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PC3 vs. FA07, which to buy?


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To preface, I'm new here, and as my name suggests, I got keys.

I'm currently comparing purchasing either a Kurzweil PC3 (an original 76 key version) or a Roland FA07, both are available for the same price in my area.  I'll be using this as both a controller for vsts as well as for it's internal sounds, and at the moment I don't plan on gigging, but that may change in the future- this board will be used for 70s-80s pop/rock keyboard sounds (pianos, eps, organs, clavs, strings, brass, assorted synth sounds).  If anyone who's had experience with both could help me out, that would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a list of pros and cons I came up with for both:

PC3:

Pros:

  • Metal body
  • Internal power supply
  • assignable outputs
  • VAST soundset (no pun intended)
  • large amounts of libraries available (such as Purgatory Creek)
  • KB3 organ engine (I prefer it over the FA's clonewheel engine)
  • more front panel sliders
  • separate pitch bend and mod wheels (preferred over the roland pitch stick)
  • Better master keyboard functionality
  • Fatar Keybed

Cons:

  • Heavier
  • Older
  • difficult interface

FA07:

Pros:

  • Lighter weight
  • Newer sound architecture
  • somewhat more intuitive front panel controls
  • sample pads (may be helpful for drum programming)
  • Supernatural modeling engine
  • Roland's famous 80s sounds
  • Extra official soundsets from Roland's Axial site

Cons:

  • External power supply
  • Plastic construction
  • roland pitch stick
  • no assignable outputs

If there are any I missed let me know...

EDIT:
I know both have USB functionality I won't be using either as I already have both an audio and a midi interface.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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Soundwise, I'd personally go with the PC3--I gigged with one for years, and it has a better hammond organ (unless they updated the FA).  I was really disappointed with the FA in that regard, as I'd also gigged with a VR700 and expect that same organ to be there...not even close to my ears.

I like the keys better on mine than the FA, but mine was the PC361 so perhaps not applicable.

 

For home use I wouldn't use sounds on either one, for gigging the PC3 sounds worked very well for me.  I think the FA would have too except for that organ.

However, my pc3 suffered a couple reliability problems and they seem to be common ones:  a flickering screen (takes a tap to get it to stop for a bit) and a pitch bend wheel that sends out periodic messages. If you don't use PB then you can disable it so that wouldn't be a big deal, otherwise it was making all my software instruments sound out of tune when using it as a controller!  The screen would likely need replacing from what one tech told me after looking at it (granted he was not a Kurzweil certified tech if such exists).   Build quality is excelling on the PC3, but I haven't heard more than one person complain about the reliability.

I'm evaluating a Forte right now so I am a Kurzweil fan (and here's hoping the Forte doesn't suffer from these issues!)

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10 minutes ago, Stokely said:

pitch bend wheel that sends out periodic messages

Is there a documented fix for this issue, or is it just something I'll have to live with?  I don't use pitch bend often, but it would suck not having it.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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My bias reply; PC3.  The acoustic piano is dated (Kurzweil's triple strike) but in a band context I've never thought it was weak, in fact it sits nicely in the mix.  I played in a Southern rock tribute band traveling from the Northeast to Alabama opening for the major Southern Rock acts, and we also headlined East Coast Sturgis in Little Orleans, Md.. Did alot of organ/piano work and never found issue with the acoustic piano.  The KB3 organ I've tweaked the hell out of it, the organ isn't that bad, it's the leslie and I've made refinements to it using the double leslie and it is acceptable to use although now I use a Ventilator or GSI Burn.  The rest of the sounds are very good, strings were at one point what I would consider to be world class.  As a controller, except for the missing pads for drums (which I don't have need for so I don't miss them) the Kurzweil is an EXCELLENT master controller; just about any controller can be assigned to any CC and you can actually have the same controller assigned to multiple CC's and choose which ones to use with their zone mute functionality.  It's been my workhorse since 2011 and still is.  I've never experienced the pitchwheel, Mod Wheel or screen issues others have reported, my has been as solid as a rock over 10 years; it owes me nothing.  

 

If you end up with the PC3 and want to upgrade the internal leslie here is my updated double leslie which you should find as a vast (no pun intended) improvement over the delivered leslie.  I've improved it more since publishing the program in this link but you should see a large improvement in sound even without my latest improvements.    https://forums.godlike.com.au/index.php?topic=3861.msg31844#msg31844

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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Some good info so far but needs a couple clarifications:

 

- Yes, the FA07 does have assignable outputs (two outputs on one TRS jack, so you need a splitter cable - i guess they didn't have room for two jacks).  When i was gigging with the FA08, i used an assignable out to route the organ sound to a Burn rotary effect pedal, which greatly improved the organ sound. 

 

- As far as i can tell, the pads on the Roland don't output MIDI, which makes them kinda useless for triggering drums.

 

-- Jimbo

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48 minutes ago, GotKeys said:

Is there a documented fix for this issue, or is it just something I'll have to live with?  I don't use pitch bend often, but it would suck not having it.


My impression is that it's a hardware issue and not easy to fix, but perhaps others here know more about it.  I'm not at all sure how common it is so I don't want to give a bad impression if this is something not very common.  I've just heard about others having both issues before, it's not like I dropped mine or anything and it's a completely unique situation.  I did gig it, but I always transported it in a protective case and as far as I know there wasn't any kind of impact on it.

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Commenting on some of your pros and cons in italics below:

 

PC3:

Pros:

  • VAST soundset (no pun intended) - I think the Roland soundset is bigger
  • large amounts of libraries available (such as Purgatory Creek) - no, it has no memory for such downloadable libraries
  • KB3 organ engine (I prefer it over the FA's clonewheel engine)
  • Better master keyboard functionality - better not just for controlling external sounds, but also more flexible in allowing other keyboards to control ITS sounds
  • Fatar Keybed - I believe both use Fatar, but different models. PC3's is a higher end model that is more even in its response from front to back, and it also has aftertouch. It pushes back more, though. I changed the springs in my similar feeling Artis 7.

FA07:

Pros:

  • Newer sound architecture - it's a mix. The vast majority of its sampled sounds are from the XV-5080, which is over 20 years old
  • Supernatural modeling engine - it has SuperNATURAL Synth which is modeled virtual analog, I *think* it's similar to VA-1 derived synthesis in the PC3. The FA also has a handful of SuperNATURAL Acoustic tones which include the modeled organ (arguably not as good as the modeled organ the PC3) and hybrid/modeled versions of piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings. That doesn't mean they're necessarily better than what's in the PC3, though. It's subjective, but I'd probably still take the PC3 for EPs and strings, for example.

Cons:

  • no assignable outputs - as mentioned in another post, it does have this, they call it sub out
  • Like 1

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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2 hours ago, JimboKeys said:

Yes, the FA07 does have assignable outputs (two outputs on one TRS jack, so you need a splitter cable - i guess they didn't have room for two jacks).  When i was gigging with the FA08, i used an assignable out to route the organ sound to a Burn rotary effect pedal, which greatly improved the organ sound

Thanks for the clarification, I found the Sub Out when digging around on some product pages, I just assumed it was a mono out, so that would've been kind of a bummer.

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

VAST soundset (no pun intended) - I think the Roland soundset is bigger

By 'VAST' I meant the V.A.S.T. architecture, I knew the roland had more sounds

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

no, it has no memory for such downloadable libraries

Bummer, is it possible to expand the memory or is that only on the 3K/A

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

I believe both use Fatar, but different models. PC3's is a higher end model that is more even in its response from front to back, and it also has aftertouch. It pushes back more, though. I changed the springs in my similar feeling Artis 7

I've read about the spring change, might consider it if I get it and don't like it, I'm fairly technically inclined, so I doubt it would be difficult; I thought that roland has usually used their own in house keybeds.

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

it's a mix. The vast majority of its sampled sounds are from the XV-5080, which is over 20 years old

One could say that the Kurzweil's architecture is even older, but at least they've updated the samples over time, and it is much more editable

 

Thank you to everyone for responding to me so quickly, even though I've been a member for a solid 4 hours or so.

Your help has been greatly appreciated; whether it has made my decision easier... well probably not.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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Your organs and vintage keys sounds will be stronger on the PC3 (also orchestral stuff if you ended up using that). Otherwise the FA-07 is superior sound-wise in my opinion for pianos, brass, and synths by far (I own a PC3 and a Fantom). You mentioned a large number of libraries available for the PC3, like Purgatory Creek - be aware that the original PC3 has no expandable sample memory beyond the discontinued KORE-64 board. To my knowledge the Purgatory Creek keys sounds are only available for the PC4 and Forte (and K2700).

 

My vote would be the FA-07.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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2 minutes ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

Your organs and vintage keys sounds will be stronger on the PC3 (also orchestral stuff if you ended up using that). Otherwise the FA-07 is superior sound-wise in my opinion for pianos, brass, and synths by far (I own a PC3 and a Fantom). You mentioned a large number of libraries available for the PC3, like Purgatory Creek - be aware that the original PC3 has no expandable sample memory beyond the discontinued KORE-64 board. To my knowledge the Purgatory Creek keys sounds are only available for the PC4 and Forte (and K2700).

 

My vote would be the FA-07.

Thanks for the input, I'm sure the FA's organs are probably decent enough in a live context and I'm sure will probably be helped substantially by a better leslie sim as @JimboKeys mentioned earlier, my only other major gripes with the FA are the pitch stick (I've used it other times before, not a huge fan, I don't mind korg's as much because you can latch it if you want to) and the lack of front panel controls, I'd love to have 9 sliders I can assign to be drawbars, and this is only made more difficult by the fact that Roland's organ engines only send/recieve sysex for drawbars, not regular midi ccs.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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Here's a vote for the FA. I think its pianos and EPs are a bit better than the older Kurz ones (but not as good as the newer Kurz ones such as PC4 of even SP6). For organ it's subjective, I wouldn't be particularly happy with either of them in an organ heavy environment. Editing is more straightforward. FA has a dedicated controller mode but you'd have to check out exactly what it can and cannot do.

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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57 minutes ago, marczellm said:

FA has a dedicated controller mode but you'd have to check out exactly what it can and cannot do.

Do you have any idea as to how this works, since I can't figure it out?  As per usual Roland's manuals might as well be missing half of the instructions that you actually need.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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Check out these docs and guide videos first, see if that answers your questions.

 

https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002212963-FA-06-FA-07-FA-08-Using-DAW-Control-Mode

 

 

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

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15 minutes ago, marczellm said:

Check out these docs and guide videos first, see if that answers your questions.

 

https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002212963-FA-06-FA-07-FA-08-Using-DAW-Control-Mode

 

 

Thanks so much, plus I found the secondary manual for firmware Version 2.0 that details it, not sure why Roland didn't just come out with a new user manual that included this, it just makes everything more confusing.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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29 minutes ago, GotKeys said:

Thanks so much, plus I found the secondary manual for firmware Version 2.0 that details it, not sure why Roland didn't just come out with a new user manual that included this, it just makes everything more confusing.

 

Yeah, this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Yamaha, Roland, Casio, and Korg seem to never revise an original manual, they only come out with supplements. The supplement is great for existing users who don't want to have to dig through a whole new iteration of the main manual for the few new things they want to look at, but it's really clumsy later (or for subsequent first time users or prospective purchasers) when you don't necessarily know where to look to find something. The only thing I'd say in defense of never altering the main manual is that someone in tech support (or on a forum) could say, "see page 43 of the manual" without worrying about what page the info would be on in different versions of the manual (or whether the info is in the manual someone has at all). But in these days of people using PDFs, that's not a big benefit, when you could also say "see page 43 of the current version of the manual, rev C, which can be downloaded if it's not the version of the manual you already have." But they don't seem to want to put in the extra effort to keep the main manual up to date. It's especially irritating when something in a supplement supersedes something in the main manual such that the info in the main manual is actually wrong.

 

Nord and Kurzweil update their manuals, though.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Speaking as a Kurzweil fanboy (I'm on my 5th Kurzweil in a decade), the Supernatural engine has some great AI code in it somewhere.  My now-gone Roland AX-Synth, which had no aftertouch, did have a non-editable Supernatural violin patch that was psychic -- it allowed me to play legato as a mono synth, but it also knew when I was doing a double-stop articulation, allowing great expressiveness.  Kurzweil VAST (which I love) has no equivalent.  (PS: I was heartbroken to find that the Supernatural engine was dropped from the otherwise superior Ax-Edge keytar.)

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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9 hours ago, Tom Williams said:

Speaking as a Kurzweil fanboy (I'm on my 5th Kurzweil in a decade), the Supernatural engine has some great AI code in it somewhere.  My now-gone Roland AX-Synth, which had no aftertouch, did have a non-editable Supernatural violin patch that was psychic -- it allowed me to play legato as a mono synth, but it also knew when I was doing a double-stop articulation, allowing great expressiveness.  Kurzweil VAST (which I love) has no equivalent.  (PS: I was heartbroken to find that the Supernatural engine was dropped from the otherwise superior Ax-Edge keytar.)

Thanks for that info, I didn't know that the supernatural engine had the ability to do those articulations.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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14 minutes ago, GotKeys said:

Thanks for that info, I didn't know that the supernatural engine had the ability to do those articulations.

 

Some of the SuperNATURAL acoustic stuff is really nice, but very little of it is in the FA. Like I said above, it's only organ, piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings (and even that bunch is a mixed bag... e.g. I am not impressed by the organ or EPs, at least). Tom's AX-Synth violin is not in the FA. The largest set of SuperNATURAL Acoustic tones by far is in the Integra-7, which is something you could attach to the PC3 at some point, if budget allows.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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36 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

Some of the SuperNATURAL acoustic stuff is really nice, but very little of it is in the FA. Like I said above, it's only organ, piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings (and even that bunch is a mixed bag... e.g. I am not impressed by the organ or EPs, at least). Tom's AX-Synth violin is not in the FA. The largest set of SuperNATURAL Acoustic tones by far is in the Integra-7, which is something you could attach to the PC3 at some point, if budget allows.

Ah, I see.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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For those that have owned the FA, how is the editability of the Supernatural acoustic tones (orchestral elements, EPs, organs, and pianos)?  I don't want to buy something that will have too many limitations.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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SuperNatural Acoustic tones have very limited editability. For example, on the EPs, all you can change is the level of the noises. (Of course, you can still apply effects, EQ, etc., but you can't edit the fundamental components of the sound.) See pages 26-28 of the parameter guide to see what editing parameters exist for each of the SN Acoustic tones. And again, there are not many of them. So for example, you asked about "the editability of the Supernatural acoustic tones (orchestral elements")... but there ARE no SN orchestral elements on the FA except for the ensemble strings. (Again, other instruments, esp. the Integra, have more.)

 

In Roland's defense, modeling does not lend itself to all the same kind of user editing you might be expecting. So for example, even on those ensemble strings, they don't let you alter the attack, because part of the modeling is that the attack automatically changes depending on how you play. That's part of what makes them "supernatural" or, as Tom put it, "psychic." IOW, it's a feature, not a bug. ;-)

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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52 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

SuperNatural Acoustic tones have very limited editability. For example, on the EPs, all you can change is the level of the noises. (Of course, you can still apply effects, EQ, etc., but you can't edit the fundamental components of the sound.) See pages 26-28 of the parameter guide to see what editing parameters exist for each of the SN Acoustic tones. And again, there are not many of them. So for example, you asked about "the editability of the Supernatural acoustic tones (orchestral elements")... but there ARE no SN orchestral elements on the FA except for the ensemble strings. (Again, other instruments, esp. the Integra, have more.)

 

In Roland's defense, modeling does not lend itself to all the same kind of user editing you might be expecting. So for example, even on those ensemble strings, they don't let you alter the attack, because part of the modeling is that the attack automatically changes depending on how you play. That's part of what makes them "supernatural" or, as Tom put it, "psychic." IOW, it's a feature, not a bug. 😉

Ok, so this has made my decision a little more difficult, since I'm trying to get the best bang for the buck.

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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41 minutes ago, GotKeys said:

Ok, so this has made my decision a little more difficult, since I'm trying to get the best bang for the buck.

Also, keep in mind that while you basically can't edit the SuperNATURAL piano, EPs, clav, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings, there are also standard (PC3 style, if you will) sampled versions of all of those instruments, in the included XV-5080 soundset and in the freely downloadable SRX-based expansions, and those are all fully editable. 

 

But as for bang-for-buck, you also need to balance that again which better meets your needs, by how much, for what purposes. You said your uses were as a "controller for vsts as well as for it's internal sounds...(pianos, eps, organs, clavs, strings, brass, assorted synth sounds)" - PC3 kills the FA as a controller, and you already determined that you prefer the PC3's organ. So you might want to see if you could find some good demos of the pianos, EPs, clavs, strings, and brass of each board (though remember to also check the sounds on the SRX-based expansions on the FA... but also remember you can only load two such expansions at a time). Synth is tougher. You probably know how you want your piano, EPs, clav, strings, and brass to sound, but synth isn't one sound or a few, it's kind of limitless. But maybe you'll be able to sense that you prefer the overall character of the VA synths of one over the other. Or you can look at the synth side from the editability perspective. 

 

Back to a reply on an earlier post I had missed...

 

On 2/16/2022 at 6:51 PM, GotKeys said:

is it possible to expand the memory

No, it's as Mighty Motif Max said.

 

On 2/16/2022 at 6:51 PM, GotKeys said:

I thought that roland has usually used their own in house keybeds.

It's a mix. Most are Roland's own (or, I suppose, something they have sourced or had made for them), but it seems that the VR-730 uses the Fatar TP/8O, and the FA-07 uses the Fatar TP/9 (and I think the DS76 uses the TP/9 as well, but it's an unweighted action instead of semi-weighted).

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

there are also standard (PC3 style, if you will) sampled versions of all of those instruments, in the included XV-5080 soundset and in the freely downloadable SRX-based expansions, and those are all fully editable. 

My only worry is that because the PCM based sounds are from the XV-5080, they won't be as good, since they are over 20 years old.

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

But maybe you'll be able to sense that you prefer the overall character of the VA synths of one over the other.

Not really sure how to compare the 2, it's not really an apples to apples comparison.

4 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

The largest set of SuperNATURAL Acoustic tones by far is in the Integra-7, which is something you could attach to the PC3 at some point, if budget allows.

This is not a terrible idea, plus the PC3 has way better controller capabilities.

1 hour ago, AnotherScott said:

You probably know how you want your piano, EPs, clav, strings, and brass to sound, but synth isn't one sound or a few, it's kind of limitless.

As far as pianos go, I like both Roland's and Kurzweil's offerings, I prefer the Kurzweil's EPs a little better, clavs are not something I use all that much, so not sure which I prefer, strings and brass, I happen to prefer the Kurzweil's, synths are a little more difficult for me to decide without being able to hear them side by side (I guess youtube here I come).

Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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1 hour ago, GotKeys said:

My only worry is that because the PCM based sounds are from the XV-5080, they won't be as good, since they are over 20 years old.

Not really sure how to compare the 2, it's not really an apples to apples comparison.

This is not a terrible idea, plus the PC3 has way better controller capabilities.

As far as pianos go, I like both Roland's and Kurzweil's offerings, I prefer the Kurzweil's EPs a little better, clavs are not something I use all that much, so not sure which I prefer, strings and brass, I happen to prefer the Kurzweil's, synths are a little more difficult for me to decide without being able to hear them side by side (I guess youtube here I come).

The PC3 includes the unreleased VA-1 synthesizer that they developed but never brought to market.  There is some aliasing but the VA synth section is pretty good and you can map the synth in dozens of configuration.   

 

https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196814

 

towards the bottom of the above link is a video of the VA1.  It looks really cool ....

 

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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Maybe Juno DS 76? FA has hundreds of Supernatural Synth synths. Lots of them are similar to each other. Supernatural Acoustic sounds sound nice but old PCMS have much more editing possibilities. FA has fine interface, very clear. Haven't owned DS but sold FA, not sure if I would sell DS if I had DS instead. 

What annoyed me in FA was: shiny panels (overlays work but feel not really pro), shortage of good sounding acoustic instruments like brass, accordions, solo strings (I believe DS has better ones), and multiple banks of sounds. In DS you have DS bank and PRST, maybe also GM and one expansion if you add. In FA you have SNA, SNS, PCMS, PCMD, GM, up to two expansions. Each bank starts at patch 0001.

Moreover in DS you can use all 4 knobs as volume levels of layers when you press shift+select. Something I didn't know earlier. 

OTOH, FA has great feature of KBD SW GROUP function which allows you to select 16 independent combinations of simultaneously layered/split parts within every 16-part studio set. 

Depends on your needs. 

Yamaha P-515, Korg SV-2 73, Kurzweil PC4-7

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1 hour ago, GotKeys said:

My only worry is that because the PCM based sounds are from the XV-5080, they won't be as good, since they are over 20 years old.

Kurzweil PC3 is a 2008 sound set (also including older sounds, since, some PC2 sounds made their way into the PC3 as well). Roland XV-5080 is from 2000 (and likewise also includes sounds from earlier models); the downloadable SRX-based expansions were produced as recently as 2006, I believe, though they, too, sometimes included sounds from earlier expansions. I guess the point is, neither has a recent PCM set. And what really matters, when it comes to the sounds you care about, is which one you think sounds better. Whether the PCM sounds are "as good" in one as the other is about what you hear, not what year they came out.

 

1 hour ago, GotKeys said:

Not really sure how to compare the 2, it's not really an apples to apples comparison.

I agree that synth sounds are the hardest to compare. Unlike a violin or a piano, there's no real-world reference to what a synth "should" sound like, plus synths are capable of so much when you edit them, you can't really assume that, if you heard a synth sound you really liked out of one, you couldn't get about the same out of the other. As far as the technical side of things, I don't know enough to explain any such advantages VA-1 might have over SuperNATURAL Synth or vice versa (the two VA engines you are comparing). Though since you will also be using it as a controller, there's a world of great VA synths you can run from an iPad, for example. Considering that synth editing on either of these keyboards is not a joy (being essentially all menu based), I'd probably be inclined to go that way for serious synth work anyway. Unless you just really like the factory presets in one or the other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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So after comparing the sounds of both, as well as reading the manuals about figuring out how to program each of them, I have landed on the PC3 being a better choice for me and just bought it!  I should get it by the end of next week.

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Instruments: Walters Grand Console Upright Piano circa 1950 something, Kurzweil PC4-88, my voice

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