Kurzweil PC-88

PC-88 MX (V1.02 + VGM) - sounds are good to great. Performance access to the first bank of 64 sounds is ok, but use of VGM board sounds requires programming "MIDI Setups". Otherwise, it's an unreasonable amount of button pushing to change sounds on the fly.

Editing setups is not bad on board. Home brew MIDI / patch editing software smooths out all the bumps for me.

The manual sucks. Snotty and incomplete are the words that come to mind first. Had to get the manual for another product and read between the lines some to get the format of their MIDI dump.

Many points off in this category for crappy manual and the snotty attitude.

At the time (~1996) it was the only digital piano sound I could live with. The Rhodes and Wurlitzer EP sounds are great. Organs are fair.

Key based pitch bend is very cool.

First unit had to be shipped back immediately. White notes and black notes had wildly different velocity response. Second unit crapped out after a few gigs. The circuit board conaining power, pedal, and audio connectors loaded with cold solder joints.

After only a few weeks, the Fatar action began to crumble under my fingers, leaving the case full of plastic debris I call Fatarfetti. This resulted in a very sloppy feel and horrendous mechanical noise (taps, whacks, squeaks, ...) rendering it unusable for quite acoustic music, and annoying in all but the loudest situations.

As a company, I'd give them a zero or worse. One individual was very helpful and candid. He kept me on the road with it for five actions over two years or so. The last one (supposedly re-engineered with better plastic) was no better than the others. His description of the barriers, culture differences, and such of US company sold to Korean management and manufacturing, with US design and software engineering, and an incompetent (my word) Italian action maker was very sad. This is a company that could make great stuff, but never will. It matters not how wonderful the engineering is if the manufacturing and critical components are crap.

It sounds great for what it is. It has some very cool features. It would be well worth it, if it stood up to pro use. It doesn't.

I've been playing for about 45 years.

The disposable Fatar action in the PC88 is one of the reasons I quit gigging. I'm tired of spending boucoup bucks to find out how much a given product sucks.

VI.00 - VGM! Welcome to the PC88. I use my machine as a slave to Pro Tools. The presets are OK! But are great with a few tricks with outside effects. I don't know how to edit the patches, but I might learn someday. The manual is not intuitive and I don't refer to it much.

64 note polyphony, and sometimes I like to hold down the sustain and cram in notes 'till they drop out! The action on my rig has a click from missing felt on C#4, but fun to play otherwise. Expansion after VGM is not easy. 16 Channel -MIDI Recieve- works well with a Mac based GUI interface like ProTools or Finale.

None ot the instruments are really great, but they are more than Good enough to be really creative with. Works well with a project studio and solid in live performance. Effects are not impressive but can sometimes really help the sound. The velocity is dynamic even in recording MIDI events. Very fun to play when amped right.

I have no such back-up but I would love one. Do not expose the PC 88 to lots of direct sunlight. Needs regular maintence for key action squeeks and ambiance + the navigation button with the symbal >>> is going out on this rig.

I contacted Kurzweil by E-mail only, and the answer to the qustion I posed was no!

I love it and I would buy it again. It is the easist machine to use with Pro Tools. The faders A B C and D are easy to assign as Synth/Plug-in controllers and other tasks. I hate that I can't just dump new sounds into it. There seems to be just vast amounts of empty patches in it that I don't know how to fill. It is however the main main machine in my studio. Can complement any mix including drums.

I use logic 5 and my pc 88 works great especially as i have the mx version

The pc 88 does not have the baby stuff you get on baby casio's because it is designed as a controller, and i can tell you, it controls my rack a treat. It feels like a piano and the midi expansion and effects capabilities are endless.

In my opinion the pc88 offers some of the best piano's and keyboard onstruments around. Some of the general midi sounds are not quite as convnicing, but who cares once yourve heard the pianos.

My pc88 has 1 fault. The screen has a bit of a dodgy connection and goes blank sometimes, but this is easily fixed. I never have back up for it beacause if i did not have the pc 88 there would be no point in playing anything else!

??????????? Is there some. Hmmmmm. Hope its as good as its made out to be. Anyway you will never need customer support.

i love this keyboard and could not do without it!
IRRIPLACEABLE!

All the presets are great: stereo piano, stage piano and strings, all teh strings are brilliant. Through a top-notch preamp, it sounds amazing.
Patches are easily edited with this "intuitive entry" thing, where you just move your fader and press the controller button- really good stuff there.
The manual is good, but I haven't had to use it much.

The action is lovely. I play at church, and it was easier for me if the church bought a keyabord so I didn't have to cart mine around too much. They got a Korg SP100. I don't want to slag off Korg, but I'm sorry to say that the Kurz whipps its bottom. Actionwise, it's superb, and nothing is like it. The only thing that comes close is the Roland RD-600 (which is nice, but no Kurzweil).
There are expansion facilities, buut I didn't use them.
No sequencer, but it's not a workstation, it's a performace stage piano. It looks like a piece of furniture, so it would look beautiful in your front room. It's smart, and I would eat my dinner off it if I thought it wouldn't do t any harm.
Sounds superb both live and in the studio... I wouldn't play anything else.

None of the instrumens are bad, but I'd commend the strings especially. Someone said the organ sounds were bad- I disagree. The Rock Organ 2 sounds great with the rotary speaker on full.
This baby works across all genres is you what your basic, top notch piano/electric piano/strings/vibes/pad/bass/guitar sounds. I play in a band (actually vocals and guitar) but when keyboards are needed, I tend only to use the piano, as I think that if you're going to have a bass, you should have a real bass, but the sounds are great nonetheless.
The onboard effects aren't really extensive, but they're quality and you can control them completely.
The Kurz is very responsive to your feel, and you can adjust the velocity settings (although I find that the preset is just fine).

Absolutely dependable. Built like a tank coated in titanium with a roman centry surrouding it with shields up covered by a tortoise shell and....... you get the picture.
Who needs backup? Never had a problem with it.

Not really dealt with Customer support, except to request brochures, which have been sent very quickly. Having said that, it's in their interest to do that.

If it was lost or stolen I would maybe get a newer Kurz, just for the sake of it, but I think Kurzweil have my brand loyalty, definitely. They're really hard to get a hold of in England, but you see PC-88s all the time on the TV, so I think I'd go the extra mile to get one.
I've been playing the piano 13 years (since I was 5) and I had a little Yamaha keyboard that sounded like a fly in the loo, so when I got this, it improved my playing by 100%. I hate nothing about it. I know it's a heavy beast- about 100lbs in it's flight case, but to me when you're looking at music gear, weight denotes quality!
One thing I would say: when it's on a surface, it scratches it becasue of the screws underneath, I put some rubber feet on it, but they came off becasue of it's regular gigging. If something was attatched at teh factory to remedy this, that would be good.
I love my Kurzweil, and having not played it for a few days, I think I might just go and say hello after being so nice to it :)

This is a very USER-FRIENDLY board...with excellent action.
The patches are quite realistic.
Manual is pretty straight forward and doesn't read like a physics text book.

I play a lot of SOLO gigs...and I found that the split/combo sounds......bass/piano/ride........make me a one man trio.
That was the reason I chose it over the Alesis Qs-8.

I gig with this board all the time. I get lots of compliments.
A very durable piece of equipment...the PC-88 stands up as one of the best boards I have played.

Never needed support.

There are 3 knocks I have about the PC-88. First It doesn;t have a really great B3 organ sound.
Second, It has that annoying wall wart on the end that wastes space.
Third, It's a heavy board to carry around as much as I do.

Very simple to use, i mean, after programming a Korg 05R/W on a 2x10 screen, you apreciate a lot the dedicated buttons and interface of the board. I've programmed my setups for my band's songs in less than 3 days after buying it. Very Nice!

I bought it without the VGM expansion board and i'm not very hungry for it, 'cause GM and synth sounds come with the other stuff I own.

Polyphony is acceptable, 32 voices are enough for live playing and this keyboard is meant for this purposes. Effects are not cleaner enough, but a rack processor effect will work fine with it. Anyway i don't make extensive use of effects, piano sounds better in cleaner envirovement.

?MIDI Capabilities? This things rocks, very cool MIDI implementation and controller features, every controller is assingable, every zone is programmable. I bought it for its flexibility and i'm not disapointed at all.

The sounds library isn't very rich, unless you have the VGM expansion, sounds are just Pianos, EPianos, Strings, Pianos, Chessy stuff (guitars, harpsy, etc), Organs... and... Did I say Pianos?...

There are a lot of things sounding better, but this thing is not pretended to be a synth, it's a MIDI controller with a few sounds for saving the day. Pianos are very cool, some people find them weak... no way, they are the best pianos i've heard for the price range!

The rest of the sounds are very useable, the strings sounds cool with another sound module. Pads are its only weakness, but every sound module has greater ones...

Very solid and reliable. Built like a tank.

Weakness: Electric components are cheap and underrated, it derives in a weak operating system. It crashes for no reason. A few weeks ago i've opened it and cleaned the dust. It hasn't crashed yet. :)

Bought used, never dealt with kurz...

When I was buying this baby I was really afraid due to your comments, but i bought it really cheap and i'm not disappointed at all. Final score: 9,5 (round to 10)

The PC 88 is pretty straightforward to set up. What I like is the intuitive controller assignment - selecting one of the four zones, holding the respective button and moving a controller selects the assignment for this controller within this zone. I use it to control my midi rig, and the programming is quite easy. What is confusing at first, is that there is a RAM limit to the number of MIDI setups you can store. So if you make extensive use of individual controller assignments and 4-zone setups for all of your programs, you will be able to store less MIDI setups than there are numerically available.

I bought the unit for its weighted action and the piano sounds in '95. The action is still great, but the sounds are a bit dated. The arpeggiator of the unit is supposed to be pretty flexible - but I have never used it, since it does not fit my playing style.
Four zones can be assigned to internal and/or external sounds - I wish it was six or eight. Also an additional MIDI out (or even another MIDI pair) would be nice. I use a Steinberg Midex 8 to interface with my rack, this eliminates some of these problems. The unit can merge an incoming MIDI data stream with its own data, which is a plus. I use a Korg Wavestation EX as a second controller and merge the data before passing it on to the rack, which saves a couple of bucks for an external MIDI merge box.
As a master keyboard controller the unit performs well, and that is what I am using it for.

The bread and butter sounds (piano, rhodes, strings) are good, the effects suck big time. The reverb is OK, but the chorus is lacking depth and the Leslie for the organs is a joke. I recently put a Kurzweil PC2R into my rack and use the sounds from that box as a replacement - and it works great. I would not spend the $495 for the MX option, unless you are absolutely keen on doing General MIDI sequencing.

I have lugged it around quite a bit and it has not failed me, although some buttons (esp. bank select) are not as responsive as they used to be - but I did not always treat the unit with gloves. It is sturdy and except for the flimsy power supply I would take it to a gig without backup.

Never had to deal with them.

If the unit were stolen, I would probably look for a master keyboard controller with a couple of more zones and a separate MIDI pair or get a used PC-88, if I could get a decent price. I have been playing for 20 years, Pop and Jazz, and the keyboard action suits me better than many of the current controllers out there - I've played a Yamaha S 80 and a Roland XV 88 and was not fond of either one. I remeber trying out an old Yamaha KX88, and liked that similar to the PC-88. I have a bit of outboard gear - Yamaha TX7, Korg 01 R/W, Kurzweil PC2R, Hammond XM-1 and Roland MKS-20, and controlling this array with the PC-88 is easy and straightforward. Combine it with a non-weighted controller (I use a Wavestation EX) and you have a killer rig for many music styles.

Fairly easy to use if you are familiar with MIDI rigs.

Effects are not great. On-board sounds vary in quality. Harpsicord and guitar sounds are very bad. Grand piano and electric pianos are quite good--grand piano sample is best currently available in my opinion.

Very quite unit. Grand pianos sound very good, especially when you scroll down the touch sensitivity--sound gets darker and less harsh.

Seems reliable

It's a really good sounding and easy to use unit. Touch isn't the best available anymore (weighted action keyboards by Roland, for example, are more realistic-feeling). And price is relatively high for a unit that came on the market in '93 or so. It's a true controller unit; I use it mostly as a digital acoustic piano. I think the expanded 64 voice polyphony upgrade is really a waste of money.

It's soooo easy. Granted, every keyboard has a learning curve when you first take it out of the box, but if you want to plug it in, turn it on, adjust volume, and let it rip, it's a no brainer. But, as has been noted by everyone, it's reason for living is as a Professional Controller.My piano chops notwithstanding, I've been a semi pro keyboard player for 20 years and have seen some good boards and some that were used as wheel stops for your carport. Pianos sound full and believable from top to bottom. The Yamaha P200 sounds a bit better to me but can you say 92 dadgum pounds to haul around? I've used my PC88 on stage every Saturday night with a five piece TF40 country/Oldies/Favorites now for a year, and the marriage is still sweet. For those who like to delve into the boards innards the manual is excellent.

Polyphony is 32, but if it was 500, I could'nt tell the difference on stage. I'll hang a fist full of notes on the pedal and they all sing out. Keyboard action is just a touch heavier than I'd like , but not overly so. Resist the temptation to gliss.... after a 6 inch gliss, you'll come to your senses, and just continue playing in that octave and then sneak back to where you were and hope the crowd didn't notice. The effects are there, but the plate only has 3 levels of reverb, and chorus. Midi capabilities?.... If I was designing a controller from scratch this board is EXACTLY how I'd do it.

All I can say is if you're ANY kind of a piano player, this keyboard will serve you well. Wanna dial in that perfect piano sound? adjust your amps eq. There are some shortcomings to some of the sounds..fullness of the strings when soloed, organ patches are good, but the leslie simulation is weak, wish thye chorus for the rhodes was a bit deeper. BUT for all of the small shortcomings, Kurzweil finally came out with the definative board, the PC2. In EVERY weak area of the PC88, the PC2 not only fixes it but gives you much more.

Been pretty good so far. Had to put it in the shop because middle C' volume would play WFO every time you touched it. Warranty work.

I wish there will be an upgrade path for my PC88 to the PC2.

If it got busted up and stuff, I'd probably oft for the PC2. I'm old (49), and I'd prefer 76 semiweighted fer totin' and stuff. A 52 pound board moving twice a week is causin ME to break down. (Truth is, once my girlfriend gets some more money I'm a'heading for the music store) :)

Accessing internal voices and effects is a breeze. This was my first foray into the world of midi and I'm not a technoid, so it took a while to figure out the programming of the midi setups. Manual is thorough and written in plain english. There's a lot to play with here; I still get myself into weird situations now and then.

Up to four zones on four midi channels; lots of assignable doo-dads like sliders and switches. The on-board effects are straight-forward and easy to use. They sound fine to me. 88 weighted action keys, which I like as an organist because it's good for technique (Good for classical technique, but not good for Hammond technique). It's a great midi controller.

Pianos are great. Strings are fun to play with. It would be nice if there were more internal voices, but this is primarily a controller and not a synth. I'm an organist so I'd love more of those voices, but the few B-3 sounds are good. You can use the modulation wheel for vibrato and also add the chorus effect to it to get a bit of Leslie effect. I use the PC-88 to drive a Peavey Spectrum Organ module. This is where the PC-88 is great, because I can use the different controller functions and zones to access and combine internal and external voices at different octaves, which is about as close as I can get to having the sound of a real (classical) organ.

No problems yet, and no problems with the dreaded Fatar weighted action, though all it's done is sit in my play room as an expensive practice instrument.

No need to deal with them yet.

It's a great controller, well made and easy to use in internal voices mode. Prices have come down quite a bit on these since I bought mine. It would be a pain to haul around to a gig but it could be a lot worse. The midi setups make it versatile for driving external sound modules, so I can see this being the only keyboard you need in a live setting. I'd buy one again.

Initial version release..no SM ROM block. Piano preset sounds great, lacks depth in upper register common to K2000 Orchestral ROM grand pianos, and not much difference between the piano voices, but overall a great stand alone unit and good controller.

Comes with varying depths of reverb, delay and chorus-all accesible from buttons on panel. Presets limited to 64 piano/plucked/string type sounds, but can be upgraded to include general standard soundset. 88 note weighted key channel aftertouch.

Great for jazz-combo pianists as stand alone. Also use it for my rock horn-band as main controller.

It's failed me a couple of times-the display didn't come up due to the fact that the ribbon slipped out of it' socket. I carry an extra power supply (they're expensive-I believe 80 dollars). I have changed the original power cable on one of the supplies. It uses a wall wart 9v AC converter (2.0 amps) that comes with a flimsy cable (My 12 dollar Multimedia speaker have a thicker cord). My biggest complaint are the counter weights breaking constantly. I'm not a hard player, but when I've had some of my pianist friends sit in a jobs they've managed to break a few. It doesn't seem to take alot of stress for the weights to give way. The key still works with a broken counter weight, but the actionfeels awkeard, and sometimes the broken plastic will get lodged under a key making it stick.

Passing of the buck if you are not a dealer or retailer. I'm willing to give it another shot dealing with them directly, but on a previous order for a K2000 volume pot (12k vr)- ordered one in sept of 97 and still havent recieved it.

It's not worth what I paid, since I believe you can buy them for half of what I payed for it with the expansion sounds. If I can't have the real thing at a gig I'll use it since it's much lighter than my Korg 01WX Pro (sounds bette-in my opinion, as well). I've been playing piano thirty years and own several keyboards including Kurzweil K2000, K2000RS, Roland D-50 D-70 R-70 R-5, Yamaha SY85, SY55, Korg M3R and some pre-midi boards (Yamaha CP70 Grand-perspective bids? it's for sale, two Rhodes stage and suitcase, Korg Drawbar dual manual, ARP 2600, crumar orchestrator).
I love the weight, ease of use, and very personable piano sample when I do my combo gigs. I hate the fact that I'm always replacing the ocunterweights, and hate the power source. I wish it had stronger counter weight casings.

In general, the PC88 behaves well (for a small computer), but remember this was developed by lab techs - not professional keyboardists - so it takes a little getting used to, particularly the functions involving channel assignments, velocity controls, and anything in the MIDI (you can't see it but you know it's there somewhere) realm.

It has lots of polyphony, a small but easy to use effects processor, 4 programmable MIDI zones, etc. etc. The best features about this keyboard shine when it is used as a primary weighted action controller and piano. It doesn't have a sequencer, so I don't know why anyone would buy this as their primary home recording workstation - in fact I can say that it is pretty obvious this keyboard was NOT designed to be a home recording tool first, but rather the central keyboard controller for a "live" multi-keyboard setup (incorporating modules, etc.). I have also checked out the expanded version of this keyboard (VX - ?) which includes the entire General MIDI sound bank (drums, more pianos, synths, guitar, bass, etc.) and I can say that it is a waste of money. The "expanded" sound bank given is very weak and should only be used for demo recording purposes - it is not "professional" in nature. Furthermore, the General MIDI sounds in the expansion board are pretty much useless for live gigging (unless you like poor quality keyboard sounds).

This keyboard was a dream come true for me when I first bought it (two years ago). I had been looking for a realistic piano controller keyboard - and along came the PC 88. I am a professional jazz pianist (not cocktail piano - JAZZ) and pop/rock keyboardist for a touring club band in the New England area. After playing on D-50's, M1's, Ensoniq SD1's, Korg X2's, etc. I can say that this keyboard blows them all away for pure piano sound reasons. This keyboard had (until recently) the only good piano sample I have ever heard from a professional keyboard, and backed that up by providing a very realistic piano-like action and velocity for the player. I've played dozens of pianos in my life (yes, including Steinway and Baldwin)and can say that I was completely satisfied with the touch and feel of this keyboard. I bought the keyboard strictly for the piano sounds and functions, but found out quickly that I was very happy with it's MIDI capabilities. I've played rock, pop, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, calypso, and many more styles on this keyboard and have been mostly happy with the sounds. Of course, there are some rather unusable sounds included - like the "synth" patches and the guitar sounds, but that's okay - the kiddies need to have fun in the store - right? This keyboard is perfect for the pro pianist - it gives you great piano samples as well as electric pianos, digital pianos, piano and strings, vibes, marimbas, clavs and strings - essentially the basic stock sounds any pro keybaordist would need to get through a gig. It lacks the "almost as important" sounds like horns, steel drum, monophonic synth lead, harmonica, Hammond B3, and fat synth - but it tries to accommodate with slighly useful organ patches (if you're in a pinch).

I have whole-heartedly depended on this keyboard for the entire time I've owned it. I also use a Hammond XB2 keyboard and a Korg X3 rack mounted synth (if you read the last category you know that these were the sounds the PC88 was lacking) - but the PC88 has been the focal point of my setup for two years. I can further say that this keyboard is a rock. It is virtually indestructable. The solid metal casing was a very good idea, since pro musicians have a habit of "accidentally" destroying so much of their gear. I've dropped this keyboard, had beer spilt on it, kicked it a few times (part of the act), and probably spit on it alot (also part of the act) - no negative effect. Well, actually - I've only had to bring it in to the shop once - for some reason the screws kept falling out of the casing and the whole keyboard got "loose" - but I think that had to do with the fact that I was using a soft case and throwing it in the back of the band van where it rattled around with all the other crap, so it's probably my fault.

never tried to call them

I know I've probably already talked alot about this thing, but I have to respond to a rating submitted by someone named Jay before this one. His submission included a rather detailed listing of pros and cons about the PC88 - and mostly I agree with his assessment. HOWEVER, there was one point that kind of tickled me. "Jay" suggests that the output level of the PC88 is "weak". This is not so. The output level of this keyboard is fine. I have never noticed any real difference in output level between my PC88 and any other pro keyboard (maybe I got lucky - eh, Jay? - or maybe you didn't). Also - Jay suggests that the "sounds" of the keyboard do not "cut" in a live band situation. I don't know what kind of razor sharp music Jay plays, but I have never had a problem being heard while soloing in my bands: hmmmm, maybe that's because my bandmates are also professional musicians who understand the concept of dynamics. It also could be that I just know how to play music that commands the listeners' attention. I think it's funny when quote unquote "pro" musicians talk about how their gear doesn't "cut" in a live situation. Really now, how "pro" are you guys? No digital representation of an acoustic sound is going to push and reverberate in the air like an acoustic intrument does. No keyboard player is going to have sounds that "cut" through the too-loud wall of sound ala guitar/bass/drums mix onstage if the other musicians don't allow them to. By that I mean that the musicians should lower their respective volumes so that a sympathetic mix is acheived - and don't forget, a piano patch contains the whole listenable sound spectrum from 40 hz on up to the stratosphere - so if that sound isn't coming through - it's the other guys, trust me.
One last point - it is vital that you get an honest, professional opinion about each piece of gear you intend to buy - and do yourself a favor - don't listen quite as closely to musicians who don't actually "play" the instrument they are rating. For instance: trust a pianists opinion about a keyboard a little more than a guitarists opinion about a keyboard - the pianist actually has to use the thing "live". Also - the pianist will understand the musical applications of the instrument in a live band situation more than any other instrumentalist - it's only natural. Hey - you wouldn't ask me to rate a set of drums would you?

Pretty clear manual and decent interface - I'm no programnmer but I can usually get it to do what I want

The specs are there for all to read - It does more than I need.

I use it in two settings - coktail style duo and a kicking blues/R&B/R&R band. Locely sounds for jazzier styles. Good sounds for the band although you do need a pretty high power rig or they don't cut through that well. The stage pianos are pretty good. Tye piano+strings pad is is very usable and sounds really lush in the right context

I have been gigging with this keyboard once or twice a week for about 3 years and as yet it has never actually let me down. However this is only because I have carried on playing with malfunctioning keys. It is now due for its third lot of repair work on the action. I am a heavy handed boogie and R&R player, trained and used to pianos, so I might accept some responsibility - however the PC88 is marketed as professional kit. I am not a full-time muso but if I had been I think I would have had to change it. I see from another review that Kurzweil may have tackled this problem now - a bit late for me - how about a new action, Mr. Kurzweil?

I tried e-mailing Kurzweil about the mechanical problems. Got a request back for the serial number, which I sent. That was last year, and the last I ever heard. On the other hand the UK agent have been excellent at supplying the numerous spare parts I have needed. But is this really what you want? Better not to need them at all!

It is very sad that, as I come now to replace this keyboard, I am looking at Korg or Roland only because I don't feel I can trust the mechanics. Everything else about this keybaord is good or great, but repairs are inconvenient and expensive, and I have had enough of that.

Effects are easy but don't sound very good. MIDI support is everything you could want. I bought it for the action, which is as close as you'll get to a piano this side of 400 pounds. It's great. No sequencer.

Great piano sound. Wish it had a fonkier b3, but it does ok.

I've had it for about a month, and it's blown out a voltage regulator (so say the guys at tech support). As soon as you turn it on, it begins fading away, and dies within 30 seconds.

Customer support blows thus far. There's no service center in Boston (a large city full of more musicians than anyplace I know of). You have to drive way the hell out of town. They do not pay for you to ship the unit to them. In short, they don't do much. They don't return phone calls. They seem to know what they're talking about - if you can get them to talk to you.

I love the pianistic feel and sound, but I might check around and find someplace with better customer support. Nothing sucks more than saving precious ducats to get an instrument that doesn't work. It also sucks to feel like you're not getting much help from the manufacturer. The service center says they're having problems getting parts from Kurzweil.

This keyboard is actually very easy to use. Although it takes a while to know how to get around, it's totally worth it. Select a sound and play it. It's that simple. I'm gotten sick of those "digital pianos" with all sorts of programming and stuff that you have to dig through just to play music.(N1?)

The action is my favorite. It is just deep enough, yet not too heavy. I found the action on the A90 and the RD-600 to be too plastic. The built-in effects in this thing aren't very exciting. Just the standard 17 types of reverb, a flanger or two, some delay, and more reverb and chorus. Nothing fancy. It is expandable with a VGM board. Read all about it at www.youngchang.com\kurzweil. The MIDI is delightful. There is aftertouch, as well as 128 user programmabel MIDI setups. There are also four zones, as well as a lot of really cool stuff. There is no on-board sequencer.

This is good for pretty much every style of music but dance/techno. The sounds are excellent, but there aren't any really nasty B-3's in there. If you want a truly versatile soundset, get the mx version or the VGM expansion board.

There were old reports about the action on this thing falling apart. Well, Kurzweil fixed it. No more problems. See for yourself. This a very reliable keyboard.

Never dealt with 'em.

If this thing were stolen I'd definitely buy another. Put simply, it's just a good thing to have. I compared it to the QS8, N1, A90EX, and RD-600. This won because of it's pristine sound quality, fantastic action, awesome features, etc... And it just looks so damn cool! Buy it soon. You won't regret it.

I thought I would post a review about the Kurzweil PC-88 since it is a very popular instrument, AND since most of the reviews of it here on Harmony Central have been rather glowing.
It's a great instrument, and I highly recommend it, but I have some serious reservations about the sound quality that no one else seems to have picked up on.
I don't actually OWN a PC-88 but my old keyboard player does. Since he didn't really know programming, I programmed the PC-88 for him.
I have used, played, programmed, and heard a PC-88 for at least 3 times a week for the last 2 1/2 years, so I feel I'm qualified to write a review, even though I don't own one.
My new keyboard player also has one, his is the MX (expanded version). I have not used his enough yet to really comment on it, so my comments regarding the sound quality are for the stock PC-88 (undexpanded).
To summarize what I think - I believe Kurzweil's intent with this keyboard was twofold:
1. To provide the "working keyboardist" with a good, basic, keyboard for playing "cocktail gigs", weddings, etc. It excels for this purpose.
2. To provide the pro (or amateur with an extensive midi rig) a really nice, weighted action controller with the ability to control four different sounds (zones) at once.
For this purpose is REALLY Excels, it would have been nice to have had 8 zones, but I guess that would have run the price up.
PRESET SOUND
This is were I have a real problem with the PC-88. The PC-88 is a music store wonder, in that when you hear it in the store, it sounds really good. In it's defense, the sounds are not bad, and are certainly not irritating or strident. The sound set is pretty basic, but covers most of what most people would use except for synth type sounds.
The problem is the sounds are WIMPY and DO NOT CUT when you need them to. I used to have a Kurzweil Micro Piano, and sold it for the same reason.
If you use the PC-88 in a band situation, as soon as you crank up the drums, bass, and guitar, the body, fullness and cut of the sound just goes away. You will find yourself banging the hell out of it wondering where the sound went.
Both keyboardists I work(ed) with experienced this. They thought the PC-88 sounded great - I said fine, let's hook it up. By the end of practice they were ready to start using my rig, and relegate the PC-88 to strictly controller duties.
With the second guy, I warned him ahead of time, telling him "buy it as a controller, not for the sounds". He thought the sounds were great, but after having it at home for a week told me his old Korg T-1 (which he was going to sell, but decided not to) "just had more beef".
One way around this is to create "Midi Setups", which are Kurzweil's version of a "multitimbral setup". Midi setups use up to four zones, which can be internal sounds, external sounds (from modules or synths), or both.
I made up a few setups that used four internal sounds, in a layered fashion, and this sounded much better. The problem with this is that it eats polyphony - a four zone setup with only internal sounds will yield only 8 notes of polyphony (32 notes divided by four patches).
The other problem the PC-88 has is an extremly weak output. My main synth for piano sounds is a Roland JV-90, with the SR-JV80-03 Piano Expansion board (an 8 megabyte board with just acoustic, digital, and electric piano waveforms). All of my keyboards and synths are run into a Mackie LM-3204 line mixer, probably the best keyboard mixer available for under $2000 (and it's only about $700 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).
The JV-90 will just start to clip the output of the Mackie, when it is turned up all the way, and the Mackie Channel and Master volumes are set at unity gain (halfway up on the channel).
Short of pegging the master fader, you CANNOT CLIP THE MIXER AT ALL with the PC-88, even with the channel level pegged. The output of the PC-88 is so low, that I have to turn the channel volume up to at least 3/4 to even have a chance of competing with the other keyboar

The polyphony is 32 notes, although there are some layers (I think the Piano/Strings are an example) where this is reduced to 16.
For most practical uses, you won't max the polyphony out.
The keyboard action is EXCELLENT - I don't really do the weighted action thing, but apparently the big selling point of the PC-88 is the action.
Short of the Roland PA-4 weighted hammer action, the PC-88 is the best. My new keyboard player played about 6 different keyboards (all 88 key weighted action units) in the store and told me the PC-88 won hands down.
It's funny because the PC-88 action is by FATAR, who builds most of the weighted action controllers on the market (Alesis and Peavey for example both use FATAR actions). I guess Kurzweil just spec'd a more realistic feel, because it really is better than most.
WARNING - Weighted 88 note keyboard/controllers are the hottest item on the market right now. I prefer non-weighted keys myself (I'm really a bass player), and I have noticed that many of the new 88 key synths coming out have very soft, very mushy action.
I think the real intent of these units (ALESIS QS-8, KORG N-1, etc.) is to sell 88 keys to NON-PIANO players. I think people that don't really play piano want the 88 note "weighted action", but would not like the REAL thing, so manufacturer's are coming out with "lite" versions for them.
If you, like me
(I actually like the action of some of these things, whereas both of my keyboardists hated them)
are not really a piano player, you might not like the action of the PC-88. It is very real, and very stiff.
My forearms will pump up within about 10 minutes of playing the PC-88 (I guess I'm just a wimp), so I play it very sparingly (don't want to get tendonitis).
On the other hand, if you are a piano player, short of the Roland (which IMHO is not as good of a controller) this is the piece.
The PC-88 has built in Reverb, Delay, and Chorus. You can't change a lot of parameters, but the basic effects are very good. It's a breeze to edit and select, as there are lighted, dedicated buttons for many of the effects functions. The effects in the PC-88 really support the stock sounds, and don't swamp or overpower them.
The PC-88 is also available in an expanded version, called the PC-88 MX. My new keyboard player has one of these, and the MX sounds are much better, but still suffer from the output level and wimpyness of the stock PC-88.
You can make a stock PC-88 into an MX version, but I don't think it's a user installable board (the board is called the VG-M board).
The VG-M expansion board also includes a bank of General Midi sounds. I haven't bothered listening to them, but it would be nice to have, especially if you need to use standard midi files.
64 VOICE POLYPHONY WARNING
Kurzweil touts the MX version as having 64 voice polyphony. While this is sort of true, there is a big limitation they don't put in the ads, basically they have pulled a Roland "bait and switch" move
(Roland claimed the JV-90 was expandable to 56 voice polyphony, but there was a catch - it was more like two 28 voice synths, rather than one 56 voice one).
The way you get 64 voice polyphony with the expanded version is there is a bank of sounds on the VG-M board that REPLICATE the stock PC-88 sounds. You have to use this bank, then 32 voices come from the internal sounds, and the other 32 come from the VG-M board.
What this means is that you can only have 64 voice versions of the stock programs (of which there are only 64 sounds).
Thought you would use GM sounds or the NEW sounds on the VG-M board AND get 64 voice polyphony? NOPE!!! You are restricted to 32 voices when you use anything other than stock sounds.
Good luck getting a music store salesman to let you in on this dirty little secret...
MIDI CAPABILITIES
This is by far, the best feature of the PC-88. With the exception of the K2500 series, which have the same basic architecture, but with 8 zones instead of four, the PC-88 is the BEST CONTROLLER ON THE PLANET.
I

The sounds are very realistic. In fact more than many synths, the pianos are kind of dark and thick, just like the real thing. The organs are pretty basic, no screaming B-3's, but pretty good for mellow stuff. The strings are really good as well.
I think the clav's are kinda wank, but I don't really like clavs that much anyway. The bass sounds are lame, but then again I'm a bass player so I'm kind of biased. For a gigging cocktail keyboardist, they are decent.
There are some really nice acoustic guitars, especially the 12 strings.
As I mentioned earlier though, the sounds don't cut, and the output level is weak.
The first time I heard a PC-88 it was at a mall in Columbus, Ohio (I was traveling at the time). They had a big open area, and this guy was playing standards, singing along, with just the PC-88 and a D-50 (which he played very little). For this application it sounded great.
If your music has any aggression to it at all, or you are playing a "rootsier" style, just use the PC-88 as a controller.
I would charcterize the sound of the PC-88 as very white bread, nice not offensive, very pleasant; but kind of bland and certainly lacking in character. I think the internal sounds were really aimed at the piano bar kind of player, where there's no need to grab someone's attention.
Within the output level and "cut through" restrictions, the PC-88 would work for rock ok, and for classical, although I'm sure that purists would cringe at the sound.
Pretty good for jazz, although more for "smooth jazz" or standards. I wouldn't use this as a be bop machine, or for Jimmy Smith jazz organ.
It's not a Dance machine - no way; not for industrial either. I doubt the PC-88 has many users that are under 30.
The onboard effects are really good, they support the sound rather than stomp on it.
It's a very resposive keyboard, and the midi output can be configured in many different ways. The stock sounds work well with the velocity and aftertouch, and the with the Midi Setups, you can program both of these functions in so many ways (reverse velocity and aftertouch, ranging from 0 to -127 for example) that to comment on this would not really mean anything, as it really depends on what the settings are.
I have never found myself wishing the PC-88 could do any else controller wise, other than wishing it had 8 zones instead of 4.
I'm knocking of a couple of points because I think the stock sounds are not the most attention grabbing out there, and are kind of wimpy.

Kind of a mixed bag.
With one exception, I've never had a bad experience, but the old guy's PC-88 saw very little gig action, and the new guy just bought his.
I have read NUMEROUS horror stories on the internet about PC-88 actions going bad though, keys sticking and bottoming out, actions being replaced, etc.
My personal experience with the first unit was that the G4 key developed a loud squeak and some resistance to being pushed down. Before I got a chance to look at it, we canned the guy (Keyboard player #1) so I'm not sure what the fix would be.
I have also heard this about PC-88's; the first guy's had the same problem - when you pick it up and move it (say to put it in a road case) it sounds like chunks of metal (solder maybe?) floating around inside the case; you hear all this stuff sliding around. NOT very confidence inspiring.
Perhaps since the PC-88 is actually built in Korea, it's showing some of it's "Korean Electronics" heritage here. (NO offense to Koreans, but any bass player can tell you about what happened to Hartke amp heads when they started making them in Korea).
The other real annoying thing is the external power supply. This is supposed to be a PRO instrument and it has a WALL WART?
Actually a large WALL TUMOR would be more like it. The power supply is HUGE and will eat about three outlets on a regular power strip.
Also - the connector to the PC-88 is very fragile, and could fall out by just looking at it. There is one of those little, wrap the cord around here "dealy bobs", but that's really lame in my opinion.
If they had to put an external power supply on for cost and weight reasons, the least they could have done was:
1. Made the connector to the PC-88 a locking twist ring one, like those on Behringer mixers and the KAT Drum Kat.
2. Made the wall wart a "lump in the middle type".
I would use the PC-88 without backup on a gig, but be ready to slap in the power supply cable should it fall out.
By the way, DON't EVER LOSE THE POWER SUPPLY!! A guy wrote into Keyboard magazine and said he lost his and it took TWO MONTHS to get another one from Young Chang America.
Since it's a large, proprietary supply, you can't just hook up a universal Radio Shack power supply...

Pretty lame as far as I'm concerned, even worse as far as I have heard.
I emailed the company with the squeaky key problem, and was directed to call a tech support line. I made two calls that were never returned. That sucks.
Things I have read confirm that Kurzweil's tech support IS THE WORST.
Apparently since they are the "Big Dog" of Pro Keyboards these days they feel they can just ignore support, since you've already bought the instrument.
I would be very afraid if I was going to buy something complex like a K-2500...

A definite keeper, keyboard player #1 bought his early on, even the MX versions are down to about $1500 now.
Except for the new Oberheim MC-3000, there is no other controller on the market with the same feature set, much less at the same price.
If I was looking at the sound set though, with no thoughts toward controlling a midi rig, I might look elsewhere though. To me, especially in a band context, the stock sounds just don't measure up to the rest of the instrument.
To me a really great combination would be a PC-88, combined with a Roland JV-1080 or JV-2080 synth module. This would be expensive, but would get you TRUE 64 voice polyphony, with better sound quality, and more sounds, etc.
Like I said, I'm not really a weighted action kind of guy, but for the keyboardist's I've play(ed) with, the PC-88 rules. I'm actually a bass player, that dabbles with synths and keyboards (I play decent, but don't consider myself a "keyboardist").
I've used the PC-88 as a controller for my midi rig, which includes a Roland JV-90 (with the SR-JV80-03 Piano Expansion Board, and a VE-JV1 synth expansion board [a JV-880 on a card]), an old Korg DW-8000 (with the Angel City Turbo mod), a Kawai K-1, an Emu Proteus F/X, an Oberheim Matrix 1000, a Yamaha CS-1x synth, and an Alesis D-4 module for drum sounds.
I have reviews of most of these (along with some dogs that I sold) here on Harmony Central - I think I'm fair and don't tend to "candy coat" my reviews just because I like something.
The PC-88 did a great job of controlling all of these, in addition to doing midi controlled effects with a Quadraverb and Digitech DSP-256.
I also programmed a set of "Live Sets" with the PC-88, to cut down on the complexity and time needed for doing gigs.
With these setups, the PC-88 controlled the internal sounds, along with sounds from the Proteus F/X module. For a basic live rig it worked pretty decent, although the lack of output from the PC-88 was problematical at times. It certainly beat dragging out four keyboards and two modules!
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE PC-88
The action, although it's too stiff for my weak hands, it is very real and very responsive.
The ease of use and intuitive editing entry. Once I got to know the PC-88 I could program it with ease.
The controller features - the PC-88 is so open ended, I could spend several months just programming midi setups in it, it really can do basically anything you want it to. In some respects it's good that you can't edit the internal sounds because that would just be even more stuff to mess with.
Short of the Oberheim MC-3000 (which does not have as good of action, and is new and unproven - DOES HAVE 8 Zones though), and the VERY EXPENSIVE K2500-X, NOTHING else out there has the depth of controller features that the PC-88 does.
WHAT I HATE
The weak stock sounds, and the wimpy output.
I can appreciate that Kurzweil was going after the lounge lizards with the sound set, but how about something with some cut for us rock guys.
Besides that and some lingering concerns about long term reliability, there's nothing else that I can really bitch about.
I didn't really compare the PC-88 (since I didn't buy it) to other units, but Keyboard player #2 did. For an 88 note controller, it really comes down to the action. If the action ain't happening, the feature set and sound doesn't really matter.
If you are NOT a piano player, you might want to look at some of the similarly priced competition (e.g. Alesis QS-8, Korg N-1), BUT if you ever think you might want to use the controller features, by all means proceed directly to the PC-88.
WHAT I WISH IT HAD
Better sounds with more bite and character
Eight zones. four is pretty decent, and good for most purposes, but my JV-90 has really spoiled me by having 8.
The PC-88 is a "players" instrument. It will help you make music, and not get in the way. Especially if the stock sounds work for you (and actually in a writing/practicing environment, I think they are ok) it can't be beat.
I real

Bought it second hand without the manual, so it had to figure out myself how to operate it. Just presets, no editing of the patches possible. Quite easy to use, after a few days you've figured out most o the parameters.
Sending a bank select (CCOO) is a bit confusing, 'cause the MSB and LSB values are put together in a single number. Sending a bank select to my XP-50 means turning the dial for an hour or two, or using the numerical pad. You have to figure out the numbers yourself (for instance: MSB 80, LSB 0, means you hae to type 10240 with the keypad, or dial to 10240 (not recommended!).
Lots of controllers (4 sliders, 3 switches, 2 footswitches, 4 continuous pedals, mono pressure, pitch bend up and down, mod wheel), lots of parameters.

32 polyphony (no too much, but it doesn't bother me), 16 part multitimbral, 88 keys balanced with velocity AND AFTERTOUCH!!.
The keyboard is quite good, though a bit noisy. It's fun to play and I like it much beter than say an RD-500, although I still think the Yamaha PF-P100/150/200 is the best (but no aftertouch).
You can expand your PC-88 with a VGM-board, (over 200 patches, a GM set, drums, 64 voice polyphony) but I haven't heard it yet. There are 64 internal presets: great grand piano's (at least six without any audible difference (or am I just deaf?)), a great Fender Rhodes and a great (but way too thin in the higher regions) Wurlitzer. Organs are crap, basses are passable, harpsichords are good but a bit agressive, guitars are good but useless (never needed them the past 5 years, I like the guitars in my XP-50 better). Strings are poor, pads are nice. In general I only use the first grand piano and the two E piano's mentioned. Clavinets are quite good, but since there is no phaser or wah-wah they sound a bit dry.
Effects: just reverb and chorus/delay: nothing special, few parameters. No sequencer, no diskdrive, no card slots, just 32 performance memories (too few, in my opinion)

As mentioned, an excellent grand piano. The only thin that comes close is the Yamaha P-200. Roland RD-600 / A-90 is not bad, but a bit too thick to be realistic. I would have liked some more E piano's and some good CP-80 samples as well as some funky effects, but you can't have it all. I think he Kurzweil offers a good and useful basic piano sample for all kinds of music. The only real drawback is the lack of an onboard EQ. The EQ mentioned in the brochure applies to the reverb so don't let them fool you!!
I'd say if you think the piano sound is too thin (if you're used to Roland) then don't buy it as a piano because in terms of sounds there's not much else (just a few really useful presets, no editing, no fat funky effects) to get from it. As a master it's quite easy to use (after some practice) but it has only got 1 MIDI out. As a combination it's a perfect compact reliable stage master piano keyboard.

I would certainly gig with it, it is not too heavy (at least in its in its class, 50 pounds) is was properly built and it's quite small and remarkably flat. Compared to my last stage piano (Roland RD-300s) it's light as a feather and small as a humming bird.

I haven't dealt with the company yet and I hope I never will, because I heard it is horrible (at least in Holland/Europe)!!
But I can't tell if that's true....

It's a good and good-looking instrument that works well. It's got all the features of a good master keyboard (well, almost: no poly pressure, not an awfull lot of user performances, just a single MIDI out) but then again: it's the ideal combination of a stage piano and a master keyboard. The A-90 is a better master, but not as good a piano, the P-200 is perhaps a better piano, but has poor master features. In its category (master/piano) it is surely the best.

Presets are good, however the MX version offers a considerable difference in variety. Organs are excellent. Ride+bass is wonderful. Arranging sounds on 4 separate piano sections a is snap. It allows for 8 division, but who can play like that?

Keys are great. They feel like a kwiai baby grand. The hammers help. This controller is the ultimate master keyboard. I contoll two modules and another master just fine with it. An extra card (must be installed by a dealer/authorized repairman) adds more sounds to equal the MX version

Again, organs and bass are great. Piano is what kurzweill is know for and they let it be known. Too many harpischords. I like the instrument, but I don't need separate sounds for left right and stereo. Pads are nice, but not very fat. Guitar is good, but doesn't hold a candle to my Roland JV-880. Rating loses points due to lack of variety.

Never had a probelm in the 1.5 years I've had it. It is rather large and not too much fun to lug around. It is however, the lightest in its class (88 keys/ 55lbs) I carried it up and down three flights of stairs with no problem.

Never called except for a catalog (it came)

This was my choice over the roland A-90 and the Fatar 88 key controller. The PC-88 offers too much for the price to pass up. I like to hear my controller just to let me know it was worth the money. The feel of the keys and versatility sold me. It was a great buy.