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Average rating:
4.7 out of 5
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Well, i had this synth for a week. I had to pay 1000 US$ for it, used (but almost new) because you can't get this things at my country. I don't regret it. A brand new k5000s is sold for about 1600 US$ here.
Well... the keyboard... is great ! the knobs are great ! display is great ! the outputs are great ! The sounds.... digital but warm, gargling, burbling, pads, space sounds, morphing leads, mellow synths. It is not a Virtual Analogue Synth, but i think it cn beat the crap out of the JP-8000. (more poliphony, more effects, more controls, bigger keyboard, aftertouch, etc.).
I have an MC-505 groovebox... it is a great synth/sequencer (even it seems there are a lot of people who hates it) and it complements great with the K5000s.
www.mp3.com/orbiter
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The K5000s is soooooo deep you could spend a lifetime trying to delve into the sonice possibilities. Everyone seems to think that this synth is just good for ambient/trance, and while that is its forte I use mine for all sorts of music, including guitar based music. For frustrated users about to sell their K5k I say be patient. The trick with this synth is to forget trying to sound like other boards and to accept the K5k's sounds on their own merits which are IMHO quite substantial. Although the K5k's sounds are quite unnatural they are highly musical and really very beautiful. Of course you can get ugly with the filters and blow out your speakers if you're so inclined. Although it's digital, the K5ks sounds animated and organic, never static or 'same-y'.
Additive is initially frustrating because most of the parameter changes don't change the sound noticeably, and you can't whip together "techno bass #5" in five minutes like you can on other synths. Despite this frustration, I don't think additive synthesis is terribly confusing, it's just awfully tedious at times. At least for me additive synthesis is far less confusing than FM which I've never understood.
As if the most powerful synthesis technique were't enough (yeah, yeah I know it's not a Kurzweil) a used K5ks is worth the $500-$700 as a controller. The keyboard is a player's dream and the knobs are a tweakers delight. I use mine to control an e6400 ultra and an access virus, all-in-all a nifty set up.
Although the K5k was not an instant classic, there will come a day when people are dying to get these things. Why? Because there's nothing on the market that can make the sounds this can.
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i love my K5000. yeah, the thing's difficult to program, but the results/possibilities are so unique that it's really worth it. sounddiver helps, too, of course. as mentioned previously, they were blown out at $450 a while ago, very little chance of finding them for that now. going prices are between five (if you're lucky) and seven (if you're desperate) hundred. i think i paid $650 for mine not too long ago, and it was worth every penny. nevermind the sounds, though, the thing's worth $700 just for it's abilities as a master controller. the action is also totally unique, and is the best i've ever felt. complex, *programmable* arpeggiator. SIXTEEN knobs that send controller data. the thing's a dream come true for me. nice extras: kawai tech support is the best, the silver and blue color scheme is "really pretty," it's built like a tank, and the display window emits a faint high pitched squeal. it's the new silver box for the '90s....errr....'00s; definitely worth looking into, and highly recommended.
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In response to Adam's comments regarding patches recalling differently than when saved: I spent a whole day trying to figure out why this was happening, and finally figured out that on the S only the settings of the PARAMETER knobs are saved... the assignable ones (which are the ones I always seem to spend time tweaking to fine tune a sound) are NOT. This means that if you didn't sequence the tweaks on user 1-4 then the sound won't play back the same the next time u recall it. Moral of the story: If those knobs do something cool, check where they are assigned and tweak the parameter knobs instead... saves alot of frustration. (and much better than having no knobs at all like the K5000R i first had...) As for the rest of this machine's capabilities I agree with most of you here... it's a truly inspiring and origional synth in a world full of groove-approved homoginized crap. It demands to approached and appreciated on it's own terms... a modern classic.
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This is a unique synth, it falls in a class of its own. I mainly use it for bells,pads and ambient sounds for scoring. this will be the next DX7 5-10 years from now. anyhow the sound is great, it can be warm or cold in your face. it fits nicely into a mix and adds a nice ambience to the overall composition. I only wish I bought a 2nd k5000r to store away
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