Kurzweil PC1X

Kurzweil PC1X
V 1.01
Most of the 512 preset sounds are Wonderful and Life-like.
At first, this keyboard takes a bit of getting used to for creating and editing your own setups (Kurzweils name for using more than one sound at a time).
You have to mostly use Effects to modify the sound to your need or liking,you can't simply adjust attack,sustain and decay etc.
The manual is pretty good,but you will eventually learn more by tweeking and exploring the keyboard,the manual does'nt tell you some things,it took me a while to realise you can layer 4 sounds together!

Polyphony is mostly plenty,unless you layer 4 sounds together and try and play rapidly up and down the keyboard (64 drops down to 16 polyhony).
However,the sounds are so Rich I seldom combine more than 3.
There are stacks and stacks of effects,but some are more subtle than others and you have to do quite a bit of exploring to find what you want.
It has plenty of expansion options,cards and onboard memory for your setups etc..has midi IN,THRU/OUT and OUT, and plugin points for Ribbon ,Pedals etc.
No sequencer on board,but I never wanted one,overall when you get to explore this keyboard,it's easy to use.
The key action is EXCELLENT,weighted like a real acoustic piano,but a tad lighter for fast easy playing on organs etc.
The Key velocity is widely adjustable ,and aftertouch is standard

The sounds are AMAZING and RICH WITH CHARACTER ,I would say 95% of the 512 sounds.
My favourites (being a piano player),are the acoustic pianos and electric pianos,there are about approx. 70 acoustic and even more electric pianos galore.
Heavenly Ear-Candy sounds can be made by layering some of the acostics with some of the modern electrics.
What stops me from giving these sounds a 10 is,I have noticed the piano sustain dies away abit too quickly around the middle of the keyboard.
The bottom end is SUPREME ,powerful and full of detail ,and sustain is perfect,top end shimmers and shines with no shortage of sustain,definitely the best I have ever heard on any digital keyboard.
Strings,Pads and synthes are Big,Grunty and Rich with detail.
Playing velocity and feedback to your fingers is ever so sweet and a joy to play.
Overall ,I just love this keyboards sounds and effects,even thou it has no direct adjustment for attack and decay etc,Iv'e still been able make up sounds that I want.
Of course,goes without saying,this keyboard would be Great for any music style.

No reliabily problems found after 2/1/2 years at home and a few gigs.
No problem depending on it at a gig.

I sent Kurzweil an email ,asking them if there was any way to adjust the piano sustain,they didn't bother to answer,so I guess I will give them about a 5.

Lost or stolen?,I would definetly buy another Kurzweil ,probably the later PC3X ,they have even more sounds and some new ones galore.
Been playing for 25 years,just have the PC1X and my P.A.
What I love about this Keyboard is the Awesome sound ,and the fact that it's not too big (for carrying around),much smaller than alot of other 88 key synthes,for instance Roland Fantom and Yamaha motif.
Nothing I hate about this keyboard at all,and nothing I really really wish it had.
Just wonderful for making music on .
What bought Kurzweil keyboards to my attention ,was watching the BeeGees playing them for many years,and they allways sounded Sweet.
I did lots of farming and looking around at all the makes before buying the Kurzweil PC1X.

Software version V2,

Presets sound great, creating setups and layers is really easy, selecting sounds great, its really easy to use, the manual is good.

64 not poly, the action is great, built in effects are great, and it can be expanded, MIDI is great it doesnt have usb like the newer ones but thats not a problem, there is no on board sequencer, but who uses one now a days anyway!

You can do in depth patch editing and sampling, you need to get the PC3X for this.

Very good indeed, sounds as good as many more expensive keyboards (Motif's & Roland XV's) The piano particually is much much better than the roland ones IMHO, Basically it has the sounds of the more expensive keyboards but without the edit and sampling functions.

Its really solid, havnt had a problem with it yet, only thing that makes this not a 10 is the fact it has a rather flimsy looking external psu, and I would prefer a proper internal one.

Dont know, not needed it yet

Absolutly excellent, superb value sounds better than allot of more expensive boards, its discontinued now and I got the last I could find in the UK, The pc3x is better if you need editing features but at 2.5x the cost this is amazing value. If it was lost I'd cry cause you cant get them anymore and then buy a pc3x!

Like any keyboard it is a bit of a trick to get the hang of adjusting effects, voices, creating new sounds, etc etc. I use only for live performance so I have not really delved into the midi feature yet. I did a bunch of research and messing around in the tones and now making my own tones with two effects of my choice is a breeze. It has more than enough banks for your tones. Get some pedals and your possibilities exponentially increase. I really dig making weird tones that kinda hit the audience like, wow i've never heard that before....ohhh i kinda like it.

The action is killer. I play mostly with the Rhodes tones, put a few pedals inline with my Roland kc-550, then put the left out to a fender blues junior (with the bass knob all the way down) for the highs. Mic the blues junior and take direct from the Roland. I get crazy stage volume and can keep stereo with the effects pedals. The different tones put in are so so, some are phenomenal. Adding slight effects or reverb to any of them makes them sound sooooo creamy. Like most keyboards you can combine voices, split the keys down the middle of the board to have one voice on the top half, another on the bottom. (Very fun to put an upright in your lefthand and an organ on the right, if you can walk and solo it's funny to see how the crowd reacts.) There are a couple cool bass tones but you need pedals like i said to get them sounding great. Me and our bassist actually trade 4's and have slap battles, rediculously fun and entertaining. There is really some great engineering put into this board.

I use it for funk/jam/jazz. So it gets it from all sides. Funk I use the clav tones, the staccato touch is spot on. Use mostly organ/rhodes or straight piano for jazz. The piano tones are very touchy, if you don't have classical training in voicing and phrasing it will get a bit muddled (like any real piano). Because the keys are weighted you will never get that organ feel but it still does the trick for runs and palm glissando's. For jamming, throw some effects in line with it and engage a couple of the on board effects (you can add two effects to any tone) and you can get some mesmerizing atmospheric effects. Throw a wah in line, a delay pedal and that only adds to the orgy. I've been playing on full size Steinways and taking lessons from college professors since I was 6 and the touch gets it done. For classical, to a good ear you can tell it's an electric, but that is expected. The upper registers of the piano tones sound PRISTINE, so when you're killin a quick run in the upper registers I have not heard a better elec. piano tone for it. The mids are a little weird (still talking piano tones) but the lower registers can GROWL, I dig it. It doesn't quite get the touch of the new Roland's but it feels solid, and you can slam on the keys without worrying about it. Some of the volumes and eq's change when you change tones, so just be conscious of your volume. To really get the tones you want you're going to have to get a couple pedals. I use a compression and crank up the attack to get those chubby percussive organ sounds. Use a wah to get the chunky pudding sounds of clavs. Use a dealy and phaser to get the funky, precise, and mezmerizing sounds out of the rhodes tones.

I have had it for over 4 years now. I completely abuse every piece of equipment I have while I'm playing (except my hollowbody) But while moving and setting up I don't mess around. Don't skimp on a stand, and get a case. Keyboards are incredibly precise instruments and if something gets messed up it's not an easy fix. Do not load them into a car vertically with the keys down, do not load them in at an angle where there are varying pressures torquing the keyboard as a whole, and never stack ANYTHING on top of them unless it's in an anvil or flight case. It takes everything I throw at it as far as playing abuse. The keyboard itself has a few little quirks, everything has to be plugged in when you turn it on. I saw Taj Mahal play a concert on this keyboard, and his tech turned it on THEN plugged in the sustain...needless to say the sustain was backwards (off when pressed, on when resting). Taj went to play it and couldn't figure it out. All he had to do was turn it off and back on. It has never failed me yet. One of the little tone adjustment knobs has a little play but that is entirely my fault.

havn't had to yet

I really dig it. There are better keyboards on the market, but they are sooooo expensive. This strikes a perfect balance, it is very professional, has a medium feel (quick yet heavy), while still being practical and affordable. I've had it for about 4 years, and my tones grow along with me. Great job Ray Kurzweil!

Bought it in November 2005. Very easy to use. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to decipher the manual but it was great! I don't care if you can't edit down to it's DNA level. I never did anyway. Presets are amazing, especially the pianos. Organs are only fair. Maybe Kurzweil will make a KB3 module for it someday? I can only wish.

Since I don't sequence, no real opinion on its polyphony abilities. The effects section is what really makes this keyboard sing. Easy to edit as I stated before. Getting to your saved setups is a cumbersome effort.

I play mainly rock and roll covers and this instrument is perfect for me. I was using a Roland RS-9 but this keyboard kicks its ass in so many ways. The action is like an acoustic. Not perfect but gives feedback in a way that's so comfortable. The aftertouch however is sluggish but I haven't looked into ways to improve that yet.

Don't know about dependability just yet. It's my first Kurzweil product. This summer's gigs will be the real test. Hope I'm luckier than a few people out there. I will be using it without a backup.

Never dealt with Kurzweil.

I will hunt down and disembowel the creep that steals anything of mine, especially this one. I've never spent more money on a single keyboard in my career. Been playing longer than I'm willing to admit. I'm very happy with the PC1X. It's by far the best, most expressive instrument I've ever owed. Yeah, it's a heavy bastard, and it could benefit from better sounding organs, but overall a great 'bang for the buck' keyboard. It's a Kurzweil! Besides, I use a Roland VK-7 as my top keyboard and they play very nice together. Would highly recommend it to someone else.

v.1.01
The presets sound great the only minor should be the organs they suck but the pianos,ep's,brasses,orchestras sounds rocks!
you can layer sound extremely easy!It's even easier than my roland and I know that they say that kurzweils are difficult for programmibility but this is extremely easy and the manual is super clear.

64 voices they have never drawn to me not even with the 4 layers.the keyboard action is great and there are 6 modes tht you can change.It only has the orchestral expansion but I don't own it but you can buy something for $20 that are like 50 patches or more that you tranfer via midi to the user bank I donw own them but I'd like.no It doesn't have sequencer.

It sounds great in my opinion. I play every type of music with it.one word:GREAT.I bought the ribbon too!IT's another word:GREAT!!

I depend on it!!I have gig with it without backup..Damn I f i had the money to buy aanother pc1-x I'd buy a k2600s instead..:P

Haven't deal with them yet.

If I get stolen I'd cry and I'd buy and k2600s used...:P but that doesn't mean that I don't love it.I have benn playing for 6 motns.,I have a roland rs-50 too.I'd like to have a sequencer but there are somethings that you can't just have.If you want to buy one buy it you wont regret it!

Easy to use, self-explanatory manual.
The modulation ability should be easier for performance situations; it takes too much time to punch in all the buttons.

Good features, but needs to be easier to transpose. It takes too much time.

Good piano sounds, and strings are pretty good. The brass could use some help.

Can't depend on this product; it began making phantom screeches within a month of playing on it, and the problems increased substantially over time. I never knew if I'd get through a performance without a problem or not.

This haws been not just BAD - but TERRIBLE!!! I would never recommend purchasing anything from Kurzweill - if you have a problem, you'll never get it solved!!! My keyboard has been at the authorized repair center for over four months. Couldn't get the parts . . . then promised a new board, and now I've been waiting on that for six weeks! Never, ever, ever buy a Kurzweil product!!!

If I could do it over, I'd have never bought this product!! What a nightmare - my Band is suffering because I don't have a keyboard now.

* Software version: V 2.01
* The presets of the board are great, see more at Sounds.
* Editing patches is really easy, I didn't need the manual for most of the editing. I didn't hook the PC1X up on a sequencer, so I don't know how that works yet.
* The manual works fine for the (few) things I needed.
* overall the keyboard is very easy to use

* polyphony 64 voices, I play a lot piano, and I don't mention any notes dropping away. So 64 is just fine for me
* Built-in effects are just great!! Before this Kurzweil, I only played Roland keyboards and the Rolands cannot combine 2 effects. With the PC1X you can apply 2 effects on the sound. Thats really great. The sound of the effects also really cool and work on the patches really well.
* very good feature is the EQ section. On stage my Mix engineer always complained about the sound of my piano. Now with the PC1X this is solved, the EQ makes it as bright as I want and it cuts through all other sounds. Real good EQ, very musical.
* The PC1X has expanding capabilities, but just one: the vintage keyboards. I am willing to buy it, but I'll wait a few months, because I'm not bored with the sounds I got now.
* Midi is just fine I think, I didn't hook the PC1X up on a sequencer, so I don't know how that works yet.
* The aftertouch of the board works very good. I think this works much better then on my Roland (XP and Fantom) synths.

The sounds are so great! I really like this board with great sounds. I bought it for playing more piano, but you definately get more then just digital piano sounds. It's between a digital piano and a synthesizer. The piano's are great! The electric pianos are really good! Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers, fantastic. Clavinet is better than most boards, but for the real thing I use my own Hohner Clavinet Duo.
I don't like the guitars, but I don't use them much, so I don't complain too much about that. Further sounds, organs, like synths, pads, basses, drums are all on a (very)good level. It's just like someone already mentioned: you don't get much, but less can be more. All the sounds on this board are at good-very good quality.

The keyboard feeling is good for me. I used to play the Yamaha P80, but that was too stiff for me. This keyboard feels good, has good reaction and I can play fast on it.

The Kurzweil instruments don't have good reputation about reliability. I doubted alot before I bought the PC1X, but now I'm so glad I've got it! I played it alot since the 3 weeks I've got this board. No complaints at all, and I hope it will be that way forever. Maybe Kurzweil produced better PC1X models because of the many complaints, I don't know...

Never dealt with them, so I can't give you that information

I am so happy with this board, really my favourite at this time! If it stays in this good shape (no broken keys or other quick complaints) I'd really buy another one when it were stolen.
For this amount of money, it is hard to find a keyboard with the same features AND quality!
I choose this for the old funk keyboards like Rhodes, Wurlitzers and Clavinet. Above that, the pianos are at really good level and so do the organs. For a gig I don't even need another board.

Version 2.01 w/ Orchestral Expansion Installed

Didn't have time to read the manual (i will ellaborate on reliability).
This unit seems very easy to use, because i didn't look at the manual at all, and I was able to create my own setups, and configure the unit almost completely.

64 voices, no expansion cabailities in that area (Hey Kurzweil, was that too difficult to implement??).
A really sluggish action, doesn't feel good at all, i'd rather buy a Kurzweil PC2X, it has a really better action:

Kurzweil PC1X : Fatar TP30 AFT <- very very very ... light action
Kurzweil PC2X : Fatar TP10 MDF AFT <- PC88MX' like action.

It accepts an expansion card (Classic Keys) but i don't have it.

For a midi controller is really cool, and the sounds are great.

Pianos are beautiful, although the action sucks, you can achieve nice results and a completely dynamic performance using the following velocity setup configuration:

- Vel Scale: 125%
- Velocity Offset: 0
- Velocity Curve: Cos+
- Global Touch Setting: 5 Hard 1

That gives you a really cool setup, because if you organize your pianos into these kind of setups and maintain a Global Touch Setting of 5 Hard 1, you will be able to play all the other instruments with great dynamics without having to alter anything further.

The effects are really cool.

It doesn't react well to my playing but i could get used to it, because of the light action.

I can't depend on it, two days and one key lost the touch sensitivity. Returned it to the store, they did refund my money, and now i'm looking possibly for a PC2X or a RD700SX.

Haven't dealt with Kurzweil, but the people that represents them were very friendly here in Chile, and i have never been in trouble with them. Very friendly and helpful people.

If it were lost or stolen i'd get a PC2X, a really better machine for a couple of hundred bucks more.

I use the pianos, rhodes, ep, clavs and some strings and maybe a synth or pad every now and then. I don't edit. Thwe manual is easy to read and comprehensive.

The keyboard action is just right for me, a little light but lively. The keyboard responds well.

I work on classical pieces and practice with the pc1x. I occasionally, rarely, take it along to gigs. The pianos are fantastic. I picked this guy out because it had the pc pianos without the kb3 add-on. The Kurzweil pianos are my absolute favorite over Yamaha and Roland. I owned a Yamaha P80 and the action was too stiff for me, not responsive enough. The Roland RD700 sound is great, too, but I just like the pc1x pianos a little better. That's why I bought it.

So far, ok.

Haven't needed it - and I have 3 kurzweil boards.

I have been playing all my life. Play/practice every day; gig 5-6 times a month. Play in a blues band, a classic rock/horn band and a gospel group. My favorite stuff to work on are my own little 'learning' projects at home. I love the way Chopin and Scott Joplin sound on this guy. This makes me sound better than I really am. I can put on the headphones and work way past my bedtime. I love playing this thing. Makes me want to buy a PC2 for gigs! In fact, I think I will.

I got it today !
OS 2.01
This beqast only has presets and they are wonderfull. I have a Motif ES which has some of the best sounds available at the moment and the quality of both keyboards is about the same -great samples.
Patches editing is basically non existent here (but I did not want a symth just a great stage piano with MIDI controller.
Haven't really gotten into the manual but from some glimpses I threw inside - it is OK.

64 voices polyphony is enough for me as I plan on using it in tandem with my Motif ES (128 voices)
Keyboard action is great - I am not a pianist and this is my 1st ever hammer action and I love it.
Built in FX - it has of course but I haven't yet played with them.
It has one slot for ROM expansion - dont see myself adding one, though.
I dont want any more sequencrs ! cubase is the one I use.
I wish they would stop adding sequencers to any more models !!

Sounds are fantastic.
Organ selection is a bit small but I bought it mainly for piano sounds - these are really great.
sounds are very responsive
Orchestral ROM is awesome and very varied.
Drums use a different map than most companies - Bass drum/Snare are not allocated as the rest - I hate it.

I hope so but I have no intention of carrying this monster anywhere - would not go into my Mitsubishi Lancer and is too heavy for me.
It is all metal built and looks as sturdy as it gets. the color is not brown as it appears in the photos you find online.
Its face is not smooth so may hold on to it and fell nice.

N/A

Would buy again -I hope no one tries to steal it :-/
I have been playing for 23 years (never studies music)
I have a Motif ES 6 and VST instruments.
I love everything in it
I hate it being so heavy - I would love to carry it to my band's gigs.
I compared it with all the competition and glad I bought it.
I wish it had a bigger LCD.
I am in love it is a beautiful musical instrument - looks much better than any of he photos online and is huge as hell

Using OS v1.01

The presets are wonderful. I have changed very little thus far.

There isn't a lot of ability to edit patches here.

Manual is very good. I've still not learned all about this board, but whenever I need to learn how to do something, the manual explains it well.

Polyphony is 64, which is great. Holding the sustain throughout an entire song at quite a tempo never saw a dropped note.

The action is great. Lighter than the usual heavy feel of most weighted boards.

I have yet to buy the Classic Keys ROM, so I can't comment on that.

No sequencer, but I don't need one.

Here is why I bought this board. The sounds! All of the pianos are more than great for me. I rarely like electric pianos, but some of the ones on this board are really quite nice. Most of the pianos sound very similar, but in a mix you notice a big difference. I am partial to 007: Concert Grand.

The board has wonderful orchestral instruments. The pads are really nice and there a couple of good synth sounds, but too few synths. I like the brass sounds a lot. Guitars are better than on some boards, but they still aren't very good. The organs need some tweaking, but they're all right (would have been better with aftertouch-leslie).

This board would work well with most any style except for dance/techno.

Onboard effects are very good.

Preset velocity is great and you don't have to break a knuckle to get aftertouch.

Everything has worked perfectly for me. I would definately gig without a backup.

I haven't had to deal with the company at all and I don't forsee a time when I'll need to.

If it were lost or stolen I would definately want to buy another one. I rely on this for not only a keyboard but as my piano too. It is definately worth the money. Probably more.

I considered the Alesis QS8.2, having played it several times and having never played the PC1X. After overlooking the features many times, the PC1X was the clear choice and I am glad I made the choice. The Alesis have inferior sounds (albeit nice pianos) and no aftertouch. It also have a bit of a clunky feel and comes in silver, which is easy to blemish.

This is my composition tool. My everything when I'm composing.

I would definately recommend this board about any other board in the $1000-$2000 range. It beats everything else hands down.

Controls seem fairly well laid out and logical. I wish that it had sliders instead of knobs like my old Kurz PC88mx. With a little work I will be editing programs and making my own setups in no time. Should work fairly well as a MIDI controller.

For the price, the features are decent. 64 voice poly, 32MB of samples, 88 weighted keys, and TONS of good quality effects,aftertouch, GREAT EQ(bass,mid,treble)so I don't have to adjust tone knobs in inconvenient spot on my amps, ample MIDI capabilities. It's not very expandable, but I don't need it to be. I think the weighted keyboard action feels very good and very comfortable. The response feels right. Uses the exact same wall wart(same volts, same amperage) as the PC88mx, but the the prongs aren't right on the wart -- there are 2 equal lengths of cable coming from the wart. I don't like wall warts, but I'll put up with them if the keyboard is worth it. I like the big parameter wheel to change sounds and settings. PC1X Weighs 50 lbs. -- that's just a bit heavy, but I'll put up with it.

There are many sounds that are very good right out of the box. There are great acoustic pianos, elect pianos, & orchestral sounds. The 12 string gtr(acoustic & electric)are great, as well as classical gtr and harp. The jazz & distorted electric gtrs are somewhat lame, as are some other sounds, but I got them to sound much better after I went in and adjusted the effects. The 2 effects busses are very nice, and you can change the whole character of the sound if you experiment with these. Don't just stop with the preset sounds -- you can really expand on what the PC1X can offer if you work with the effects. As mentioned above, the keybd feels very nice. The hammond-style organ presets are ok, but I'm sure that they will sound much better after tweaking these sounds.

Seems fairly solid. No particle-board bottom. LCD contrast knob on back sticks out a little , so I'll use a little more caution. I hope it will hold up for years like my PC88mx. I can't afford a backup, so I REALLY hope it holds up.

Kurzweil is being taken over by Samick...only the shadow knows how this will turn out, but I hear that all Kurz divisions & operations are moving to California. I hope they do well, and hope that I really don't need their customer support. You can get OS upgrades via the web.

For the money, I believe that this is the best 88 key weighted kybd on the market. There are other more versatile and feature laden 88 key weighted kybds(S90, Motif ES8, K2600, etc), but the high q piano sounds, other decent sounds, and reasonably good features make this a great buy. It doesn't do everything, but it does a lot! And what it doesn't do, I have a Yamaha motif 6 to complement it.

The Kurzweil PC1X is very easy to use. The manual is put together very well.

For the price that you pay. I payed $1,195. You get alot of features. Comes with 64 polyhpony. over 500 sounds. Very midi friendly, A awesome 88 keyboard that is very responsive. The only draw back for me is the lack of a sequencer.

The piano sound is absolutly outstanding as is most of the sounds on this keyboard.
I love the string sounds, solo trumpet is very good. Flutes are wonderful. The onboard effects are outstanding. And the keyboard reacts very well to velocity and aftertouch.
sax sounds are just ok.
Drums are very good.
Gm patches are better than alot of keyboards.

I would think this keyboard would take a beating and keep on going.
Very well made.

N/A

If it were lost or stolen I would be heatbroken. I love this keyboard. I would diffently get another one. I have played and owned many keyboards and this one is the best.

? OS 1.0. Just bought it and it's brand new.

? Very little patch editing available (though there are four knobs which can be assigned for things like filter cut-off). There's an up-front EQ button which can allow you to boost an individual patch; great if you don't think that piano patch is cutting through enough!

? Manual is one of the better ones: clearly written with a proper index and complete and detailed patch descriptions

? I should say that I was able to start playing patches and switching banks without having to think about it as you can select patches with buttons, inc/dec buttons, AND a nice big datawheel. It's also very easy on the eye; a good-looking board (doesn't use that ugly orange display, either).

? 64-note poly. I'm hoping that it has the same kind of note-handling capabilities as my old PC88MX which was 32-note poly except in a few instances, yet never dropped a note!

Built-in effects are sweet and rich (I have come to loathe digital delays, but they're used judiciously here). Note, though, that individual patch effects are lost in multi-timbral mode (that shaves one point).

? Unit can be expanded with more ROM sounds via a single board. So far Kurzy has only released one board in a loooong time, the Orchestral, and since those sounds come stock in the PC1X, you'll probably be waiting another loooong time before (if?) another board appears. Yamaha, Emu, Roland, Korg (even Alesis) offer far, far more and far faster in this area, so Kurzy gets shaved another point just for that.

? The PC1X is a controller with a weighted, but not too weighted full keyboard. Piano tones feel right, but it's responsive enough for organ and synth. Aftertouch is perfect; you don't have to dig to China to get a response. All of the controls are well laid-out on the facia and they all make sense. You can split the keyboard into four zones; 2 MIDI Outs! Nice.

? There's no sequencer and no ability to play sequences.

? There's a bread-and-butter arpeggiator, not changed too much (at all?) from the PC88MX. It's too limited and too hard to get to and use so for me, it's like it's not even there. I must point out, too, that not all of the arpeggiated tones in the Setup patches actually worked (and I double-checked the manual to see why; they just didn't). Hmmm.

This does not have the organs of the PC2X, but they're decent organs. I don't know why aftertouch doesn't kick in the rotary effect. Who thinks it's a good idea to play organ one-handed so you can nurse the mod-wheel? LAME (and Kurzy is not the only one to make this mistake of logic and musicianship)

The EPs are gorgeous and the Wurlies not bad. The pianos are not what I bought this for (see final comments below), but they are pretty good. I feel they fade out too fast. That said, there's a lot to choose from, including a Rock Piano that solves an age-old complaint: IT WILL CUT THROUGH ANYTHING!

Orchestral sounds are mostly lovely, though I would hope Kurzy's eventual ROM board would add essentials like bass clarinet, contra bassoon, piccolo (!), alto and bass flute, muted brass (hand-in-bell Horns, for example), brass shakes and falls (etc.), muted strings, and the like. Hint to Kurzweil NO ONE ELSE OFFERS THIS!

Some terrific un-tuned and tuned percussion. Nice range of brushed perc; And the timpani are very aggressive and muscular. In fact, overall I'd say most of the orchestral sounds have a more cutting, aggressive quality to them than Roland's or Yamaha's.

Synths and pads are quite good (and there aren't enough). Solid basses (but all synths' basses are good). Acoustic guitars are wonderfully done, even though they don't have any of the velocity extras as Emu, Roland, and Yammie have now. Rock guitars just aren't good.

Drum kits are plentiful and fun to play with. Real care was given here.

The GM selections are a mixed-bag (flute doubles as piccolor, for example). Kurzy should have done an XG bank!

Too new to know. It's heavy and solidly built. Could probably stand up to some pounding.

When I had my PC88MX I found Kurzweil to be lousy. Absolutely the worst, which puts them right down there with so many other synth companies. But some companies are FINALLY starting to treat customers like customers (Yamaha) so I'll reserve judgment and hope Kurzy has changed. We'll see if I run into any problems or how quickly they come out with expansion boards.

The PC1X is advertised as a controller that happens to already have great sounds in it and there's no disagreement here. I had a Yammie S90 and liked it, but wasn't in love with it. I sold it in advance of getting a Motif ES, then when I had a chance to judge the ES, found it wasn't quite what I was looking for. The ES has an atrocious interface, sampling without crossfading, a sequencer I'll never use (etc.). The sounds ARE improved over my S90 (and the older Motifs), but aside from the Mega Voices for guitar and bass and a few Sweet Voices, I didn't think it was worth the money or learning curve.

Another consideration was Yammie's P250. Lovely board with great pianos, 128 voice poly, and modeled effects like keyboard resonance. But it's the size of a fussball game and costs $1800. In the meantime, I came into possession of a used GeneralMusic RealPiano which also has string resonance, pedal damping, etc., so why get a P250?

But I had no keyboard, so I checked Sweetwater for controllers. A top- of- the- line (but feature poor) controller was just a few hun less than this new Kurzweil PC1X (as I write this, October 2003, the PC1X has only been out about a week). Hmmm, sound-dead controller, or pay a little more for what is actually a BETTER controller that also has several great sounds.

Literally a no-brainer. I bought the PC1X.

Despite my quibbles, there's really nothing like it with 88 keys and this quality in this price range. Roland's RS9? Keyboard is non-weighted and the sounds aren't as good as the Kurzy. Alesis QS8.2? Old sounds and technology in a board that offers much less than the original QS8 from several years back. From there, we start going up quite a bit in price to the S90, Triton LE, etc.

I think the PC1X is going to see plenty of sales! A winner.

Oh, one final quibble and this is addressed at ALL manufacturers. The PC1X may be affordable, but it's still a professional keyboard, not a kiddie toy. Professionals read music and charts. So why, oh why does it NOT come with a stand for sheet music? Every real piano and organ I've ever seen comes with a stand.

How about it?

My other boxes: a Roland XV5050 (with string board) and SH-32, GeneralMusic RealPiano, Emu Virtuoso 2000 (with World and Protoza boards).