again an easy fix. A local shop has been renting out these boards for at least 8 years and those ones seem to hold together quite nicely.

Never called a company for anything, but I have heared good things about Kawai.

I would always try somthing new if it were lost or burned up. Doesn't mean I don't like it though. Any electronic instrument has a set lifespan of usefulness. Eventually you'll get tired of it's sounds/flavor. For the price though it's definitely worth taking one for a spin. Beats any other keyboard in it's class hands down. All fun with no sweat or tears.

Old style interface, but very easy to use. Not lots of options, so it's hard to get lost. 30 Drum patterns 50 combo patches 200 preset patches. The manual doesn't cover the preset patches a bit. It talks about editing combos but you'd have to know what sources you liked first.
Sounds are old and funky some are great, some suck.

16 note polyphony.
Since the 200 presets are in one bank, you have to hard code which 100 you want to be addressed by midi. (Hello, who the hell thought that up?) I haven't found an editor yet. I haven't even found anyone whos ever seen one of these before. Don't plan on anything but from the front panel for editing. The drums don't seem to send time down the cable, so I can't call it a controller. Although the patterns are good. The drum sounds are bad. It can however recieve time from another source, and it will play 1 of 30 patterns along with that time.

The sounds remind me of MT-32, but some are just great. It's all digital PCM stuff. It has it's place for sure. No effects.

It's old, I bought it used, it's still kicking.

Kawai is great. They are very helpful people, and were more than willing to sell me a manual. I wonder though if there are two manuals since the one I recieved had no preset list.

I love the cheese of this 1/2 rack box. It won't be in all my tunes, but it has to be in lots. It has sounds that are fat, sleezy, and cheap. It's one of those things, that you have to get if you ever see one. I'd buy it again in a minute. Couldn't argue at the price.