Kurzweil K27 synth in a PC4 - Part 2: Polysynth and pads

This is the second part. Especially the part with pads is pretty long due to the nature of the slow sounds. Try not to fall asleep.
This video is a piano-free zone.

[@barneyfinch8267]

Kurzweil have the best sounding VA-Synth in the market. Hands down. Im working in a music store and have access to over 100 different synthesizers and can compare them. Even the famous Nord Stage 3 loses against the new gen. of Kurzweil workstations. And im also happy that i can use the K2700 sounds in my PC4 now. Thank you!

[@Screaming-Trees]

Well I don't know about that. I'm a longtime Kurzweil user. Love them. It's the only workstation I've ever used. My progression was k2600X, PC3k8 and I bought a PC4 in 2021. Probably my favourite sounding digital of all time. The VA is also pretty nice. But I mean with synths like Diva if I need to nail an analogue I'd say that's probably the better option. Kurzweil has its own sound and yeah absolutely it can impersonate analogue really well but I'd give Diva the edge if I need to really nail an analogue. Of all the digital hardware synths though i'd take Kurzweil for sound.

[@fmartins777]

Nice job again! Very nice sounds!!!! K2700 on PC4 and for free! Many thanks for creating a video for that content. For who is no aware, the is a part 1 where is explained everything to access free the objects. :-)

[@BlisterHiker]

That keyboard has a soul! There is just something magical about Kurzweil sound 🙂 Great demo. Thanks!

[@jemkeystv5717]

And also to be able to use VAST to create and edit sounds, a lot of keyboardist have no idea what kurzweil keyboards are capable of , they’re more concerned about how big and colorful the screen is, or as in the case of nord keyboards, this keyboard is so expensive so it must be the best, Kurzweil’s have been my main board for 30+ years

[@kevinkreis4034]

Thanks again for posting this.

[@angelmirmartinez9096]

Excellent job... Thanks for the info.

[@barneyfinch8267]

I also play a Kronos 2, Jupiter X, Roland JD-XA, Novation Summit and nobody of the sounds so rich and warm, fat and saturated as my PC4 :) And on top the K2700 sounds also much better, it have different D/A convertors and have a warmer output signal. Just amazing

[@analogholic3651]

Do you mean that the K2700 sounds better than the PC4 because of better converters?

[@janpieternieman5295]

My man, you are saying that this synthesizer sounds better than the Jupiter X which im currently saving up for? Than I have to reconsider.

[@femagon]

This keyboard is amazing. It sounds really nice

[@Kaffimusic]

Yes it does. This and the many otpions to get the job done makes me hold on to Kurzweil as my main livehardware.

[@samiam9059]

PC4 is such an evolutional offering for V.A.S.T and Kurzweil. They really hit a home run with it. Prior to that owned a Kronos 88 for 10+ years. This Kurzweil has been a real gift of exploration too now.

[@boxx8357]

Sure sounds better than Roland Fantom 👍

[@Benqo]

Thank you a lot.

[@carlosgarciasierra4490]

Increíble,los sonidos k2700 en el pc4..amazing!!

[@angelmirmartinez9096]

Estos sonidos del K 2700 para PC 4 dónde los venden? Se podrán usar en el PC4 SE también?

[@user-cr2gj8kw4e]

Wunderbar!

[@eugenephillips481]

I saw in the User Manuel on the website that there are 771 Factory Multis. Well you kindly play some of them (non piano ones)? Also, will you describe the feel of the keybed.

[@lowboy913]

have heard sounds like this on other workstations maybe we are at a saturation point VST is the way to go but would like to see those sounds in a workstation

[@Screaming-Trees]

Maybe. But have you heard the Kurzweil's FX section? It's akin to having an Eventide 9000 is a box. That's in some ways the real star. Although the synthesis methods on offer and the sounds that follow are clearly competitive with the best of the VST world. The FX section has a proper stereo in now as well so you can use it as a studio FX rack unit or run your guitar amps FX loop to it etc etc. Maybe worth the price alone.

[@Shmynkellbonkenstein]

Thanks for making vids with what we want to hear: synth sounds! You deserve many more views. I’m thinking about buying the pc4-7, how do you like the keybed? Based on how the keys look in this vid, they seem to be good for fast playing, but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts. I already have a roland rd700nx that’s great for piano playing, but the keys are too heavy for effortlessly playing fast solos

[@ingofritzsche7737]

I am thinking about the same exactly :-)

[@Shmynkellbonkenstein]

@@ingofritzsche7737 that’s great to hear!

[@Kaffimusic]

Sorry, haven´t looked into the reactions. Well, I do not like the keybed. I´d love to have a synth- or waterfall (even more) keybed. This one has a light response like slightly weighted synth keys, but the shape of the keys is very bulky, like from your grandma´s piano in the livingroom. Some people get along with that quite good, most likely people with piano background, I don´t. I also noticed it is "hotter" than I was used from my PC3, means it works on a higher velocity level. Luckily you can alter EVERYTHING (close to) in the Kurz, so you can also dial in the velocity literally on EVERY SINGLE KEY in the master options. I dialed every key down by now at -10. The response to velocity playing is okay, no reason to complain about that. The afttertouch is insanely hard to press, even on the lightes setting. I adapted to that more or less. I tend to use that often with synth stuff. It is somewhat okay and I get used to it, but I always know there is something better. This is a cheap chinese keybed and honestly my biggest critical rant about this instrument. But I want the soundengine and everything else, so I have to live with it. Other brands or models might offer better keybeds, but this is the instrument I want. I always think if they´d given it a good Fatar, this would be the perfect instrument. But well,. maybe they wanted to keep some distance to the more expensive K27.

[@CercleBruggeFan]

Where did you bought these faders and knobs sir? They look very nice

[@Kaffimusic]

Go to Aliexpress and search for: "10 Pcs 6mm Shaft Hole Dia Plastic Threaded Knurled Potentiometer Knobs Caps WH148" and "12pcs For Yamaha behringer Soundcraft Mixer Fader Cap / Potentiometer Knob Push Cap / Straight Slide Cap 4MM". Sorry, links do not work on YTube. However, you can use different ones, just look for the same measurements. Be aware, the Knobs are VERY hard to release and put on. Take a hairdryer/fan to warm the plastics up and make it softer.

[@CercleBruggeFan]

@@Kaffimusic Thank you very much for the explanation. I didn't know they were hard to pull out.

[@asmr6773]

👍👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿

[@LCRLive687]

Sounds unique! Is there many pad presets?

[@Kaffimusic]

Yes. Factorycontent is plenty, but the K27 soundset adds a lot more.

[@juancpomalestorres4533]

what class of PC4 is That? I have one but is a little different. the buttons in left side are different and the brand is only right side

[@juancpomalestorres4533]

Maybe you change buttons left side and stickers of brand?

[@Kaffimusic]

There are 2 versions. The PC4 standard, with a 88-piano keybed and this is the 4-7, with a shorter 76 lighter weighted keybed.

[@Kaffimusic]

Ah, well I forgot to mention: I exchanged the knobs and sliders to a more pro version that I liked more. Bought on the chinese market. Aliexpress.

[@SteinarLundemo]

@@Kaffimusic Can you link the knobs and sliders here please?

[@Kaffimusic]

@@SteinarLundemo de.aliexpress.com/item/32964930179.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.47.40095c5fh1GeTN&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu Maybe YT will delete this link. Those are the knobs. Be aware, they do not fit easily. I had to heat them up with a fan first, to make the plastics a bit more elastic. The sliders are not there any more. Check the measurements and you will find similar ones. Insert the searchwords "yamaha behringer fader cap". Good luck!

[@danijelmelnjak4981]

Great! How can I order this?

[@Kaffimusic]

There is no ordering, this is for free. You can find the file on Mastering Vast or at the FB PC4 group. Look in the file sections on both, or seach diskussions about that.

[@danijelmelnjak4981]

@@Kaffimusic thanks !

[@anikilando]

How can all these sounds be put on the PC4? Greetings.

[@Kaffimusic]

Go to either the PC4 FB group or Mastering Vast forum, download the file and load it into your PC4

[@angelmirmartinez9096]

​@@Kaffimusic would they work in a pc4 SE? I own one... I have been told it doesn't have sample memory, but I was able to load one piano sound I got on line... Maybe it has a very little capacity to load a few samples...

[@Kaffimusic]

@@angelmirmartinez9096 Check this chart kurzweil.com/2021/09/02/comparison-chart-workstations/ the SE has no free sample memory, just what is given in ROM on board. Naturally you can load any pianoprogramm, as long as it relies on the internal sample material. The full PC4 has samples for 3 or 4 different ac-pianos, I guess the SE is the same. A pianosound is not only what the samples are, it´s also usually a pretty complex program in a Kurzweil with different envelopes per sample, per velocityzone and keyboardzone and also lots of ways to configure filters and other DSPs to affect the sound. Depending on how it is programmed, the sound can differ pretty drastically. Just Nord needs new samples for different pianosounds, their synthengine (which is not accessible for pianos) is very basic, so you always need different samples to sound different. It is basically just a sampleplayer, where the PC4 as also a powerful synthesizer, not only for synth sounds, also for everything that is sample-based. Regarding the synth sounds in my video, yes, I guess they will run in a SE, since there are no custom samples involved. It´s all synthesized, sometimes with ROM samples involved, but the SE should have them. Just try it. Nothing to lose, a lot to win.

[@angelmirmartinez9096]

@@Kaffimusic I thank you for the time you took in answering my question. I am very technologically challenged and PC4 SE is my first Kurzweil. I understood the reason why the sound I loaded worked. Maybe these could work too. I don't know anything about vast and FM engine, but I understand it can be done not in the keyboard but in the computer... Thanks again. I am subscribing to your channel. Greetings from Chile.

[@Kaffimusic]

@@angelmirmartinez9096 You do not need the editor to load the sounds into your PC4. You just need the computer to unpack and copy them to a USB stick, put that into the PC4 and load them ("with dependencies") into your PC4. Look beforehand which memorybanks are free and then add everything there upwards.

[@dirkkeersmaekers4343]

does it sounds like a K2700?

[@Kaffimusic]

Yes.

[@Screaming-Trees]

How'd you get these into the PC4?

[@Kaffimusic]

Check the description below part one of this short series. And maybe watch it, I explain some stuff there. Technically, read the manual. A USB stick will do the trick.