Man I love the sound of the K4. Agree to disagree! The aliasing and complete digital craziness of it is what makes it unique. I refer to playing the K4 as like being able to "hear what geometry sounds like". Awesome synth, especially for the price!
Geometry, love that. Yes it has a geometric based character that can devolve into craziness, hard distortion. Adding slight LFO modulation, and slight detuning of each layer is the spicing, icing on the cake.
@@fernandorosa7144 I had a Yamaha GX76 piano that would detune by 1 tone ... partway thru playing :-(. I fixed wonky keybed on my K4 - I am releasing the tutorial here - ua-cam.com/play/PL_c-hyNHopjFF-qhGONqz435O34rCOJXg.html
I got the keyboard version in 91, and used it extensively. The way to get rid of the "click" you can hear in faster env tones is to set the filter envelope depth to full negative and then build the env profile inverted so 100 % attack 40% decay is like 0 % attack, 60% decay.. apply the same methodology to the rest of the filter env. BTW this works on all digital synths that have suffer filter clicks. The other hidden gem to both K1 and K4s is to build 2x two oscillator patches that are tuned +3 and -3 from eachother or put both into a multi patch one set to the L output the other to the R and you get warm stereo imaging chorus. I've gone so far as to use an entire multi patch to recreate a 4 oscillator patch that had phased pairs of the same waveforms. 8 x 2 osc patches just like before two patches for each single original osc tuned -3 & +3 from its other twin. The reason for this is you need two of the same patch for the hidden chorus effect. The keyboard version has effects so this is a lot of work for something that can be done with plain effects. But for the rack versions and the original K1, this creates very a warm sound. Not to mention the interesting things that happen with the K1 using the joystick in a multi set up like this. Anyways there's a lot of good stuff that takes a great deal of effort to discover. The same dogged stubbornness led me to discover how to create filter sweeps with ring mod on my K1 back in the day. My budget didn't allow for replacing the units soo... time and experimentation and patience. I've got some sysx in Cakewalk format if interested. @Alamo Music Audio Labs: in short majority of the factory patches don't do justice to what's possible. In some ways K1/K4 are meant to be a combined entity. There are some interesting sonic complimenting between the two. I used both for many years as a combined unit. In the methods described above. Even the chorus effect that happens with the same single patch on two parts one mixed L and the other R on both boards at the same time compliment eachother, they don't step on eachother. It's as though they (Kawai) wanted to split one powerful synth into two.
Excellent reply. Thanks for the advice on removing filter clicks. I bought my K4r in 1990 and I’m so glad I still own it. You are absolutely correct about the factory patches not showcasing the best of this instrument’s possibilities. This is a synth for synthesists. For sonic landscapes, ambient colours and highlights, and almost mystically hypnotic drones and angelic harps … this is a gorgeous instrument. I used mine for a few years composing with MusicBox, an algorithmic composer by John Dunne. When you have a process that is continuously tweaking everything with sysex MIDI data … it goes off. And … there are eight assignable audio outputs on the K4r, which makes setting up parallel processing incredibly easy. Each voice in a multi patch can be output to its own signal processing path. And then there’s that amazing drum section, with all synth controls available to make crazy percussion sounds. There’s a lot to love. I think the reviewer is more a traditional keyboard player, which is fine. From that perspective I can understand that this isn’t the synth for him. But if you want to make psychedelic sounds … head for K -space. : )
I have a K4 from 1998 and this fuzzy synth is just INCREDIBLE!!! Using furtherly you can obtain hot pads in full analog style..very complex textures and even metallic sounds.. The filter is GREAT the waveform number is very very wide and the programming not so hard..Ive purchase after lot of diverse brand synthesizers like AN1X D-70 JP-8000..but the flexibility of the K4 is just UNIQUE!!! If you can please buy one of that monster..
Personally I love that sound, it's definitely not what you'd expect from a modern device but it really has a charming retro lofi sound to it. I think for the people who are looking for that specific sound this synth is great
I absolutely love the K4, but I learned how to program and use the power of this synth. In my opinion is not possible to analyse this kind of products based on the built in factory tones (as many people do). The textures you can do with the K4 are awesome.
Yeah, I built a number of nice patches on my K4. I wanted to code an editor/librarian for it, but everything was less sophisticated back then and I’d have had to build the UI for it from scratch, and probably the MIDI interface, too sweat 😅.
Yes you need to spend more time with it. Just don't expect natural sounds from it. It was one of the favourite synths of techno musicians in the 1990-ies, go figure!
had one in the 90's and yes, it is not as slick as a D50 etc but... it has such an outsider art vibe I think it is a classic - I just listened to some demos I made and I don't believe I could get close to the overall vibe with any sound library or synth I have today
The K4 is one of the best digital synths in that it does a good job of sounding analogue. I love analogue and hate digital. I have 3 analogue synths - ARP, Korg and Teisco - but I can't tell you how much fun I've had with the K4. Great analogue-sounding bass, leads, strings and it's GREAT at imitating Simmons SDS5 drums. Believe you me, you don´t like it because you don´t know how to use and/or program it.
Thank you for the demo, your playing is really good. I haven't heard anything that rubbed me the wrong way with that synth. In fact, I liked most of the patches you used in your demo and thought of many things that could be done with them.
all depends on the users vision not the tool its self, in the right hands this is great for underground genres. This synth (and the rack K4r) is the secret ingredient to 1993-1994 jungle techno and darkside coming out of the rave scene in the UK.
I have the K3, K1m and the K4r. They are highly capable and produce gorgeous unique vintage sounds. I’d suggest using midi control programs/apps to really open up the soundscape possibilities if you aren’t good w menu navigation (except the K3 is pretty easy if your good w panel buttons and one beasty knob).. Zack, you’re usually pretty open and positive with reviews, so I think we need you to deep dive this one again hahah
I like the soft, ethereal sounds. Would use it with another synth module as a background pad. Just in time for the 90s, I'd say. That one sawtooth waveform that sounds kind of hollow, is a bit harsh. I've heard better on a Casio CZ 101 or a Korg Poly... Maybe it can be tweaked a bit? 🎉
I love the sound of this. I’m looking into buying one for that insane late 80s/ early 90s feel. This thing can score a movie about Conan The Barbarian joining the Heaven’s Gate cult, hitching a ride on Hale Bopp and conquering the galaxy.
It was from 1989 and was GREAT for when it came out. The synthetic sounds have real warmth. The natural sounds - like piano - aren't nearly as good as a modern keyboard, but were comparable to other keyboards back then, and the pads and synth leads were BETTER. And you can split the keyboard into EIGHT parts, and one of those splits is pressure - you can have the keyboard make a different sound when you hit the keys hard. You can ALSO have it bend the note when there's pressure, which is fantastic for aping an electric guitar lead. My more recent keyboards can't do that - they've actually removed functionality.
Agree with you. I had a K1 and later a K1 II. Once I had the chance I got a K4 but never really fell in love it. However I miss all those keyboards now. One a final note: that keyboard was beautifully designed!!
Recently I was playing with free Kawai K1 VST and found K1/K4' synthesis method is in fact much closer to D-50 than M1. M1 gives you the full length PCM waveform, while K1/K4 and D-50's sounds are based on assembly of the transit waveform for attack and cyclic waveform for body. As such M1's instrument sounds are much more realistic, and it also allows isolating the transit waveform out of it yourself. D-50 utilized synthesized sound engine(basically fake analog) heavily for body, so it sounds warmer.
Zach come on, you're being unfair. If you dislike the sound so much, maybe show the parts that sound nasty too. All you played were great early Rompler patches!
K1r with some FX pedals is super cool. I created some Ctrlr panels for these - makes it easier to visualise what is going on. The slap bass was mammoth...the analog samples are quite dated now. But there is something about the K1r - I won't sell it.
I get a feeling that the right programming is missing here. Question can it be used as a s a part in a. Technoset, dirty? This video just shows a fainted churchinstrument, and yes I don’t want that. And were are the drums? It sounds he’s playing in the church . 😂😂😂
That's what I thought also when I first heard it. Still do. Once I heard the resonance I found what I was looking for and sold my AN1x which wasn't so sizzlyphonically resonentially amazing. It can resonate into a sizzling mess. I love it.
@@80iesDude45I also have the XD5. Fantastic way to create drum kits and patches by selecting/deselecting and muting/unmuting each layer immediately with 1 button press. It's been a year since I posted the last comment, and I keep improving my already great patches. I don't even care about effects, I just use the same one on all my patches. The K4 is pretty easy to learn and not deep at all but the combinations and possibilities are endless. It can be made to sound warm, with enough time and effort can break through the digital barrier into analogland. It's character is not for everyone but I like it, and it has loads of it. K4 is anything but dull and boring.
My first synth was the K-1. I wanted the K-4 so bad cause it had almost real sounding acoustic instruments and filters but my parents couldn’t afford it so I opted for the K-1. I miss my K-1. Learned alot about programming with that synth.
Owned one back in the days. Had a lot of fun programming original usable sounds & fx. Heck, it could even apply filter to even sampled waveforms - something the D110 couldn't do!
My friend had a K1 in the late 1980s. I remember the day he and others in our friendship circle decided to buy instruments and start a band. We went into the local synth retailer initially for a DX7 (the Korg M1 was too expensive) but was convinced to take the K1 instead. It was hard to programme/edit but the in-built sounds were different to those we were accustomed to (DX7, Juno 60, Maplin 3800) and I was able to trigger decent-sounding drum sounds from my Octapad II. I accept it might not be the latest and greatest but for a decent sense of nostalgia, and because I've recently become "economically independent" 😄, I've just bought a K4R off eBay to join my little retro collection.
I have a K4 and it's not my favorite synth. But, it's not as bad as you say. There are many patches out there that make it sound way better than the stock factory defaults. Most are now free to download. I would give it another try.
I think the K4 is very good- it’s not amazing, but it’s just a decent all rounder. it’s just a nice middle ground, ok waveforms, pretty good filter and a decent key bed. I find It’s biggest frustration is having exactly one 😞 real time control ( Kawai did make a sort of programmer for it). Sure, not what you want if you are trying to make analogue-synth heavy type music, or the latest sparking digital EDM but personally I find it’s often a lot more useful than D50 or DX7 etc
Well, you're wrong on the "can still find them for 2-300 bucks" (at least that I've seen). That era sailed about a year ago. This is the kind of synth I would consider using if I was scoring a film that was a bit offbeat and the director wanted a "unique" vibe. There are other videos where the users offer custom patches that really excel more than some of the presets.
The K4 was my first synthesizer. Bought it new in 1990 or so. I think it was like $1100. I wanted an M1 or ESQ, but there was no way I could afford one back then. Anyway, any gear has to be considered in its context. Back in K4’s day, digital had just been popularized a few years before with the DX7, etc, and it was probably a bit (heh) too soon, but compared to analog gear, the digital stuff seemed magical. The higher-end stuff was much more expensive then. The K4 was relatively very inexpensive, and nearly a whole studio in a keyboard-shaped instrument. I impulse purchased one and combined it with an Alesis MMT-8 and HR-16 and had a great time. Back then lots of us were recording into 4-track cassette recorders, so multitimbral and MIDI was a huge win. Now most people use DAWs, so that’s a little less important. I do direct-to-stereo these days, via Eurorack modular, and other synths. It’s amazing the choices we have now. We’re very lucky. At least you give the keyboard itself proper credit. I mean release velocity? How awesome is that, and on an inexpensive synth. It’s hard enough just to find a good-feeling aftertouch these days. I may pick up the rack mount K1r just for kicks. I’ll bet the memory cards are unobtanium these days!
Wow…I’m actually a little surprised… I really like the sound, either you picked the best sounding patches, or maybe it’s just my kind of “vomit in my mouth” sound I like lol. But yeah, I’ve researched this a ton, but never heard enough of it to have a real opinion, I always put it far behind the K3 and I actually owned a K5 module and it was really cool for sound design. I actually think I want to get one of these now, would be interesting to explore those “dirty digital tones…”
I look forward to your takes on the K5 and K5000 series. If you get a K5000, watch that resonance parameter!! Try to find a K5000s for maximum tweaking and live control.
I think this is pretty interesting! I too think that you have dug the good stuff out of it. sound at 16:57 actually made the surface of my macbook air 11 vibrate wierdly! That's certainly a plus.
That’s basically what I did, couldn’t afford to pay 800$ for a 35 year old d-50 or m-1, a affordable mint condition k4 came across my radar and I snatched it right up
Agree with you! I purchased a K4 way back then in the 90s and thought it felt and sounded cheap! My only reference at that time was my Juno 6 which I loved from the very first moment!
Some of it's patches are D-50 like. One sounded like Soundtrack. D-50 without the clean sound. Not a terrible sounding synth at all. The output isn't the best. I haven't touched one so I don't know the extent of what can be done with one.
Well hmm. I think it has more charm than being said here. It sounds dated in a good way, wouldn't say the same for some other vintage synths. It was one of my 1st keyboards. I was able to tweak and layer patches to get my yes/genesis type sounds. I think it goes pretty deep with the limits of the time, the M1 was the big seller back then. I still have it and would love for it to find a new home. The battery is dead (lost all presets), I have to downsize soon, so I don't have time for it. Just fyi: it is a common battery, 2032. Kawai was helpful, they still have the presets to download. You need a midi interface and an editor program for a PC, so a bit project.
Really? For me it's about using it to create your own sounds, which can be brilliant, most synths have a pretty poor set of factory presets, with a few exceptions. And most synths of that era don't have built in effects - pushing the output through a reverb or delay improves the vast majority of synths.
This Synth is a lot better than the old K1 (which sounds more like a toy nowadays). There are some nice pad sounds and soundeffects. The Keybed is also pretty good. But that‘s it. There are some alternatives (pricewise) with better build- and soundquality…Yamaha SY85, Korg Wavestation or T3 for example. Or spent a bit more money and get a D50 or SY77. It‘s worth it
I´m pretty sure the internal effects worsen the sound more than they enhance them. You should turn them off and put it through a better processor. I recently fall in love with a K1M that I found for 30 dollars... the raw audio quality of the waveforms is phenomenal, crisp and warm. I have plenty of synths, but this little box really took my heart.
Love your videos, adding a little of history if the synth and manufacturer and lineage of the synth is great. Would be cool to do something on the Kurzweil K series (K200/2500/2600). I don't believe you have covered Kurzweil yet.
the D50 is more advanced with regard to programming possibilities and filter modulation. it's more of a synthesizer than a rompler, the k4 is more of a rompler. Nils Schneider (who reverse engineered the motorola chip that Acess Virus used) is working on a software emulation of the K4. Let's see if he can nail the filter. I think he'll need help from whoever made the old 32 bit windows vst synth called "monolisa"
Still have mine... its an awesome sounding keyboard. I wish I could find a K4 VST so I could use it in my DAW (no I dont want the limits of the original hardware)
After watching your video, I became curious to acquire this synth. I finally found one for CAD$300. I thought to myself, "Worst case scenario, I'll resell it". Verdict: I won't resell it!
The answer is both. It is underrated and bad. If you want lo-fi sample based sounds, it's great. Everything it does reminds me of like a PS1 game soundtrack, or it can sometimes remind me of an 80's sampler like an Emulator, though a little dirtier. It's not always the right thing, but I love the K4 (and K1). The rack version doesn't have the reverb though, which is pretty lame. Been trying to find a Kawai RV4 reverb but they don't pop up much...
I found the K4r and the RV4 very cheap thanks to Reverb. I think the combo sounds great together. I like the Lexicon LXP15 reverb with it also. Great minds.
@@stephenhookings1985 ahh I love the old k1 ..me and my friend made loads of tracks with that ... Just the k1 and an old alesis drum machine ... Happy day back in 89/90 ... Edit .. I remember there was this one sound that started off like a digital explosion, then if you kept the key held this angelic choir voice came in ..it was absolutely beautiful .. can't remember what the patch name was ..but man it was gorgeous...
I bought the synth because of its dirt! What can I do? I love it, you do not, you are an other man, other thoughts. Thats normal. Mankind is different, how good!
"I don't like it 1 bit" sneaky pun. I have to say I love the sound, not much out there these days that sounds like the definition of the word "digital".
When you said "throw up in your mouth digital dirt" I've thought: man I have to get one of these!!!! So I did. More reviews of quirky and dirty synths please!
Hallo! I had one many years ago, and now I am looking for a cheap, portable controller for vintage MIDI modules. I do not care about its sound, but only about: 1) I know it can be split/layered (even more than modern controllers!) but... is each zone able to transmit in a different MIDI channel? and 2) How is the keyboard? I know it is "synth action", but I remember it to be better than present day computer oriented controllers. Looking forward for your opinions! Cheers
One of these popped up for sale in my town, so I checked your review (informative as ever!) to see if this one might be for me. And: no, it isn't! The sound completely failed to inspire and captivate me. Thanks for saving me 200 bucks!
However, I would like to know if someone has a good electric piano patch in the k4 that sounds the most similar to rhodes or wurly since the factory one that it brings, although it sounds very good as an electric piano, nothing to do with the original
the electronic guts are almost nil, it's got a lot of cheesy sounds, but the digital filter is really amazing. try the preset funk bass. i regret letting mine go.
Not having owned a K4 or any other Kawai synth, it strikes me as a perfectly usable ROMpler that really didn't have anything to distinguish it from any other ROMpler in its price range. I certainly wouldn't have paid what Kawai was asking for it. Kawai just came late to the synthesis game and with the exception of the two additive synths they did, they didn't really bring their A game. They weren't bad, just meh...
yo toque bastante tiempo en vivo con este instrumento, y el secuenciador kawai q80 y me fue muy bien, me sirvio para musica latina, a pesar de los horribles sonidos de trompeta que tiene, pero en baladas y pads se lucia, a pesar de que sus pianos no son muy pianos, pues tambien me funciono con merengue y salsa, sin problemas
@@audelinom no no tanto, ya que realmente, no se parecia en nada, al M1, solo trataba de competir en mercado de M1-D50-DX7 de la epoca, el propio korg si saco versiones baratas del M1con menos sonidos en version rack y sin secuenciador, como dice el video, el K4 llego tarde a esa fiesta y con un mercadeo inferior a los monstruos Roland-Yamaha-Korg de ese momento y siempre
I owned this model in 90ies and it was really pleasant to use and fine to control. I regret very much that you've picked up these lousy sounds as an example of this machine's capabilities, it can sound far more than that. Good for pads, expressive keybed with aftertouch, a monster in hands of a conosseur. If making a film music, it can produce such a splendid strings tone, with intelligent use of integrated effect unit... For its time, it was really a promissing competition to Roland D50 and Korg M1, especially when used with external sequencer, unfortunately not built-in.
Exactly! Was thinking "why only choose those dark rather static sounds" when we know that right from the start the factory settings have lush sounds like "zimbabwe" etc
Seems nostalgia for many... I worked in music shops in HiTech for many years... Hand hands on with sooo much stuff.... Bought Soooo much stuff too... (Most I still to this day... Yeh , a bit of a synth Tragic..lol) Bad? No.. An instrument is an Instrument... Each have their strengths and weaknesses ... Personally , Never liked it either....Just meh.... As for the K5000s... Thats a totally different story. It wasn't trying to be anything but itself.
@@asoundlab At the time, hardware and VST's tried, but it was quite a challenge Kawai took on... Today its not as "special" A few companies implemented their idea, "Cube" from Virsyn was a really excellent attempt at Additive Synthesis for example....... But today, (though I still would like a K5000 in my aresnel ) , Air music LOOMII is a goto for me.....its amazing and somewhat underrated... (Except BT also puts it in one of his top 3 hidden gems) ... is damn close , but also has expanded on the possibilities... I guess, credit where credits due... K5000 was pretty spesh at the time.
The Kawai K1/K4 are weeird instruments. 8 bit dirty digital (although thought to be clean back then) combined with very short, simple samples give it a kind of digilog kind of vibe. Those short samples times give the synth a very smooth, bland sound IMO. This may be overcome with good programming, but you're in essence fighting the true nature of the synth.
I've had one since it was a new item many moons ago ...is it a Kronos of course not and truth told I really don't use it much or at all but it still has some fat old school charm and a couple patches still sound like nothing else I own. There are plenty of really bad synths out there BUT the k4 is not one of them.
Zach almost every time a synth is a "super crap" like this its horrid preset design. I suspect if you got real deep with it you could do a ton of stuff.....but you can only get deep with so much gear so.....its a matter of want to i guess.
Yes presets are horrible. You have to mute and unmute layers, and change the patch of the layer that doesnt sound good. Save, take a break, refresh your ears, and you'll hear problems you didn't hear before. Change the layer with the problems. Soon you will have a fine synth with decent enough patches.
I have several kawais, i don’t like the user interface of the K series , its terrible. The K3 oddly however has a fantastic user interface and it sounds really nice. The XD-5 also has a terrible interface. The k1 has a lousy Interface and sounds ok. The K5 I don’t know but I hear its interface is also terrible but it sounds good. Anyways they are pretty cheap today but t I’m not recommending them just the K3 and the older SX models are worth it.
I sincerely think that you have some personal problem with the K4 and what you did was denigrate in the video that fact that you did, it seems that you had chosen the worst sounds to affirm the lie that you publish, really if the K4 has its defects, its errors of form and substance, but as they say here in my country, it's not the arrow, it's the Indian, I and many other users get incredible and excellent sounds, which in an unusual way, are an unexpected result in a machine, as you say. so defective, it is definitely an underrated synthesizer, by many hypnotized by the roland-korg-yamaha sound triad, but obviously, it doesn't have to be as bad as you say, companies like UVI have already included it in their libraries, for example, Even the best synthesizer in the world sounds horrible and horrible, presented and executed in the hands of a novice amateur who has just arrived in the ring.
I learned programming on this synth, it was my first one. Very user-friendly, and yes: the factory presets are not good, and don't use it to emulate acoustic sounds, you will fail... ;) But synth-sounds.... It's got some nasty filters and resonance, very on par with the 90ies vibe, which I have often used. I made an entire album with the K4: ua-cam.com/video/cZCqnOyTGUE/v-deo.html
If you introduce it saying it sucks you're not going to make the audience want to watch. I saw a series of K4/r videos by Nacho Marty Meyer and they are brilliant. They guy knows how to program.
This keyboard fueled the success of a Hmong singer ny name of HMONG HIGH VOLTAGE . His entire album was K4 sounds and his drums was from m1. Remember, an instrument is only as good as the user. K4 was one that was garbage if you sucked. If you understood how to track, mix and utiliZe its saws, squares and ect for instruments man it sounded disco thick. K4 i would say does not succeed well with acoustic users or musicians that needed more realistic waveforms.
This dude doesn't know how to use it properly. U can stack the same patch 8 times in multitimbral mode and detune all of them slightly differently (like a manual unison effect), the individual waveform sounds garbage but the right ones stacked gives some epic 80s leads and guitar sounds. Lithium batteries are annoying though they don't last long only a few years!
Well, I considered being a bit restrained, but since UA-cam is a soapbox for anyone, and conments aren't turned off, it might just as well be a soap box for me! I'm not sure if this channel is weak attempt at promo for your music store or something, but your videos (this one in particular) are really worse than a waste of time for anyone watching them; they bring nothing to the table, no insight, no knowledge, no worthy evaluation backed up by facts/specifications/logic. If you want to make a synth demo playing some sounds (like countless others) then, fine. But if you're trying to "review" something, base it upon something. A random bank of sounds and some vague, nonsensical attempt at Kawai synth history, plus random specifications, and just saying "it makes me want to vomit", or "it's dirty" would be more applicable in the adolescent Playstation vs Xbox arena. Try a little research, methodology, preparation, so you can give an educated opinion. ("Audio Lab ", "Sound Lab"?? LOL!) Simple fact, in 1989, the K4 was revolutionary in ways, and further, it's relatively low price allowed many amateur budding electronic musicians access to a wider pallette of rich sounds and the possibility of more professional sounding productions. (The K4, Atari ST, and sequencer were a BIG thing, particularly in Europe.) In 1989, samplers, RAM, mass storage, and sample libraries were expensive, cumbersome, and proprietary. Multitimbral synths and/or workstations that could do most production duties were few, incomprehensive, and/or expensive (previously, the pioneering budget Sequential Six Trak was very limited, then the Ensoniq ESQ-1 was revolutionary but still had polyphony and waveform limitations, and finally the M1 came along and was expensive, also revolutionary, yet still serious limitations beneath its veneer.) Also, the D-50 had recently upped the ante in synth sound standards due largely to its samples - however short, gimmicky, and non-comprehensive - and built-in effects, plus spectacular factory preset patches. (Yes, it had a strong analog-style synth section as its backbone, too) Enter the K4, which had both some serious advantages over both the market-leaders M1 and D-50, it's nearest competition, and a significantly lower price than both (especially the M1). While the truest "ROMplers" ever were also on, or about to be on, the market by then, aside from serious systhesis deficiencies, they were in comparison to the K4 either far too expensive (Kurzweil K1000 series), too expensive - and mediocre (Roland U-series), or focused firmly on orchestral/acoustic sounds and lacked effects - and maybe lacked comprehensive rock/pop percussion, too? (E-mu Proteus - which sold like hotcakes and saved E-mu). In comparison to the D-50, the K4 has three times the PCM ROM, with both many small synth waveforms and longer and multi-sampled acoustic waveforms for imitative instrument patches, as well as comprehensive drum samples. It was also fully 8-way multi-timbral for creating full sequences, and complex splits and layers for performance (or very thick, interesting sounds). The D-50 was only psuedo-bi-timbral. On top of that, the K-4 filters could filter PCM samples, too (unlike D-50) and even put its filters in series to produce a Moog-like 24db/octave 4-pole cutoff slope (D-50 only had 12db/oct). And no appreciable drums on the D-50. As for the M1, the K4 had double the M1's oscillator-polyphony (32 vs. 16) so thicker, more complex timbres could be created and used with greater note-polyphony. The M1's filters were infamously not resonant (and also fixed at 12db/oct). Further, the K4 could use AM amplitude modulation between pairs of oscillators (similar to D-50) to create interesting ring modulation effects with its waveforms; the M1 could not. All for not much over about half the price! (This isn't to say the K4 didn't have deficiencies compared to M1, D-50, or others, just that it certainly had many strengths, being quite competitive in most ways, and actually leading in some, despite its low price.) Try listening all the way through all these patch demos for a much better idea of what K4 is capable of (and I didn't think Fickle Me Alamo's patches were all bad, just limited to mostly simplisticly charming early digital/wavetable type stuff, but certainly not enough to properly evaluate the K4): ua-cam.com/video/ZcxY1f0yDAw/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/rVNyt-0OIv8/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/e3xREva1I3U/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/XW9fA7cwMuI/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/OdeeokdhroY/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/wa5rNiHyTLQ/v-deo.html
I'm not a noob in the matter, have a disastrous number of synths, started in the eighties and I like the K4. Still I enjoyed the video and I think the man puts a genuine passion in it. I know he is not the deeper synthesist around but I don't think everyone should be it, it would be boring.
Exactly: many of the patches demoed here either come from square waves or some variation of a gritty wave - while in fact that synth has far more in the R.O.M: triangle, rectangular(s), pulse etc up to sampled cyclic waves.
Thank you I appreciate your knowledgeable assessment of this synth, I just bought one because I cannot afford a D-50 and you just reassured me of my choice
@@WarriorEsoteric Nice move! I sold my K4R a couple years ago because it's value was up, I had enough other similar gear, and a K4 VST/softsynth was imminent (by author of excellent K1 VST). BUT, the K4 VST never materialized... Now, the vintage synth market has largely cooled down, and you can find a K4 (especially keyboard) for very reasonable price. So, makes lots of sense to buy if you find right one for sale, and don't have lots redundant equipment. Anyway, you'll have great fun with K4, and the UI is really straightforward and quite pleasant and efficient to use!
Man I love the sound of the K4. Agree to disagree! The aliasing and complete digital craziness of it is what makes it unique. I refer to playing the K4 as like being able to "hear what geometry sounds like". Awesome synth, especially for the price!
Geometry, love that. Yes it has a geometric based character that can devolve into craziness, hard distortion. Adding slight LFO modulation, and slight detuning of each layer is the spicing, icing on the cake.
Jack, How can I Tune this synth? or, do a Factory reset. My K4 is a 1/2 tone Lower.
@@stephenramkhelawan2463 System / Tune
And one of the best channel aftertouch I ever used.
@@fernandorosa7144 I had a Yamaha GX76 piano that would detune by 1 tone ... partway thru playing :-(.
I fixed wonky keybed on my K4 - I am releasing the tutorial here - ua-cam.com/play/PL_c-hyNHopjFF-qhGONqz435O34rCOJXg.html
I got the keyboard version in 91, and used it extensively.
The way to get rid of the "click" you can hear in faster env tones is to set the filter envelope depth to full negative and then build the env profile inverted so 100 % attack 40% decay is like 0 % attack, 60% decay.. apply the same methodology to the rest of the filter env. BTW this works on all digital synths that have suffer filter clicks.
The other hidden gem to both K1 and K4s is to build 2x two oscillator patches that are tuned +3 and -3 from eachother or put both into a multi patch one set to the L output the other to the R and you get warm stereo imaging chorus. I've gone so far as to use an entire multi patch to recreate a 4 oscillator patch that had phased pairs of the same waveforms. 8 x 2 osc patches just like before two patches for each single original osc tuned -3 & +3 from its other twin. The reason for this is you need two of the same patch for the hidden chorus effect. The keyboard version has effects so this is a lot of work for something that can be done with plain effects. But for the rack versions and the original K1, this creates very a warm sound. Not to mention the interesting things that happen with the K1 using the joystick in a multi set up like this. Anyways there's a lot of good stuff that takes a great deal of effort to discover. The same dogged stubbornness led me to discover how to create filter sweeps with ring mod on my K1 back in the day. My budget didn't allow for replacing the units soo... time and experimentation and patience. I've got some sysx in Cakewalk format if interested.
@Alamo Music Audio Labs: in short majority of the factory patches don't do justice to what's possible. In some ways K1/K4 are meant to be a combined entity. There are some interesting sonic complimenting between the two. I used both for many years as a combined unit. In the methods described above. Even the chorus effect that happens with the same single patch on two parts one mixed L and the other R on both boards at the same time compliment eachother, they don't step on eachother. It's as though they (Kawai) wanted to split one powerful synth into two.
Excellent reply. Thanks for the advice on removing filter clicks.
I bought my K4r in 1990 and I’m so glad I still own it. You are absolutely correct about the factory patches not showcasing the best of this instrument’s possibilities.
This is a synth for synthesists.
For sonic landscapes, ambient colours and highlights, and almost mystically hypnotic drones and angelic harps … this is a gorgeous instrument.
I used mine for a few years composing with MusicBox, an algorithmic composer by John Dunne.
When you have a process that is continuously tweaking everything with sysex MIDI data … it goes off.
And … there are eight assignable audio outputs on the K4r, which makes setting up parallel processing incredibly easy. Each voice in a multi patch can be output to its own signal processing path.
And then there’s that amazing drum section, with all synth controls available to make crazy percussion sounds.
There’s a lot to love.
I think the reviewer is more a traditional keyboard player, which is fine. From that perspective I can understand that this isn’t the synth for him.
But if you want to make psychedelic sounds … head for K -space.
: )
❤
I have a K4 from 1998 and this fuzzy synth is just INCREDIBLE!!! Using furtherly you can obtain hot pads in full analog style..very complex textures and even metallic sounds..
The filter is GREAT the waveform number is very very wide and the programming not so hard..Ive purchase after lot of diverse brand synthesizers like AN1X D-70 JP-8000..but the flexibility of the K4 is just UNIQUE!!! If you can please buy one of that monster..
Personally I love that sound, it's definitely not what you'd expect from a modern device but it really has a charming retro lofi sound to it. I think for the people who are looking for that specific sound this synth is great
I absolutely love the K4, but I learned how to program and use the power of this synth. In my opinion is not possible to analyse this kind of products based on the built in factory tones (as many people do). The textures you can do with the K4 are awesome.
Yeah, I built a number of nice patches on my K4. I wanted to code an editor/librarian for it, but everything was less sophisticated back then and I’d have had to build the UI for it from scratch, and probably the MIDI interface, too sweat 😅.
The K4 has WAY more character than the M1or its other contemporaries!
Yes you need to spend more time with it.
Just don't expect natural sounds from it. It was one of the favourite synths of techno musicians in the 1990-ies, go figure!
Exactly. It’s a synth that rewards some deep diving.
My favourite digital synth. I have one from 7 years ago. Lovely dark, warm, rough and vintage 80s sound.
had one in the 90's and yes, it is not as slick as a D50 etc but... it has such an outsider art vibe I think it is a classic - I just listened to some demos I made and I don't believe I could get close to the overall vibe with any sound library or synth I have today
The K4 is one of the best digital synths in that it does a good job of sounding analogue. I love analogue and hate digital. I have 3 analogue synths - ARP, Korg and Teisco - but I can't tell you how much fun I've had with the K4. Great analogue-sounding bass, leads, strings and it's GREAT at imitating Simmons SDS5 drums. Believe you me, you don´t like it because you don´t know how to use and/or program it.
Thank you for the demo, your playing is really good. I haven't heard anything that rubbed me the wrong way with that synth. In fact, I liked most of the patches you used in your demo and thought of many things that could be done with them.
all depends on the users vision not the tool its self, in the right hands this is great for underground genres.
This synth (and the rack K4r) is the secret ingredient to 1993-1994 jungle techno and darkside coming out of the rave scene in the UK.
I have the K3, K1m and the K4r. They are highly capable and produce gorgeous unique vintage sounds. I’d suggest using midi control programs/apps to really open up the soundscape possibilities if you aren’t good w menu navigation (except the K3 is pretty easy if your good w panel buttons and one beasty knob).. Zack, you’re usually pretty open and positive with reviews, so I think we need you to deep dive this one again hahah
Exactly 💯
Whats the pc editor you're using with you k4?
I like the soft, ethereal sounds. Would use it with another synth module as a background pad.
Just in time for the 90s, I'd say.
That one sawtooth waveform that sounds kind of hollow, is a bit harsh. I've heard better on a Casio CZ 101 or a Korg Poly... Maybe it can be tweaked a bit? 🎉
I love the sound of this. I’m looking into buying one for that insane late 80s/ early 90s feel. This thing can score a movie about Conan The Barbarian joining the Heaven’s Gate cult, hitching a ride on Hale Bopp and conquering the galaxy.
Nice, my arrives tomorrow, excited
No Love for the K4?........ None? .... I love the pad sounds in it.
I have to admit…the pads aren’t bad…in fact, they’re pretty good….in fact, if you cornered me, they’re pretty great
yes i love k4, really fat pads, agressive leads, but really awful trumpet patch
It was from 1989 and was GREAT for when it came out. The synthetic sounds have real warmth. The natural sounds - like piano - aren't nearly as good as a modern keyboard, but were comparable to other keyboards back then, and the pads and synth leads were BETTER.
And you can split the keyboard into EIGHT parts, and one of those splits is pressure - you can have the keyboard make a different sound when you hit the keys hard. You can ALSO have it bend the note when there's pressure, which is fantastic for aping an electric guitar lead. My more recent keyboards can't do that - they've actually removed functionality.
Agree with you. I had a K1 and later a K1 II. Once I had the chance I got a K4 but never really fell in love it. However I miss all those keyboards now. One a final note: that keyboard was beautifully designed!!
Recently I was playing with free Kawai K1 VST and found K1/K4' synthesis method is in fact much closer to D-50 than M1. M1 gives you the full length PCM waveform, while K1/K4 and D-50's sounds are based on assembly of the transit waveform for attack and cyclic waveform for body. As such M1's instrument sounds are much more realistic, and it also allows isolating the transit waveform out of it yourself. D-50 utilized synthesized sound engine(basically fake analog) heavily for body, so it sounds warmer.
The K-synth sounds cryptic and dark. Just like the CZ-series from Casio. Very uniq.
Zach come on, you're being unfair.
If you dislike the sound so much, maybe show the parts that sound nasty too. All you played were great early Rompler patches!
I loved the K1 and K4 for it's industrial value. Dude I wish I could show you how to program it for that. Combine it with a XD-5!
K1r with some FX pedals is super cool. I created some Ctrlr panels for these - makes it easier to visualise what is going on. The slap bass was mammoth...the analog samples are quite dated now. But there is something about the K1r - I won't sell it.
I get a feeling that the right programming is missing here. Question can it be used as a s a part in a. Technoset, dirty? This video just shows a fainted churchinstrument, and yes I don’t want that. And were are the drums? It sounds he’s playing in the church . 😂😂😂
Very underrated synth. The digital resonance is amazing. A timeless piece of soundgear and perfect for Synthwave and Retrowave.
That's what I thought also when I first heard it. Still do. Once I heard the resonance I found what I was looking for and sold my AN1x which wasn't so sizzlyphonically resonentially amazing. It can resonate into a sizzling mess. I love it.
It’s actually an analogue filter… great synth 🎉
@@georgejennings9959 Have both, the Kawai K4 (with the K4r) and also the AN1x which IMO is an incredible VA synth.
@@80iesDude45I also have the XD5. Fantastic way to create drum kits and patches by selecting/deselecting and muting/unmuting each layer immediately with 1 button press. It's been a year since I posted the last comment, and I keep improving my already great patches. I don't even care about effects, I just use the same one on all my patches. The K4 is pretty easy to learn and not deep at all but the combinations and possibilities are endless. It can be made to sound warm, with enough time and effort can break through the digital barrier into analogland. It's character is not for everyone but I like it, and it has loads of it. K4 is anything but dull and boring.
My first synth was the K-1.
I wanted the K-4 so bad cause it had almost real sounding acoustic instruments and filters but my parents couldn’t afford it so I opted for the K-1.
I miss my K-1. Learned alot about programming with that synth.
Owned one back in the days. Had a lot of fun programming original usable sounds & fx. Heck, it could even apply filter to even sampled waveforms - something the D110 couldn't do!
My friend had a K1 in the late 1980s. I remember the day he and others in our friendship circle decided to buy instruments and start a band. We went into the local synth retailer initially for a DX7 (the Korg M1 was too expensive) but was convinced to take the K1 instead. It was hard to programme/edit but the in-built sounds were different to those we were accustomed to (DX7, Juno 60, Maplin 3800) and I was able to trigger decent-sounding drum sounds from my Octapad II.
I accept it might not be the latest and greatest but for a decent sense of nostalgia, and because I've recently become "economically independent" 😄, I've just bought a K4R off eBay to join my little retro collection.
I have a K4 and it's not my favorite synth. But, it's not as bad as you say. There are many patches out there that make it sound way better than the stock factory defaults. Most are now free to download. I would give it another try.
I think the K4 is very good- it’s not amazing, but it’s just a decent all rounder. it’s just a nice middle ground, ok waveforms, pretty good filter and a decent key bed. I find It’s biggest frustration is having exactly one 😞 real time control ( Kawai did make a sort of programmer for it). Sure, not what you want if you are trying to make analogue-synth heavy type music, or the latest sparking digital EDM but personally I find it’s often a lot more useful than D50 or DX7 etc
Do you have any recordings with it? Would love to listen :)
Zak - love your videos and your choice of machines to review. How about looking at the Kawai K5000S?
Couldn’t agree less… digital grunge with an analogue filter . It is unique
Sounds great it's dark.
Well, you're wrong on the "can still find them for 2-300 bucks" (at least that I've seen). That era sailed about a year ago. This is the kind of synth I would consider using if I was scoring a film that was a bit offbeat and the director wanted a "unique" vibe. There are other videos where the users offer custom patches that really excel more than some of the presets.
Check eBay they pop up there occasionally
Yep, digital and hybrid synths are starting to raise exponentially in value, unfortunately buying one for $200 has past.
It's really thick for us thicko's. Nice wave forms and Happy today
The K4 was my first synthesizer. Bought it new in 1990 or so. I think it was like $1100. I wanted an M1 or ESQ, but there was no way I could afford one back then.
Anyway, any gear has to be considered in its context. Back in K4’s day, digital had just been popularized a few years before with the DX7, etc, and it was probably a bit (heh) too soon, but compared to analog gear, the digital stuff seemed magical. The higher-end stuff was much more expensive then. The K4 was relatively very inexpensive, and nearly a whole studio in a keyboard-shaped instrument. I impulse purchased one and combined it with an Alesis MMT-8 and HR-16 and had a great time.
Back then lots of us were recording into 4-track cassette recorders, so multitimbral and MIDI was a huge win. Now most people use DAWs, so that’s a little less important. I do direct-to-stereo these days, via Eurorack modular, and other synths. It’s amazing the choices we have now. We’re very lucky.
At least you give the keyboard itself proper credit. I mean release velocity? How awesome is that, and on an inexpensive synth. It’s hard enough just to find a good-feeling aftertouch these days. I may pick up the rack mount K1r just for kicks. I’ll bet the memory cards are unobtanium these days!
Wow…I’m actually a little surprised…
I really like the sound, either you picked the best sounding patches, or maybe it’s just my kind of “vomit in my mouth” sound I like lol. But yeah, I’ve researched this a ton, but never heard enough of it to have a real opinion, I always put it far behind the K3 and I actually owned a K5 module and it was really cool for sound design. I actually think I want to get one of these now, would be interesting to explore those “dirty digital tones…”
I look forward to your takes on the K5 and K5000 series. If you get a K5000, watch that resonance parameter!! Try to find a K5000s for maximum tweaking and live control.
Ran this with early cubase on an atari 520st
So much fun.
I think this is pretty interesting! I too think that you have dug the good stuff out of it. sound at 16:57 actually made the surface of my macbook air 11 vibrate wierdly! That's certainly a plus.
I love LA synthesis but I don't have money for a D-50. I might get this instead.
I had both, now the d-50 is gone.
It is a matter of taste of course but I like the K4(r in my case) more.
That’s basically what I did, couldn’t afford to pay 800$ for a 35 year old d-50 or m-1, a affordable mint condition k4 came across my radar and I snatched it right up
Agree with you! I purchased a K4 way back then in the 90s and thought it felt and sounded cheap!
My only reference at that time was my Juno 6 which I loved from the very first moment!
Some of it's patches are D-50 like. One sounded like Soundtrack. D-50 without the clean sound. Not a terrible sounding synth at all. The output isn't the best. I haven't touched one so I don't know the extent of what can be done with one.
amazing i love these vids. the obscure kawai stuff doesn't seem obscure anymore haha.
Well hmm. I think it has more charm than being said here. It sounds dated in a good way, wouldn't say the same for some other vintage synths. It was one of my 1st keyboards. I was able to tweak and layer patches to get my yes/genesis type sounds. I think it goes pretty deep with the limits of the time, the M1 was the big seller back then. I still have it and would love for it to find a new home. The battery is dead (lost all presets), I have to downsize soon, so I don't have time for it. Just fyi: it is a common battery, 2032. Kawai was helpful, they still have the presets to download. You need a midi interface and an editor program for a PC, so a bit project.
Really? For me it's about using it to create your own sounds, which can be brilliant, most synths have a pretty poor set of factory presets, with a few exceptions.
And most synths of that era don't have built in effects - pushing the output through a reverb or delay improves the vast majority of synths.
This Synth is a lot better than the old K1 (which sounds more like a toy nowadays). There are some nice pad sounds and soundeffects. The Keybed is also pretty good. But that‘s it. There are some alternatives (pricewise) with better build- and soundquality…Yamaha SY85, Korg Wavestation or T3 for example. Or spent a bit more money and get a D50 or SY77. It‘s worth it
Agreed!
I´m pretty sure the internal effects worsen the sound more than they enhance them. You should turn them off and put it through a better processor. I recently fall in love with a K1M that I found for 30 dollars... the raw audio quality of the waveforms is phenomenal, crisp and warm. I have plenty of synths, but this little box really took my heart.
This gentleman honesty is pure gold.💪💪💪
I tend to agree it is a "dirty digital" but to me that is what makes it stand out
Love your videos, adding a little of history if the synth and manufacturer and lineage of the synth is great. Would be cool to do something on the Kurzweil K series (K200/2500/2600). I don't believe you have covered Kurzweil yet.
I have the D50 and the K4. Personally I dont think the D50 sounds powerfull as the K4...they have a very different lowend and feels
Will have to do a comparison!
Back in my youth I had both as well :)
the D50 is more advanced with regard to programming possibilities and filter modulation. it's more of a synthesizer than a rompler, the k4 is more of a rompler. Nils Schneider (who reverse engineered the motorola chip that Acess Virus used) is working on a software emulation of the K4. Let's see if he can nail the filter. I think he'll need help from whoever made the old 32 bit windows vst synth called "monolisa"
Still have mine... its an awesome sounding keyboard. I wish I could find a K4 VST so I could use it in my DAW (no I dont want the limits of the original hardware)
After watching your video, I became curious to acquire this synth. I finally found one for CAD$300. I thought to myself, "Worst case scenario, I'll resell it". Verdict: I won't resell it!
Good call.
I’ve owned one for thirty years.
Other synths have come and gone.
It’s magic.
: )
The answer is both. It is underrated and bad. If you want lo-fi sample based sounds, it's great. Everything it does reminds me of like a PS1 game soundtrack, or it can sometimes remind me of an 80's sampler like an Emulator, though a little dirtier. It's not always the right thing, but I love the K4 (and K1). The rack version doesn't have the reverb though, which is pretty lame. Been trying to find a Kawai RV4 reverb but they don't pop up much...
Throw it thru some guitar pedals...
I found the K4r and the RV4 very cheap thanks to Reverb. I think the combo sounds great together. I like the Lexicon LXP15 reverb with it also. Great minds.
@@killswitchmediastudios I managed to get an RV4 since this post as well haha, took ages to find.
The k4 is amazing ! ... Had one since 1989 ... And would never part with it !
Same with the K1r for me - so eventually I got a K4 to repair - another keeper:-)
@@stephenhookings1985 ahh I love the old k1 ..me and my friend made loads of tracks with that ... Just the k1 and an old alesis drum machine ... Happy day back in 89/90 ... Edit .. I remember there was this one sound that started off like a digital explosion, then if you kept the key held this angelic choir voice came in ..it was absolutely beautiful .. can't remember what the patch name was ..but man it was gorgeous...
I bought the synth because of its dirt! What can I do? I love it, you do not, you are an other man, other thoughts. Thats normal. Mankind is different, how good!
Agreed! No right opinion here. Thanks for sharing!
Really Cool Synth :)
I loved my K4
Man what are you listening to!? It sounds great!
I just got one fore free, the video was great, I also like some sounds on it very much
"I don't like it 1 bit" sneaky pun. I have to say I love the sound, not much out there these days that sounds like the definition of the word "digital".
When you said "throw up in your mouth digital dirt" I've thought: man I have to get one of these!!!! So I did. More reviews of quirky and dirty synths please!
10:57 that's an incredible soft analouge sounding patch.
Hallo! I had one many years ago, and now I am looking for a cheap, portable controller for vintage MIDI modules. I do not care about its sound, but only about: 1) I know it can be split/layered (even more than modern controllers!) but... is each zone able to transmit in a different MIDI channel? and 2) How is the keyboard? I know it is "synth action", but I remember it to be better than present day computer oriented controllers. Looking forward for your opinions! Cheers
One of these popped up for sale in my town, so I checked your review (informative as ever!) to see if this one might be for me. And: no, it isn't! The sound completely failed to inspire and captivate me. Thanks for saving me 200 bucks!
However, I would like to know if someone has a good electric piano patch in the k4 that sounds the most similar to rhodes or wurly since the factory one that it brings, although it sounds very good as an electric piano, nothing to do with the original
Hii good vídeo !!!!
You know How i can load the Factory presets ???
Thanks!!!!
"Throw up in your mouth digital dirt!" greatest review quote...EVER! LOL
Is there a VST that can reasonably replicate the 'qualities' of the K4?
That dirt is great for Hip-Hop productions
Would love to hear some examples if you have any!
@@asoundlab I don't have that synth but I can hear it in my mind.
Just bought one for exactly that.
the electronic guts are almost nil, it's got a lot of cheesy sounds, but the digital filter is really amazing. try the preset funk bass. i regret letting mine go.
Not having owned a K4 or any other Kawai synth, it strikes me as a perfectly usable ROMpler that really didn't have anything to distinguish it from any other ROMpler in its price range. I certainly wouldn't have paid what Kawai was asking for it. Kawai just came late to the synthesis game and with the exception of the two additive synths they did, they didn't really bring their A game. They weren't bad, just meh...
yo toque bastante tiempo en vivo con este instrumento, y el secuenciador kawai q80 y me fue muy bien, me sirvio para musica latina, a pesar de los horribles sonidos de trompeta que tiene, pero en baladas y pads se lucia, a pesar de que sus pianos no son muy pianos, pues tambien me funciono con merengue y salsa, sin problemas
Era como la versión barata del Korg M1.
@@audelinom no no tanto, ya que realmente, no se parecia en nada, al M1, solo trataba de competir en mercado de M1-D50-DX7 de la epoca, el propio korg si saco versiones baratas del M1con menos sonidos en version rack y sin secuenciador, como dice el video, el K4 llego tarde a esa fiesta y con un mercadeo inferior a los monstruos Roland-Yamaha-Korg de ese momento y siempre
I owned this model in 90ies and it was really pleasant to use and fine to control. I regret very much that you've picked up these lousy sounds as an example of this machine's capabilities, it can sound far more than that. Good for pads, expressive keybed with aftertouch, a monster in hands of a conosseur. If making a film music, it can produce such a splendid strings tone, with intelligent use of integrated effect unit... For its time, it was really a promissing competition to Roland D50 and Korg M1, especially when used with external sequencer, unfortunately not built-in.
Exactly! Was thinking "why only choose those dark rather static sounds" when we know that right from the start the factory settings have lush sounds like "zimbabwe" etc
10:05 Nice alternative the D-50's "Soundtrack". The pad from 10:56 is pretty gorgeous as well.
Who were some musicians that used the K4 in their songs/compositions?
Sounds good to me… Bring on some more digital dirt.😀
Strangely it sounds better in the recording than it does through headphones which has me scratching me head….
I’m guessing you’re not a Vangelis fan. That digital synth is analog sounding goodness.
Seems nostalgia for many... I worked in music shops in HiTech for many years... Hand hands on with sooo much stuff.... Bought Soooo much stuff too... (Most I still to this day... Yeh , a bit of a synth Tragic..lol) Bad? No.. An instrument is an Instrument... Each have their strengths and weaknesses ... Personally , Never liked it either....Just meh....
As for the K5000s... Thats a totally different story. It wasn't trying to be anything but itself.
What makes the k5000 special? I’ve been reading about it and it sounds intriguing!
@@asoundlab At the time, hardware and VST's tried, but it was quite a challenge Kawai took on... Today its not as "special"
A few companies implemented their idea, "Cube" from Virsyn was a really excellent attempt at Additive Synthesis for example....... But today, (though I still would like a K5000 in my aresnel ) , Air music LOOMII is a goto for me.....its amazing and somewhat underrated... (Except BT also puts it in one of his top 3 hidden gems) ... is damn close , but also has expanded on the possibilities...
I guess, credit where credits due... K5000 was pretty spesh at the time.
The Kawai K1/K4 are weeird instruments. 8 bit dirty digital (although thought to be clean back then) combined with very short, simple samples give it a kind of digilog kind of vibe.
Those short samples times give the synth a very smooth, bland sound IMO. This may be overcome with good programming, but you're in essence fighting the true nature of the synth.
I see the reviews of K4 and K3. Will there be a review of the K5?
I personally couldn't get mine to work properly.
I've had one since it was a new item many moons ago ...is it a Kronos of course not and truth told I really don't use it much or at all but it still has some fat old school charm and a couple patches still sound like nothing else I own. There are plenty of really bad synths out there BUT the k4 is not one of them.
Zach almost every time a synth is a "super crap" like this its horrid preset design. I suspect if you got real deep with it you could do a ton of stuff.....but you can only get deep with so much gear so.....its a matter of want to i guess.
You can get deep because its not very deep. The screen is just one row of characters. Limitation breeds creativity.
Yes presets are horrible. You have to mute and unmute layers, and change the patch of the layer that doesnt sound good. Save, take a break, refresh your ears, and you'll hear problems you didn't hear before. Change the layer with the problems. Soon you will have a fine synth with decent enough patches.
I have several kawais, i don’t like the user interface of the K series , its terrible. The K3 oddly however has a fantastic user interface and it sounds really nice. The XD-5 also has a terrible interface. The k1 has a lousy Interface and sounds ok. The K5 I don’t know but I hear its interface is also terrible but it sounds good. Anyways they are pretty cheap today but t I’m not recommending them just the K3 and the older SX models are worth it.
Have to agree with your assessment thus far. I still want to try a k5 because some folks swear by them but I’m not optimistic.
@@asoundlab me neither!
I want one
I sincerely think that you have some personal problem with the K4 and what you did was denigrate in the video that fact that you did, it seems that you had chosen the worst sounds to affirm the lie that you publish, really if the K4 has its defects, its errors of form and substance, but as they say here in my country, it's not the arrow, it's the Indian, I and many other users get incredible and excellent sounds, which in an unusual way, are an unexpected result in a machine, as you say. so defective, it is definitely an underrated synthesizer, by many hypnotized by the roland-korg-yamaha sound triad, but obviously, it doesn't have to be as bad as you say, companies like UVI have already included it in their libraries, for example, Even the best synthesizer in the world sounds horrible and horrible, presented and executed in the hands of a novice amateur who has just arrived in the ring.
I learned programming on this synth, it was my first one.
Very user-friendly, and yes: the factory presets are not good, and don't use it to emulate acoustic sounds, you will fail... ;)
But synth-sounds.... It's got some nasty filters and resonance, very on par with the 90ies vibe, which I have often used.
I made an entire album with the K4: ua-cam.com/video/cZCqnOyTGUE/v-deo.html
Please do the Juipter 80
but is it bad gear material?
Remimds me to very old Sampler Maschines like emulator etc.
If you introduce it saying it sucks you're not going to make the audience want to watch. I saw a series of K4/r videos by Nacho Marty Meyer and they are brilliant. They guy knows how to program.
I think it's relatively bad . . in a loving "what's the point" way : )
you, frankly have no clue so why even review this synth?
This keyboard fueled the success of a Hmong singer ny name of HMONG HIGH VOLTAGE . His entire album was K4 sounds and his drums was from m1. Remember, an instrument is only as good as the user. K4 was one that was garbage if you sucked. If you understood how to track, mix and utiliZe its saws, squares and ect for instruments man it sounded disco thick. K4 i would say does not succeed well with acoustic users or musicians that needed more realistic waveforms.
Sounds like #EspenKraft :)
This dude doesn't know how to use it properly. U can stack the same patch 8 times in multitimbral mode and detune all of them slightly differently (like a manual unison effect), the individual waveform sounds garbage but the right ones stacked gives some epic 80s leads and guitar sounds. Lithium batteries are annoying though they don't last long only a few years!
some synths are amazing,some are good,some are keepers,some get sold.some are garbage and for the skip-the k4 is crap,skip
Well, I considered being a bit restrained, but since UA-cam is a soapbox for anyone, and conments aren't turned off, it might just as well be a soap box for me!
I'm not sure if this channel is weak attempt at promo for your music store or something, but your videos (this one in particular) are really worse than a waste of time for anyone watching them; they bring nothing to the table, no insight, no knowledge, no worthy evaluation backed up by facts/specifications/logic.
If you want to make a synth demo playing some sounds (like countless others) then, fine. But if you're trying to "review" something, base it upon something. A random bank of sounds and some vague, nonsensical attempt at Kawai synth history, plus random specifications, and just saying "it makes me want to vomit", or "it's dirty" would be more applicable in the adolescent Playstation vs Xbox arena. Try a little research, methodology, preparation, so you can give an educated opinion. ("Audio Lab ", "Sound Lab"?? LOL!)
Simple fact, in 1989, the K4 was revolutionary in ways, and further, it's relatively low price allowed many amateur budding electronic musicians access to a wider pallette of rich sounds and the possibility of more professional sounding productions. (The K4, Atari ST, and sequencer were a BIG thing, particularly in Europe.)
In 1989, samplers, RAM, mass storage, and sample libraries were expensive, cumbersome, and proprietary. Multitimbral synths and/or workstations that could do most production duties were few, incomprehensive, and/or expensive (previously, the pioneering budget Sequential Six Trak was very limited, then the Ensoniq ESQ-1 was revolutionary but still had polyphony and waveform limitations, and finally the M1 came along and was expensive, also revolutionary, yet still serious limitations beneath its veneer.) Also, the D-50 had recently upped the ante in synth sound standards due largely to its samples - however short, gimmicky, and non-comprehensive - and built-in effects, plus spectacular factory preset patches. (Yes, it had a strong analog-style synth section as its backbone, too)
Enter the K4, which had both some serious advantages over both the market-leaders M1 and D-50, it's nearest competition, and a significantly lower price than both (especially the M1).
While the truest "ROMplers" ever were also on, or about to be on, the market by then, aside from serious systhesis deficiencies, they were in comparison to the K4 either far too expensive (Kurzweil K1000 series), too expensive - and mediocre (Roland U-series), or focused firmly on orchestral/acoustic sounds and lacked effects - and maybe lacked comprehensive rock/pop percussion, too? (E-mu Proteus - which sold like hotcakes and saved E-mu).
In comparison to the D-50, the K4 has three times the PCM ROM, with both many small synth waveforms and longer and multi-sampled acoustic waveforms for imitative instrument patches, as well as comprehensive drum samples. It was also fully 8-way multi-timbral for creating full sequences, and complex splits and layers for performance (or very thick, interesting sounds). The D-50 was only psuedo-bi-timbral. On top of that, the K-4 filters could filter PCM samples, too (unlike D-50) and even put its filters in series to produce a Moog-like 24db/octave 4-pole cutoff slope (D-50 only had 12db/oct). And no appreciable drums on the D-50.
As for the M1, the K4 had double the M1's oscillator-polyphony (32 vs. 16) so thicker, more complex timbres could be created and used with greater note-polyphony. The M1's filters were infamously not resonant (and also fixed at 12db/oct). Further, the K4 could use AM amplitude modulation between pairs of oscillators (similar to D-50) to create interesting ring modulation effects with its waveforms; the M1 could not. All for not much over about half the price!
(This isn't to say the K4 didn't have deficiencies compared to M1, D-50, or others, just that it certainly had many strengths, being quite competitive in most ways, and actually leading in some, despite its low price.)
Try listening all the way through all these patch demos for a much better idea of what K4 is capable of (and I didn't think Fickle Me Alamo's patches were all bad, just limited to mostly simplisticly charming early digital/wavetable type stuff, but certainly not enough to properly evaluate the K4):
ua-cam.com/video/ZcxY1f0yDAw/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/rVNyt-0OIv8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/e3xREva1I3U/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/XW9fA7cwMuI/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/OdeeokdhroY/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/wa5rNiHyTLQ/v-deo.html
I'm not a noob in the matter, have a disastrous number of synths, started in the eighties and I like the K4.
Still I enjoyed the video and I think the man puts a genuine passion in it.
I know he is not the deeper synthesist around but I don't think everyone should be it, it would be boring.
Exactly: many of the patches demoed here either come from square waves or some variation of a gritty wave - while in fact that synth has far more in the R.O.M: triangle, rectangular(s), pulse etc up to sampled cyclic waves.
But he deliberately chose similar sounding patches - very unfair to the palette the synth is capable of.
Thank you I appreciate your knowledgeable assessment of this synth, I just bought one because I cannot afford a D-50 and you just reassured me of my choice
@@WarriorEsoteric Nice move! I sold my K4R a couple years ago because it's value was up, I had enough other similar gear, and a K4 VST/softsynth was imminent (by author of excellent K1 VST). BUT, the K4 VST never materialized... Now, the vintage synth market has largely cooled down, and you can find a K4 (especially keyboard) for very reasonable price. So, makes lots of sense to buy if you find right one for sale, and don't have lots redundant equipment.
Anyway, you'll have great fun with K4, and the UI is really straightforward and quite pleasant and efficient to use!
Sounds like shit. I need this for my dungeon synth project ❤
oh wow this thing sounds like trash lmao