So about a month ago I decided to upgrade the Kurzweil K2661 to the latest & greatest PC3 model. I’d had a bit of a love/hate thing going on with the K2661 for a while, and, whilst it was definitely more love than hate, I’d been considering selling it for something a little more modern sounding, maybe a Yamaha Motif.

The problem was I wasn’t convinced by the Motif either. It’s got a certain ‘plasticy’ sound that might cut through mixes well, but it doesn’t stun you with depth or realism. In my line of work though (I mainly do music for television) a good ROMpler is essential and the K2661 was sounding pretty dated.

So anyway, the PC3 arrives. I was expecting some improvements to the way you can program it. I was expecting some new up-to-date keymaps. I was expecting more power for more FX.

What I really wasn’t expecting is the warmth and realism of almost every patch. To my ears this board wipes the floor with the likes of the Motif (I made sure I had a long play on the Motif when I was at Musikmesse last week just to make sure). There are some weak spots, but overall I’m extremely glad I stuck with Kurzweil. I can’t wait to see what expansion boards Kurzweil comes out with.

I think you could me a fanboy! Check out some of the PC3 demo sounds here.