SP6

[rockinroller]

As mentioned, I perform using both Artis 7s, however I (relatively unconventionally) place them at right angles to each other, instead of tiered/stacked. So I have no issues with seeing labels and buttons as would be the case in a common double-tier set up. The 10 "favorites" hot buttons on each provide more than ample storage for what I use in a typical performance, and after a couple of years of having each button assigned the same sound, I've pretty much memorized what each one is without much concern about identifying it, even in minimal light situations.

[teashea]

As mentioned, I perform using both Artis 7s, however I (relatively unconventionally) place them at right angles to each other, instead of tiered/stacked. So I have no issues with seeing labels and buttons as would be the case in a common double-tier set up. The 10 "favorites" hot buttons on each provide more than ample storage for what I use in a typical performance, and after a couple of years of having each button assigned the same sound, I've pretty much memorized what each one is without much concern about identifying it, even in minimal light situations.

 

I was very interested to read this. I just ordered an Artis 7 yesterday. It seems like a very capable instrument. I was considering an SP6 or Forte but after consideration, the Artis 7 was the right one for me. Enjoy performing. I would like to see some videos of your performances.

 

[teashea]

Yeah, the more time I spent with the Artis7, the more I liked it, though I did swap out the springs for the lighter ones that Syntaur has offered now and then. I have some ergonomic/interface quibbles... the thin (and sometimes blue) print on the sparkly silver panel can be very hard to read in some lighting conditions; the mask around the LCD makes it impossible to see the soft-button labels if it's your 2nd-tier board; it's awkward to change your RH sound on the fly when doing LH bass; the patch select buttons are too close together (and it's too easy to hit two adjacent buttons at once which, in some cases, unfortunately invokes an unintended function). Stuff like that. There was definitely room for improvement. But overall, the combination of sound, functionality, and form factor is pretty darn good. Ended up being one of my favorite boards.

 

How difficult was it to change the springs? I will receive mine on Tuesday and have not played one. I will be interested to see how the action is. Thanks

[rockinroller]

I have a gig involving just a sax player and drummer next Saturday evening and it's supposed to be video-recorded. I'll try to remember to link you to the YT video once that gets completed.

[AnotherScott]

How difficult was it to change the springs?

Easy. And I'm not mechanical.

[Mighty Motif Max]

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2873822/Kurzweil_SP6

 

I'm thinking that maybe DB should combine the two threads. Neither has the information of the other one. :idk

[rockinroller]

Here's a link to view a tune using those two Artis 7's I play out with. You'll notice I had to commit my left hand primarily to playing bass for that configuration. Also I was not going through the mains and had my (Yamaha DXR12) cabinet directly behind me on the floor, so the organ side of the output isn't as great as it could have been for this recording off an iPhone.

 

https://youtu.be/AkM8shre2gk

[zxcvbnm098]

Sounds great! Singing lead, keyboard (organ) and left bass....that can be tough. Hammond sound is great with the Artis. I use mine with an E5 so I rarely use it as such, but it really is potent!

[TomKittel]

Here's a link to view a tune using those two Artis 7's I play out with. You'll notice I had to commit my left hand primarily to playing bass for that configuration. Also I was not going through the mains and had my (Yamaha DXR12) cabinet directly behind me on the floor, so the organ side of the output isn't as great as it could have been for this recording off an iPhone.

 

https://youtu.be/AkM8shre2gk

 

Great sound! Thumbs up for the Artis 7. I'm loving mine. If they only would update the Artis iPad editor at long last after 4 years (!). It still doesn't work under IOS11. In contrast the IOS editor for the lower level Artis SE is working, which I find weird

[Danny Linguini]

Anybody got these in stock? All my usual haunts have it back-ordered or pre-order only.

[teashea]

Anybody got these in stock? All my usual haunts have it back-ordered or pre-order only.

 

I think people are discovering Dexibell more and more ---- and they are selling a lot of them --- so the wait.

 

[rockinroller]

I happened upon the Kurzweil site recently after many months and noticed the Sound Editor version was 2 years newer than the one I had (2014) so I deleted and replaced. I am not sure what changed as it seemed to look the same on the screen, etc.

 

I don't use any of the factory sounds on the Artis 7, unmodified. Frankly I found most--if not all--of them to have a substantially lower volume level than my PC3s. Before I sold my last PC3 I saved the bank of sounds/setups, etc on to a flash drive and uploaded them into the Artis. With few exceptions the transition was seamless (some of the PC3 sounds were OVER-GAINED so I had to interface with Sound Editor and slide the volumes down, then save, etc).

[AnotherScott]

I think people are discovering Dexibell more and more ---- and they are selling a lot of them --- so the wait.

Dexibell vs SP6? I like that the Dexibell lets you load soundfonts (which also means, indirectly, your own samples), and I think its patch selection mechanism seems a little more live-performance friendly (though SP6 isn't as bad as its 5 Favorite buttons might indicate, with the versatile repurposing of its Category buttons). I'll be curious to see if there is a strong consensus about which has the better acoustic piano sound, both are technically pretty sophisticated compared to what's in most boards, and paper comparisons never tell the whole story anyway.

 

Other than that, mostly I think the comparison favors the Kurzweil. $1295 price vs. $1695-$1795 for the S3/S7. And while AP sound for me is a question mark as I said, the SP6 would sonically win for me in most (probably all) other areas. I know I like the Kurz EPs better, Kurz has actual clonewheel and VA engines built in, and I think Kurz has the edge in "rompler" sounds as well (strings, brass, winds, guitars, mellotrons, etc.) though admittedly, that much could conceivably be overcome via the loading of custom samples. But between listening to the factory sounds in youtube demos plus my own experiences with a P3 and an Artis, sonically, I'd have to go with the Kurz out of the box, for both quality and quantity. In quantity, SP6 has 256 factory programs and 130 factory multis, plus space for 1024 user programs (which can also be imported Forte or PC3 programs), and 1024 user multis. By comparison, S3/S7 have 79 factory sounds plus space for 81 user sounds/setups at a time.

 

Both also function as 4-zone MIDI controllers. But I believe Kurz also lets you split and layer up to 4 internal sounds any way you want whereas for internal sounds I think the Dexibell supports only one split point (with one sound below and one or two sounds above).

 

The one other place I expect Dexibell to have an edge is that I think the S7 (but not S3) will have a noticeably better feeling action... but that is 38.58 lbs vs the SP6's 27.25, and that puts the Dexibell over my weight threshold.

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Agreed. It looks like Dexibel is capable hardware wise. But its not the hardware that makes the instrument alone. Its the content, the engines, the programming, and quality of the fx. They will get there I suspect. But it takes time to acquire talent and develop a body of IP like Kurzweil.

[Dave Weiser]

Here's a nice little SP6 demo featuring a few of my custom patches (and a much better player!). The custom sounds are on the house for anyone from this forum who has an SP6.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

[Doerfler]

The custom sounds are on the house for anyone from this forum who has an SP6.

 

Most excellent of you, Dave.

 

And oh yeah, that JA guy is pretty darn good.

[AnotherScott]

Here's a nice little SP6 demo featuring a few of my custom patches

Sounds good! Plus nice use of the Zone buttons to change the RH sound while keeping the LH bass going. ;-)

[Aidan]

Chris Martirano doing his normal great demo job - the SP6 sounds really good...

 

[video:youtube]

[Chris47]

So I'm really quite excited by the SP6. Never been near a Kurzweil before (that's a lie - had a PC3LE6 briefly but it conked out and I sent it back).

 

It ticks all my boxes, except that with only 256 preset programs, and looking at the patch list, I can't help thinking there's bound to be a sound or two missing (eg there don't look to be too many basic brass patches). So there's all this talk about loading PC3 sounds, or Forte SE sounds. How does this work? Are they samples or just programs? And presumably this is already going on with the Forte series. So I've looked at the Kurzweil website but can't see how to audition/download PC3 sounds.

 

If I knew I could access this vast array of sounds I'd definitely pull the trigger on one of these (if they ever arrive in England).

 

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Chris

[Dave Weiser]

So I'm really quite excited by the SP6. Never been near a Kurzweil before (that's a lie - had a PC3LE6 briefly but it conked out and I sent it back).

 

It ticks all my boxes, except that with only 256 preset programs, and looking at the patch list, I can't help thinking there's bound to be a sound or two missing (eg there don't look to be too many basic brass patches). So there's all this talk about loading PC3 sounds, or Forte SE sounds. How does this work? Are they samples or just programs? And presumably this is already going on with the Forte series. So I've looked at the Kurzweil website but can't see how to audition/download PC3 sounds.

 

If I knew I could access this vast array of sounds I'd definitely pull the trigger on one of these (if they ever arrive in England).

 

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Chris

 

Here's where you download the PC3 object file. (They're also posted over on Facebook at the Forte users group.) Put the .Pc3 file on a thumb-drive, insert into SP6 and you can open the file, choose the programs you want. The SP6 already has all the samples, keymaps, fxhcains, etc from the PC3 and ForteSE.

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc3/downloads/

Can't seem to find the SE objects, I'll ask my buddies at Kurz R&D about it.

 

Audio demos:

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc3k8/audio/

http://kurzweil.com/accessory/kore64/audio/

http://kurzweil.com/product/forte-se/

[AnotherScott]

It ticks all my boxes, except that with only 256 preset programs, and looking at the patch list, I can't help thinking there's bound to be a sound or two missing (eg there don't look to be too many basic brass patches). So there's all this talk about loading PC3 sounds, or Forte SE sounds. How does this work? Are they samples or just programs? And presumably this is already going on with the Forte series. So I've looked at the Kurzweil website but can't see how to audition/download PC3 sounds.

Yup, Kurz takes one of its very best features and largely keeps it a big secret!

 

The SP6 has 256 presets, but 1024 user locations, into which, yes, you can load PC3 programs, which should address your concern about not enough of some kinds of sounds.

 

Where to find these sounds? Well, nowhere on the Kurzweil web site, as far as I've seen. But you can go to http://www.soundtower.com/artis/index.html and scroll about half way down the page and look for the link to PC3_LE_Library.ZIP (I think they may also be somewhere on the ksetlist.com web site)

 

How to load them in? The manual doesn't talk about PC3 sounds specifically, but you follow the instructions for loading files in general. It will be easier, though, to use the Soundtower editor, once the SP6 editor is available, especially since this essentially allows you to load them (and therefore audition them, as you mentioned) with a click, making it much easier to know which ones you specifically want.

 

"Are they samples or just programs" is an interesting question. They're "just" programs, but they are making use of resident samples that have not necessarily been used by any of the factory programs. So even though technically they're not loading new samples, they may very well still be using completely different samples than are used by any of the factory programs, so from a "functional" perspective, they are giving you new samples, even though technically, the samples were already there. At least that's my understanding.

 

Anyway, I don't have an SP6, but I *think* this is all right. If something's wrong here, hopefully someone will correct...

[RandyFF]

Color me impressed!! At this price point, if the keybed is decent, it has a chance of de-throning the PX-5s as the low weight and cost board to get.

 

This is the keyboard of the future- esp. if it proves to be a good MIDI controller: good keybed, under $1,500, strong sound set, reasonable number of knobs for internal and external control, and the heavy editing relegated to an ipad/mac/pc. Looks like most of the compromises were well made, and its surprising that theyve given up the full sample set of the Forte SE/PC3. With their long history of backwards compatibility, thisll be the board to beat.

 

I want me one!

[TomKittel]

At this price point, if the keybed is decent, it has a chance of de-throning the PX-5s as the low weight and cost board to get.

 

 

Soundwise yes, keybed-wise no. That was my impression before I returned it.

[AnotherScott]

Here's where you download the PC3 object file. (They're also posted over on Facebook at the Forte users group.) Put the .Pc3 file on a thumb-drive, insert into SP6 and you can open the file, choose the programs you want.

...

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc3/downloads/

*That's* where it is? I don't think any SP6 owner is going to find that without guidance from Dave Weiser. ;-)

 

I don't understand why Kurz turns this cool feature into a treasure hunt. There's no mention of those locations on the SP6 page or in the SP6 manual. Even once you're on that PC3 page, what you need is not immediately obvious. Would a new SP6 owner even think that what he needs to do is download an update file for a keyboard he doesn't own? (Or to go the FB user's group for another board he doesn't own?) Would he know what to do with the download? Would he know that the thing he's looking for is "objects"? I don't understand why Kurz wouldn't put this file with some SP6-specific instructions on the SP6 download page.

 

For me, PC3 program loading was a nice selling point for SP4 and Artis7, but as I said, it was practically kept secret, and even if you "heard" you could do it, there's virtually no info on the web site or in the manuals to help you do it. It really seems like a missed "mindshare" opportunity, when you've got Nord offering their library and Roland offering their Axial sounds. I wonder if the SP4 and Artis would have been bigger sellers if Kurz had really promoted (and made simple) the ability to load your choice of sounds from the "vast" PC3 library.

[ElmerJFudd]

I reckon it's a nice feature for professional user, "power user" in the know, but for majority users that will use the instrument's features and presets accessible from the user interface - they might be tempted to buy up to get the additional sounds and patches stock.

 

On the other hand, some other developers have found a business model where the sampled instruments and patches aren't married to the hardware or even generation of the instrument. Allowing the user to pick from what they like - but limiting them to a certain number and/or quality/fidelity at any one time via limited non-user upgradable storage.

 

I guess they're all fighting off laptops and modules that don't have these limitations now. So brilliant user interface and ease of use is very important in design.

[AnotherScott]

they might be tempted to buy up to get the additional sounds and patches stock.

But there are so many other differentiators. SP4 could only hold 64 extra sounds, Artis7 256. Okay, SP6 has 1024. But still, look at what the step-up models give you. Depending on which you look at... more real-time controls, user sample loading, better actions, better displays, more on-board editability, aftertouch, and sure, the convenience of having more of the sounds pre-loaded, among other things. I suppose there is the risk of losing some higher end sales to cheaper models as you suggest, but OTOH, you could also be gaining sales from people who otherwise aren't buying a Kurz at all. Really, I don't think many potential Forte purchasers would decide to go for an SP6 just because they find that they can load the additional programs into it, Forte just offers so much more, to what I think is largely a different customer. Similarly, I don't think he ability to easily load in 64 PC3 sounds would have persuaded most PC3-series buyers to settle for an SP4, again considering the huge differences in total functionality. Same for Artis buyers considering a Forte. There are so man other benefits to the upgraded boards. So it just seems peculiar to me to have an available sound library, but hide it rather than promote it!

[Dave Weiser]

As usual, I agree with you 100%. Being able to load PC3 files is a cool selling point.

 

But honestly it doesn't seem like it's been a problem thus far, at least not for Forte users. (The Forte is my example here since the SP6 is only just hitting now.)

 

The PC3 files are posted at the Forte Facebook users group and they're available with the editor. I thought that Ksetlist.com might have it as well though I'm not logged in and can't check at the moment.

 

Some info that you might find surprising, that's helpful for context here: back when I was at Kurzweil, we received a TON of feedback from dealers and customers asking for FEWER patches, that 1000 was simply too much.

 

I found the amount and consistency of this feedback to be shocking myself. Totally not in line with my own preferences as a player.

 

Of course I do think that the PC3 set should be available and in an obvious way. But it seems like the folks who really want it are few, and they have managed to get it. I've heard virtually zero complaints about it. That could be in part because the Forte downloads page has these cool little legacy sound banks, mostly stuff from the PC3, broken up into styles/categories, which I think might be easier for most customers to digest than a huge set of 1000+ sounds. Everything from "motion pads" to kiddie sounds to strings/winds. This paradigm seems to work well. You can see them here: http://kurzweil.com/product/forte/downloads/

 

That said, I will ask my buddies at R&D if they can post the whole PC3 set in a more obvious place, especially now that the SP6 is out and provides so many user slots.

 

I'm pretty sure the answer I'll get will be that it's been on their list but they've got a very long back-log of to-do items, even with working weekends and late nights. They're a tiny group, and like most in this industry they're underpaid and overworked, there because they love the job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jahfume]

 

New u-tube demo jammin' on the SP6.

 

 

Playing is a bit manic but looks like that keybed plays like buttah.

 

I think its the Yamaha sample you can hear at 1.00 and the Rhodes sounds good around 5.40

 

Elmer - help me out here! Cant seem to embed the clip.

 

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

I tell u what. This gives the PX-5S/560 a run for its money that's for sure. A lot more time spent on sampling and programming and the price is

[Danny Linguini]

New u-tube demo jammin' on the SP6.

 

 

Playing is a bit manic but looks like that keybed plays like buttah.

 

I think its the Yamaha sample you can hear at 1.00 and the Rhodes sounds good around 5.40

 

Elmer - help me out here! Cant seem to embed the clip.

 

 

Nice stuff!

Let's see if this works.....

[video:youtube]QIyy_byPOnc