Great comparison! For me, the Kurz comes out on top. Would have been interesting though, if you had published the comparison in a 'blind' fashion, without video, only audio, and presented numbers 1, 2, 3 rather than brand names. In that way we could have guessed which is which, and could have offered our preferences without that HUGE bias of 'being attached to a certain brand'. Then a few months later, you could have revealed the actual brands and types. (Please note: this is not criticism towards your great vid; just a thought experiment.) It would probably have revealed that people are often mistaken about what they (think they) hear, Yamaha fans believing the Kurzweil was a Yamaha, Kurzweil fans falling for Korg, etc. It might have also invoked some modesty concerning the absolutist statements being made here about 'Brand X beats all the others' and 'Brand Y is warm, brand Z is cold' etc.
The sounds / presets are NOR tweaked, NOR processed. If you thought the instrument sounded better / worse compared to what you knew about it, that's entirely because of the surprising nature of A/B testing and level matching and definitely not because we don't know how to record an instrument. Furthermore one may play an instrument completely different, because of the personal interaction / feedback. Technically the Kurzweil blows the others out of the water in the sound engineering perspective. You can hear (or measure for that matter) a more even sound throughout the whole key range (user proper monitoring and you'll see), and there are of course the details due to the extreme amount of unlooped samples: there are 8 layers of sound on each key, all xfaded properly. Only the two major pianos are over 4 - 4GBs +both+ in the Forte, and the key off samples will not steal polyphony as opposed to other solutions. Kronos is using a software to stream samples, while Kurzweil utilised a custom designed complete on-chip solution just for this (=hardware accelerated). Not only this makes it much quicker booting / loading samples, but overcomes the issue, that the Kronos shows about 30 ms (around 1365 samples) of latency from keypress to audio output, which is about 12-14ms worse than Forte or the Motif. The Forte can run 32 realtime fx, and the quality of those are greatly superior to others', e.g. the reverb will not blur the detail of the samples, the tail will not sound like a bunch of delay lines, and so on. Definitely the next gen hardware of the others. Despite these technical facts (and features are not directly related to audible results) these instruments are likely designed to sound like how they sound. The major differences come from where the sound engineers actually placed the microphones (+recording chain/culture) and what instrument they chose to record at what place. Thus, in the end of the day, it is merely about taste.
Korg on a hardware front is hard to compete with these days. But with that said I still hold on to my upgraded PC3. Sold and gave away all my synths because the kronos covers near all. But love my pc3 and semi-weighted touch. Other than those have an integra on a killer cms 88 board with after-touch and velocity and a waldorf, novation x-station 61. Sounds are like colors, so as long as you like the ones you see then technology is not the driving force for happiness.
Soundria.Com One is also limited by the speakers through which they are listening on their computer. So these types of tests tell us a little...but very little; you have to hear them live through a good sound system. I also defy anyone to listen without looking at whats being played and be right about which on is which - at least in this test. However, thank you to Soundria for this comparison! ~best
Soundria.Com *I am certain Forte is the precursor to PC4.* So as a Kurzweil fan and PC3LE7 user I'm getting my hopes all the way up to the stratosphere!
I've personally played all 3 myself....They are 3 of my favourite keyboards to date!...there shouldnt even be a comparison!...they are all unique in their own way..It boils down to one's personal taste...If I could afford them all,I would have the 3 right at my bedside & so lack a great amount of sleep.
the problem with the Yamaha and the Korg is that they sound amazing in stereo through studio monitors but many times your stage monitor setup is less than ideal. In this situation I've found the Kurzweil to have the best overall sound
I played Kurzweils for years beginning with a K250. The great thing about that board had a lot to do with Ray Kurzweil. It is by far the most logical and easy to use keyboard I've ever owned, period. When it finally came time for a new keyboard, I bought the the first version of the Kurzweil stage piano. PC, and after that I went with a PC2. I had the same problem with both of those boards. It was D3 I think, but that key had one volume. Wide open. lol. I used and still have a Roland Fantom X8, and I now own a Yamaha MOFX. The Yamaha is a lot of fun to compose with because the preset patches are made to be inspirational, which they are. In many ways it's a good board and being such a light weight would defintly be my go to live board. The quality of the sounds in this demonstration aren't remarkably different to me. A little eq and one would probably sound about like the other, pretty much. It's really hard for me to tell the difference between the piano of the Phantom to the MO....they are all but identical. I think overall the Yamaha is a little smoother in the upper ranges which is always a weak spot, especially on string sounds. When you get around to buying your next keyboard, you'll be making a decision based on your ears and hands, your needs, and of course your pocket book. Be happy that you live in an age where you are not carrying around a Yamaha CP80...Harp section weighted 170 pounds, Keyboard section weight about about 100 lbs...And you got to tune it too, at least once a month. lol! Oh yea, and it cost as much as a flagship keyboard today and made only one sound....More lol!
I think the kurzweill sounded slightly better than the top keyboard for almost every sound. the middle keyboard sounded terrible in comparison to the other two on every single patch. Whats up with that lol?
I find comparison videos for musical instruments like this interesting, but they are subjective. It’s like comparing a Fender Stratocaster to a Gibson SG. They are all fine instruments in their own right. However I do find the comments on here immature to silly…why? Cause unless you own all these keyboards you are always going to be biased towards the instrument you use. All musicians do this, whether you’re a guitarist who likes a particular amp, or effects box, or a drummer who likes a particular cymbal. What you must remember it’s down to your playing style and the type of music you want to play. I own a Korg Kronos 88 and think it’s great, however I love the Yamaho too, it’s just the Korg suits my style of playing and the music I want to play/make. So please less of the synth bashing because you own one keyboard and want to justify your purchase to yourself, because at the end of the day it’s about the style and the music you want make/play, not about which piano, or Rhodes sound is better coming from a Korg, or Yamaha etc.
the Kurzweil and Korg are pricey. 3500 dollars or so. the Yamaha MOXF is maybe 2200, 2400. On sheer sound it's tough to beat the Kurzweil. if you need various synth engines and computer like sequencing power, the Korg is it. if price vs feature and sound matters, then it's the Yamaha. If editing power and quality sounds is what you need with less need for on-board sequencing, then the Kurzweil is the winner. all great boards with major editing on any sound you need.
I appreciate the demo. Kurzweil sounds rich and full. The Yamaha always seems bright which works in places and not in others and sounds not quite as wide to my ears but overall holds it's own quite well here. The Kronos also sounds full but somehow not my favourite though it is a monstrous board. Here I'd give the nod to Kurzweil. I would also note that the MOXF is more of a mid class board while the Forte and Kronos are higher end.
Really appreciate the time taken to A-B-C the 3 keyboards. All 3 sound so good to me. It's a little like when you go to buy a color TV. When you look at a bunch of them all together it's easy to see slight differences in picture quality. When you get it home, pretty much any TV will look great by itself. On this comparison, it was sometimes hard to get a strict contrast since the velocity was different from one keyboard to the next. - Understandably; it would be impossible for a human to play each keyboard with identical pressure, touch and feel. One way to make it a fair test would be to record a MIDI sequence and play that through each keyboard. Then you'd really hear how each one sounds next to the others.
That's a good question. I don't understand why they would compare the MOXF8 with the Kronos because the MOXF8 is Yamaha's budget board. He should have compared it to the flagship Motif XF8. But to answer your question yes the Yamaha MOXF8 is really good!! Its the best mid- level worstation right now in my opinion. The only one that can compete with it is Roland's FA08. I will be getting a Yamaha MOXF8 next week.
Alan Rozario As far as piano sounds, yes. In spite of the lower price, the weakest point that keyboard has ( enough for me to not buy it ) its the fact that it doesnt have after-touch, which is meaningless for acoustic piano. But it honestly has great piano sounds, specially for its price, and it has lots of high end features for studio, its a great machine... too bad that after-touch nonsense :-\
I think the problem with the Yamaha is the DAC and preamp circuitry. It sounds like a cheap audio interface running a VST instrument. The Kurzweil and the Korg sound more like a 'real' instrument IMHO.
@@Synth_Tools I was once told that if you want sound, Roland and kurzweil, but if you want the synth that does it all, its Korg. yamaha seemed to have gone backwards a little compared to the DX and some of their early keyboards, which had more life sounds Now they seemed to be too cheap sounding,
For the MOXF being half the price or less of the other boards it does surprisingly well. Better than it has any right to really. Don't get me wrong the other two sound better but they don't sound to me twice as good just slightly better. And if you were playing live any three of these boards I don't think the audience would not be more impressed with the more expensive boards sounds (unless they were a synth nerd). They likely would not notice that level of sound difference live. I am a Korg guy as I own a Kronos so this is just my observation from watching the video.
getting tired of the 'experts' who haven't even achieved proper left right hand separation yet, talk nonsense about one brand or another - this is good, that's bad, this is full, that's narrow, this is aged, that's 'too new' on and on they go! why jump to conclusion based on 5 minute demos? these are called workstations for a reason. there are many variations, patches, controls and fx to morph the sound in numerous combinations. with some programming each of them can be made to sound almost identical to the others. the harsh fact is, whoever you are (including myself), when we stand in front of ANY of these capable machines, *WE* become the limiting factor of the chain.
zeebazu I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE. I hated how Korg older keyboards sounded (T3, 01w/FD, Trinity, Triton). They sounded too thick, especially when you used all the instruments in the studio. I would have to do a lot of eq to allow space in the mix. However, I got into programming those boards and I remember tweaking EP wave rom to get it to sound like the DW6000 & 8000 and DX7 Full Tines. People were begging me for my patch and I told them to go study their board because it took me days to understand the functionality of those boards and I wasn't given it up for free. By the way, I just bought the MOXF6 and I own a Korg M3. I'm in Heaven! Yamaha acoustic and synth sounds are phenomenal and Korg's fatness and beefy sounds are great. My synth life is complete and I can't stand Roland! Except for that Jazz Vocal Scat. Man I want that BAD!! But in my opinion, the perfect board is yamaha sound engine with korg's menu layout because yamaha's layout is difficult and you will need to call tech support to figure out how to layer more than 4 sounds
Some of the biggest synth-dominated pop songs from the '80s forward were made by people who hadn't achieved left-right hand separation (Human League, for example). Though it's obviously necessary to great live performances, the invention of sequencing removed that requirement from recorded music. (Whether or not that's a good thing is irrelevant to deciding if such people spend enough time with these instruments to form a valid opinion of them, which they obviously do in many cases.)
I have a MOXF8, Kurzweil PC3K8 and Kronos2-88. I don't really like the acoustic pianos on the MOXF8--they sound Ok, but I don't find them very expressive for some reason. The MOXF8 organs sound Ok, but with no sliders for drawbars, they are a bit limiting to play. The sounds and key action in general are pretty good, though, and I love the portability and light weight of it. It's the board I most often gig with, just because it's so easy to bring. The Korg has the best interface with the touchscreen and many of the sounds are excellent. It's very close between the Korg and Kurzweil. I would give a slight edge to the sounds on the Kurzweil, but the action, screen and expandability are better on the Korg. The boot time on the Korg is a pain, though. Which is best? I like all three and use them for different things. I'd probably rank them 1. Kurzweil, 2. Korg, 3. Yamaha, but I probably actually use them in frequency in exactly the opposite order.
Glad to see the Kronos outshines the other two on all the sound tests. Especially the Yamaha which sounds like it's playing in a bathroom sink! :-) Looks like the Korg was the right purchase after all! Yay!
The voice of Yamaha is light and bright, Kurzrweil and Kronos sonds deep! If i were to choose one i would go with the Kurzweil be it Forte or PC3K8! junst my 2 cents worth. peace everyone!
The Usual sort of results ; Kurzweil the most precise and dynamic : Korg the most atmospheric, like Roland : and old Yamaha themost colourful / warm and 'melodic'. In short : you need the lot ! ;)
And when it comes to... play the V-piano extreme by Roland, having the ability to tweak not only sounds but the piano sounds.. alter the strings, the "resonance", how thick the hammers have to be, size and etc and etc.... I THINK: "smells like a brand new digital piano category" though I have not have the chance of siting down and playing it.. but just to read and see all the possibilities (by videos) left me so many good impressions! ;) I'm just feeling excited about near future.. all what human kind can achieve!
Why does the Yamaha sound thin to me! I have the Motif-ES Rack, and it's piano is to die for! It sounds better than the new MOXF. Is something wrong with my ears?
I like the Kronos for editing and signature sounds, but the Kurzweil still got V.A.S.T., one of the most powerful engines a Keyboard can be eqipped with. I tried all the brands: A Kronos X, a MOTIF XF7 and a PC3Le6 and I kept the Kurzweil because of its very unique sound. Not that HiFi-style like Yamaha, not that large Screen and deep sounds like the Kronos, but still very versatile and universal! So for me, the winner is the Forte, 2nd is the Kronos and 3rd the MoXF/MOTIF.
For me, the Yamaha seems to sound the weakest, at least using the initial piano patches. I thought the Kurzweil might have been a little better than the Korg, but you didn't seem to ever go straight between the Kurzweil and Korg for me to compare better. You appeared to always play the Yamaha in between.
Each synthesizer can be tailored to make its tonality sound like the other. I believe.. given sound designer experience. I do like the deeper sound of the Kurzweil. There audio engine outputs might be a little tad more grittier. A TUBE MP on the output of a Yamaha or a Korg would bring out that sound quality if you did not want to spend hours editing on the boards.
kuzweil superior clarity then korg , then motif for tone. . kurzweil and korg close. Yamaha muffled. Korg more features than kurzweil. Winner overall Korg for quality of sound.
Yeah, I'm a warmth guy and Motif edges it for me. I have a Kurweil SPS4-8 (awesome for under £1000 ) and the Forte seems to suffer high end thinness like mine.
I always thought Yamaha had the best piano sounds. However, I am impressed with the Kurzweil. BUT, for me one of the big factors is the touch. It is for this reason I've held onto my Kurzweil PC88 this long. The sounds suck by today's standards. But the touch is tough to beat. How is the touch on each of the three boards in this video? I would try it myself if my local stores actually carried REAL instruments these days! It seems if you want a real instrument now, you have to order one online.
Kurzweil & Korg have a clearer piano sound. But, Yamaha has a better bass spectrum in the piano sound, but again it all depends on the piano patch you're using. It's all subjective to the different sound patches. You have to sit down and use each for 45 minutes to see which keyboard has your sound you like. Also make sure each keyboard is at the same volume level. If one is lower in volume this can make the sound sound more muffled. What is most important is if the workstation is easy to use and to record on.
The Korg for acoustic pianos, the Yamaha for the electric pianos, the Kurz for organs and all 3 fair well with strings, I am Korg person because I am accustom to the global Korg settings, although I am as of this writing in the market for a Kruz 2500r module to round out the rig a bit more . Lets not dis any of theses fine instruments, but lets keep in mind the importance of the acoustic piano voice as truly being the real measure of a synth/workstation, and in this case and with all due respect the Korg easily edges over the other two.
They all have their own personality but I did notice the nice dissonance in the stretched tuning on the grand piano samples with the 2 Ks.The Yamaha was missing the dissonance.
Dificil avaliar qual é melhor, pois, os 3 são fantasticos! Poderiamos ainda comparar Nord Piano3, Kawaii , e Roland (RD800 ou RD2000). Parabens pelo demo! -- Dificult say whats key is better because all are fantastics! Would compare Nord Piano 3, Kawaii and Roland (RD800 or RD2000). Congract for the demo!
o motif possui um eco na sua sonoridade dando uma sensação agradável além do mais ele não é tão agressivo quanto os outros 2 teclados com relação a sensibilidade de toque, deixando o som mais sentimental.
The comparison shouldn't be with Yamaha MOXF8, but with Motif XF8. One might argue that both of these boards have similar sound engine, but articulation is different. Personally, I would advocate for the sounds of Motif when considering the overall board(all sounds, usability, etc.). If considering only Piano sounds, Kronos has better presets, but again, that comes down to personal tastes, preferences and requirements.
Tous les 3 sont bien avec des nuances sonores propre à chacun....Après c'est une question de feeling et d'utilisation mais au niveau du son, ces 3 claviers sont exceptionnels !
it would have been great to see a bit of roland in there too, just to see how the four went up against each other. One thing though you have a cracking rig there! Up to this year i always thought that korg was the bee knees but when i got into kurzweil stuff, its changed my mind now about korg stuff.
Kurz take a lot of tweaking and aren't good for teaking all layers at once (reducing decay for example playing live) whereas Korg is great for this. Studio use Kurz have always been my favoutite but take a long time 'personalising' - the Korg Kronos has the gold cup there imo, although live it needs more tweaking, but the new setlist is better than any patchlist I've ever used. Yamaha only sound good on their own these days imo. Korg also has the smooth sound transition so you can change progs or combis without cutting off your previous sound inc effects (as long as you hold the notes I mean) - thats a great feature you wont find on any other board.
They all sound very good... I still think the Kurzweil has the best Keyboard feel. The ** Korg Kronos 88 has , in my opinion, the best sample on the German Grand. First PROG 000. You must decide for yourself.
I find Yamaha piano sound to be better, or at least fully comparable to the others --> matter of taste. I believe that for sounds, size don't matters so much, and technical specs aren't so important. Moreover, It is uncorrect to use MOXF for the comparison, because this is not at the same level of the the others regarding A/D converters quality (they are much more transparent on the MOTIF). I think you should use a fully loaded MOTIF-XF. I think that Kurzweil clearly overcomes the others only in electric pianos and string ensamble sounds, period.
Although you should not compare just presets, as each company sets different velocity level settings for the layers composing each sound and of course different effects and filtering intensities, I would say yamaha always should win for the piano sounds, and Kronos for just everything else. But what matters in a workstation is its "tweekability", sampling space, effects, filters and so on. So Kronos wins all over, as you can achieve a wider variety of sounds, and it has a perfect interface for gigging and live setups. I think that Kurzweil has not advanced as much the last years, but it has a large and stable group of fans and users. It must also be taken into account that especially for pianos, each brand has its strong and weak points, for example Fortes' grand is superior to the other two, but when it comes to brighter pianos yamaha takes the lead.
There is NO COMPETITION. The Kurzweil BLOWS the other two away. The synthesis engines on the Kurzweil are so incredibly powerful, nothing comes close outside of eurorack.
+doubleu dee What? In this video the old "Full Concert Grand Piano" voice (Yamaha CFIII, from MOTIF XS / MOX) is used. With the MOTIF XF / MOXF, the newer "Natural Grand S6 Piano" (from S90XS) is introduced.
Motif é melhor no qualidade do piano, ao longo dos anos a sonoridade foi ajustada até encontrar uma sonoridade de piano agradável e com bastante emoção, sem dúvida é o melhor pra quem quer gravar e pra quem tem perfomances ao vivo no som de piano, os outros teclados são ótimos também só que no som de piano motif é incomparável.
In this vid the strings of the MOXF are too different to have a comparison. The MOXF has a rich variety of strings, which are really great and can compete with Kurzweil and Kronos.
Pianos of yamaha sound like the feeling when you re in love, have the magic. Just try to hear. The others you can observe how cold they sound immediately after hearing the yamaha piano.
It sounds as if kurzweil is lagging behind. i listened to the piano sounds with my eyes shut and each time i liked one of those pianos i would open eyes and see the guy playing yamaha. pianos on yamaha are rich, gentle and ooze a lot of warmth.piano on kronos sounds very good as well. its very bright snd expressive. and kronos' electric guitars are the best on the market right now so are synths and strings imho. and has the best keybed action. yamaha has great sounds: wonderful system of appregios and step sequencer. if there were no computer recording softwares Moxf8 would be a no-brainer. had one kurzweil before and sold it. didnt like their sounds and never liked their displays' layout either.
The Kronos is the winner, undouptedly. But the Kurzweil is more reasonably priced. The Moxf8 is not in the same class, its not a flagship and is generally not as well equipped as the other two, however Its still insane how much you get for the money With the MOX.
Kurzweil iz realistic, but I must add 3 equilisers to reduce mids, its so hard to put it in a mix. Generaly, real piano sound is hard to mix. I spent days to make it sound good in my acoustic band.
attenzione ! gli strumenti sono collegati a 3 diverse impostazioni di equalizazzione ! questo e' fatto con lo scopo preciso di indirizzare la scelta verso uno strumento ! politica publicitaria OCCULTA !
To me the Kronos wins (just ... over the Kurzweil) .. Let me explain why. Firstly I agree with the comments on the Yamaha. Unfortunately not at its best here. Secondly, I see commented on the Kurzweil and can understand the comments. However (for me)... The Kurzweil sounds "too good". For me it's trying to be too perfect. What I mean is that the Kurzweil sounds like a perfect new piano. New and perfect in every way with sounds that are clean, perfect and good. But it's not how a piano sounds, I have 3 wood pianos through various ages, they all sound different, the wood over the years has stretched, contracted, aged, gotton dry, got wet, had a glass of water in the space ... etc. The Kronos seems to have captured an aged piano, it's got a few neuances different to the Kurzweil. It sounds more .. older piano like, aged piano, not perfect piano. That's what I like about it. So .. Whilst I understand and can appreciate the comments, to me the Kurzweil (whilst good) is too perfect (and I agree sounds downright impressive) however the Kronos pips it .. (just from a piano perspective (as it captures more aged piano than the Kurzweil)). The comments of Keyboard vs. workstation are sound.
For what I read.. for long time.. some people asked for Kurzweil even more realistic sounds, for a better piano sound.. that the triple strike, has its decade, but nowadays many have surpassed it.. I consider Kurzweil the best in average.. cause Yamaha could say better "this", Roland "better" that.. Nord..pricey but better..what I hard believe.. is people making comments like yours dude: Now K. has released a better, improved piano, with more piano sounds, more memory, new orchestra, could say:" too perfect" Seems like, we'll never see people happy! I love Yamaha.. Roland and Nord.. as Dave Instruments, Novation, Virus and many more.. they all sum to enrich this awesome experience.. and in the end of the day.. I respect any opinion, it is just like, I felt kinda dissapointed with a "not be pleased enough" comment.. of a Kurzweil, which, finally improved piano, piano that I love as a matter of fact,but..anyway, I respect it. and it is always healty to read new opinions and try to formulate own with absoluty perspective and be fair. Just felt to express myself.. Txs for uploaing!
miguel rejas Hi Miguel. Great reply and well respected. I thoroughly agree that over the years people have asked Kurzweil (and other brands) to produce better samples - you are correct there. I too love Yamaha - I still have my DX-7 Mk1 and play it regulary and I thoroughly agree on additional stuff like Novation / Push .. etc too. Re the "too perfect" comment, what I have found is that "some" brands are trying to get every key perfect, so multi piano sample, EQ, so that every key seems perfect. The Kronos samples of a Steinway D, listen to the D6 on some samples. The string rings back on itself, as do some other piano's based on where the damper bar ends. With some other manufacturers, that string resonation has been removed to produce a D6 which doesn't act like "some" and I must clarify some pianos. On my upright my D6 rings but my D#6 doesn't ring / sustain like D6. Hence my comment of ... what point is "too good" which may remove a person from playing a wood to playing an electric. I also agree as the Kurzweil is without doubt superb, but I do like some of the neunances where the samples of the model D show that occasional nuance of a piece of wood / metal .. etc. Your comment is hugely respected and you are welcome to express yourself.
S Teebs Now.. I´m curious.. would you please listen to the Roland V-piano extreme, the ultimate deluxe digital piano with physical modelling that Roland is very loud announcing.. and tell:¿what would be your tech opinion? and as a result.. ¿Are we actually facing the best digital achievement in piano manufacturing? Thank you very much in advance, as equal for your response, take care. Miguel
to some perspective i agree with your comment. kronos is indeed a powerful workstation. but the fact that it sounds like an aged piano......hmm..........might sometimes be useful but what i would look at is the fullness of the sound and how the sound is....filled up, sort of, if you get what i mean. if we concentrate on that we can hear that kronos actually falls to the bottom of the list. of course, yamaha is obviously not at its best in the video but to me it sounds very nice. kurzweil sounds brilliant in that prespective and will indeed sound great on stage. the kronos lacks a lot to me regarding that. but that was not the aim of korg when producing sounds for kronos, although you will need it in professional music production. in a pop song kronos is going to sound lame, because korg have not "filled up" that space in between the "sound shell". again, you might not understand my imagery but im just trying to explain why i think kronos piano is not so brilliant after all. im not trying to argue, this is just my opinion.
Tim Conka miguel rejas Tim, that is a great comment and I think you use of imagery captures it exactly. The manufacturers are sampling various piano's and the old Steinway D sample is likely very much that .. an aged piano, one that has rested. @Miguel regarding your comment on facing the best digital achievement (i,e. sampling), As sampling technology moves forward, what will happen is the samples will become more and more authentic. Maybe it's one for the manufacturers to sample more pianos (aged and new) and create more options. I understand your comment Tim on how manufacturers have "filled in" that sound, the've EQ'ed, added reverb .. etc to fill that space and it's a very valid comment. However when does that filling in become less of the original. If I choose Model D samples, I want a Model D and not a "filled in Model D". In response to the pop song kronos comment. Yes I can see your understanding as I'm not going to use a Model D sample for that and I can agree where other keyboards might hit the mark better. However If I want more authentic sampling, then I may choose the Kronos. It's the arguament of when does a piano stop being a piano. When does a sampled piano stop being that original sampled piano (as it's been filled in) ?. Some great comments guys, thoroughly enjoy the thought out comments and respect to you both.
Great test thanks........i have a MOXF8 and i like it because its a true workstation... For stage piano there are other best choices that this...... You need try alive..... and you need to know what do you want for,,,,,, for me the best choice MOXF8, Korg and Kurzweil.... i am speaking for the workstation!..... hehehehe
What if.. theres a point where.. the main brands share the same good sampling for piano and sort of.. then our choises will be strictly personal! the look, the layout, the touch, the feel, the desing..all of these, important, but subjetives qualifications.. are according to each personal taste! then, nobody could say: "ugly that" "not nice or good enough" by now... many musicians, still have to take the option of buying more than one keyboard, though they're many who ride on keyboard controllers with TONS of samples software and mixing and editing..and producing.. also for live! For me, it will be, maggior part of the time.. the taste. I have respect for anybody's taste or liking.. what I do is to read and participate in some forums.. as I am aware of PRO & CONT of an especific brand or model, by the way, Kurzweil's workstation is the PC3k and different brands call then in a different way, "Production Stations" for "workstations" and "Performance Controllers" for "arrangers" as example. The ultimate Stage Piano is the Forte. kurzweil.com/products/ Thank you guys!
Kurzweil Forte is not a workstation .Its a stage kb. Motif is a workstation. Kronos is a Workstation,i tried it and dont like the use of it but its a fantastic machine too....hard to make a choice...but i think of the Motif...for the online enormous banks,cauz i already have a MO8 and very happy with it.The 3 are really good machines,i took a Kurzweil if it was a WS.
You should do what I did. I got a Korg Kronos X 88, & a Kurzweil PC3K. =D I was going to buy a Motif XF6. I had it in my online cart. I checked out, had my cursor over the "BUY" button & finger hovering above the mouse button. At the last second (literally) I changed my mind & got the PC3K. My reasoning was that I already had the best workstation available, (Kronos) didn't need another. (especially not one that's not as powerful as the Kronos) I wanted something that sounded a bit "different". The PC3K is more of a performance synth than a workstation, & Kurzweil's V.A.S.T. is capable of producing some amazing & complex sounds, that don't sounds like Korg or Yamaha. Korg + Kurzweil = the best of both worlds.
+gjc82071 Thanks for your advices gjc,ive got my PC3k8,ive got it for 1500 euros,it was a presentation kb in a shop ,but it work perfectly with all the warranty.Anyway...i love the patches with at last,clean sounds,cauz i think that on japanese synths there are too much fxs on the patches and...sometimes you cannot use as it...
+jeff wackenthal (“jeffbwack”) ...and,yes...i said ...at last,on the Kurzweils you have those clean sound you can use as you want! The patches are perfect for me,especially in violons,orchestral,brass,all are fantastic,its really another world for sound design,you have all the legendary sound of vintage synths,ARP,oberheim,Fairlight too,Moog,Jupiter,etc,and the Mellotron,like Moby etc...the organs too are top...so i think in film design,you can do what you want only with this machine.The edition also,is enormous,its a really modular synth with all you need inside...a little bit complex for me already but i work on it! So thank you again for your advices gjc!!happy new year!
Kurzweil - perfect piano as always!
yeah the kurzweil sounds so live. I have just got my hands on the k2600 and concert grand is soo nice! the other two seem to be more dance like
Let's be fair.. the three are fine machines!! ;)
*^* this *^*
+miguel rejas Love all three.
miguel rejas well said and spot on!
Well said. they can all be adjusted to give you the sound you like. niether is better than the other.
All sounds differently It is difficult to choose. I love them all But I think for my taste Yamaha sounds the worst
Great comparison! For me, the Kurz comes out on top.
Would have been interesting though, if you had published the comparison in a 'blind' fashion, without video, only audio, and presented numbers 1, 2, 3 rather than brand names.
In that way we could have guessed which is which, and could have offered our preferences without that HUGE bias of 'being attached to a certain brand'.
Then a few months later, you could have revealed the actual brands and types. (Please note: this is not criticism towards your great vid; just a thought experiment.)
It would probably have revealed that people are often mistaken about what they (think they) hear, Yamaha fans believing the Kurzweil was a Yamaha, Kurzweil fans falling for Korg, etc.
It might have also invoked some modesty concerning the absolutist statements being made here about 'Brand X beats all the others' and 'Brand Y is warm, brand Z is cold' etc.
The sounds / presets are NOR tweaked, NOR processed. If you thought the instrument sounded better / worse compared to what you knew about it, that's entirely because of the surprising nature of A/B testing and level matching and definitely not because we don't know how to record an instrument. Furthermore one may play an instrument completely different, because of the personal interaction / feedback. Technically the Kurzweil blows the others out of the water in the sound engineering perspective. You can hear (or measure for that matter) a more even sound throughout the whole key range (user proper monitoring and you'll see), and there are of course the details due to the extreme amount of unlooped samples: there are 8 layers of sound on each key, all xfaded properly. Only the two major pianos are over 4 - 4GBs +both+ in the Forte, and the key off samples will not steal polyphony as opposed to other solutions. Kronos is using a software to stream samples, while Kurzweil utilised a custom designed complete on-chip solution just for this (=hardware accelerated). Not only this makes it much quicker booting / loading samples, but overcomes the issue, that the Kronos shows about 30 ms (around 1365 samples) of latency from keypress to audio output, which is about 12-14ms worse than Forte or the Motif. The Forte can run 32 realtime fx, and the quality of those are greatly superior to others', e.g. the reverb will not blur the detail of the samples, the tail will not sound like a bunch of delay lines, and so on. Definitely the next gen hardware of the others. Despite these technical facts (and features are not directly related to audible results) these instruments are likely designed to sound like how they sound. The major differences come from where the sound engineers actually placed the microphones (+recording chain/culture) and what instrument they chose to record at what place. Thus, in the end of the day, it is merely about taste.
Great chunk of info! Thanks. Great playing too!
Very subjective as any sound comparisons can be. People hear the same sounds with different interpretations.
Korg on a hardware front is hard to compete with these days. But with that said I still hold on to my upgraded PC3. Sold and gave away all my synths because the kronos covers near all. But love my pc3 and semi-weighted touch. Other than those have an integra on a killer cms 88 board with after-touch and velocity and a waldorf, novation x-station 61. Sounds are like colors, so as long as you like the ones you see then technology is not the driving force for happiness.
Soundria.Com One is also limited by the speakers through which they are listening on their computer. So these types of tests tell us a little...but very little; you have to hear them live through a good sound system. I also defy anyone to listen without looking at whats being played and be right about which on is which - at least in this test.
However, thank you to Soundria for this comparison!
~best
Soundria.Com *I am certain Forte is the precursor to PC4.* So as a Kurzweil fan and PC3LE7 user I'm getting my hopes all the way up to the stratosphere!
Whats the VA like on the Forte and the synth editing. Does it have proper VA were you can start a patch from the Osc up ?
the strings on that Kurzweil are BANGIN ! ! !
yup, Motif lost that round. the 2 K's beat it
I've personally played all 3 myself....They are 3 of my favourite keyboards to date!...there shouldnt even be a comparison!...they are all unique in their own way..It boils down to one's personal taste...If I could afford them all,I would have the 3 right at my bedside & so lack a great amount of sleep.
the problem with the Yamaha and the Korg is that they sound amazing in stereo through studio monitors but many times your stage monitor setup is less than ideal. In this situation I've found the Kurzweil to have the best overall sound
Kurzweil sounds better to me, in the lower notes. Great bass!
I played Kurzweils for years beginning with a K250. The great thing about that board had a lot to do with Ray Kurzweil. It is by far the most logical and easy to use keyboard I've ever owned, period. When it finally came time for a new keyboard, I bought the the first version of the Kurzweil stage piano. PC, and after that I went with a PC2. I had the same problem with both of those boards. It was D3 I think, but that key had one volume. Wide open. lol. I used and still have a Roland Fantom X8, and I now own a Yamaha MOFX. The Yamaha is a lot of fun to compose with because the preset patches are made to be inspirational, which they are. In many ways it's a good board and being such a light weight would defintly be my go to live board. The quality of the sounds in this demonstration aren't remarkably different to me. A little eq and one would probably sound about like the other, pretty much. It's really hard for me to tell the difference between the piano of the Phantom to the MO....they are all but identical. I think overall the Yamaha is a little smoother in the upper ranges which is always a weak spot, especially on string sounds. When you get around to buying your next keyboard, you'll be making a decision based on your ears and hands, your needs, and of course your pocket book. Be happy that you live in an age where you are not carrying around a Yamaha CP80...Harp section weighted 170 pounds, Keyboard section weight about about 100 lbs...And you got to tune it too, at least once a month. lol! Oh yea, and it cost as much as a flagship keyboard today and made only one sound....More lol!
I think the kurzweill sounded slightly better than the top keyboard for almost every sound. the middle keyboard sounded terrible in comparison to the other two on every single patch. Whats up with that lol?
I find comparison videos for musical instruments like this interesting, but they are subjective. It’s like comparing a Fender Stratocaster to a Gibson SG. They are all fine instruments in their own right. However I do find the comments on here immature to silly…why? Cause unless you own all these keyboards you are always going to be biased towards the instrument you use. All musicians do this, whether you’re a guitarist who likes a particular amp, or effects box, or a drummer who likes a particular cymbal. What you must remember it’s down to your playing style and the type of music you want to play. I own a Korg Kronos 88 and think it’s great, however I love the Yamaho too, it’s just the Korg suits my style of playing and the music I want to play/make. So please less of the synth bashing because you own one keyboard and want to justify your purchase to yourself, because at the end of the day it’s about the style and the music you want make/play, not about which piano, or Rhodes sound is better coming from a Korg, or Yamaha etc.
the Kurzweil and Korg are pricey. 3500 dollars or so. the Yamaha MOXF is maybe 2200, 2400. On sheer sound it's tough to beat the Kurzweil. if you need various synth engines and computer like sequencing power, the Korg is it. if price vs feature and sound matters, then it's the Yamaha. If editing power and quality sounds is what you need with less need for on-board sequencing, then the Kurzweil is the winner. all great boards with major editing on any sound you need.
MOXF I only got mine for 1700. I can tell you its a decent piano sound but not great..
@@JMRabil675 I'm going to have to use vst instruments with mine
I appreciate the demo. Kurzweil sounds rich and full. The Yamaha always seems bright which works in places and not in others and sounds not quite as wide to my ears but overall holds it's own quite well here. The Kronos also sounds full but somehow not my favourite though it is a monstrous board. Here I'd give the nod to Kurzweil. I would also note that the MOXF is more of a mid class board while the Forte and Kronos are higher end.
The Kurzweil's Strings are phenomenal
Really appreciate the time taken to A-B-C the 3 keyboards. All 3 sound so good to me. It's a little like when you go to buy a color TV. When you look at a bunch of them all together it's easy to see slight differences in picture quality. When you get it home, pretty much any TV will look great by itself. On this comparison, it was sometimes hard to get a strict contrast since the velocity was different from one keyboard to the next. - Understandably; it would be impossible for a human to play each keyboard with identical pressure, touch and feel. One way to make it a fair test would be to record a MIDI sequence and play that through each keyboard. Then you'd really hear how each one sounds next to the others.
I just wanted to know if the MOXF is that good enough to be compared with the other two..Its just half the price of the others
That's a good question. I don't understand why they would compare the MOXF8 with the Kronos because the MOXF8 is Yamaha's budget board. He should have compared it to the flagship Motif XF8. But to answer your question yes the Yamaha MOXF8 is really good!! Its the best mid- level worstation right now in my opinion. The only one that can compete with it is Roland's FA08. I will be getting a Yamaha MOXF8 next week.
I just got my MOXF6 last day... :)
I agree.
Alan Rozario As far as piano sounds, yes. In spite of the lower price, the weakest point that keyboard has ( enough for me to not buy it ) its the fact that it doesnt have after-touch, which is meaningless for acoustic piano. But it honestly has great piano sounds, specially for its price, and it has lots of high end features for studio, its a great machine... too bad that after-touch nonsense :-\
For this price if you expect after touch then no one will be buying the flagships
Outstanding comparison. I'd buy all 3 workstations after watching this performance. Brilliantly done.
I'll have to say Kurzweil really came out on top. Yamaha's samples are showing its age.
I think the problem with the Yamaha is the DAC and preamp circuitry. It sounds like a cheap audio interface running a VST instrument. The Kurzweil and the Korg sound more like a 'real' instrument IMHO.
@@Synth_Tools I was once told that if you want sound, Roland and kurzweil, but if you want the synth that does it all, its Korg. yamaha seemed to have gone backwards a little compared to the DX and some of their early keyboards, which had more life sounds Now they seemed to be too cheap sounding,
For the MOXF being half the price or less of the other boards it does surprisingly well. Better than it has any right to really. Don't get me wrong the other two sound better but they don't sound to me twice as good just slightly better. And if you were playing live any three of these boards I don't think the audience would not be more impressed with the more expensive boards sounds (unless they were a synth nerd). They likely would not notice that level of sound difference live. I am a Korg guy as I own a Kronos so this is just my observation from watching the video.
getting tired of the 'experts' who haven't even achieved proper left right hand separation yet, talk nonsense about one brand or another - this is good, that's bad, this is full, that's narrow, this is aged, that's 'too new' on and on they go! why jump to conclusion based on 5 minute demos? these are called workstations for a reason. there are many variations, patches, controls and fx to morph the sound in numerous combinations. with some programming each of them can be made to sound almost identical to the others. the harsh fact is, whoever you are (including myself), when we stand in front of ANY of these capable machines, *WE* become the limiting factor of the chain.
You've hit the nail on the head.
zeebazu I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE. I hated how Korg older keyboards sounded (T3, 01w/FD, Trinity, Triton). They sounded too thick, especially when you used all the instruments in the studio. I would have to do a lot of eq to allow space in the mix. However, I got into programming those boards and I remember tweaking EP wave rom to get it to sound like the DW6000 & 8000 and DX7 Full Tines. People were begging me for my patch and I told them to go study their board because it took me days to understand the functionality of those boards and I wasn't given it up for free.
By the way, I just bought the MOXF6 and I own a Korg M3. I'm in Heaven! Yamaha acoustic and synth sounds are phenomenal and Korg's fatness and beefy sounds are great. My synth life is complete and I can't stand Roland!
Except for that Jazz Vocal Scat. Man I want that BAD!!
But in my opinion, the perfect board is yamaha sound engine with korg's menu layout because yamaha's layout is difficult and you will need to call tech support to figure out how to layer more than 4 sounds
agreed, these 'china toys' comments are from illiterates who know nothing about a workstation and treat it like a piano
80386
Some of the biggest synth-dominated pop songs from the '80s forward were made by people who hadn't achieved left-right hand separation (Human League, for example). Though it's obviously necessary to great live performances, the invention of sequencing removed that requirement from recorded music. (Whether or not that's a good thing is irrelevant to deciding if such people spend enough time with these instruments to form a valid opinion of them, which they obviously do in many cases.)
I have a MOXF8, Kurzweil PC3K8 and Kronos2-88. I don't really like the acoustic pianos on the MOXF8--they sound Ok, but I don't find them very expressive for some reason. The MOXF8 organs sound Ok, but with no sliders for drawbars, they are a bit limiting to play. The sounds and key action in general are pretty good, though, and I love the portability and light weight of it. It's the board I most often gig with, just because it's so easy to bring.
The Korg has the best interface with the touchscreen and many of the sounds are excellent. It's very close between the Korg and Kurzweil. I would give a slight edge to the sounds on the Kurzweil, but the action, screen and expandability are better on the Korg. The boot time on the Korg is a pain, though.
Which is best? I like all three and use them for different things. I'd probably rank them 1. Kurzweil, 2. Korg, 3. Yamaha, but I probably actually use them in frequency in exactly the opposite order.
From this example, I personally really like the Yamaha sound, it gives me goose bumps listening to the Yamaha for some reason but not the other ones.
Glad to see the Kronos outshines the other two on all the sound tests. Especially the Yamaha which sounds like it's playing in a bathroom sink! :-)
Looks like the Korg was the right purchase after all! Yay!
The voice of Yamaha is light and bright, Kurzrweil and Kronos sonds deep! If i were to choose one i would go with the Kurzweil be it Forte or PC3K8! junst my 2 cents worth. peace everyone!
All three sound great. The soft tones and the sharp tones can be used in different settings. I've played all three and I like all three.
The Usual sort of results ; Kurzweil the most precise and dynamic : Korg the most atmospheric, like Roland : and old Yamaha themost colourful / warm and 'melodic'.
In short : you need the lot ! ;)
And when it comes to... play the V-piano extreme by Roland, having the ability to tweak not only sounds but the piano sounds.. alter the strings, the "resonance", how thick the hammers have to be, size and etc and etc.... I THINK: "smells like a brand new digital piano category" though I have not have the chance of siting down and playing it.. but just to read and see all the possibilities (by videos) left me so many good impressions! ;) I'm just feeling excited about near future.. all what human kind can achieve!
Why does the Yamaha sound thin to me! I have the Motif-ES Rack, and it's piano is to die for! It sounds better than the new MOXF. Is something wrong with my ears?
The choice of voices is not the best one.
I like the Kronos for editing and signature sounds, but the Kurzweil still got V.A.S.T., one of the most powerful engines a Keyboard can be eqipped with.
I tried all the brands: A Kronos X, a MOTIF XF7 and a PC3Le6 and I kept the Kurzweil because of its very unique sound. Not that HiFi-style like Yamaha, not that large Screen and deep sounds like the Kronos, but still very versatile and universal!
So for me, the winner is the Forte, 2nd is the Kronos and 3rd the MoXF/MOTIF.
Why was not the Yamaha S6 piano used?? That's what's new on this synthesizer
I would choose Kurzweil. BTW, nice playing skills
What kind of stand are you using ?
Jaspers
also the Motif XF8 is not pro but semi-pro for the samples are only 16, kronos and the Forte 24 and 32
now if i could only manage to get my hands on one...Aaaahh
I love my PC3K but I have to say that the piano in the Kronos is downright impressive.
KURZWEIL FORTE FANTASTIC
For me, the Yamaha seems to sound the weakest, at least using the initial piano patches. I thought the Kurzweil might have been a little better than the Korg, but you didn't seem to ever go straight between the Kurzweil and Korg for me to compare better. You appeared to always play the Yamaha in between.
Each synthesizer can be tailored to make its tonality sound like the other. I believe.. given sound designer experience. I do like the deeper sound of the Kurzweil. There audio engine outputs might be a little tad more grittier. A TUBE MP on the output of a Yamaha or a Korg would bring out that sound quality if you did not want to spend hours editing on the boards.
kuzweil superior clarity then korg , then motif for tone. . kurzweil and korg close. Yamaha muffled.
Korg more features than kurzweil. Winner overall Korg for quality of sound.
Yeah, I'm a warmth guy and Motif edges it for me. I have a Kurweil SPS4-8 (awesome for under £1000 ) and the Forte seems to suffer high end thinness like mine.
I always thought Yamaha had the best piano sounds. However, I am impressed with the Kurzweil. BUT, for me one of the big factors is the touch. It is for this reason I've held onto my Kurzweil PC88 this long. The sounds suck by today's standards. But the touch is tough to beat. How is the touch on each of the three boards in this video? I would try it myself if my local stores actually carried REAL instruments these days! It seems if you want a real instrument now, you have to order one online.
Kurzweil & Korg have a clearer piano sound. But, Yamaha has a better bass spectrum in the piano sound, but again it all depends on the piano patch you're using.
It's all subjective to the different sound patches.
You have to sit down and use each for 45 minutes to see which keyboard has your sound you like. Also make sure each keyboard is at the same volume level. If one is lower in volume this can make the sound sound more muffled.
What is most important is if the workstation is easy to use and to record on.
The Korg for acoustic pianos, the Yamaha for the electric pianos, the Kurz for organs and all 3 fair well with strings, I am Korg person because I am accustom to the global Korg settings, although I am as of this writing in the market for a Kruz 2500r module to round out the rig a bit more . Lets not dis any of theses fine instruments, but lets keep in mind the importance of the acoustic piano voice as truly being the real measure of a synth/workstation, and in this case and with all due respect the Korg easily edges over the other two.
I like the Kurzweil the best. Thanks, I think that's the one I need to buy. And a small Leslie to boot.
Not really fair that you did not use an 88 note Korg Kronos. The German Grand is very rich on the lower notes.
They all have their own personality but I did notice the nice dissonance in the stretched tuning on the grand piano samples with the 2 Ks.The Yamaha was missing the dissonance.
The output on the Yamaha (the piano sample) is obviously lower, so it's difficult to compare.
+1970piano truth
Dificil avaliar qual é melhor, pois, os 3 são fantasticos! Poderiamos ainda comparar Nord Piano3, Kawaii , e Roland (RD800 ou RD2000).
Parabens pelo demo!
--
Dificult say whats key is better because all are fantastics! Would compare Nord Piano 3, Kawaii and Roland (RD800 or RD2000).
Congract for the demo!
o motif possui um eco na sua sonoridade dando uma sensação agradável além do mais ele não é tão agressivo quanto os outros 2 teclados com relação a sensibilidade de toque, deixando o som mais sentimental.
Kurzweil sounds better
The comparison shouldn't be with Yamaha MOXF8, but with Motif XF8. One might argue that both of these boards have similar sound engine, but articulation is different. Personally, I would advocate for the sounds of Motif when considering the overall board(all sounds, usability, etc.). If considering only Piano sounds, Kronos has better presets, but again, that comes down to personal tastes, preferences and requirements.
I agree with you sir. The filters on the Motif has more clarity on it. So even though they use the same engine its not the same.
Tous les 3 sont bien avec des nuances sonores propre à chacun....Après c'est une question de feeling et d'utilisation mais au niveau du son, ces 3 claviers sont exceptionnels !
Like the Yamaha best over all. Korg last. Like the Harpsichord on Kurzweil.
i find the kurzweil more "piano", than the other two :-)
it would have been great to see a bit of roland in there too, just to see how the four went up against each other. One thing though you have a cracking rig there! Up to this year i always thought that korg was the bee knees but when i got into kurzweil stuff, its changed my mind now about korg stuff.
I don't get the point :
MoXF8 => about 1500 Euros;
Kurz Forte => about 2800 Euros;
Korg KRONOS => about 3600 Euros;
....
THAT is the point :)
Gotta go with the Kronos if I could only have one. Second choice, probably the MoxF8.
Kurz take a lot of tweaking and aren't good for teaking all layers at once (reducing decay for example playing live) whereas Korg is great for this. Studio use Kurz have always been my favoutite but take a long time 'personalising' - the Korg Kronos has the gold cup there imo, although live it needs more tweaking, but the new setlist is better than any patchlist I've ever used. Yamaha only sound good on their own these days imo. Korg also has the smooth sound transition so you can change progs or combis without cutting off your previous sound inc effects (as long as you hold the notes I mean) - thats a great feature you wont find on any other board.
Amazing keyboards all 3 !
Maybe K forte is a bit more realistic in some sounds !
which is the middle one?
The Yamaha
for me I like the sound of the kronos better but there's something about the way the Yamaha sounds that I really really like
good for an overview, but different eq und fx.
for next time, please all samples without dsp or the same dsp.
but after all, good work (y)
Yes youre right gjc! im gonna do that!
the Drum sounds on the Yamaha sounds best to me
Bardzo dobry test. Pokazał sporo. Yamaha pomimo 2x niższej ceny moim zdaniem wypadła najlepiej.
They all sound very good... I still think the Kurzweil has the best Keyboard feel. The ** Korg Kronos 88 has , in my opinion, the best sample on the German Grand. First PROG 000. You must decide for yourself.
KORG Forever
Really?moxf and not xf?is like saying kurzweil pc3LE and not K series..Or like korg krome and not Kronos..
I find Yamaha piano sound to be better, or at least fully comparable to the others --> matter of taste. I believe that for sounds, size don't matters so much, and technical specs aren't so important. Moreover, It is uncorrect to use MOXF for the comparison, because this is not at the same level of the the others regarding A/D converters quality (they are much more transparent on the MOTIF). I think you should use a fully loaded MOTIF-XF. I think that Kurzweil clearly overcomes the others only in electric pianos and string ensamble sounds, period.
1. Korg Kronos 2. Yamaha 3. Kurzweil
Even though im a yamaha fan, korg has it beat but I dont think their is any thing special about the kurzweil
All of the above
Although you should not compare just presets, as each company sets different velocity level settings for the layers composing each sound and of course different effects and filtering intensities, I would say yamaha always should win for the piano sounds, and Kronos for just everything else. But what matters in a workstation is its "tweekability", sampling space, effects, filters and so on. So Kronos wins all over, as you can achieve a wider variety of sounds, and it has a perfect interface for gigging and live setups. I think that Kurzweil has not advanced as much the last years, but it has a large and stable group of fans and users.
It must also be taken into account that especially for pianos, each brand has its strong and weak points, for example Fortes' grand is superior to the other two, but when it comes to brighter pianos yamaha takes the lead.
Honestly, prefer Korg in this demo but don't believe Yamaha sounds this bad. It would, indeed, be a good idea to test in person.
1. Kurzweil
2. Korg
3. Yamaha
Kurz`s piano sound is so full of life! But Korg`s Rhodes wins. Thats the truth
There is NO COMPETITION. The Kurzweil BLOWS the other two away. The synthesis engines on the Kurzweil are so incredibly powerful, nothing comes close outside of eurorack.
Hear the yamaha looping those samples.
You used a old piano voice in Yamaha MOXF... You should have use the new Natural Grand S6 voice!
+zi1024 really? what patch did he use ?
+doubleu dee
What?
In this video the old "Full Concert Grand Piano" voice (Yamaha CFIII, from MOTIF XS / MOX) is used.
With the MOTIF XF / MOXF, the newer "Natural Grand S6 Piano" (from S90XS) is introduced.
Motif é melhor no qualidade do piano, ao longo dos anos a sonoridade foi ajustada até encontrar uma sonoridade de piano agradável e com bastante emoção, sem dúvida é o melhor pra quem quer gravar e pra quem tem perfomances ao vivo no som de piano, os outros teclados são ótimos também só que no som de piano motif é incomparável.
E piano- korg
Piano- Yamaha
Strings-Kurzweil killed all of the keyboards
OMG the Kurzweil strings are so far ahead !!!!
In this vid the strings of the MOXF are too different to have a comparison. The MOXF has a rich variety of strings, which are really great and can compete with Kurzweil and Kronos.
what about roland rd800
Kurzweil forte have good pianos
I prefer Kurzweil FORTE cause it has more resolution than the others....
Pianos of yamaha sound like the feeling when you re in love, have the magic. Just try to hear. The others you can observe how cold they sound immediately after hearing the yamaha piano.
+creative media Agreed....:)
Cause of the reverb!
TY for this vid :)
They all sound good to me
Kurzweil
It sounds as if kurzweil is lagging behind. i listened to the piano sounds with my eyes shut and each time i liked one of those pianos i would open eyes and see the guy playing yamaha. pianos on yamaha are rich, gentle and ooze a lot of warmth.piano on kronos sounds very good as well. its very bright snd expressive. and kronos' electric guitars are the best on the market right now so are synths and strings imho. and has the best keybed action.
yamaha has great sounds: wonderful system of appregios and step sequencer.
if there were no computer recording softwares Moxf8 would be a no-brainer.
had one kurzweil before and sold it. didnt like their sounds and never liked their displays' layout either.
The Kronos is the winner, undouptedly. But the Kurzweil is more reasonably priced. The Moxf8 is not in the same class, its not a flagship and is generally not as well equipped as the other two, however Its still insane how much you get for the money With the MOX.
For acoustic pianos I prefer the yamaha.
Can't say the same about EP ones.
Kurzweil iz realistic, but I must add 3 equilisers to reduce mids, its so hard to put it in a mix. Generaly, real piano sound is hard to mix. I spent days to make it sound good in my acoustic band.
Kurzweil first place, Yamaha second and Korg.
attenzione ! gli strumenti sono collegati a 3 diverse impostazioni di equalizazzione ! questo e' fatto con lo scopo preciso di indirizzare la scelta verso uno strumento ! politica publicitaria OCCULTA !
Credo, purtroppo, che lei ha ragione.
To me the Kronos wins (just ... over the Kurzweil) .. Let me explain why.
Firstly I agree with the comments on the Yamaha. Unfortunately not at its best here.
Secondly, I see commented on the Kurzweil and can understand the comments. However (for me)... The Kurzweil sounds "too good". For me it's trying to be too perfect.
What I mean is that the Kurzweil sounds like a perfect new piano. New and perfect in every way with sounds that are clean, perfect and good. But it's not how a piano sounds, I have 3 wood pianos through various ages, they all sound different, the wood over the years has stretched, contracted, aged, gotton dry, got wet, had a glass of water in the space ... etc. The Kronos seems to have captured an aged piano, it's got a few neuances different to the Kurzweil. It sounds more .. older piano like, aged piano, not perfect piano. That's what I like about it.
So .. Whilst I understand and can appreciate the comments, to me the Kurzweil (whilst good) is too perfect (and I agree sounds downright impressive) however the Kronos pips it .. (just from a piano perspective (as it captures more aged piano than the Kurzweil)). The comments of Keyboard vs. workstation are sound.
For what I read.. for long time.. some people asked for Kurzweil even more realistic sounds, for a better piano sound.. that the triple strike, has its decade, but nowadays many have surpassed it.. I consider Kurzweil the best in average.. cause Yamaha could say better "this", Roland "better" that.. Nord..pricey but better..what I hard believe.. is people making comments like yours dude: Now K. has released a better, improved piano, with more piano sounds, more memory, new orchestra, could say:" too perfect" Seems like, we'll never see people happy! I love Yamaha.. Roland and Nord.. as Dave Instruments, Novation, Virus and many more.. they all sum to enrich this awesome experience.. and in the end of the day.. I respect any opinion, it is just like, I felt kinda dissapointed with a "not be pleased enough" comment.. of a Kurzweil, which, finally improved piano, piano that I love as a matter of fact,but..anyway, I respect it. and it is always healty to read new opinions and try to formulate own with absoluty perspective and be fair. Just felt to express myself.. Txs for uploaing!
miguel rejas
Hi Miguel. Great reply and well respected. I thoroughly agree that over the years people have asked Kurzweil (and other brands) to produce better samples - you are correct there.
I too love Yamaha - I still have my DX-7 Mk1 and play it regulary and I thoroughly agree on additional stuff like Novation / Push .. etc too.
Re the "too perfect" comment, what I have found is that "some" brands are trying to get every key perfect, so multi piano sample, EQ, so that every key seems perfect.
The Kronos samples of a Steinway D, listen to the D6 on some samples. The string rings back on itself, as do some other piano's based on where the damper bar ends. With some other manufacturers, that string resonation has been removed to produce a D6 which doesn't act like "some" and I must clarify some pianos. On my upright my D6 rings but my D#6 doesn't ring / sustain like D6. Hence my comment of ... what point is "too good" which may remove a person from playing a wood to playing an electric.
I also agree as the Kurzweil is without doubt superb, but I do like some of the neunances where the samples of the model D show that occasional nuance of a piece of wood / metal .. etc.
Your comment is hugely respected and you are welcome to express yourself.
S Teebs Now.. I´m curious.. would you please listen to the Roland V-piano extreme, the ultimate deluxe digital piano with physical modelling that Roland is very loud announcing.. and tell:¿what would be your tech opinion? and as a result.. ¿Are we actually facing the best digital achievement in piano manufacturing? Thank you very much in advance, as equal for your response, take care. Miguel
to some perspective i agree with your comment. kronos is indeed a powerful workstation. but the fact that it sounds like an aged piano......hmm..........might sometimes be useful but what i would look at is the fullness of the sound and how the sound is....filled up, sort of, if you get what i mean. if we concentrate on that we can hear that kronos actually falls to the bottom of the list. of course, yamaha is obviously not at its best in the video but to me it sounds very nice. kurzweil sounds brilliant in that prespective and will indeed sound great on stage. the kronos lacks a lot to me regarding that. but that was not the aim of korg when producing sounds for kronos, although you will need it in professional music production. in a pop song kronos is going to sound lame, because korg have not "filled up" that space in between the "sound shell". again, you might not understand my imagery but im just trying to explain why i think kronos piano is not so brilliant after all. im not trying to argue, this is just my opinion.
Tim Conka miguel rejas Tim, that is a great comment and I think you use of imagery captures it exactly.
The manufacturers are sampling various piano's and the old Steinway D sample is likely very much that .. an aged piano, one that has rested. @Miguel regarding your comment on facing the best digital achievement (i,e. sampling), As sampling technology moves forward, what will happen is the samples will become more and more authentic. Maybe it's one for the manufacturers to sample more pianos (aged and new) and create more options.
I understand your comment Tim on how manufacturers have "filled in" that sound, the've EQ'ed, added reverb .. etc to fill that space and it's a very valid comment.
However when does that filling in become less of the original. If I choose Model D samples, I want a Model D and not a "filled in Model D".
In response to the pop song kronos comment. Yes I can see your understanding as I'm not going to use a Model D sample for that and I can agree where other keyboards might hit the mark better. However If I want more authentic sampling, then I may choose the Kronos.
It's the arguament of when does a piano stop being a piano. When does a sampled piano stop being that original sampled piano (as it's been filled in) ?.
Some great comments guys, thoroughly enjoy the thought out comments and respect to you both.
Kurzweil perfect
Great test thanks........i have a MOXF8 and i like it because its a true workstation...
For stage piano there are other best choices that this......
You need try alive..... and you need to know what do you want for,,,,,, for me the best choice MOXF8, Korg and Kurzweil.... i am speaking for the workstation!..... hehehehe
Yes but you must not make your choice only with this test,its sounds really different in real conditions,...
What if.. theres a point where.. the main brands share the same good sampling for piano and sort of.. then our choises will be strictly personal! the look, the layout, the touch, the feel, the desing..all of these, important, but subjetives qualifications.. are according to each personal taste! then, nobody could say: "ugly that" "not nice or good enough" by now... many musicians, still have to take the option of buying more than one keyboard, though they're many who ride on keyboard controllers with TONS of samples software and mixing and editing..and producing.. also for live! For me, it will be, maggior part of the time.. the taste. I have respect for anybody's taste or liking.. what I do is to read and participate in some forums.. as I am aware of PRO & CONT of an especific brand or model, by the way, Kurzweil's workstation is the PC3k and different brands call then in a different way, "Production Stations" for "workstations" and "Performance Controllers" for "arrangers" as example. The ultimate Stage Piano is the Forte. kurzweil.com/products/ Thank you guys!
Kurzweil Forte is not a workstation .Its a stage kb.
Motif is a workstation.
Kronos is a Workstation,i tried it and dont like the use of it but its a fantastic machine too....hard to make a choice...but i think of the Motif...for the online enormous banks,cauz i already have a MO8 and very happy with it.The 3 are really good machines,i took a Kurzweil if it was a WS.
You should do what I did. I got a Korg Kronos X 88, & a Kurzweil PC3K. =D
I was going to buy a Motif XF6. I had it in my online cart. I checked out, had my cursor over the "BUY" button & finger hovering above the mouse button. At the last second (literally) I changed my mind & got the PC3K. My reasoning was that I already had the best workstation available, (Kronos) didn't need another. (especially not one that's not as powerful as the Kronos) I wanted something that sounded a bit "different". The PC3K is more of a performance synth than a workstation, & Kurzweil's V.A.S.T. is capable of producing some amazing & complex sounds, that don't sounds like Korg or Yamaha. Korg + Kurzweil = the best of both worlds.
+gjc82071 Thanks for your advices gjc,ive got my PC3k8,ive got it for 1500 euros,it was a presentation kb in a shop ,but it work perfectly with all the warranty.Anyway...i love the patches with at last,clean sounds,cauz i think that on japanese synths there are too much fxs on the patches and...sometimes you cannot use as it...
+jeff wackenthal (“jeffbwack”) ...and,yes...i said ...at last,on the Kurzweils you have those clean sound you can use as you want! The patches are perfect for me,especially in violons,orchestral,brass,all are fantastic,its really another world for sound design,you have all the legendary sound of vintage synths,ARP,oberheim,Fairlight too,Moog,Jupiter,etc,and the Mellotron,like Moby etc...the organs too are top...so i think in film design,you can do what you want only with this machine.The edition also,is enormous,its a really modular synth with all you need inside...a little bit complex for me already but i work on it! So thank you again for your advices gjc!!happy new year!
jeff wackenthal h
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Killer Kurzweil (strings, organ,piano) , Moxf8 (EP) , Korg(Piano)
Daddy Kurz n°1 ! Yeah
Montage enters the room and then silence.