Kurzweil PC2X

The best and easier keyboard I had! I know some new models have big fancy screen with better graphics, but for a performing KB player like myself, that needs many sounds (i play several music styles), this keyboard is still the king.

I just saw Leonard Cohen performs in Oakland,CA, his KB player had the PC2X. What can I say? This axe still rock!

Very easy to switch sounds, layer, split, add effects, edit the sounds etc.

The presets are mostly amazing, such an open sound with hardly touching the effect processor (which is very good by itself).

Manual is not the best in the category, looks like an old computer book from th eighties, but it has everything you need.

Cool effects, hundreds, I always find what I need. Very easy but somewhat basic capabilities for effects.

Can be expanded - more sounds, more poly (who needs more than 64 for a live show?)

Very good MIDI, basic and has everything you need, including a breath controller,ribbon etc.

Very good keyboard action - i like Kurzweil and Yamaha. The Kurzweil always feels slightly more "real" (even if the piano sounds are very good but the new keyboards have slightly more samples done per sound).

As in any keyboard, some sound familities are better than other.
Any keyboard sound - sounds the best (pianos, organs, wurlis, electric pianos, rhodes, clavis, harpsichords,vibes etc)

Orchestral sounds - super realistic for most of them (violin far from perfect though- Cello is oh my god sound, tear your heart out)

Organs - almost perfect hammond experience

Guitars - decent, but who plays guitar on keyboard?

Flute - suprisingly flute is good, but Yamaha is better.


Excellent effect, action, very good dynamics for velocity etc. After touch is used in many sounds.

Toured many shows, never a problem. Nice piece of metal (vs. the other companies who usually wrap in cheap plastic). Really sturdy, but not too heavy for an 88 full action keyboard.

I've beeng hauling it for 5 years now, zero problems, I think it can double as a crowbar and it won't break, very strong metal case. Get the new versions (black color) the older versions (purple color) are not as good.

called once with a question, got an answer quickly.

This is my number 1 choice for the one keyboard i will have.
Yes- I have a yamaha with good synth/dance sounds, yes I can get a korg m3, but as a solid controller that will give me anything a professional keyboard player needs to play alone or with a band - this is a winner!
couple it with something as small as a bx5a monitor, and your'e good for small gigs with family etc.
Get a bigger cabinet with some mic inputs -you're pro material!

Kurzweil PC2x has major tuning problems.

Using Version 3.10

Preset sounds are not bad overall. Good strings, and great orchestral section including percussion, woodwinds, and some decent horns. I think Yamaha has surpassed Kurzweil for acoustic piano sounds FYI. This is obvious if you do a comparison at the music store.

Editing patches gets easier after a couple times but is still not incredible easy.

Manual is about average in ease of use. Not as bad as some.

Polyphony and keyboard action are both good, though again the Yahamas feel a little better. The built in effects are fairly ok but certainly not as easy to access as a Nord Electro or Nord Stage.

Not sure if its expandable.

It has MIDI in, out, and thru. Keys are fully weighted and touch sensitive.

No sequencer.

Most sounds are great. Guitars are terrible and the synths are pretty bad too. Everything else is pretty good except that its out of tune!!!

Great for cruise ships and weddings ; )

Big trouble. This is the second Kurzweil I've owned and both of them have GONE OUT OF TUNE. Yes, its unfortunately possible for a keyboard to go out of tune. This happens randomly/intermittently and is a major problem. I thought Kurzweil had worked out the kinks after the older PC88 model had tuning issues but to my horror during a show my PC2x suddenly fell way out of tune. For this reason I will never buy a Kurzweil again, unless of course Kurzweil offers to replace or fix it.

My warranty had recently expired and the Kurzweil tech team (which is one person) took weeks to get a hold of and eventually told me that I needed to take it to get repaired and would not help me despite the fact that this was my second Kurzweil to go out of tune. For this reason I will never buy another Kurzweil again.

I will never buy a PC2x again or any other Kurzweil product for that matter. I'll take a Yamaha or Nord. I have been playing keys for over 20 years and have NEVER had any keyboard other than two Kurzweils go out of tune. I have over 20 other keyboards both classics and new which I love and use professionally for sessions, touring, and composing for film. The Kurzweil will soon be sold if possible.

I challenge Kurzweil to fix my keyboard free of cost. That would be the only thing that would make me consider purchasing another Kurzweil.

Manual (downloaded from website) is ok, not amazing. They have a "howto" guide you can download which is simpler - with specific tasks and how to do them, I used this one more.

Editing patches is ok, but limited, small screen. Still - a lot you can express.

Presets - the best, ready to live performance, with the effects - you are in full control of sound. Still the leader!

No on-board seq

Midi - classic midi in,thru,out. i use it with cubase with VSTs, work great for home editing

expansion - i have the orchestral, great sounds.

Built in effects - hundreds, most are great, pro-great, no need for external effects processor

Great,Great,Great Sounds.
Best for Rock/Classical/Jazz/Pop. Not so much Dance/Techno etc, most sounds are samples not analog. no ribbon.

effects - amazing.

very reactive.

aftertouch - cool, use is a lot with viola or synth sounds

5 years and counting, zero issues

great website, got updates for OS (long time no update, probably they have the PC3 now so PC2 is old news, but 4.00 is great!)

I guess the total of the features makes it my perfect at home or on the road tool. This is the first keys i take anywhere. The rest are optional (my yamaha motif and novation x-station).

will die if my keys die :>

I just love this battle axe.

The wonderful sounds of this keyboard are a joy to my ears. Almost all sounds are full, creating "wall of sounds" easily even without layering more sounds. When you hit the midi setup- the sounds become much more full.

Hammond full simulation is great! I use it a lot for rock,soul etc.

Super easy to use, many buttons to click around, enough knobs (a ribbon would be nice- but it has a ribbon inupt in the back, i can always add it).

64 polyphony.
Many effects built in, i always found one effect i like out of the hundrdes there (some are not perfect, but since there are so many choose - like dozens of each kind choros, distortion etc. - I will find one for every occasion).

I use midi to work with cakewalk/cubase and backup the setups - works like a charm.

The action is good - rememebr this is full hammer touch - like a piano, you will work harder than the light touched keyboards, but it will sound much better.

I play rock,soul,pop but sometimes i crank up the synth sound and go ninties+ on this axe. The sounds are great! It does well to excellent in every category. Wouldn't send the accordion and harmonica to the hall of fame though.

great touch and aftertouch, allows a lot of expressiveness.

6 years and counting man.. built from metal (not cheap plastic like the new yamahas). handles like a tank. A little heavy, but i would take heavy over cracking plastic. Make sure you get a case with wheels!! you wouldn't want to lift this baby for the long run.

dont know..the axe just works ;>

My joy and my pride.

Not for the feint of heart (pretty heavy since it's made from metal).

I will continue playing with it until it rots, and look for a new one ;>

This keyboard is so easy to use. You have a lot of buttons, so most actions are one button away, the human engineering is great. Today the screens are bigger, but the PC2X gives me all the information I need.

Editing a patch is a little less than what you get on a Motif or Triton, but it will get you there, besides, with so many patches, I hardly need to edit.

I use the effects a lot, they are very professional, my sound is always the best in the band.

This is the best on-stage performance keyboard I had, very full sound, big poly (64) - although today the standard is 128.

Expansion are there, but limited to a few sound modules and extra 64 poly.

Midi is ok, but no USB.

No Seq.

Love almost every sound, although I feel it's lacking in synth/FM sounds. Still, overall, it's the best I have. It's the only synth I take on its own to a show - it is enough for everything.

Reliable like a tank, years of work!

Got upgrades and help from the website, a lot of stuff.

This is a legendary keyboard, it is rightly so. I can't wait to see the PC3 (If I will have enough money :> ).

The best buy, I bought it used and got top pro equipment that I'm proud off. I'm always get great responses in shows from fellow musicians, looks like it's the best respected name in the business!

Pardon my english, I will try to write clear.

The sounds are very very good, love all sounds (Except flute.. much better flute in my EDIROL orchestra).

Organs are wonderful.

Patch editor is really good, you need to learn how to use it.

Did not get a manual, got it from the web.

I would need more polyphony, 64 might be enough for many people, I play alone and want a lot of sound coverage, I use it with my Roland together.

Midi works fine, use it with my computer and other synthesizer.

I play new world and jazz, sounds are perfect. I always use this kurzweil instead of the roland for any keys related instruments.

Very good action on keyboard, responsive.

Very good, never had a problem. But I do not do shows.

Very good company, I wish they had a French manual.

This is my leading synthesizer, i use it as my main console (using softrware sequencer). I just play everything on it, and use another synthesizer for background sounds.

Not sure about version.

All natural sounds (keyboard,string,organs etc) are beatiful, the best I ever heard. Kurzweil make their own sound chips, they don't use the standard like the rest in the industry.

64 poly-ok.
Keys - amazing,like a piano.
expand- not too much, can add more samples and poly.
midi-standard+ (breath controller!!)
no seq

Sounds are the best I ever heard in any showroom!
I blow people minds off in shows with the sounds!

5 years and not one problem!

Called once with a sample edit question, got answer in writing.

The best ax i ever had, i just love the kurz!

Software - Version 4.00
Presets - The best presets. The sound has something that the Yamaha ES/XS could not match. Only Kurz for me thank you.
Patches - screen is a little small, but many editing features. If you are ok with the small screen, you are set.
Manual - ok.

Polyphony - 64.
Action - excellent, i have a piano and the kurz is very similar.
expansion - yes, several slots
Midi - all the needed midi features, only 4 zones though (some keyboards has 8). Enough for almost everyone.
Sequencer - No

Velocity/Aftertouch - very good
Realistic - very realistic sounds for most presets. The Sax is not good ( i never saw a good sax on a keyboard), trumpets are great to be used in the background, pianos etc are incredible,love the hammond simulation (KB3 mode), strings are exceptional.
Music types- great for classic keys parts, rock, classical, ok for dance (if you are electronic only player, use a Nord Lead AND then get the kurz).
Effects - very very good, love them.
Reaction - very good, the songs just ooze out and become alive. Very "large" sound.

Gave it a 10 even if the sax is not tht great.

playing for 3.5 years, zero problem.

Called them with a few questions, always got answered.

Overall it's the best performer's keyboard i ever had.

I bring it to jam-session, to shows and whatever.

You don't need another set of keys (unless it's a very synth intensive group so you would bring another 5 octaves axe like the Nord).

Chose it because i tried it in the store and could not believe the sounds.

I love it and will use it as long as it holds :>

I find this keyboard very simple to use. I'm more a piano player than a keyboarder, so I could never appreciate the power of a workstation. Then I can say that this keyboard is perfect for my purposes. Whenever and whoever I hear, the opinion remains the same: kurz rulez in piano sound and in acoustic sounds. I use only 10 sounds: two pianos, strings and hammond and they're great. So I can't find any difficulty using this stuff...

I don't care about polyphony. What is offered is enough. the effects derived from kdfx, the best in internal multieffects you could find in all keyboards around the world. No need to explain anything. The rest is well made. If ya want a sequencer ya have to buy a workstation or a computer...

The famous and rightly famous Kurzweil sound is the reason of my choice. Simply the most beautiful piano ever created with the synthesis. More than 300mb of oasys' piano aren't as beautiful as this 4mb of synthesis'history. I have also the orchestral expantion and is another masterwork. Compliments to KMS!

never had a problem after one year.

I don't know what to say...

Well... The best I ever had. That's all...

A little hard to learn, but worth the time invested in it. Manual so-so. Editing patchs pretty hard. Still, when you learn it, it's the tool of champions. The 9 is because i would love a somewhat friendlier gui.

keyboard action pretty good, similar to the k2500 (probably the same mechanism).

i just have the orchestral expansion (I think it comes standard now). don't buy it without it! The sounds are very good.

Midi is very good, 4 zones only (some more expensive synths have even 8). 4 is more than enough for a live show (come on, you only have 88 keys).


Effects are very very good.

Velocity - very good not perfect, after-touch - very good to use in brass and string. I love it.

You won't find any instrument with so many sounds which sound like the real thing. I play piano,e.piano, organ,brass, flute,guitar, harp, you name it, this tool does such a "big" sound that it convinces everybody.

never had a problem. 2 years now. cross my fingers. i take it out a lot.

call them once with a question, got answered asap.

I guess it's still the "most bang for the buck" pro-tool that won't bust your pocket. You can spare the $5,000 for a fully loaded motif. I gave it a 9 only because newer tools have nicer screens (color and graphics). But if you want sounds and not GUI, and we are here for the sound, I would recommend you join the kurzweil family (or upgrade).

Newest firmeware installed by store.

Greatest soudns ever!! Patch editor gives you a lot of control (it is NOT a sampler, but has many editing features).

I would say this is the #1 keyboard for real world instruments (piano, strings, organ, guitar, flute etc), it is a little less suitable for dance,trance etc (not so many analog patches) - still you can do a decent jobs using the ones that are there + the editor and effects.

Action is great, it has aftertouch.

64 poly, some expansion (i have orchestral) which are gret.

midi is great, it has aftertouch and BREATH CONTROLLER (you need to buy a yamaha breath controller,i never did, but i am looking for one on ebay).

The sounds are the #1 sounds out there. better than yamaha, roland or korg. This is the mercedes of keyboards. Nobody competes with them in sounds.

Effects are excellent (a little less than KDFX, but more than enough).

I work mainly with rock music.

No problems (so far):>

Had a backup issue and got it solved

I would buy a new one if this is ruined, this is the best overall rating for me :>

I love my Kurzweil PC2x. It is very easy to use, i dont do editing, I just use splits and layers and basic effects and i just love it.

I know i get always get deeper, since it has million features, but i hardly need them.

I think it does 64 polyphony, never had an issue.

The action is a little lighter than a piano, but it's good since sometimes you want to play something else.

Many expansions, I never needed them.

Midi has everything, I just use basic connectivity to Cakewalk.

onboard sequencer - no. I use cakwalk.

Big sounds. So full of sound and expresiveness.

This is why i bought it, I saw it in the store and couldn't believe the sounds i was hearing. Kurzweil wins all other companies!!!!!

Two years. Zero problems.

Had one question that was answered very fast.

Perfect workstation for me.

It will remain the core of my rig for years to come.

Great sounds! The best in the industry.

Editing patches is easy, the screen is not too big, but it's enough.

Manual is a bit too technical, it has all the information, but it's not written like a "tutorial".

64 sounds is ok. I love the key action.
Effects are really easy.
It has expansions, I didn't install any other than the one I have (orchestral).
Midi is great, I control an external module from the pc2x.
No sequencer.

ohhhh oohhhh, the sounds are what I bought this for. Sweet sounds :>

Like the pianos/organs and the synths. Orchestral is amazing.

Mine works great like a war horse :> I didn't test it too much on the road though.

never tried ...

This is my dream keyboard.

I love the sounds, it makes me sound like the big boys.

I'm using the software verson 4.0.

The presets sound very good and there are some great setups with very interesting arpeggiators (based on drum sounds - great to play Jean Michel Jarre).

Editing patches isn't hard and I found the manual helpful for my needs.

Sometimes it gets a little complicating with the split and layer
functions (I still don't really know how to make a tripple split or layer but I managed do that once but no idaea how).

The polyphony is just OK - don't need to expand it to 128.

The keyboard action is just right for me (good for playing the piano and also for the organ - not so heavy as on a real piano).

The effects are great and it's good that it has two sections (A & B), so you can combine reverb with other effects.

It has no sequencer but I don't need anyway.
MIDI - have no experience.

It is very programmable: you can save up to four different sounds (eith effects) in each setup and also the arpeggiator and a lot of physical controllers (4 sliders, 5 switch buttons, the pitch and mod wheel and I'm currently also using a pedal switch, a sustain and continuous controller pedal and the ribbon - very expressive!).

Although it has many usefull features, there are some things I'm missing: it has only two epansion slots and two different expansion cards. There is also no place for a memory card and all of the memory is during the time when the synth isn't activated an a little battery and you can suddenly lose all saved information if you don't change it in a proper time when the voltage is low.

The sounds are really great, especially the pianos. The Triple-Strike Stereo Grand Piano is good but I like the Dynamic Stage Piano better - the best piano I ever heard (my suggestion: play it with headphones).

The electric pianos are also fantastic (graeat for playing Pink Floyd) and If you play the wurly through a guitar amp you get the same sound as Jon Lord (Deep Purple) on Demon's Eye!

I have the orchestral rom and the sounds are very good (very rich, very full). Some very good pizzicatos, strings, flutes, choirs, brasses and church organs (though I prefer Korg Karmas pipe organ).

The KB-3 sections rocks! I play with my band that old rock music (Deep Purple, Steppenwolf,...) and you can make a really grungy distorted organ sounds or those more "relaxed" ones as Pnik Floyd's Richard Wright uses. And I recommend an expression pedal because that's when playing hammond organ becomes a great experience!

I'm maybe missing some more of the synth sounds (although the pads and and leads are very good-sounding, but there could be more of them), but main problem (for me) is the lack of ethnic sounds (no sitar, bagpipes, etc).

Summa summarum: The sound quality is on a very high level, the instruments are very realistic and expressive, the effects are also very good; What more can I say?

The sound works well for old rock'n'roll music and also for classical if you need a good piano and orchestra.

I have never had problems with it and would use it on a gig without backup, despite it has just a little battery to save all my setups.

Have never dealth with the Kurzweil company, so I can't say anything about this category.

I would definitively buy a new one if it were lost or stolen!
I still have a Roalnd DisCover 5, but it doesn't even come close to the PC-2X (but it has almost the same price).

The best thing are the electric and acoustic pianos and the organs (sounds that I mostly use).

It's the best combination of organ, piano and synth for the price.

I would recommend the PC-2X to any old-time rock'n'roller!!!

Using PC2X with the orchestral and classic keys ROMs.

The basic presets are amazing! together with the KB3 organ it is all the keyboard I need!! The ROOMS are a sweet extra but I could do without them.

The sounds are so FULL, you need good speakers or headphones because this tools is amazing. No wonder Paul McCartney uses it in his shows (inside his pretty flowered Piano cabinet he has a PC2X, you can see in the DVDs), I'm proud to have HEY JUDE plaed on MY keyboard!

The Piano is the best all around, and so other many other sounds. Overall, this keyboard is the best balanced keyboard between the entire array of competition.

Manual is pretty detailed but not very intuitive.

64 Polyphony, I don't think I will purchase the extension to 128.

The effects are really good, no need to add any more compoennts, they are easy to use.

The expansion is somewhat limited, 2 sounds ROMS and 1 polyphony extension, no sample memory (hey, it's a master keyboard not a sampler).

Midi is really good, you can easily splice and dice everything you want and control your entire array of modules or computer VSTs.

No sequencer.

This Kurzweil folks, the best around. FULL SOUNDS, you can't believe how good they sound. One of my favourites passtimes has become hearing a patch and thinking in what pop or rock hit did I hear it before. I've learned to identify the Kurz piano sounds and I hear it in so many albums.. funny.

Piano, organ, Wurli, Rhodes all keys are the best around!
Strings are very good! 12 string guitar - amazing!!

synth sounds - somewhat limited in comoparison to other less "acoustic" instrumets (meaning that Kurzweil mostly has real world instruments) but still very impressive.

Flute - excellent, vocal - unbelievable, bass - full and strong but somewhat lacks the punch.

Never had any issues.

Never used them.

Overall, this tool has the best abilities and balance.

The price is not so high, and you get everything you need.

Just add your computer as a sequencer and you made it to the pros!!

I just love it, and will get a new one if this one will bust (hope not)!

2.10v

Polyphony is adequate. Never ran out. Action is good for a keyboard compared to others I tried.

Use mostly piano sounds. They seem to be some of the best I've heard.

Cannot depend on this product. I had 2 PC88's before this PC2X that had serveral problems and needed repairs. My current PC2X has also failed me. I would never take it to a gig without a backup keyboard. Very sad such a great sounding unit can't be made more reliable. We depend on these things for our livelihood.

Have not called customer support recently within in the last 3-4 years but when I did, they were very helpful when I finally got to speak to someone.

I will no longer buy or support Kurzweil until they start making a more reliable pro keyboard.

I have a PC2X with both the Orchestral and Classic keys expansion.

Software version v4.00.

What can I say, I only got it a few weeks ago, but I am overwhelmed with joy.

The sounds are incredibles!! I though the effects were amazing, but even without effects, the pianos, eps, brass and most other sounds are amazing.

Using the keyboard is very easy once you get used to it, it's has many ways to do each feature, and you have a lot of control over everything.

I find it easy to work with.

64 poly - enough for everyone.

The action is amazing, it's feel like slicing butter, so smooth and nice but strong enough to express yourself - classic grand piano style!! Great work for Fatar and Kurzweil!

The effects are amazing, the sounds are so "fat" and full. You really sound like on of the pros (which by the way, love Kurzweil).

The expansions are great, too bad there are only two optional boards, but with so many great sounds, who can argue with Kurz.

The midi control features are great, very easy to apply, touch and aftertouch very sensitive.

No sequencer, but who does sequencing onboard these days?

This is the category in which Kurzweil is king.

I would say 80% of the instruments are usable, and 60% of them can sound as Solo and most people will never guess the difference.

The best piano out there no arguing about this.

EPs are excellent (the classic keys expansion is so cool).

Orchestral sounds, very very good, but I have to say that I was a little surprised the the basic string sections, which I usually use via VST (Edirol Orchestral - the king of VSTs), sounds a little to "synth", but I might be able to tweak it in the future.

So far it looks solid rock to me. We'll wait and see.

I bought it used from a guy who used to gig every week, and he had no problems for over a year.

never called them.

The best sounds I've ever seen on one board, clear cut winner.

Will be my main board in any performance or practice.

I will never gig without a backup no matter which board I use. I always have a midi keboard and a VST setup that can save the day.

If it would be stolen, either I will get another one, or I will put in the extra thousands for the Kurzweil k2600xs, which doesn't sound as good unless you buy some of it's expansions (good bye $5,000).

Excellent and easy to use however if you read the manual you won't find it helpful. It makes no sense what-so-ever. Very difficult to understand. The keyboard however is intuitive. Obviously the creator and manual author are not on the same page.

N/A

Excellent sensitivity to touch and feel however when the pitch wheel breaks and ruins everything good about the keyboard you will be left out to dry

You can absolutely not depend on the PC2x! Like the PC88 its older ancestor, it has major pitch problems. I strongly caution you to be very weary of this product, it is unreliable.

They have (drum roll please) .......... two tech support guys for the entire company. Let's go over those numbers again: ...... two guys......... for the entire company!!!


F$&*#!!!!!


I would STRONGLY caution anyone thinking about buying Kurzweil keyboard because you're not going to get much help when it breaks and it will.

Amazing sounds, improved piano sounds and great string sounds. The best as far as I'm concerned. But then it will crap out on you and you'll be totally up the creek.

OS v4.00 The Kurzweil PC2 is one of the easiest keyboards I have every used. The presets are great! This is definitely a "meat and potatoes" keyboard, with an emphasis on pianos, electric pianos and organs. The Kurzweil sounds are very fat compared to others, however, this keyboard is not meant for a total dance/pop production like the Triton, Motif, or Fantom series. I find very little need to tweak these sounds. If you have the Orchestral and Classic Keys ROM, you are really covered. The KB3 mode for organ is the next best thing to a dedicated organ, however, most people would agree that if you are focusing on organ sounds, not to get the 88 weighted version.
The manual was helpful, but even more so, the kurzweil website has a tutorial series that spells out in detail various programming procedures.
One of the most useful features of the PC2 is the ability to create quick splits and layers in "real time". While workstations are ultimatly more programmable, everything has to be edited and set up before a performance. The PC2 allows the user to split/layer the keyboard into 4 zones with dedicated buttons. Even the split note can be changed while performing!! This makes it ideal for both live performance, and use as a MIDI controller. Of course, you can save the splits for later recall.

The polyphony is expandable to 128 voices, which is competitive with most other boards out there. The action on the 88 is slightly heavy. I have broken key contacts due to the action, however, I have yet to find the perfect weighted action. The built in effects are great and easy to edit and assign. The expansion options include two ROM boards, the orchestra, and the Classic Keys. The orchestral comes standard now, and contains some of the best string samples ever! The classic keys contains every variation on Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clav, ARP, and other vintage keyboards, with many of the sounds named after popular rock songs featuring those keyboards. It is well worth it for a rock player.

As I have mentioned, the PC2 series is geared toward traditional keyboard sounds: pianos, Hammond organs, Rhodes style EPs. This makes the keyboard great for classical/jazz piano, as well as a straightforward rock gig. This is not the keyboard for dance/hip hop production. There are also very good horn and string sections. Kurzweil sounds always seem more "fat" than other manufacturers, due to the effects. The Orchestral ROM which is standard with the PC2 offers some of the best string samples on any keyboard. The Classic Keys ROM which I mentioned earlier are even better than the presets.

The PC2 is a highly reliable keyboard. However, I have never needed a backup for a pro keyboard. My only complaints about the PC2 are the weight,its very heavy to lug around!, and the lack of an internal HD, disc, or flash media drive. Any OS updates or dowloading sounds must be done through MIDI, which was a big pain when installing the Orchestral and Classic Keys ROM boards. Highly recommended for a studio MIDI controller, piano for recording, or keyboard centered live performance!

I contacted Kurzweil customer support twice. The first time was for info on programming a continuous controller pedal. I recieved a reply email shortly with specific directions. The second time was when I tried to install the Expansion boards by myself. I sent an email and was never responded to. I would up taking it to a pro-audio repair and paying $50. It was well worth it.

My overall rating for this keyboard is a 10. While it is in the category of a stage piano, the PC2 has the sounds/effects/editing of a workstation, minus the sequencing and sampling. For a while I was using the PC2 with a Korg Trinity for my gig rig. Now the PC2 is the center of my home recording setup, where I use it with Pro Tools Le, Digital Performer and Finale notation software. For gigs, I am using a Korg Triton Extreme 76, where I trigger sequences and samples, in addition to the live sounds.

Ok so i have found this one of the easiest machines to use i can find, but for reasons i will mention in a second, i find it very difficult.
But as a whole the instructions are very clear, not in jargon etc. all the features are clearly laid out, not having trouble finding anything.

It's a Kurzweil. What do you expect? it has a massive array of features, similar models of other makes don't even come close.

Again, its a Kurzweil. The onboard sounds are amazing, i can't fault them at all. My keyboard technician listens to native american tapes, and says that this is the keyboard they have used, because it sounds so realistic.

I would use it at a gig, which i have but it continually fails me. I bought it from America, and from day one the screen never worked, which i hear is a very common problem. This is why the ease of use isn't very easy. Then the pitch bend wheel went and isn't fixable because Kurzweil can't get their act together and produce parts for their stuff

Emails are responseless, technical support none existant. I had to go elsewhere for help.

I love this keyboard, and i wouldn't give it away for anything. I would seriously consider buying again, but its marred by the lack of any support. If you want to buy one, be warned, either check it before you buy or hope/gamble that it works when you get it.

2.10 software version, presets sound great, manual is pretty helpful

Polyphony is 64, Keyboard action is good & effects are good

Piano sounds are some of the best I've heard especially for classical. The onboard effects are also very good. It takes a little while to get use to the touch especially if you are used to playing a real piano all the time.

Can't say I had any luck in this area. This is my 2nd Kurzweil PC2X and I 've had trouble with both keyboards. I will always carry a spare keyboard (Yamaha)when gigging with either of my two PC2X's.

Customer service is helpful, however I did get a run around trying to get to the right person.

If it were lost or stolen, I might buy another, however, I'd definately look into other products. I have been playing for 25 years. Mostly classical, jazz & musical theatre. I think the piano sounds are some of the best I've heard compared to Roland, Korg, Kawai, Ensonig, Alesis, etc. I own 2 other Yamaha keyboards and are very happy with those, especially for the gigging dependabilty factor. I like the piano sounds on my Yahama keyboards but I must say the Kurzweil pianos are my favorite, just wish Kurzeil would get their act together and make a more dependable unit.

Acquired v recently as an up-grade to my Yamaha P80 digital stage piano, after testing a Yamaha S90 and Roland RD700SX (just out) - this PC2X kept me interested with it's functionality and quality of sounds. The keyboard action is light - which suits my playing style (Roland was probably more like the 'real thing' re: keys action to be honest, but more basic in function; Yamaha S90 was great, but quality of sounds not up there...and I'm a Yamaha fan, so trying to be objective, here.)
Initially very easy to use - you can get instant results, but I need to spend less time with my intuition and more with the manual - which is well laid out. Presets sound cool - strings and orchestrals some of best I've heard (and I've heard a few....). KB3 organ mode is good for my (prog rock) purposes.
Already own a Korg Triton Studio, so in terms of programming - it's quite intuitive, but I need to dig deeper.

Keyboard action just right for me.
Built in FX are awesome - enough said.
Would like to get the Classic Keys exp board in due course. Only able to have 2 exp boards, but - again - for me - no probs.
Arpeggiator seems limited (esp compared with the Korg) but I didn't buy it for that anyway.
No on-board sequencer/sampler - get the (very heavy) K2600X if you want all that -or the Krg Triton Studio. I did not buy this as a workstation.

Orchestral/strings/piano/organ - excellent. Other synth sounds seem to almost have an analogue warmth which is difficult to describe, but they do not have that fizz or harshness you can sometimes get with synths -to me the sonic quality is top notch because of that.

Too soon to say but no problems yet!

Lars Karstensen, Kurz Europe - very helpful. Helped me to check that the Kurz warranty was def in place before I put a penny down. Was very open about the past corporate issues Kurz have had which they're coming out of. Make yourself aware before you buy a Kurzweil, just so that you buy 'eyes open'.

I'm not a 10/10 merchant as I always believe that you can get more, but...I have to give 10/10 for value as RRP #2200; Internet #1800; face to face in shop #1600 - but I found this superb deal at #1200 brand new. Yep - I'd buy it again - it complements the Korg Triton Studio workstation - I feel I have the best of all worlds with both units as the Korg has those more cooler/colder 'digital' sounds if you get my drift, whilst this is 'warm'in essence.
To be honest - these days the quality of the Roland, Yamahas, Korgs really is superb, but this just stood out as having that certain sonic 'je ne sais quoi' - I always say - okay, read reviews but at the end of the day there's only one way and that's to get in the shop and test the keyboards. You know what you are after from a board - all I can say is that when I did that - this was the one for me - and I'm delighted.

OS fine, stock standard with it. i'm a little buggered with the setup features cause i'm finding it hard or immpossilbe to get any other sounds into a pedal change in a setup cause it only reads 0 to 127, and it seems to be only the internal list A, which is annoying when you want to change from organ or lead to pizz. strings or something. manual is fine, getting everything out of it that i need except this one problem

Polyphony is fine, loving the keyboard action (as i came from a measly technics P-50(obviously you can see i'm jus starting)). the effects are easy to get to, simply push channel A 'select' and your there, but i think it needs more distortion effects and things for Leads and rhodes, i play in church and its not really cutting it when i want something beefy. Orchestrial ROM is great and all, i dont use like 95% of it, (and because i'm in Australia prices are higher, and Kurzweil parts are harder to get ect ect..) i just want to try out the vintage keys EX board, cause that may fix some of my problems, but there aint none here.

loving it here, have played with Triton LE's, Rolands and all, but some of them just seem to be littls boy's toys when it comes down to it. the sounds here are absoultly fine (strings could be a little warmer and more Leads and Pads would be great) but i'm happy with this purchase. the response is great for anything i need, jazz sounds great with the rhodes (Serious classic) and the piano (any of the 20 odd ones you can find lying around in various groups) is great. the velocity features are great when you want layering and such with songs, (to define a sound to come in at a certain velocity helps heaps in some songs)

No problems here at all mate, but when i play, church, band or by myself, i have no worries about it dying.

have had no need.

if i lost it, i owuld get another one cause it plays very well. been playing for 10 years (i'm 19) and this is a great step forwards from little stage pianos and what-not. Wish it came with a music stand so i didnt have to wait for one to coem from America (Has taken 5 months so far, still waiting for equipment (Kurzweil pedals too) from nearest Kurzweil Dealer. bar that, its great.

I too have dealt with Duane Garvin through Kurzweil Service and I as well as another friend with a Mark 150 series were treated EXTREMELY RUDELY and received NO HELP or service. I wasn't given any info as to any probable cause to my problem and after talking to Mr. Garvin, I fealt 10X more frustrated with his lack of help and my decision to purchase a Kurzweil. VERY dissappointed with the service. I will think about that in the future when I'm choosing between a Roland or Kurzweil keyboard.

This is Duane Garvin, the Kurzweil service manager/ head tech/ warranty person. I did speak with MR X about the problems with his PC2. I believe it was almost a year out of warranty. I told him it was probably a bad cabe (pin 1) and to tell the service center to look at that specifically.
I am usually easy going and helpful but if a unit is almost a YEAR OUT OF WARRANTY then I cannot pay for the repair under warranty. All I received from MR X was that he wanted it covered under warranty and tried being forceful about it. If you take a poll of service center satisfaction from the service I have provided, I am confident I will receive a high mark.
I happened to come across this thread and was compelled to give my side of the story.

I'm using software version 3.10. This board is very easy to use and program.

The keyboard action is unparalleled. Very quick and agressive for the ultra-fast player (like myself).

Expressiveness is great and onboard effects are wonderful.

This is where I have had problems with this board. I was at a big gig last night and when I plugged the Kurzweil in, all of my programs had been erased. None of the presets that I had spent hours programming were there anymore. I have no idea why this happened but playing the gig was next to impossible and I don't think I can rely on this board in the future because of this problem.

Can't get any response from Kurzweil customer service.

Good features on board, but totally unreliable and poor customer service.

Having used keyboards since the early 80's, they all have challenges learing a "new" operating system (new to the user). This one is fairly straight forward - it's all in the manual - that is actually pretty good

ployphony 64 - fine with me (don't program w/this board). Excellent effects, excellent as a controller, great feel to the weighted keys.

Fantastic - enough said

Here's why I'm writing this review. I've owned this board for about 2 years. It's NEVER had any issues. I upgraded the operating software last year (easy), and have done 40+ gigs, and 50+ practices (moving between locations). No problem. Last weekend (7/31/04) we were playing a show and the stage collapsed. My keyboard fell 6+feet to the concrete floor - and kept working. One key popped off (high C), but the board stayed on, and still works. It's now bent, scratched, and dented - but still playing. Thats a good board.

Never needed it

Love it - am about to buy another one (read above - the bar's insurance carrier will be paying for it!).

The PC2x is reasonably easy to use. Navigating the menus wasn't too difficult. The manual is not perfect, but is passable. Basically, I bought the synth so I could have good sounds to use with Band in a Box. My main instrument is bass. What made this keyboard difficult to use was that it wasn't working properly, and emails to tech support went unanswered, see more below.

This board has great sounds, aftertouch, super configurable MIDI, etc. It has expansion capabilites, but I left mine stock since it does what I need it to do (except that it works intermittently).

Sounds are awesome. When I bought it a few years ago, I thought they were some of the best on the market (for my price range). The effects are okay.

I cannot depend on this keyboard, and I would never use it on a gig without a backup. It seems to be built like a tank, but I have been having intermittent MIDI issues for a long time now. The power supply connectorseems that it would be a likely candidate for failure.

If you are thinking about buying this keyboard, you may wish to reconsider. I have NEVER received an email reply from their customer support (support@kurzweilmusicsystems.com). Since I work during their business hours, this needed to be my main form of contact with them. After some time, I eventually called them and got clearance to take it into the shop. Not being the MIDI-type, I did not know exactly what was wrong, but I was seeing some MIDI problems, as the MIDI diagnostic would fail. So, I took it into a Kurzweil-approved shop, and they could not reproduce the problem. Being newly armed with the knowledge that my keyboard was supposed to be "fixed", any new behavior that I discovered while getting to know the 'board I figured must be my misunderstanding of how to use it. In hindsight, I realize that this was another manifestation of the intermittent problem. After some more time trying to get it working, I gave up and came back to it later, figuring I just didn't know the software I was using (BiB). When I returned to get it working, any new emails to Kurzweil went unanswered and eventually my warranty expired. Had ANY of the emails I sent been answered, the intermittent nature of the problem would have been discovered. Kurzweil completely blew the oportunity to help me out. I have since been trying to get Kurzweil to honor the warranty, but they refuse to do so now that it has expired. Actually, they are not explicitly refusing to do so, they are just ignoring my calls and emails. When Kurzweil DOES actually respond to you, Jean is fabulous. He knows the 'boards inside and out. He admitted that they have an aggressive email filter, and so my emails may have simply been filtered out. Umm, okay, so the "PC2x" in the subject got filtered out? This seems a little strange. I suggested that they mention this on their support webpage, but they have not done so, even though this easy fix would avoid many problems. Jean referred me to the Service Manager, Duane Garvin (Duane_Garvin@and-music.com, 253-589-3200 x104) for the warranty issues. Duane was defensive, combatitive, and completely unhelpful from the start. On a few occaisions he said he would call back and give me an answer "tomorrow", yet it never happened. In fact, I do not believe that Duane has ever done what he has told me that he would do. I am still waiting for a reply on the last round of emails.

The one thing that I wish this keyboard had was a company to back it up. I am sure that Kurzweil makes a great product, but I am not going to support the livelihood of a company that ignores their customers, does not do what they say they will do, and does not seem to care one way or the other. As it is, I will probably donate it to a church that doesn't need the MIDI, or just take the business loss.

I'm using 3.1. The presets sound pretty good out of the box. Editing doesnt appear to be too easy. Keep in mind I come from a Korg/Roland background and this is my first Kurz. The manual doesnt make a lot of sense to me, as Korg (triton) seems so much better laid out, but I've plowed through it and come to understand enough. It has three basic modes, Internal/Setups/KB3. The B3 mode is interesting, offering realtime control, but I own a Roland VK-8M that absolutely smokes the organ sounds here, I suppose it would be impressive to someone coming from a regular synth organ background, but to me it falls flat. Midisetups allows you to do layering, splitting and multi-timbre type work. Its somewhat confusing the way the board is laid out. Effects are good. It took me a while to figure out how to write an effect to a sound. Its 64 polyphony in the first to settings but in KB3 it becomes 40. This board seems to be designed mostly as a controller, but sounds are not an after-thought. You can edit the sounds, the touch keyboard isnt too bad. Its pretty easy to use if you're not going to go in depth, but I found myself somewhat frustrated by the seperate modes.. most of the switches change function depending on which mode you're in so it gets confusing. It doesnt help either that I'm colorblind and I cant see much of a difference in the lights which go from green to orange depending on what mode or their function is. Even so its complicated.. more complicated than it needs to be. It doesnt do enough to have that many buttons and levers. Getting into editing is tedious without a touch screen.. or a bigger screen even.

64 polyphony which is enough.. the keyboard action is pretty good actually. There are many effects, many different reverbs and choruses up to two at a time plus master EQ. The board is also expandable. It includes the orchestral ROM which falls flat compared to Edirol's software, but Its better than Korg and Roland. Kurzweil does best in this area of acoustic synths, but even so for me its just not practical to try to imitate a symphony... because it still sounds canned on a keyboard. I suppose the orchestral would be passable on a live gig.. maybe buried in a mix. Midi capabilities are great here, and the board makes up for things here. 4 basic zones with lots of editing possible, its somewhat confusing at first but it gets better. This thing is a good controller. It has a digital Out.. 24 bit spdf.. I used it and decided I liked the sound analog better.. its warmer.. still not warm enough. But better. I bought it because of the digital output.. but I noticed no improvement.. maybe it went backwards in quality. It has onboard EQ.. of course when you EQ a sound it applies to every sound on the board, so you're stuck with it. I did bring down the mid range and I did get slightly better results.

The triple strike Piano isnt happening for me. I come out of a jazz/R&B/Pop playing background and I suppose this board might be ok for a church or school, but for a pro who wants a real expressive sound.. its just not that cool... boring. The mid range seems dumpy to me.. muddy.. and the lower range isnt consistent. The piano cuts through a mix well though because it has an edge to it that is anything but mellow, there are shrill over-tones that bug me. Even so the sound is very even.. almost too even... it lacks something indescribable... its warm in the higher range. The higher range is great actually.. but the mid range seems to suck. I come from Korg..(Triton's have an awful piano sound too.. but I owned a PRo-x which was great) You go with what you're used to and I just cant get used to this.. so I'm gonna take it back. The KB3 mode is good.. but it doesnt come close to Roland's VK series or Korg's CX. Its too clean.. everything on this board is too clean... so clean you can always hear the decay, and hardly ever feel it. I cant feel the music on this board. THe electric pianos are good.. the clavs are actually very good.. the Take 6 samples are the best part of this keyboard, but not overly practical. It has one good lead sound, and the acoustic bass is the best I've heard. Drums are good.. big kits though.. out of date. Everything on this board feels out of date--soundwise. Totally awful for pop sounds and modern R&B. You can get a vintage ROM but those sounded too clean to me. I couldnt find distortion effects or Tube. If you're in a church I suppose this board will work ok since most church music has gone to pot. The orchestral ROM is passable.. better than a lot of other boards out there.. I will give it that.. but it pails in comparison to Edirol's Orchestral softsynth and others like it. With Editing its passable.. buried in a mix. I'd say that applies to everything on this keyboard.. it will sound ok if its buried in a mix.. but it wont knock people out.. and if you're a pro in this business you know your sound has to be on the money. This just isnt.. for me. No offense to those of you who like it.

Its built real well. I'm sure it would hold up. Kurzweil is the best in the business for reliability.

I bought mine from Sweetwater and they have a no hassle return policy I'm gonna take advantage of.. I highly recomend Sweetwater if you buy this keyboard!!!!

I'm taking it back. I've owned it for 2 weeks.. its not happening for me. But it could happen for other musicians who dont require something so expressive. If you're into classical music you might appreciate this synth more.. or if you need a good controller.. but there are far cheaper controllers.. if you like the sounds on this you might as well get the PC1 which has the same sounds and effects and is 1000 cheaper. If you like it as a controller you might as well buy a Studio Logic. This keyboard doesnt fit well into any niche from what I can tell. The controller guy who wants OK sounds could live with this I guess. The controller guy who wants GREAT expressive sounds might better buy something else.

It's been quite awhile, actually, since i experimented with a PC2X. I was inspired to write a review after reading several others. I bought one sight unseen, ear unheard, on the strength of online and Keyboard Magazine reviews, and my previous experience with Kurzweil. I was so disappointed with it that I sent it back after one day. This review mainly concerns the sound quality, so the other categories are merely my best recollections.

As i recall, the board is very straighforward to use.

Keyboard feels nice and as a controller, it has a ton of features, many more than most "digital pianos."

Here's where the board failed me! I bought a PC-88MX some years ago, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I never thought the piano sample was the best on the market, but the ensemble of sounds certainly was. I also own an SP-76, which i can easily throw in the car for jam sessions. So I have been quite pleased with Kurz gear in the past and fully expected (and wanted desperately) to love the PC-2X. But I didn't. It was the "acclaimed" triple-strike stereo grand piano that I just couldn't get used to. The old PC88 piano sound lacked expressiveness, in that it was a single layered sample (with a pretty short decay!) but it was a very serviceable sound, with a very uniform tone from top to bottom. Not as "realistic" as the
best Roland sounds or Yamaha P-series, but very playable. The PC-2X was supposed to change that, with a multi-layered version of their flagship piano sound. But...it sounded to me like they just didn't get it right. I noticed, when playing it, that everything from Middle C up sounded OK, but below that, there were very jarring tonal differences from one key to the next! I tried playing a chromatic scale with very uniform touch to be sure, and it was definitely there, not an artifact of my playing. I hooked up my SP-76 and A/B'd the two instruments, and there was no mistaking it, the SP-76 had a much more uniform, much more natural tonal variation from top to bottom.

I truly, desperately wanted to like this keyboard. But I just couldn't get accustomed to the weirdness in the piano samples, so i sent it back.

IN fairness, I must say that some of the other sounds are definitely better than the PC-88, in particular, the Rhodes. I have a RHodes 73 set up right next to my digital piano stand, so there's no fooling me.

Only had it for a day or two.

I had no trouble returning this board, since I got it from American Musical Supply and they took it right back, no questions asked. But I will relate that my PC-88MX flaked out after about 4 years of use, and the local "authorized repair center" couldn't fix it. A friend of mine who is an electronics whiz, and a producer/recording engineer offered to help me troubleshoot it, so I called Kurz to see about getting a service manual. They said no dice, you not a dealer. I said, i tried going to the dealer and they failed me, why can't you just sell me the d*** service manual so I can at least TRY to fix it. They said no way. The combination of the PC-88's untimely demise and their lack of sympathy for my plight was one factor in my recent decision to buy a Roland instead.

It's really not a bad board, and as MIDI controller i'm sure it's one of the best out there. But since it is highly touted as a digital piano, and I bought it for that purpose as I am a piano player, I found the quality of the piano sample to be distressing.

Software Version 3.1 (and the LCD display conveniently mentions this at power-up)
Presets are mostly great. I make Gigasample libraries for a living and still consider most patches on the PC2X very usable. The Orchestral expansion voices have good responsiveness and excellent ensemble sounds. (Solo sounds suffer a bit in comparison to really large premium samples) The Acoustic pianos are good enough for "Live" usage and KB3 Hammond organ emulations likewise.

Editing patches is straightforward enough, but this keyboard is primarily a Preset User's machine IMHO. The FX stages are extremely good; very realistic Rooms, lush Halls, some very spacey Flanges. Rotary and Distortion fx are a bit less satisfactory, but one rarely hears any better except from high-end dedicated rackmount FX. I find the "wetness" adjustment via Sliders 1 & 2 to be rather annoying , as a single touch on a slider instantly activates the FX bus to a much wetter condition. To be fair, most factory settings are already quite decent BEFORE a slider is touched.

The Manual: Extremely good. This is a mother-controller keyboard with a lot of extra controller capability. Features are clearly understandable for a veteran midi-user. I have been able to find out about any feature I wish to implement without much difficulty. There are addendum manuals that correct a few errors in the primary manual and explain add-on expansion (e,g, Orchestral or RAM upgrades).

I give the PC2X a 10 because it allows multiple Foot controllers, Ribbon controllers, etc. It is overkill for Control features. If I based my opinion solely on sound expansion capabilty, the opinion would be much lower.
Stock Polyphony is 64. Keyboard action feels better to me than current Yamaha S90/Motif or Roland. This is for PC2X88 weighted keys.(the black PC2X)
Velocity curve adjustments were easy to find and I feel that this keyboard is a better overall choice than the dedicated pianos mentioned as being more responsive to classical piano style. As an all-purpose Midi controller that needs to be just as responsive on bass/drums/strings etc. I think the action is most suitable although I sympathise with acoustic players who want more dynamic responsiveness. (If ya want acoustic, play yer Steinway)

As mentioned previously FX are pretty darned good.
FX stages (2) Stage 1 is multi and 2 is Reverbs only. Both stages may be used together (including two separate verbs, example= Hall on Stage 1 and Mic Ambience on Stage 2)

Expansion capability: PC2X88 comes standard with Orchestral ROM Expansion card already installed. One ROM expansion slot available (but no existing expansion ROM library available at this time.
RAM expandable to allow 128 note polyphony. 64 is fine unless using this unit as a primary sequencer sound source. Note-stealing characteristics are not noisy/noticeable in single voice "live" usage even with lots of Sustain Pedal piano.

No On-Board sequencer. No sane person uses on-board sequencing when computer screens are so much easier to deal with. You might care if you want "live" sequence playback capability. I use portable computers for "live" sequence control.

The onboard sounds are as good as any I have heard in a Controller oriented keyboard. Very usable for most varieties of music. Outstanding for film/orchestral composition; pianos and organs good for jazz/rock/blues. Sounds disppointing for Tech/Dance?Trance, but Drum kits are better than most. Synth sounds and analog-style pads a bit generic, but good quality.

Velocity response= fairly adjustable. I previously played non-weighted keyboards for years. Transition made easier by good velocity curve presets.
Aftertouch= way more responsive and useful than what I get out of Yamaha or Roland keys. (Part of this is simple patch programming, but Yamahas feel excessively prudish to me and allow expressiveness of Afterouch only on really grinding down on keys; Rolands a bit better but Kurzweil feels natural)

Dependability= Probably.I give it a seven, with some reservations. Construction quality is very heavy. The Fatar keys are Fatar's top grade, unlike the less solid Chinese mechanisms now being used in many keyboards. (Korg et al) I have known Kurzweil K2000's to have life-expectancy issues using Fatar mechanisms, so I keep my fingers crossed on this area.

I would use this on a local gig without a backup but take two if you go on multi-city tours for 6 months. (and pay the roadies extra.this honker weighs a lot.)

Have not tried formal service calls. None needed. I do know people working for all the major keyboard manufacturers and feel it might be easier to deal with Kurzweil than the larger companies. All manufacturers genuinely try to have good tech support. If I wanted great tech support I might have bought a Korg, but then I would probably need it!

Repairs/upgrades...Just for test purposes I've Reloaded the OS and also replaced standard patch bank with a free online bank. Both operations accomplished easily via Midi connection to a Windows XP machine with Delta 10/10 midi i/o.

I would definitely buy this keyboard again. Pro musician since 1972.
I love the fact that I bought this as a weighted-key controller and did not much care about on-board sounds..and then found myself creating new music because the onboard sounds are good enough to be inspiring.
I really wish that this unit had 300 gigabyte storage because hardware is often easier to use than computer-based sample-playing. Even the most expensive hardware workstations are wayyyyyy behind on storage space and many lack the great controller features of this simpler keyboard.
Until keyboard workstation sample storage and quality match soft-sampler level, I'll stick to a capable midi controller that feels good rather than going for Tritons, Motifs etc with their small samples.

Easy...but, I used the PC88mx for 8 years prior.

Keyboard action is good. It's not as cool for piano as the latest Yamaha or Roland progressively weighted boards. But, those progressively weighted boards SUCK for playing anything that's NOT a piano...so that's IMO, a decent tradeoff.

The controller sliders feel like higher quality than the PC88mx...and there are breath and ribbon controller inputs as well as programable buttons right above the Mod wheel...on appropriate synth sounds, this defaults to turn the arppegiator on and off--neat.

64 voice is fine for now. True Polyphony and all...option to expand to 128 is nice, though.

The digital out being locked at 48khz sucks, but the D/A converters sound great...even comparing with my outboard converters @48k...so, it's no biggie as long as you have good cable and A/D.

No sequencer. No sampling.

OK, here's the deal. This is a PLAYER'S board. The pianos are great. The last review mentioned how they don't sound that different. While I see his point, a player will know that the subtlety of timbre and response makes a big difference going from track to track.

The orchestral sounds ROCK. I replaced a Gigastudio system with this. Mind you, I didn't have the newest uber libraries, but these orchestral sounds have something the BEST Gigasamples don't-PLAYABILITY. They add vibrato with aftertouch...ensembles swell...as to having too much rosin (stated earlier), I say that's what makes them good. I actually had to drop a string arrangement from my last CD, because I didn't have enough "sharp" cellos in Giga to play my idea. And, IMO, this orch brass is the astounding.

The electric pianos are great. This was a shortcoming of the old Pc88mx. They're here now, old, grungy, pretty, and funky. I don't think I'll even need to boot up the computer to use EVP88 on this next project.

The KB3 is better than samples, and is preset to my Voce MidiDrawbars...but, not on par with the latest dedicated emus- Roland, Korg, Hammond, and my fave- Native Instruments B4.

The synth sounds pretty much suck. But, I rarely use synthy sounds, and have dedicated units when I do.

In 8 or 9 years, I had to fix the weights on 3 keys of my PC88mx once...that's not bad for 8 years of hard playing.

Emailed them a question about one of the EP patches...got nothing but an automated response. Not a good sign.

I would buy it again. I'm anxious to hear what they have planned for the second expansion board...

I was operating with the 3.1 version. The manual is not very much help. Didn't really get a chance to edit any patches but it looked pretty self explanatory.

The keyboard action is one of the best I've experienced. The effects are somewhat limited due to one of them being simply reverbs. It is not very expandable. It is however a very flexible midi controller.

Some are really good and some are really bad. Too many piano sounds that don't really sound that much different. Some of the string samples have a bit too much bite to them. Guitars are not good at all. The arpeggiator is useless without preset patterns and being just an everyday basic arpeggiator. Some of the horn, oboe, flute, clarinet, and bassoon sounds are unbelievable replicas. This board would be great for movie scores but not much else. There are a limited number of synth sounds and some are not very good.

Having only spent a little time with it before I sent it back, I am not sure about reliability but I have heard others with problems.

Forget it. They don't care about their PC2X buyers. Just try to get an answer from them.

This keyboard is way over priced. Some sites offer it for about three hundred dollars more and I can't imagine paying that. Some o.k. sounds but some not so o.k. sounds with a cheap arpeggiator and things are not well organized on the board itself. Not a very good investment.

Read the manual stupid. You will discover that if you read the manual, most (if not all) of the things people say this keyboard won't do, it actully will do. It's Heavy, so it's hard to move, but what do u exspect if what quality? For a controler and using with multiple midi devices it does quite complicated, and manual explenations don't offer much help. But generall easy to use, and edit will preforming live. Because of the ease a 10, but down to a 9 for the lack of definition in the manual.

What will this thing not do? Not much. It's loaded with controllers, and ports to accept more controllers (breath, ribbon, peadels, ect...) Nice touch weighted keys. Plenty of output ports, tons of sounds. Lots of programable midi setups, easily recalled. I give it a 10 in this department.

Sounds are simply unbeliable. No it would not sound good on a bad amp, stupid so for those of you who think it sounds bad go get a better amp. i use it on a fender 60w kxr. If you think korg sounds better you're obviously not a very expreienced and/or talented artist, maybe you're a rapper or something. The ONLY weak sounds i've heard on this keyboard are the guitar sounds, but do u kno any keyboard good at guitar sounds? This keyboard sounds better than many aucostic pianos i've heard. i have a baldwin upright, 125th anviversy, mint condition. this keyboard is loaded with sounds, two backs 0 and 6, for those of you who are too concieted to read the book. The sounds get a 10, because there is no subsitute for true guitar sounds so get over it, kurzweil did an outstanding sound job here.

Here's where the real fun comes in. You idiots who buy from a store whose intials are "gc" (not gonna say any names), need to realize something, you're getting a downgraded version. How else do u think that particular store can have a "once in a lifetime sale!" every week? I bought this board, brought it over 300miles to an out of state home, 300miles back to this home. Then brought about 100miles to a nearby city for a gig, 100 miles back. Then to another one 50miles away, and back. And there were plenty of practices in between there, so i would say this keyboard has traveld about 1000miles, spent hours after hours on stage and at practice, and have never had ANY problem with it. The board is still in mint condition, and works just like it did when it was new. Oh and by the way, some of you need to do ur research, ur problems are the result of the old OS, upgrade to OS2 and you'll be fine. This boards gets a well deserved 10.

Haven't needed it.

This board is loaded with great sounds. Easy to use, extremely reliable, and generally outstanding. korg is quite frankly, pathetic, if you're considering korg you need to realize korg targets two markets:rappers and students who don't kno what quality is. kurzweil is less money for a superior board. many people haven't heard of kurzweil, u know why? they're the best. hands-down.

OS Version: 3.00

The presets are very good. That very important also because, apart from being a masterkeyboard, it is a stage piano for playing presets. Only very limited editing is possible.

The manual is good. The only part that wans't clear from the manual, for me that is, was the MIDI receive mode. I found "The PC2 Made Easy" helpfull for this and explaining how best to use with an external sequencer.

Polyphony is 64.

I like the keyboard action. The keys are quick to raise again, which I like. With the standard settings it very easy to play to loud. I really don't think I'm that hard a player, but I normally use either the Hard2 or Hard3 (max.) touch setting. Perhaps even better is using the Cos+ velocity curve for a slower initial increase in velocity together with velocity scaling depending on the global touch setting (120% for Linear to about 140% for Hard3).

Has two built in effects processors, one is reverb only. As with all keyboards I know they are not as easy to setup when sequencing.

The acoustic and electric piano sounds are very good. Electric ones could perhaps be a little better on the high notes. Most sounds are quite good I guess. I don't really like the guitar sounds. Percussion is great. Pads are good, as are the strings.

Built in effects are very good.

Once I adjusted the velocity sensitivity as mentioned earlier the keyboard responded nicely to playing. Aftertouch is good also.

I use it at home only. Some keys make a clacking noise as if the key is hitting the casing. Apart from the noise they work fine. The supplied sustain pedal works, but it is not a very good one.

Haven't had to deal with customer support yet.

If it were lost or stolen I probably couldn't afford a new one as they now cost double what I paid for it (bought it in Germany).

The Yamaha S90 has a more solid feeling action. I like the PC2X's action better, apart from the noise. Compared to the S90 I like the ease of use of the Kurzweil as a master keyboard. The Kurzweil's user interface somehow feels more professional. The buttons, sliders and dial on the PC2X are also better than the S90's. The S90 has more sounds, a sequencer and a graphical display, but there something about the PC2X that makes it classy. It does what it does well. In the end you really mostly use the piano sounds.

Software version 3.0 (it took a couple of tries to install the upgrade but it wasn't a major hassle).

The manual is middle of the road - fairly readable, but not organized very intuitively. It also has some noticeable gaps in content (like architectural details for half the ROM patches!).

The patches are organized into groups of 128 patches with each group further broken down into 16 banks of 8 patches each. Each bank contains patches from the same "family" such as pianos, brass, percussion, etc. There are three 128 patch groups installed in ROM and 2 more groups on the orchestral expansion. Two more groups are held in reserve for a yet-to-be-released 2nd expansion board and the remaining 128 patch group is for user patches. There are 16 buttons that enable you navigate to an 8 patch bank within the current group. The buttons are labelled for the "family" groups in the 2 primary ROM banks. Unfortunately, the families are different for the orchestral expansion. The orchestral expansion ships with an overlay for the buttons with updated labels, but it would be easily lost, especially on a dark stage.

Navigating through patches is a pain. The organization described above has several annoying drawbacks. For example, there are 32 piano patches in ROM spread across two groups and 2 banks within each group. If there's a particular patch that you like you need to remember which group it's in - you can't just press the "piano" button and instantly have access to all piano patches. Also, the distribution of patches across groups doesn't always match your preferences. For example, some sythnthesized instruments such as strings are with synths, others with pads, and others with their acoustic siblings. The sixteen labelled buttons are a good idea, but the user should be able to group patches within those buttons anyway s/he wants, even putting one patch under multiple buttons if appropriate.

In fairness, I dislike the patch selection/navigation methods on most complex keyboards including the Yamaha S80 described in more detail below). But the PC2x seems more annoying than most. Programming is easy for some tasks and hard for others. There are special modes that enable you to build layers and splits with very few button presses - very handy for building quick patches on the fly. Modifying effects and scrolling through parameters is also relatively simple. When doing more detailed programming there are some shortcuts that are very handy once you learn them.

The most frustrating part of patch editing is with synthensizer patches. You can tell there's a full-blown synth engine buried under the hood but the user interface doesn't provide you with direct access to it. From the editing menus there's no way to control which synth modules (e.g., filters) are linked into a program and you can't tell which MIDI controls are linked to which parameters (e.g., cutoff frequency). You have to find a program that's sort of set up the way you want and then experiment with different sound sources and MIDI control settings. The manual only documents the architecture of half of the ROM programs and then only in summary form. This is definitely not the board to get if you're into building/tweaking modular synth patches.

In contrast, KB3 mode (Hammond B3 emulation) editing and control is a breeze. You have direct control over all 9 waveforms in real time. You can control voice (slider) volumes, effects, and percussion with dedicated buttons and sliders. LEDs on the buttons give you instant feedback as to what's on/off. A dedicated switch toggles the four sliders between B3 voices 1-4 and 5-8 (the mod wheel controls voice 9). The sliders reverse their orientation to match a real tone-wheel orientation - you pull them down to increase voice volume. Some serious thought and design went into the performance control aspects of the B3 organ emulation with excellent results.

Polyphony is 64 notes and you usually get all of them in contrast to some other boards. However, KB3 mode eats 56 notes of polyphony so building layers with the KB3 organs is limited. There are some good non-KB3 organs that can be used in layers without eating lots of polyphony. There was a 128 polyphony expansion that was marketed briefly but I haven't seen mention of it in press or anywhere else for quite some time. That silence makes me think that there were serious problems with it - ones that aren't likely to be corrected in this model.

There are an ample number of controls and the board is well-suited to controlling other keyboards and sound modules. The MIDI implementation is extensive and control is straightforward. The keyboard can split into 4 zones controlling any combination of internal or external sounds. The selection of onboard effects is good though figuring out which MIDI controls control which effect parameters isn't always straightforward.

The power supply is the "lump in the line" variety - a minus in my view.

There's a very usable arpeggiator.

The keyboard is weighted action though it definitely leans toward a "synth feel" - light and springy. I don't like the action but then I'm used to acoustic pianos and my heavily weighted Yamaha KX88. Other people who've tried my board like it.

The unit only comes with one pedal and it's very cheap. I invested in a double switch pedal unit and a heavy duty continuous controller pedal. They're necessary investments if you'll be using complex patches on stage. There's an optional music stand that's good-looking but pricey and a bit flimsy.

I own 3 Kurzweil 1000 series rack modules and have kept them all of these years due to their high quality samples and overall sound quality (they live at home, the PC2x lives at the practice room). The PC2x sounds are significantly better than the 1000 series sounds, which is high praise. The quality of the acoustic samples ranges from good to outstanding.

Strings and pianos are the strongest sounds though there are very few disappointments. The orchestral expansion is now standard in new units (I bought mine as an add on) and it adds many more acoustic sounds. There's an entire symphony orchestra in the unit and many more sounds in addition.

The synthesized sounds are also of high quality though lack of editing/control limits your ability to tweak them to your taste. The organ sounds are awesome - better than any of the dedicated digital B3 simulators that I've tried of late (e.g., the VK8). If you need a stage keyboard that's strong on organs and pianos this is the unit for you.

The effects are strong and there's a large section of them. The quality is more than adequate for stage, though not always up to studio recording standards. There are several "combo packs" designed for organ with rotary speaker and amplifier overdrive - very convincing simulations. I especially like that you can control low and high Leslie rotation speeds and the realistic ramp time when switching between speeds.

I've had mine for 9 months now with no problems. My 1000 series modules have had relatively few problems, though 2 of the 3 have needed minor repairs (they were built in the late 1980s). Kurzweil was bought out by Young Chang in the early 1990s so I'm not sure that experience with older units is a valid guide to expectations for new units. The case is sturdy and the controls feel solid. There are no protruding knobs or other obviously disaster prone aspects of the unit. So far so good.

I've never dealt with them directly. I have used their web site quite a bit and it's relatively good. I downloaded and installed a software upgrade with minimal hassles. There's an excellent tutorial on-line that's a must read for anyone who wants to get the most out of the board.

I've been playing piano for almost 40 years and have been playing in various bands for almost 10 years. I'm primarily into live performance though I also do some recording and composing. I needed a unit that could do multiple things well and that could be my only stage unit for at least a year. My band plays 1960s through current R&R with an emphasis on 1960s through early 80s "classic" rock.

I tried out quite a few boards over several weeks before purchasing this one in June 2002. The competition quickly narrowed down to the PC2x, Yamaha S80 (now the S90), and Roland RD700.

The S80 is a better synthesizer and a bit easier to use than the PC2x. I also liked its keyboard action better than the PC2x. There are also, quite a few expansion modules available for it. However, it's not nearly as good of an organ as the PC2x, primarily because it lacks all of the performance control aspects of KB3 mode on the PC2x.

The RD700 is hurt by weak organ sounds, lack of programming/editing flexibility, and relatively low "bang for the buck" compared to the other two. It would be best suited to folks that are happy with the sounds in the unit and who do minimal layering and patch editing.

My ideal unit would have excelled at acoustic instruments (especially piano), B3 organ, and synthesizer sounds. None of the units that I tried delivered on all three. The PC2x won out for me due to its strength in acoustic instruments and organs. The Yamaha would have won out had I been more concerned with synth sounds and less with organs. I decided that it'd be easier to find good synth sounds in an add-on module or second keyboard (e.g., a Roland or Waldorf) than to find a good usable organ in an add-on module or 2nd keyboard. I have a Waldorf Q16 on order to fill in the synth capabilities that the PC2x doesn't provide.

OS Version 3.10. The PC2X is a relatively straight forward keyboard. I've had it over a year now and use it live and in the studio. Most presets are usuable and the pianos are fabulous (which is why I bought it). I haven't attempted to edit any of the sounds as of yet. The manual is o.k. but could be a little more "down to earth". I wish some of these electronic audio companies would write manuals like Mackie or at least E-MU.

I have the black PC2X with 64 voice polyphony which is upgradable to 128 if you have an extra $379 US. The effects are nice especially the reverb. It pays to listen to this keyboard via the digital out cable and at 24 bit Pro- mode. I missed this feature during the first few months of ownership and was very pleased at how much better the sound was when this change was made. This will help your studio recordings 100% better from this board. I also purchased the Orchestral ROM block recently...nice percussion, strings and choirs. My next update to this keyboard is the Polyphony expansion board. 64 voices may sound like a lot, but when sequencing numerous sounds I need that extra breathing room.

I mainly bought this board for live performance of piano sounds and a controller. So, it has definitely come thru on this. The onboard effects are really top notch for a keyboard. The keys are not the best I've ever played but haven't stuck on me yet and react nicely to velocity and aftertouch. There are some issues with a clanging, metal type, vibration when hitting some of the keys hard. I tightened up the screws on the bottom of the housing and it helped some but there is still some noise in this area. This hasn't been a real big issue for me but just so you will know what to check for.

I've had a few issues here that are worth mentioning. First, uploading a new software version to the PC2X was not easy for me. I was not successful using my MAC but was successful using my PC (which i hate to admit). I really believe it had alot to do with my MIDI interface rather than the keyboard. I have since purchased a new MOTU midi interface to hopefully remedy this. Just so you know, the updates are loaded into the PC2X via MIDI. There is no floppy drive. My main complaint is: THE POWER SUPPLY IS RETARDED! It has a flimsy connector to the keyboard and this huge wall-wart looking thing in the middle. I was forced to buy a new power supply after only 6 months of use when my keyboard kept shutting itself off during rehearsals and PERFORMANCES. This is not acceptable. I bought 2 more power cables (at $55 each) from Kurzweil just to have some backups. So far with the new power cable the problem hasn't surfaced again. Hopefully that is the end of that nonsense. A word of warning: Make sure that big blob in the middle of the power supply cord is UPRIGHT and in a decent ventilated area or it may heat up and go out on you without warning which will either bring out the "showman" in you or leave you looking like a deer staring at an automobile's headlights. I survived. My lower reliablity rating is based on this issure alone.

I have made a few phone calls to Kurzweil. The parts dept. has always been helpful. The email support is slow. My price paid includes the Orchestral ROM and 2 extra power cords.

I really like this keyboard and would buy another one. The failure of the power supply really bummed me out though. I know "these things happen". So I would be willing to give it another shot if this one disappeared because the sounds are that good.

version 2 and i'd like to point out that many of the problems these people are submiting are bugs related to version 1 software. the manual is a little complicated but if you actully read it (unlike the first guy who obviosly did not because he faild to notice there are six sliders in kb3 mode not 4 sliders) then it is actully quite easy to use even when playing live.

64note polyphony. great weighted action. 150multiple effects and 30 reverbs all editable, what more could one want? the guitar sounds are a little weak, but they're great considering it's a keyboard and ambiance can be added with the right effects and eq. i'm also a melodic percussionist and it is my opinion as well as the others i play with that this is the closer to (if not better) than the sound of the melodic percusion instruments. and is certainly the best we've ever heard in any keyboard. every sound on the board is outstanding in my opinion and the fetures (if you read the manual) are very versatile.

see above ^.

if read some of the other reviews and must say if u treat any insturment poorly it's going to work poorly. i haven't had this board long but it's built like a tank and i would certainly use it without a back up.

outstanding, i would recomend this board to any experienced muscian looking for great sounds and a midi controler. let's not even bring korg, anyone stupid enough to use korg is hardly a muscain (possibly a rapper!) i chose this board for it's outstand fexibilty, sound quality, reliablity, and overall supiorarity in the keyboard feild. there are somethings i wish i had for it, and hopefully will get in time (more pedals, controlers, ect..) this board makes making music fun and easy with all the sounds it includes and the ease of tailoring them to your needs. and is considerable less money than other fully weight 88key boards with the sounds,control, and quality this thing has. i'd also like to share to those who have complained so much to get off their lazy arses and read the d*** instruction manual,stupid!!

OS version 2.10

The interface is pretty intuitive, I haven't had to use the manual all that often honestly. The KB3 mode was a bit confusing until I found out where all the buttons were (for percussion, chorus/vibrato and leslie sim), but after I read it in the manual I noticed all buttons were labeled, heh.

it has 64 note polyphony, expandable to 128. Great built in effects, expansion capabilities (but I have little use for the orchestral card or the polyphony expansion). I like the action. No sequencer, but I use this thing mainly for live and have no use for it. One thing I would love however is if they had 8 sliders instead of just the four, as on the K2600. This would make playing in the kb3 mode a little easier. 9 would be even better.

The pianos are incredible for live, the samples sound beautiful and cut through very well (main reason I bought it). The kb3 / hammond is okay. The Rhodes and wurly samples are not the greatest, but usable. I use a rhodes stage 73 and a wurlitzer 200 live when I can, but when I have to use the Kurz instead I don't grit my teeth too bad, heh. The clav sounds alright (though I'm on the hunt for a D6 right now).

The controller is made by Fatar. Fatar made the controller in my last road keyboard (Ensoniq ks-32, heh). It lasted 8 years and was knocked around quite a bit. Of course, by the time I finally retired it a bunch of keys were dead and several keys were no longer velocity sensitive, but the hell I put it through it's amazing it didn't spontaneously combust. I like the way fatar's feel. And if the pc2x lasts 8 years, I would be thrilled. By that time I'm sure I will have purchased a new keyboard anyway. I have gigged moderately with my pc2x for about a year (2-3 times a week) and so far the only problem is the plastic covering on the wires coming out of the power supply has worn off and some of the wires are visible (though the shielding on the individual wires is still intact). I hate the "lump in the line" style power supply, I already bought a spare because I know it's just a matter of time before the thing tears up. Other than that though, everything's gravy. Interestingly, after hearing horror stories about reliablity on this board I made sure to test the model I was buying in the store. This had the black finish on it, played great. Then they called me back saying that a church had ordered the black one, there was a mixup and asked me if I would kindly exchange it for a purple one. Being the nice guy that I am, I packed up the board and took it down to the shop. Tested the purple one, it had some sticky keys. Naturally I kept the black one. I know that the black ones are newer than the purple ones, and now I'm curious if there was any change in the manufacturing process.

never had to deal with them

I love the pianos on this keyboard, which is the main reason I bought it. There is no other keyboard on the market right now that I would rather have for live use. I love the way it feels, I love the fact that it's about 20 pounds lighter than the k2600x and a great deal cheaper too. I like the fact that it has exactly the features I need for live and I'm not paying for anything I won't use in terms of both weight and price. I would highly recommend this keyboard to a friend, but I would have them make sure they play it before taking it home to make sure it works well.

Nothing else on the market compares to the PC2x in this catagory.

I bought this board primarily for it's control functions. Pianos and electric pianos are the best on this one.

The keyboard needs to be resigned, with RELIABILITY as it's first concern...not last. Clunky keys, two keys that lost their control ability and only played at FULL VELOCITY no matter how hard or soft I played - are the two biggest complaints I have.

After playing Kurzweil products for 10 years and after reading all the various opinions today - I've concluded that buying a Kurzweil PC2x is a roll of the dice. For all the great features, MIDI capabilities, and sounds - there is the bigger picture of lasting quality, and responsible investment. The church I played for bought this one for me to use - and now I am in the market for a controller for myself. At about two thousand dollars - I'm having second thoughts about investing in a Kurzweil PC2x soley based on reliability.

I want to post this update to my previous review. I did not mention a way to expand the range of dynamics on the PC2X.
Mike Martin, the Kurzweil Rep, was very patient and helpful in helping me to discover the following solution:

Expanding the Dynamic Range on Kurzweil's PC2X Piano:

Here is a setup to expand the reaction range of dynamics from soft to loud on the PC2X piano patches:

Velocity Scale: 100%
Velocity Offset: 0
Velocity Curve: "Sin+"
Global "Touch Setting": 7 Hard 3 (to compensate for the "light" Sin+ curve)

Thanks to Mike Martin, the Kurzweil Rep, for taking the time and making the effort for his customers. Other companies do not provide such hands on support.

Now is there a way to edit so the timbre (tone) quality changes more
dramaticly from vey soft to very loud? It sounds a little "boxy" : )

Vesrion 2.0
The "Rhodes" samples sound like shrill digital squeaks in the top two octaves.

The mechanical key action is comfortable. It is made by Fatar and feels like a Fatar weighted action. Some black keys "clack" as if they are knocking against the inside of the housing. The PC2X accepst expansion boards, but in two years all they have come out with is an orchestral expansion.

The range of dynamic reactions on the Kurzweil PC2X 'Stereo Grand' is limited.

I have spoken to many fellow keyboardists who agree with me and report the same situation of experiencing a limited reaction range of dynamics on the PC2X's triple strike "Stereo Grand 00" no matter how the the velocity curve and touch settings are tweeked.

Yamaha Clavinova series digital pianos and even the Roland Rd series do not limit the reaction range of dynamics as does the Kurzweil PC2X digital piano. Those other digital pianos enable a much more reactive range of dynamics thru touch. The Yamaha Clavinovas and Roland RD700 enable a skilled classical pianist to play from a very soft triple pianissimo then easly thru a dozen different dynamic levels all the way up to a thundering triple forte.

I have been playing the PC2X for about 3 to 4 hours per day for the past two years. Before that I played a Fatar 1176 with a Kurzweil Micro Piano for three years. The Fatar with Micro Piano suffered the same limited reaction range of dynamics, which is why I sold the Fatar.

Tweaking the presets of any of the PC2X's three velocity scales and seven touch settings does not enable the PC2X "Stereo Grand 00" or its other acoustic piano patches to expand their reaction ranges in response to velocity touch. Rather it just shifts the reaction range up or down the velocity scale or in some cases compresses it further than the default Linear curve.

Fatar actions are rather delicate and wear out quicker than other brands. I base this on word of mouth and having owned Fatar controllers in the past.

Kurzweil staff and sales reps do not care to acknowledge problems or weaknesses in their products.

I'm using this keyboard both live (in small group settings), as a practice instrument, and as a MIDI controller for computer-based sequencing. I'm still using OS2.1, although I understand there's an upgrade available now, which I will get when I add the orchestral ROM that's finally available.

The manual's just OK. The downloadable tutorials were more useful for me.

Presets sound good and are very usable with little or no tweaking, especially live in an ensemble. Editing and saving patches/presets is possible, and I've done it mostly to take best advantage of controller pedals (I'm using two CC and three switches).

Keyboard has the best piano feel of any (many) I tried. It feels weird to play Hammond parts or synth parts on it, but what are you going to do if you only want to carry one keyboard? I will certainly be adding the orchestral ROM, and may add the voice expansion at the same time, although the voice limitation only kicks in when I'm using a sequencer to get a lot of parts out of it at once.

I'm seriously tempted to try the ribbon controller accessory. It's really cheap and if it works at all (which I bet it does) it could be a lot of fun.

The sounds are the best in class. It was the sound and the keyboard feel that put it over the Triton ProX for me. It needs graphic EQ in my opinion, however, to balance out the sound from top to bottom.

I use it for orchestral, rock, and jazz sounds and it always gives me something usable. It's not going to retire the Steinway B (or B3) at home or in the studio, especially when you're going to be unaccompanied, but you'll probably end up leaving the rhodes or wirlitzer at home when you gig.

I've been gigging on it regularly without a backup and have had no problems other than one location with flaky older AC. The PC2 kept resetting during setup until I found a new circuit to plug it into.

No problems thus far, thus no experience.

I think of this as my "swiss army knife" keyboard, especially playing live in small groups. I use it when I want to take just one keyboard that will almost certainly be able to cover whatever is called for. I started playing professionally in the late 60s and I have, or have had, pretty much every keyboard there is at one time or another. Most (but not all) have been "the best" (better than the PC2) at one or two things, but never with the extended flexibility of the PC2. If you only need to sound like Jimmy Smith all night (and have two roadies to help), take the B3 and leave the PC2 at home. If you need a wider variety of sounds and expecially if you are tired of moving and setting up a ton of keyboards,look at the PC2.

If I lost it, I would seriously look at a Kurzweil K2600X for the added sound and programming options, but as soon as I picked up the K2600 in a case, I bet I would go back to the lighter PC2X. Life is full of compromises; the PC2X is an acceptable one.

Version 2.10, upgrading to 3.0

Probably one of the best designed keyboards around. In a nutshell, the PC2/PC2X is a fantastic controller keyboard with a reasonably large set of sounds.

Most other keyboards today have samplers and sequencers included.
The PC (Performance Controller) name is perfect:

"PERFORMANCE": This is meant to be the primary keyboard you play in the studio or on stage. While it does not have as many "patches" as other keyboards, the ones there are fantastic. The keyboard has been designed to support real-time performance. For example, it is very easy to create keyboard zones and setup sounds for each zone.

"CONTROLLER": This keyboard was designed to control and integrate well with other equipment (other keyboards, sound modules, sequencers, etc.).

The manuals are easily the best in the industry. You can download .pdf versions of any Kurzweil product manual from their website (http://www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com). For the PC2, in addition to the "normal" manual, there is also a second resource, the "PC2 Made Easy" manual.

If you read reviews about other products (such as the Yamaha Motif), you will notice that people really complain about how difficult the product is to use. The PC2 is very easy to use and extremely well documented.

Polyphony: 64 Standard, 128 with Polyphony expansion option.

Action: Fantastic!!! I specfically purchased the PC2X to get 88 keys and a piano touch. I tested a number of other 88-key keyboards, and the two I liked the best were the Yamaha Motif8 and this one.

Effects: There are over 100 preset effects, very easy to use. The effects are of the same quality as found in the Kurzweil K2600 series.

Midi capabilities: It does everything. For real-time midi control, the PC2X has two wheels, and supports a number of options including various pedals, a breath controller, and a ribbon controller.

Sequencer: None. Remember, this is a controller keyboard. I don't miss it, because nothing can compare to a computer based sequencer (I use Cakewalk's Sonar).

The PC2 has a good selection of fanstastic sounds, what I would consider to be "bread and butter" sounds. There is a new Orchestral ROM board available which adds some additional great sounds.

I would not rely solely on the PC2 for sounds (it really wasn't designed that way). You might consider combining the PC2 with a sound module (such as the Roland XV-5050) or a sampler (such as Gigastudio) to round out your sound palette. I am lowering my rating in this category only because I wish it had more sounds.

Expressiveness: Extremely expressive !! Remember, this keyboard was designed first and foremost to be a PERFORMANCE controller!!

Although I have only had this keyboard for a weeek, it seems very sturdy and substantial to me. Having said that, it might be a heavy beast to take on a gig (I am just a home-studio musician).

I have only sent in two email questions, and both were answered by Tech support within two days. I know others reviewers have been disappointed, but my experience has been great!!

BUY IT AGAIN?: I would definitely buy this again.

COMPARISON TO OTHER PRODUCTS: I wanted an 88 key keyboard to be my primary studio keyboard. I already have a Korg Karma (62 key), so I did not consider the Triton ProX (because it has the same sound ROM as the Karma). I picked the PC2X over my other finalist the Yamaha Motif8. I demoed both keyboards at the store (2x for 1 hour each), and I reviewed their product websites, read various online reviews, and downloaded and skimmed the manuals for both. While the Motif had more sounds, I did not feel it was worth the extra money. As a controller keyboard, the Motif is poorly designed and difficult to use. I think the controller aspect of the Motif was an afterthought, whereas, in the PC2 it was a critical design element.

MY GEAR: I have a Korg Karma (light touch keyboard, unbelievable Karma function), Roland XV-5050 sound module, a BOSS DR-770 Drum Machine, Gigastudio, TC-Helicon VoicePrismPlus (4-part voice harmonizer and voice modeler), Midiman Midisport 8x8 (multiport midi) and an Aardvark DirectPro Q10 sound card.

Very intuitive learning curve. I bought another PC2X for a spare after about a month. I edited a setup that uses the four sliders for controller #7 (midi volume) and the CC pedal is set for controller #10 (midi expression). This way, I can set the volume on the sliders and use the volume pedal to fade the whole balanced sound. I am also using Voce's drawbar system to run the KB3, and it works like a champ.

The piano sound is the best I have played for exposed parts in a band or solo venue, but it sounds best in stereo. Mono is terrible for the KB3 sounds (the leslie sounds too fast and dopplery). The workaround for me was to leave the keyboard in stereo and run out of the left side of the keyboard to the mixer, but leave a cable plugged into the right side of the keyboard going to nowhere. That way you are only hearing half of the leslie effect and it sound normal.

I notice that when I have four zones active in a setup, that the notes flam if I play too fast or with too many simultaneous notes.

I like the action's feel, but after working at Guitar Center for a while, I have heard of numerous complaints of broken keys by heavy-handed players. Use good technique and this is not an issue.

I use the PC2X for jazz and I use it in a contemporary praise and worship band. Lot's of organ, piano and synth pads.

One of my units started locking up (no sound) for no reason at all. I have to re-boot it to get the sound back. I suspect that I impart a static electrical charge to the keyboard when I walk across the floor. But I have been using it for about a year before this started to happen.

Very prompt to email back. Slow to send parts to a repair center though. It seems that spare parts are always on back-order.

As I have said, I bought two PC2X's, mostly because I love the pianos. I have a K2500RS and the PC2X pianos sound better to me, better than the K2600 also. Yamaha come in second in the piano catagory, followed by Roland, then Korg.

Este piano usa el software 2.1 de la Kurzweil.Los sonidos son lo mejor del mercado y apesar de que es un MIDI CONTROLLER tiene muchooooos sonidos.La percusion es real y los drums tambien.Suenan como si los estuvieras escuchando al lado tuyo.Debido a que el manual es en inlges se me hace un poco dificil entender cada funcion de los botones.

La accion es formidable!!!!!!!!!!!.yo he tocado pianos de cola y no hay mucha diferencia.Es hammer-action y es biennnnnn real.Los efectos son faciles de programar pero como dije anteriormente el manual es en ingles.Tiene para expandir a 128 voces polifonicas y para mas sonidos.No tiene sequencer.

Todooooooooos se escuchan reales.Funciona para todo tipo de musica desde clasico hasta rock.Esta BRUTALLLLLL.Tiene buena respuesta a los dedos,es casi igual a un piano real.

Este piano yo lo uso para todooooooooooo.

Todavia no he intentado comunicarme con ellos.

Pase lo que pase este piano lo volveria a comprar 100 veces mas pues es lo mejor.LO que me gusta de este piano es todoooooooo.Para yo hacer esta compra busque muchas marcas y estilos de piano y precios y este fue el MEJORRRRRRRRRRRRR.

I have just bought this board and did my first gig with it last night (3 days after having it). It performed brilliantly! Version 2.1 software was pre-installed and the presets are fantastic. The piano sounds are the best there are (having stuck to Roland religiously before this - they are good, but the Kurzweil sounds and feels like playing a piano). The big bonuses with this instrument were the electric pianos and KB3 organ mode. You don't need anything else! Editing patches was easy as this isn't a full synth and being able to tweak the pianos to your own personal taste, so I have recreated some of the Roland piano sounds I liked (as on the FP3)and also have much richer piano sounds which this board provides. Haven't used the manual much at all - just got straight into it, however the downloadable tutorials will be more helpful than the manual,I feel.

The keyboard action is certainly different to the Roland PA5 action that I was used to. At first,I thought that the Roland action was the best there is, but I did find it hard to play (cut my little finger 3 times !). The Pc2's action is so easy,in comparison to the Roland that I thought it was more a synth player's action. BUT - at the gig, I also played a Steinway grand and I have to say that the Kurzweil's action was much nearer to the feel of this!
It has all the features you could want.

The sounds are very realistic - I've even found a brass sound that works in the mix! I felt that this instrument became a part of me as the gig went on and I found it to be a very expressive instrument.

I had read many horror stories about this instrument from other users on this site and was a little nervous about taking it out. My fears have, so far, been unfounded.

Customer support was a very important issue for me, living in the U.K. The shop I purchased the instrument from will collect my instrument and supply another whilst repairs are made under warranty. So I was completely satisfied with this arrangement. Upgrades are downloadable from the net which is another great feature.

I'd be heartbroken if it were lost or stolen and I'd buy it again - QUICKLY. It was definitely worth the money as I feel I now own a truly PROFESSIONAL instrument, which the Roland never quite seemed to be.

This keyboard is very simple to operate. The sound banks are set-up in a very user-friendly, easy-to-access format.

The keyboard action is terrific.

The sounds are amazing... the pianos are incredible (very realistic). The effects are amazing! I am very excited for the new expansion boards to come out.

I have only owned it for a few days.

I would definitely buy it again if it were lost or stolen. I have been playing keyboards for over 10 years and have owned the following: Ensoniq EPS, VFX-SD, Korg T-3,Kurzweil K2500X, Yamaha s-80, Roland JV-880. Kurzweil has the BEST sounds by far!! The only issue with the PC2X is that it does not have an onboard sequencer, HOWEVER, I don't like onboard sequencers.. I am looking to get into Cakewalk on the computer... The PC2X is the Perfect controller for this.

This is an update on my previous review from about a year ago. I now have if boxed and ready to ship to a buyer in Houston, so I thought I'd put out another review explaining why I changed my tune on this board. I have now done about a year and a half of twice a weekish gigging with this thing as well as studio work and I have some new observations.

I'm now using version 2.1, which I downloaded off the kurzweil website. If you haven't done this, you really should. It's a bit of a pain to do it all, but you'll get a whole new bank of sounds and some improved features. More on this later.

The presets sound pretty darn good right out of the box. However, patch editing is really not something you should attempt on this thing. It takes some serious time and mind twisting to create a new patch on this thing. First of all, you have to find a sound that has similar architecture to the one you want to make, because you can't edit anything like stereo or mono, what filters or eq's or whatnot to use, etc. Then, most sounds have 2-4 layers, each with it's own parameters that you can't change except for number values. Yeah, it's quirky. The frustrating thing about it is that it's very obvious that the people at Kurzweil have total control over all this stuff with their computers or whatever. All the new sounds in 2.1 are testimony to that. So how come they make the keyboard able to be edited at a deeper level but don't let anyone else but them do it?! Hey kurzweil, how about a patch editor program? That would double the value of the keyboard.

The manual is informative and clear. It's not interesting and enjoyable like some of Korg and Line 6's stuff, but it's helpful.

64 voice polyphony. Ooo. Ahhh. DON'T BE FOOLED! Most patches contain multiple layers, so divide that number by 3 or 4 sometimes. There is an expansion board which increases it to 128, but it's bucko bucks. No thanks man.

The effects ROCK. Sweet reverbs, chorus, flange, delay, phaser, laserverb, compressors, distortions, combos, you name it. This is one area that really shines. Editing them is usually straitforward, but to this day, I still can't figure out the delays. There isn't a plain, normal, basic delay effect in there. Everything else is good. So good in fact that it gets annoying to only be able to use one at a time. TWO EFFECTS PROCESSORS? Well, yeah, but the second one only does reverb. So, if you want a midi setup with a B-3 using the rotary-speaker effect and a wurly using the e-piano distortion, your out of luck. But hey, just pan em apart and send the wurly through your POD, right? Doesn't work, you can't pan the organ or something like that, it's quirky.

Expansion... Ahhh, if only... BUT NO. "But wait!" you say, "On the box it says 'expandable to 64mb of sound rom!' " Yeah, if they would ever release the expansion cards. I've been told a couple of times by kurzweil sales reps in the last year that they're comming "in the next month or so." I'm waiting guys.

MIDI capabilities are absolutely fantastic, suffice to say there's not much you can't do. Control, control, control. So much that it's easy to accidentally mess something up in midi setup mode if you don't know what every parameter does and how it effects the others. I had a couple giggin disasters while hurdling this mild learning curve, but it wasn't long before I had it under control. You'll be fine, I promise. If you have a specific question, e-mail me.

No Sequencer,

In order of importance to me:
Piano- 9
KB-3 mode-7
Wurly-7
Rhodes-7
Clav-8
Strings-6
other organs-5
synths-6
Bass-6
Drums-8
Vibes-8
percussion-8

Overall the sounds are quite good. After some time, the KB-3 mode started to dissapoint me. The rotary simulation eats it hard in mono, but its actually pretty good in stereo. (I'm extremely picky about this) The chorus/vibrato scanner simulation is so so. Overall, it just doesn't have the rawness of a real B-3 like the Korg CX-3 or the Nord Electro does. Granted, this is a super-multi-funtion keyboard and with that considered, its good. But on it's own, its just ok. From a performance standpoint, the weighted keys REALLY get in the way, I bled a few times from glissando wipes. The drawbar system is slow, but I'd rather have that than a bunch of presets. Also, the lag between all the other sounds and the KB-3 is substantial. If you need a piano on a verse and a organ on the chorus, you're gonna be hitting the chorus late. Yes, you can use the KB-3 in Midi setups, so you could have the organ on the top and the piano on the bottom, but this gets to be a pain very quickly if you start editing, there's some conflicts between the KB-3 and everything else in the keyboard that slow things down alot.

Though the pianos are good and the action itself is good, their marriage is not a good one. Something about the trigger points really screws me up, and I'm not the only one. I notice it mostly when I'm starting songs, which is also the most noticable part of my performaces! It's hard to describe, but it's something like this: The volume dynamics of the actual sound are not that great, so when it's just you, you feel like you're playing to loud, but you can't play any softer. Plus, the trigger points on the keys are very high, so every touch of the key makes a sound, and not a soft one. It's somewhat better if I turn the volume down, but then I start triggering the medium or high velocity samples, wich are melow sounding like the way that I'm playing and I also get the sound guys telling me to stop changing my volume. Though it seems nitpicky, it was actually hindering me from establishing a solid rhythm for the singer I play with to sing to. I've been playing piano for 14 years and keyboard for 6, always under constant study and practice, this shouldn't be a problem with my playing. I was telling a friend about the problem one day and there was a real piano near by. To show him my problem, I played the exact same piece the exact same way on the piano. To my surprise, the problem was gone, the rhythm was easily established. So, it's deffinately the keyboard. You'll have to try it for yourself to see if you experience this same problem.

I was happy to have wurlies on this thing, there's really only two patches in this category in which an attempt at realism was made. They are very good, I really enjoyed them. The crossover points are REALLY obvious, but I usually added a little overdrive anyways, so it was alright. The rhodes are almost as good. The clavs are cool, one has a really nice wah-phaser effect on it. There's actually an audible sound of the hammers comming back down if you listen for it. Try this-hit one note on a dry clav sample and hold it till the sample ends, then let go and you'll hear what I'm talking about. Nice touch.

Strings are so so, don't buy the keyboard for them. Drums are very usable, especially with a sequencer. Basses... well, I just can't stand a fake bass sound, so I've always either played it on a real bass or done a moog drone sort of thing from my korg electribe. Synths are alright, but the editing fiasco really hurts here. They sound cool, so you want to mess with the cutoff frequency and the resonance filter and the envelope and ring mod and sync and LFO and on and on. But you can't really. What you hear is what you get, for the most part. You can get around on the lowpass filter, but it takes some work. The vibes are re

Never had a problem except once. One time I played an outdoor gig, and the people ran the whole show on one outlet, lights, amps, mixers, everything. VERY STUPID. The voltage was really screwed up and the keyboard would literally lock up if I played too hard. At one point, a big chorus hit came and I did a big organ and piano hit and it froze on that huge chord while the rest of the band played on. Nothing worked, not the volume, nothing. Meanwhile, this huge noise is continuing to eminate from my part of the stage as I freaked out and turned blood red. The best I could do was turn it off and on again at the end of the chorus. DO NOT DEPRIVE THIS THING OF VOLTAGE!

For the most part, kurzweil has been fast to respond to me e-mails and usually helpful and informative. However, they've been acting like they're expansion boards are about to come out for a year now. Also, they kinda screwed me on the resale of this thing. It now lists for $1750 ish. Well, they're selling refurbished ones with a full warrantyt for $1350. So, if I want to appeal to buyers at all, I gotta start at $1150. I complained about this to them, and they said that they usually don't do that and that there's not many of those and blah blah blah. BUT, I had 3 out of 3 buyers quote that price to me. That's how I found out about the refurbished thing at all! I'm shipping mine to Houston for $1125 and I'm paying for shipping. I'm sorry, but I don't appreciate that Kuzweil, my love affair with you is over. Even if none of those buyers could have gotten a refurbished keyboard, that price is out there, complicating the market for used PC2x's, making it even more of a headache than it already is.

Good board, but not for a gigging musician. I'm selling mine for the negative remarks I mentioned above plus the fact that it's 60 lbs with its gig bag and its a monster of a keyboard in size. I wouldn't dream of flying with it, it could be 100lbs with a hard case. NO WAY! For a home/project studio, it's a dream come true for the most part. But as a performance synth, it's just too heavy. Some of you avid kurzweil fans might remember seeing a silver, 61 key version debuted at a music NAMM show sort of thing in Europe. The PC2M. Wouldn't it be lovely? Well, they're not going to put it into production. They don't think people would put up that much money for a 61 key keyboard when the 76 note version isn't that much more. There's always the PC2R, but then you don't get all the midi control. I was pretty negative in this review simply because there's not too many negative reviews on this thing because it is, in all fairness, a good board, and there are several things about it I will miss. But I won't miss the weight, the size, the weird piano/action thing, and the quirky editing.
The big question with this is "PC2, S-80, or XV-88." Well, if a good B3 simulation is high on your list, the PC2 is the best. The piano on the S-80 is really really good, maybe better than the PC2, I dunno. The S-80 really has the keyboard-sound connectiong nailed better, that's for sure. Plus, you have way more editing on that thing. The XV-88 is cool and all, it's really expandable, it makes sound if you wave at it (yippidy skip) and it's a Roland. I dunno, to me, Roland in the antithesis of personality-less musical instruments these days. But, if you like Roland stuff, then maybe you would like that thing. Keep in mind, sample playback is all it does. The PC2 does the organ simulation and the S-80 has a deep synthesis architecture. The XV-88 is... canned keyboards. But, it does sound very good, and Butch Taylor (Dave Mattew's keyboard player) uses it, so, I could be wrong. Although I never really like Butch's work that much.

As you can see, I can talk about this thing forever, so e-mail me questions, I'll give your more information than you really wanted to know.

I found the manual really easy to read and understand, especially the PC2 Made Easy manual. Any new equipment takes time to adjust to and understand fully. I would say the learning curve for this machine is about 3 weeks. The preset sounds are great, of course its a Kurzweil. Especially the pianos and organs (they are for real). It's a snap to edit sounds via endless digital effects and layering and splitting is quick and easy. I don't mind using the sliders versus knobs, since I have my setups ready for live perfomance and hardly find it necessary to tweak sounds all that much during perfomance.

Poly is 64, plenty...but I plan on purchasing the 128 expansion soon. Like I said before, effects are endless and easy to use. It has to expansion options, not yet released by Kurzwiel. MIDI in/out/thru, great controller, I don't use any other board, just MIDI everything to it mainly because the weighted keys are the best I've played on a synth and I have pretty heavy fingers. I can pound away on this board and get the same expressiveness as if I was on a grand. Plus Kurzweil will throw in a free piano type sustain pedel to boot.

This is where this board really shines. Best piano and organ sounds out there. I've played everything under the sun, Roland, Korg, Yamaha etc. and still haven't found anything comparable to the sounds on this board. The strings are very rich and it has some great pads too. The Wurly and Rhodes are top quality too, but I don't use them much. I play mostly layered piano (dynamic stage piano-the best)with strings or pads)I couldn't be more pleased.

Actually I did have a sticky key, but it worked itself out due to my excessive use of the machine (5 hours a day). A couple of the keys started to click one day, so I scanned my memory and found an article I had read about fixing this problem by just tightening the screws on the bottom of the board. Problem solved.

Haven't used it yet, but did download a new manual online.

If it were lost or stolen I would definately buy it again. I don't think I could play anything else now. It was definately worth the $1600 I paid for it, I know it was a steal. It has everything I need, I use my Motif for putting everything together as far as composing goes, but all my piano layers and organ sounds come from this board.

Jonathan wrote,
"My PC2x has had NO problems in 11 months of use and transport, minus an unrelated sticky key. This is due to the way the internal
components are laid out inside and the way the casing is fitted together. Additionaly, the
PC2 keyboard action, controls, and sounds are much better than the SP88X, so
opinions of the PC2x based on the SP88x are without basis."

This is why Kurz products lack reliability. A sticky key already? I've abused various Roland & Yamaha synths for over 10 years and never had a problem. No sticky keys, no weird sound, no nothing. Also, Jonathan is comparing the PC2x with a poorer product, the SP88 to evaluate its reliability. What's the point? I'm not criticizing the sound of the PC2x - it's awesome. But the reliability is not up to par with Roland & Yamaha gear. Period.

I posted the earlier review "Anonymous at 01/31/2001 23:19".
It is 11 months later and I am posting an update.
I upgraded to 2.10 which adds twice as many sound patches.
I find the keyboard easy to use and program.

I am still exceptionally pleased with the features on the this keyboard. There is more configuration options available than I ever begin to use, yet it remains simple to program and tweak.
I began to miss not having a sequencer onboard, so I bought a Yamaha QY70 (new) for $225 (guitar center). This is a great combo. So for $2050 + $225 I have an awesome keyboard/sequencer setup.

I recently went store to store to check out all the new keyboards and sound modules. The 2600 Kurzweil and the Yamaha S80 doesn't hold a candle to the PC2X piano sounds. The PC2 and PC2x use newer sound modeling and actually sound and play like a piano. Everything else, including the S80 (nice product), was a total dissapointment in the piano comparison. The additional sounds included in the 2.10 upgrade are wonderful and expressive. The new basses are quite usable. I like the new piano patches that combine other sounds without taking up any addtional polyphony (64 notes available).
This is an extrodinarily expressive keyboard with an awesome sense of touch. The aftertouch is pressure sensitive and is a natural extension of the instrument. It engages only when you want it, no matter how hard you pound the piano during normal playing.

I can depend on this keyboard fully. I have used it between 2-6 times per week (2+ hours per session) every week since January 2001.
I'm a hardware/software guy and have opened up the PC2x to examine all the inner workings. The internal layout and mechanisms are clean and solid. I cannot imagine how this keyboard would fail other than extreme abuse/accident or improper electrical voltage (use a surge protector).
The odd metal against plastic sound I described earlier was due to screws that had come loose during transit. Turning it upside down on a FLAT, soft surface, I tightened all the screws and the noise dissapeared.
Because of the weight of the PC2x, 55lbs., I usually transport it without the hardshell travel case I bought for it (22lbs). In my car, it rests supported at both ends with no support in the middle (yes, this is bad). My PC2x has had NO problems in 11 months of use and transport, minus an unrelated sticky key. This is due to the way the internal components are laid out inside and the way the casing is fitted together. Additionaly, the PC2 keyboard action, controls, and sounds are much better than the SP88X, so opinions of the PC2x based on the SP88x are without basis.

I'm waiting for the announcement of the new ROM GM sound module. I've heard that it will be soon.
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KurzList/message/3744
from Kurzweil Support.

I definitely would get the PC2x controller/keyboard again. I would recommend it as primary controller for any application. K2600 users should buy the PC2R or purchase the newly released ROM that includes the triple strike piano patches found on the PC2/PC2x.
I've seen the PC2x at Guitar Center for $1899.00

I have not yet found a keyboard that sounds as good as this one. The S80, my choice for second, does not come close to the sounds on this unit. The software version is upgradable over the internet. The Keyboard is quite easy to use live. Personally I use only the presets that are built in. I would like to see some additional sounds like pan flute, steel drums, and additional synths. The manual is good.

The keyboard action is typical of most high-end weighted keyboards. It is very good. There are plenty of built in effects and they are very good. I like the rotating speakers on the organs, it is very good. Many good reverbs also. The unit is expandable via a plug-in on the back side. Kurzweil says the plug-ins should be available soon. I rate it a 7 in this catagory only because the plug-in is not yet available. No build in sequencer. Very powerful MIDI capabilities. The keys also feature after touch, works really good on brass sounds.

All of the sounds are extremely good, very realistic there are just not enought of them. The pianos, organs, strings, guitars, vocals are IMHO the best avalialbe. Most musicians will find this keyboard excellent for any type of gig, it is however quite heavy. It is very responsive with excellent velocity and aftertouch.

I only gig on weekends now but that has been nearly every weekend for the past year that I have owned this keyboard. So far I have not had any trouble with the unit but I do transport in a hard case. The plug from the power supply (the plug that actually plugs into the back of the keyboard) is not a very good design. It is round and hard to determine the proper orientation when plugging in, especially in dim light. It would be easy to break I think. I am very cautious about this. For this reason I have reduced my rating from 10 to 8. I have confidence in the Keyboard but would never go to a gig with only one keyboard.

I have never called customer support but I did send email from their web site and they have always responded to my email questions.

If it were lost I would definately buy another one. I *MIGHT* skip the weighted keys however since it adds a lot of weight (Am I getting OLD!), I would check the PC2 (non-weighted keys). It was expensive but most good keyboards are. I love the sounds but hate the weight. I compared this keyboard with many other units. Nothing comes close to the sounds. I wish it had more sounds. It definately helps me make music. If you compare this unit with another unit be sure to use the same sound system on every instrument you audition.

better then the yamaha s80(only close one!)

not enough for the money, yamaha s80 blows it away!, but good if price was cheaper than s80

was at the guitar center for 6 hours and studied the roland 88, yamaha s80, kurzweil pc2x88 and 2600 and nothing came close to the beatiful sounds of the yamaha s80,even at 64p, NOTHING!

who knows without beating it up for a couple years

I know my friend has had a nightmare with the clanking keys of the pcx88 and says they are a pass the buck company! he wishes he would have spent more for the 2600 or bought the yamaha s80 and saved.

I am using v1.50. I've had this keyboard for 4 weeks and find it easy to navigate and use. I haven't gotten around to reading the manual yet as the controls are rather intuitive.

The action on this keyboard is a true delight. I have been wanting a baby grand for my living room for a long time. This keyboard has completely satisfied my desire. I chose this keyboard for the sounds, playabilty, and midi options (which are exceptional). Additionally, there is room for 3 foot pedals switches and 2 continuous foot controllers (expression pedals).

The piano is very realistic. I have listened to each sound and know that most are usable professionally and for recording. The exception are the basses. I found them to be lacking in both usefulness and realism. Back to the Piano sound... This is why I bought this keyboard. I tried Yamaha, Roland, Kurzweil 2500, Korg Triton, (the list goes on). This is by far the best stock piano available out of any box. Its playability and expression has truly inspired me. It is also the best Piano sample I've heard short of the GigaPiano disked based sample. I haven't bothered with the KB3 sound yet. I tried the strings and they are good. But the Piano sample is so good, I prefer to play it with no other samples. As a sound engineer and musician, I can tell the difference between this and a grand piano. In ensemble use, that difference completely disappears. For solo and personal use, the reverbs that come built into the keyboard mask the subtle differences. Only the dry piano patch (seldom used anyway) doesn't compare to a real grand. Note: you must use high quality speakers and amp (stereo) to truly enjoy this keyboard to its fullest. I don't care if you send a mono signal to the house mix, just make sure that your personal monitor is in stereo. It makes all the difference in the world. (The quality speaker and amp suggestion is true for all keyboards)

In the past 4 weeks, I have hauled this keyboard both with and without a travel case to 9 gigs. I haven't had the fainted hint of any problem. Nor have I experienced the black key noise that other posters have noted. My purchase was in the 1st week of January 2001. The only thing that has been disturbing is then sound that is made when I place the keyboard in its case or into the back of my car. An odd metal against pastic sound is made as the keyboard casing flexes as the first edge to touch the floor start to bear some weight. Again, I haven't had any trouble with the keyboard, but the flexing of casing and the strange sound makes me a little uneasy.

Without hestitation, I would certainly buy this keyboard again. It is worth twice what I paid for it. I have been playing 20+ years and own many midi devices, controllers, sound modules, and numerous other acoustical instruments. I play sax, bass, piano, flute, recorder, harmonica, and others. My point is that I know the acoustic signature and nuance of each of these real instruments and appreciate their qualities. Once again, this keyboard has the finest matched keyboard action and piano sample I have ever played. The sound signatures are all there from "pp" to "ff". Chords that only sound beautiful on a real piano actually sound beautiful on this keyboard. (ie LH: G - G, RH: D G A B D)
This keyboard has definitely inspired several songs since I've had it.
I only wish it had useful bass patches and more woodwinds.

I owned a PC88MX since they were first introduced last century. The ease of use was right on for a neophyte keyboard-programer like me. I traded that board in for the PC2X (especially after hearing the KB3 sounds) The saleman looked like he wanted to buy the PC88.

The preset sounds are excellent, even compared to the PC 88. I do miss the GM voices; I used a lot of them in set-ups, especially the brass and woodwinds.

I had version 1.5 and uploaded version 2.1 with relative ease. (I think my midi in and midi out ports are mis-marked) The upadated manual was a blessing. The factory manual was good, but had no info on the factory midi-setups. They are included in the upgraded manual.

Working with new set-ups is even easier with the PC2X. Very intuative with a short learning curve. Kurzweil has a supplemental manual for the PC88 on its web site. Get that for learning basic setting up. It is easier to follow and relates to the PC2X also

Excellent feel. I have compared it to other brands and I like it the best.

Plenty of buttons to assign stuff to. I really love using the sliders as drawbars for the organ. Very cool. very realistic B3, though I wish the ramp speed was easier to control.

There are tons of effects, including flanges and halls. I have just scratched the surface of these.

Why the proprietary semi wall wart, I do not know. I think adding the extra couple of pounds on the keyboard would be worth the ability to use a standard cord, like a computer cord, which would be easier to replace. The midi-cable-like plug interface seems very delicate to me. I won't let any of the other band members plug it in for fear soming might get forced and broken.

Beautiful piano sounds. Easy to mix sounds. I can't imagine that creating a set up with piano, bass and percussion could be any easier.
I miss the GM sounds for simple brass, woodwinds and strings. How about an upgrade, Kurzweil?

I gig with this keyboard every week end. The KB3 is the coolest thing we added to our band since lights. It has added a great dimension to the songs, and is very realistic and easy to tweak during a song.

My PC 88 had a problem with some curcuit boards coming loose after years of road work. G#4 came loose from its weighting; it still worked but it was very floppy. I think that with all the hard playing I do, all the travel, all the fluctuating New England temps, I good not ask for more from any instrument.

Never had to deal w/ Kurzweil, except to get repair location.

Music Mart in Massachusetts fixed my above problems for $200. The Boston shop screwed up a ribbon cable putting the keyboard back together, but when this was discovered, the Lowell store gave me a free loaner for 2.5 weeks, even though I did not buy the board there originally. Kurzweil:? Music Mart: 8

I'd buy another. Wished I had kept my PC88 for the kids, maybe in a few years. Buy eather one. 67 year old acoustic piano snob I know liked the feel and sounds through my Peavey KB/A 300 amp. (Think I have a problem being heard over the two guitars???)

It is everything a garage band keyboardist could want in a piano/organ/midi set up.

Software V2.10 (installed by the dealer for me, free of charge).
Presets are outstanding, much cleaner than my PC88MX.
Haven't gotten into editing patches yet, but there's not much to edit anyway (LFO, Envelope).
Manual is outstanding. Very easy to understand and walks you through all the paces with this keyboard.

It's everything I need in one keyboard: Pianos, amazing EPs (Rhodes and Wurlitzers),
and a KILLER B3 emulator Kurzweil calls KB3 Mode. The sliders and mod wheel
act as drawbars. Put through my Korg G4, only seasoned pros would be fooled.

I had experience with the PC88MX and many of the features are the same on this board.

It is an extremely easy board to use. The only problem I had initally was the clacking
of the black keys (as reported by many other reviewers). But by shifting around the PC2X
on my keyboard stand (QuikLok double-braced X) the clacking went away.

You will soon be able to install new sound banks via MIDI-SysEx, or so they say on their site.
Their site has said that since this board came out last year. I've been patient but, c'mon guys!
Hurry up with the new banks!

Oh, and they finally got around to putting a REAL Power adaptor together.
Sure it's still got the "lump in the middle" cord, but now the end that attaches
to the keyboard isn't a wimpy 9V plug. It's a good solid plug that won't
go anywhere. Kudos to Kurzweil for that improvement.

I use this for a classic rock band and it fits the bill to a T.

Pianos are outstanding. I couple this with a Roland MKS-20 for my piano sounds.
The MKS takes care of the "cutting through the mix" piano (Piano 3-7), and the PC2X pianos add
warmness to the overall piano tone. Electric Pianos are great, with a nice
selection of Rhodes and Wurlitzers. KB3 organs are amazing. I'm currently using
a Roland VK7 for my B3 sounds, but am seriously considering selling it as this
board does everything!

I bought it on a Wednesday, and was fearful after reading all the
bad experience people had with theirs. I used it at a gig that Saturday (bringing
no backup, mind you) and it performed like a champ!

My PC88 never let me down and I doubt this will.

I was having problems with Slider number 1 controlling the volume
for both Zone 1 & Zone 4 when I only wanted it to control the volume
for Zone 1.

I sent an e-mail to Kurzweil Support and David Fox e-mailed me back within
2 hours giving me the solution to my problem.

Other than that, I haven't had to deal with them. I'd rate them a 8
just for benefit of the doubt, though.

I would buy this again in a heartbeat. I've been playing piano for
over 20 years. I've been using digital pianos for about 9 of those years
and this is definitely the cream of the crop, in my opinion. The only
other boards I looked at were the Yamaha S80, but I'm not into programming
my own sounds, and the Roland A90EX, but I didn't like the action (too stiff for me)
So the Kurzweil won out. I like almost everything about this board.

The only thing I wish is that they actually had 9 sliders for the KB3 mode
as on a real B3. You have to hit a button to access the other 4 drawbars. The
highest drawbar is controlled by the mod wheel in KB3 mode.

Other than that little compalint, it's a fantastic board.

Easier to use now that Im running v2.1 of the OS. That smoothed up the midi slave issues a bit. Selecting sounds is easy - but I dont find that the second sound bank of programs contributes very much - perhaps the "flute" is almost usefull. Editing patches in easy enough once you get the hang of the layout. The manual is Good.

64 note poly as far as I know - which is enough. Keyboard action is the best that Ive felt compared to the Rolands, Yamahas, Alesis, General Music, etc. A pity there is the occasional "clack" sound that has been described by other people due to the tight chassis. THere is room for expansion cards, but Kurzweil didnt end up making the music stand attachment - I doubt that they will make the expansion boards.
Midi - a little hidden, but acts as a 16 channel slave. The effects are a little confusing to use - I dont understand how to adjust each one for each slave instrument, with no help in the manual (got most of what I know from a KEYBOARD mag). Is easily controlled brom an iMac with a USB MIDI interface.

Beautiful, Beatiful pianos. Lovely, lovely feel. Good for classical, jazz, rock, blues, some great electric piano's rhodes, and a great Hammond which I play via a midi controller (unweighted). The best piano Ive played in a keyboard. Really feels like a beautifull grand under my hads, responsive, accoustic. The effects are high quality but simple.

Seems sturds and reliable.

Kurzweil in Australia is SLACK. But I managed to address some problems (with the OS0 over the web at the Kurzweil website. They emailed me back too, which was good.

I would but another. Its the only board I own at the moment. Im into Desktop audio workstation recording using a powerbook laptop, and this provides me with high quality sounds (digital out) and enough instruments (16 at once) and polyphony to be controlled by a sequencer. Its YUM.
Recently owned a Korg triton, but its definitely not a piano players keyboard - with heaps of dance oriented sounds, shocking keys, and no scope for recording audio tracks despite its good midi sequencer. The General Music PRO2 i had for years just doesnt match to this keyboard.

I wish for multiple outs, and a slightly more intuitive OS.

The presests sound very good. Editing is simple though requires some scrolling thru the menus. The manual is fair.

The ACTION:
The knocking black keys:
I found that loosening or tightening the under screws under the keyboard beneath the knocking area can decrease the knocking of some black keys. I could see the bottom actualy flexing outward when I took some tension off the screws.

Piano is better than other brands and boards. E PIanos are fair but not nearly as good as the Rhodes on the Yamaha S 80. The Roland RD 600 is a little better too for Rhodes. ORGAN with Leslie simulation is very good on the PC2X.

Email will get a reply from david Fox at Kurzweil.

CAUSE OF THE COMMON PROBLEM OF KNOCKING BLACK KEYS DISCOVERED:
I found the easiest solution for the occasional knocking black keys on the PC2X.

Conclusion:
Cause of the problem:
The action fits so snugly in the housing of the PC2X that when the keyboard rests upon a stand, the weight of the keyboard and the stress points of contact against the stand cause the housing to bow slightly causing some black keys to knock (clack) inside against the housing when fully stroked.

I reached this conclusion thus:
I experimented by placing a 1/4" cork table place mat as a wedge between the keyboard and the metal keyboard table stand. As I tried this cork "shim" in different locations between the stand and the keyboard I noticed different groups of black keys clacked. The shim was bowing the housing to different degrees. I then removed the cork shim altogether and pushed the keyboard back on the table stand, so 1/2" of keyboard hangs off the back of the table stand. This seems to stress the front of the underside of the keyboard. THIS position bows the body in a subtle way such that NONE OF THE BLACK KEYS KNOCK!

I have proven to myself that the PC2x housing bows slightly and that changing the stress points upon which it rests on the stand cause black keys to clack against the inside of the housing.

I am wondering if opening the housing and placing some internal shim will prevent the black keys from ever knocking against the inside of the housing.

New version 1.50 Operating System and version 1.03 of the Setups for the PC2.

This version adds a few new editing menus, as well as fixing various bugs. Upgrading to this version involves updating both the Engine (Operating System) and Setups (Preset Objects) files.

The following bugs have been fixed:

1. Previous to this version, you might encounter a "Low Battery" message when powering up the instrument. In fact, the battery was fine but the battery voltage was misread on power up. This has been fixed, and you should no longer see a Low Battery message unless the battery is actually low.

2. Treble EQ. The old values of +11dB and +12dB values were not correct and have been fixed.

3. Compare mode is no longer allowed if there is not enough memory available. Also fixed a problem with the wet/dry mix display for Setups when using compare.

3. Fixed a problem in which sysex dumps were not allowed due to the reserved memory being used. Now sysex dumps are never disabled.

4. Fixed a bug where the cancel button would not work properly while in numeric entry on some menus.

5. Fixed a mono mode problem in the "Vox Lead" program, when layer 4 was enabled.

Sounds the best of all digital pianos on the market. Nice action.

Instrument is very easy to use. I had the PC88, so I found it familiar.

It has all the stuff I'm looking for, except the big huge downside. Read on.

Piabno is great. Rhodes is pretty good, as is the wurly.

This keyboard stinks in this catagory. Incredibly lousy. I took the first model I bought back to Guitar Center bacause 3 out of 5 times, the unit could not boot itself up when turned on. The second piece I got had a completey different problem. When pushing certain notes (somewhat random, but usually A flat, D flat and G flat) they would sound a number of times. It was as if the arpeggiator was engaging or something. Back to Guitar Center. Third time the charm? Nope, same problem with the note doubling, as well as a really clunky action. What the hell is this company doing? The guy at Guitar Center told me that I wasn't the first person to have so any problems with the PC2X. I think now I'm going to call Kurtzweil and tell them that they should ship me a unit that actually works. It is really frustrating to have to play a gig and not be able to rely on your $2500 piece of gear. Man I'm pissed!

We'll see...

No matter how easy it is to use something, or how good it sounds, you need gear that works. It is absolutely shameful for manufacturers to put our equipment that is not quality tested. Kurtzweil owes me an explanation, and an apology for the aggravation that they have caused me, not to mention the amounts of time I've spent dealing with this problem.

The controls are easy to use for programing. The only complaint is some programming switches require a double stroke.

It lacks no features I would want. The action on the PC2X is by Fatar and feels good, not too heavy or too light. HOWEVER: some of the black keyes are making an annoying clacking sound (right out of the box). So were some keys on the floor model at the retailer and also on my neighbors PC2X. The floor model at another retailers was fine, no noisy keys at all. An old Kurzweil PC88 (previous version of the PC2X) at the store was also fine. I also own a Fatar weighted controller and it was fine too, so I know what I am talking about. I recall Kurzweil had this same problem with many of the actions in the PC88 ( I know 2 pros that had their entire actions replaced oin the first months of purchase). Another friend experienced the clacking in his PC88 and had individual keyes replaced. It did not solve the problem. He had to buy and entire keybed action and installed it himself and the problem went away. He thinks it could be related to an alignment of the overall key action assembly and I have noticed when i lift one end of the bpard (causing a slight structural bowing) the clacking is greatly reduced on some keys. Another theory is that whne being shipped, the shippers drop the boxes and cause cracking in the plastic keys which contain metal weights. That is what Kurzweil claims.

I am a jazz pianist. The sounds are marvelous. The samples are all new and stereo samples! They are far better than the PC88 sample sounds. The piano sound had great presence, it does not sound distant as on the Yamaha P 80, or tiny or recorded souding. The piano sound is rounder sounding with a longer decay time (greatly improved) and not harsh as on the PC88 and Micro Piano. It sounds woodier and is smoother and easier to listen too. Chords seem to blend and harmonize more smoothly. The Rhodes sounds are a big improvement from the previous Kurzweil electric pianos. The organs are very good (sound fat and analog) the strings, voices , all are great,.

I thoink it's dependable except for the Fatar action is questioanble (see other comments)

This is where Kurzweil Co. fails pretty poorly. I have been waiting 3 months for a replacement unit due to the key clacking problem. They say it's taken this long (since May 2000, now Aug 200) to get another boatload (500) from Korea. Now that they are in, they are really leaving me hanging. Kurzweil keeps saying they are sending a call tag (picking it up) and I keep waiting by bthe door for many days and they never come. Call tags come 1 or 2 days later according to UPS, it's been 10 now since Aug 1, 2000. Thanks Kurzweil. I have called many times and the story keeps changing. They somehow need more time to issue a simple call tag. It's very upsetting.

The PC 2X is my favourite keyboard ever, aside form the clacking keys and customer service. I am a jazz pianist and have been witing for this style board for years. I only wish they put a bigger piano sample into it with even greater detailing (never enough!).
I rate Rolands RD 600 #2 (totaly diffenet sound, like a live piano with a mike shoved in it sound) #3 The Korg SG Pro #4 Yamaha P 200.

After owning a PC-88mx for two years, I am happy to say that Kurzweil has done a amazing job of improving usability of this keyboard. Over all, it's a breeze to play and use. The sounds are layed in to 16 groups (pianos, drums, bass, etc.) with 8 sounds in each group. the keyboard remembers which sound you last used in each group and you can hold one sound, switch sounds, and play the new one while the 1st one sustains, which is a wonderful feature for live performance. The 4 sliders are well used for various effects in different sounds and there's a general pattern to everything, so you don't have to remember what slider does what for all 128 sounds! Creating setups is far easier than it was on the PC-88, you can layer, split, and split layer sounds with the push of a button. The arpegiator is much more integrated in the layout of the keyboard. Many of the sounds have buttons deicated to the arp. and make it far more easy to use. My main compliant comes when you start using it with a midi sequencer and when you start editing sounds. If you use a sequencer, such as MOTU's freestyle with Freemidi, that doesn't recognize the PC2 and doesn't always even cope with the PC-88mx too well, you'll have to manually assign sounds to parts in the midi recieve menu and if you add a new part or go to a different program or the desktop while the sequencer is still running, you may have re-assign all the sounds again if it gets reset. this is no fun! Also, when editing sounds, you can't get out of sound edit mode without erasing everything you were just doing unless you store it. So if your editing a sound and you want to see how it sounds in mono and you get into the global menu and switch to mono, you'll return to find your sound gone. This can be a pain, but as long as you store things before you get out of sound edit mode, you won't have any problems. Lastly, the KB-3 mode is real simple to use. All the main controls for percusion, chorus, vibrato, and leslie are at your fingertips without getting into to massive menus. The only thing about it is the fact that you have to 4 sliders to control 8 drawbars, so making drawbar settings takes longer and sometimes it can hinder drawbar ideas. I guess it would have increased production costs to include 5 more drawbars, but when your spending $2,000+ on a keyboard, it seems like they could cut some more holes in the frame and add a few things to the software. All in all though, there's really no gaping flaws that make it tough to use.

Unlike the PC-88mx, all the sounds on this thing are included in the 64 voice polophony claim. that's nice! The KB-3 mode was actually the thing that made this keyboard stand out from the rest for me. The sounds are incredibe, but the fact that they didn't treat the organ like just another sound but actually made an entirely seperate mode for it is what sold me. Also, this bad boy is expandable. They're gonna come out with two more rom blocks and a 128 polophpny expansion. I'm looking forward to that. It doesn't have a sequencer, but the arpegiator can be used to make some really simple patterns that can be played over. It has two effects processors, one with only reverbs (about 30 of them I think) and one with reverbs, chorus, flange, phaser, leslie, distortions, compressor/limiters, surround effects, delays, etc. You get the idea. TONS of effects. One thing I love about this is you can dictate the wet/dry balance for each of the effects generators on each of the 16 multitimbral tracks. this comes in handy when sequencing. The key action, I think, is the best. I compared this keyboard to the roland RD-500 and XV-80, the Yamaha S-80, and the Alesis QS-8.1 To me, kurzweil has the best feel. I think there's two parties when it comes to keyboard action- the roland party and the kurzweil party. I guess piano players like Roland action better, keyboard players like kurzweil acion more. Personally, I've player piano for 11 years and I find kurzweil's action better. The edges of Roland's weighted keys bother me, especially for organ playing. It just feels unatural to me. Keyboard mag. went on about the yahama s-80's action, but I found it cheap feeling and to edgy like the Roland. Kurzweil feels rock solid and real... to me. Others would dissagree I'm sure. I wish it were a little lighter, it something like 50-60 pounds, but that's how they all are.

This is where this keyboard really shines! The pianos are, plainly, the best available. They have a certian organic feel to them that none of the other keyboard makers seem to catch. There's actually three different sampes at different velocity points, not just the same one louder or only two, like Roland. It's pretty convincing. It's still no piano, but it's enough to make you feel like you've got something 10 time better than every one else. The organ presets outside of the KB-3 mode are pretty useless, but the KB-3 mode sounds great. The leslie sounds pretty good. My main complaint is that you can't alter the rise and fall time. They must be trying to emulate a 50 pound rotor because it takes probably 10 times the time to rise and fall as the horn does. Also, the controls for speed they give you are strange. You control the slow speed in hertz and then the amount of change the fast speed induces also in hertz. Both of these can also go into negative numbers, maybe for spinning the other direction? The amount of possible combinations they give you combined with the obscure controls provided makes it difficult to create a good sounding leslie on your own. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do it sounds pretty good. I'm pretty picky about the leslie sound and this one is fairly good. It can sound a bit fake in the high range, but if you turn on the chorus as well you get a really fat, satisfying sound. The organ itself sounds good, you can control the quality of the keymap and the quality of the organ itself. You can control sound leakage between tone generators or whatever those spinning things are inside a real organ. Overall, the KB-3 mode rocks. The rhodes and wurlitzers, especially the wurlitzers are tremendous. They can be spanky or smoothe just by how you play them. They really sound good. The bass sounds are actually VERY realistic. There's a new synth section with some very usable sounds in there. You can be jan hammer or an underground european techno junkie with these sounds, it's pretty cool. The drums are wonderful. There's actually 10 different kits, ranging from rock, blues, hip hop, electric music, whatever. It's all there, except for a brushed snare. The cymbal samples aren't like others, they last a long time, no need for plate reverb or anything. The bass kicks sound real good. The PC-88mx kicks lacked bass extrememly, but these don't at all. All the snares are good. The strings are mouth-watering. Good clav sounds. Lots of percusion stuff. the Brasses are wonderful. There's a solo sax sound that blows me away in authenticity. It's kinda strange. The effects sound very good and there are tons to choose from. Most of the sounds play very well too. They don't play like a keyboard, they play like the instrument you're playing. It's amazing.

After having it for a day, I started getting low system battery messages. Maybe a bad battery, right? A week later, I was getting it again from the new battery. Also, I had a part of the plastic on the end ship off (a pretty large section actually) Luckily, I was able to take it back at guitar center and get a new one, not problems yet.

haven't had to use it yet

I've never had a keyboard I've been more content with, this thing is incredible. If it was stolen, I'd give up meals and get a new one. It's great! I've been playing for 11 years (since I was 5) and never has anything come along like this. Don't get the S-80, RD-600, XV-88, or QS-8.1. Save your pennies and get the kurzweil, it's worth it. Hopefully the price will come down, I found a good price @ 8thstreet.com and had guitar center match it, but it's still a bit steep. Never the less, with sounds and features like this that are easy to use, you can't go wrong.

I only have had this keyboard for about 2 weeks, and I have found it very easy to navigate. The presets are very high quality, and editing patches are fairly simple once you read the manual.

The polyphony is 64 voice, which is enough for me. There is going to be a polyphony expansion coming out, which will increase the polyphony to 128. There is also room to install 2 ROM boards which are also going to be released later.

I bought the 76 key lightly weighted keyboard version, because I hate playing B3 sounds on fully weighted keys. The semi-weighted keys is just right for me: not to light for piano, and not to heavy for B3.

The effects sound very good. The two effects processors are of the same quality as on the K2500/K2600 KDFX. The rotary, which is very important to me, sounds very, very close to my Motion Sound Pro-3T (Which I used to have until my apartment was robbed!!).

The MIDI and controller capabilities are of course great. It has 4 sliders, a pitch wheel, a mod wheel, 5 switch buttons, 3 footswitch pedal inputs, 2- CC pedal inputs, a Breath Controller input, Ribbon Input, and the MIDI thru can be switched to act as another MIDI out. It also has an arpeggiator. The only down side, is guess would be that it doesn't have a sequencer. But, no controller keyboard does.

The instruments are very realistic. The main reason I bought this keyboard was for the piano sounds. I compared every other keyboard out there and the only one that comes close or is equal to the PC2's piano is the Yamaha P-200. I thought the Roland RD-600 doesn't even compare. I think the Ensoniq ZR76's "perfect piano" is better that the RD-600, but still not as good as the PC2. Today, no keyboard can take the place of a real piano, but the PC2 comes very close.
All of the other sounds on the PC2 are great and I am very pleased. I especially like the KB3 mode, which emulates a B3 very well. The 4 sliders and mod wheel can be used to change the drawbar settings in real time. The 4 zone buttons are used to control the percussion and 2 of the switch buttons are used to activate and cycle though the vibrato/chorus settings. You can also change the type of B3 you play, such as a B3 in good condition, one that is fairly kept up, or one that is junky.

I have only had it for 2 weeks, but it looks and feels like a reliable machine.

I called Kurzweil once to find out if and when they would be coming out with just a ribbon (and no control box like the expression mate) to plug into the PC2 ribbon input. I left a message and they called me back in two days and said that a ribbon will be coming out soon for around $50.

I have been playing for about 6 or 7 years and have done a lot of research on keyboards and I found this one is the best for what I need, TOP QUALITY sounds (mainly Piano and B3). The last keyboard I had, the Ensoniq mr-61, was fairly good, but I think I spent more time on trying to get good sounds out of it than I made music on it. That's why I didn't even consider such keyboards as the Korg Triton. They have a lot of features, but the sounds are not top quality in my opinion. I guess it would be good for R&B or synth music, but I felt that keyboards like the Triton are more of toys than instruments.
In the Piano controller group, the PC2 is on top with the best features and the best sounds. That's why I would without a doubt buy this keyboard again if in were lost or stolen.

The last time I had to learn how to use a midi instrument was over 10 years ago. A lot has changed in interefaces since then. I found it took a few hours to figure out how to get the sound I needed, but the manual led me through the process very well. As I become more familiar, I recognize that a lot of thought was given to performance considerations and ease of use on stage.

64 notes polyphonic expandable to 128, although the expansion module isnt' out yet. 64 is fine unless you do a gliss or arpagio using layered voices, then the bottom drops out. I am really looking forward to the expansion module.

Best sounds I've ever heard. My wife, who hates electronic sounds, says it sounds better than our real piano, and we've just had it tuned. When I use the 12 string voices, she actually thought I had my 1970 Martin D-12-28 out playing it. For my current project, I need to be able to overlay piano and organ. The setup I developed allows me to sound meld piano into organ sounds for some impressive dramatic effects.

I've had this thing for a week and love it. Cannot comment on long term prospects.

No Clue, but the delay getting the expansion card out is not a good sign.

This is one awesome instrument!!!! I feel limited only by my own imagination and believe it will do anything I can think of.