Another Dark Horse?

[flat earth]

So we have a 'Dark Horse' category of 'certain' synths, including DW8000's, DSS-1's, ESQ-1's to name but a few.

Today I played a synth I've never really taken any notice of until now. The Kawai K5, imo deserves a mention in this category, a mostly forgotten, but interesting synth hidden behind a challenging interface, but an interesting synth it certainly is. I thought it sounded somewhere between a D50 and a VFX. The previous owner had programmed in some quite beautiful sounds, in particular, the digital strings and pads were strangely soothing & memorizing. Unfortunately it was not for sale. You don't see them that often on ebay or SOS etc

Although the LCD back light was dead, and a few buttons needed quite a bit of encouragement to do anything, it was beautifully built with probably one of the best 61 key key beds Ive had the pleasure of playing.

Anyone own one of these rough diamonds and dived beyond the presets?

[Popbott]

The lovely K5. I had the pleasure of playing a K5r which is the rack module. Decent sounding rompler, however, IMO, hardly comparable to the advanced algorithmic response of a Roland D-50. The VFX is a closer match, maybe an M1 without the sequencer, Caasio CZ-1, still a standard digital synth with some cheesy sounds compared to todays workstations. I am sure programming this baby would yeild some interesting results if the right time is put into it.

[clusterchord]

Originally Posted by Popbott

The lovely K5. I had the pleasure of playing a K5r which is the rack module. Decent sounding rompler,

but its not a rompler. no samples. its additive synthesis board, a predecessor of Kawai's K5000 series.


love to try it one day. it was way ahead of its time, and probably underpowered for what it takes to pull of additive sucessfully.. but im still intrigued how would it compre to K5000 that i used to have.

[felis]

The K5M was my introduction to digital additive synthesis. I had three K5000's after that. The K5 offered a few thing that the 5000 didn't have and vice-versa.
The K5 was 16 part multi-timbral with a very simple way to set it up. The keyboard also offered release velocity, which the 5000 didn't. The 5000 had more advanced filtering options.
There were a lot of similarities though. You could set envelopes for each harmonic separately, or in pre-defined groups, like odd, even, octaves, and so on. On both, there was only a global detune between the oscillators - not for any individual harmonics.
Mods were available only for the defined groupings, not for individuals.
At the time when I bought it new, I was using an Atari, and the only editor available for it was for pc, so it was strictly tedious editing from the front panel.
It was good for its time, and considering that there's no hardware additive synths currently being made, it might be worth picking one up if you're really interested in additive.
But for something that complex, with the amount of editing that needs to be done, there are several software synths that are more current, offer more options, and are much easier to edit.
K5's also over 20 years old now, so they're probably showing their age through sticky/non-functioning buttons,worn out keyboards, dead batteries and displays and so on.
Still - a nice trip down memory lane.

[Oli]

I have the K5000R. It can still do some interesting things. I agree that editing is not a simple matter, and there are better featured soft synths around. It does have some sonic character which I've not heard from elsewhere. I really like it for some basses/leads, just for the particular character it gets. I find the digital ethereal pads mostly sound a bit dated though.

The K5000S is renowned for good build quality, and nice keys, and is a nice looking board. I guess the k5 is also good in a similar fashion.

K5 is cheap these days, and seems to have a fairly stable used price.

[CfNorENa]

Originally Posted by Oli

K5 is cheap these days, and seems to have a fairly stable used price.

Yup, one appeared on my local craigslist a few weeks ago for $120. Man, that's almost pocket change.

[aftertouch]

u can coax some decent sounds out of a casio cz-1

[Oli]

Originally Posted by CfNorENa

Yup, one appeared on my local craigslist a few weeks ago for $120. Man, that's almost pocket change.

I like those pocket change synths, that have something unique. Instead of justifying a purchase, I find myself justifying not to purchase. e. Well, sometimes that seems to make sense.

[flat earth]

Originally Posted by Oli

Instead of justifying a purchase, I find myself justifying not to purchase. e. Well, sometimes that seems to make sense.

I think you will find 'off the record', thats quite a common & 'slutty' thought we have all had to ponder

[Oli]

Originally Posted by flat earth

I think you will find 'off the record', thats quite a common & 'slutty' thought we have all had to ponder

...and all is as it should be.

[flat earth]

Originally Posted by Oli

...and all is as it should be.

wholeheartedly agreed!