Kawai SX240 Synthesizer User reviews -Page 1

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Average rating: 4.4 out of 5

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william a professional user from canada writes:

I find it strange someone would comment on this synth as not being the fattest when the one they have is not working properly. ok so lets say this about the sx240 it absolutely is a fat sounding synth. yup i would say it is better than a lot of you might expect. really great string sounds from this one. kind of solina string machine like there is a few negs about the synth. the pitch bend seems pretty flimsy and the key action is kind of lamo. but you dont really buy a synth like this for those reasons. you buy is because of the wide array of sounds you can make with it. the midi implementation is weak on this board. i mean i would even go so far to say its pathetic lol.hey i think this is a board that can pump out some amazing acid bass lines. i mean there is a lot of music you can make with this synth . i have found it getting as much attention as the jupiter in the room lately and well thats saying a lot.

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Saturday-Apr-30-1111 at 01:28

computron a hobbyist user from usa writes:

I recently got a sx240 and im very pleased with it.awesome synth easy to use.mine came with zero presets so i had to make my sounds from scrach,very easy to program your own sounds.the flitter is so/so where this beast realy shines is using the chours or the doubble mode to realy fattne the sound up.midi is dinosaur style on the sx but there none the less.the sounds you can make are very good.dreamy strings(some of the best strngs i ever heard really)nice leads,sweeps and stabs.The mod ring is excellent.pads pads pads for days and very tight when layered.alot these guys are broken as with there little brother the sx210.alot these are damaged from the old nicD battery leaking and causing gas to effect the board.If you have one or plan on getting one change the battery ASAP or mod it to take a ion so you dont have to use the nicd to ever worry about it happeneing again.the seq is ok old but hey it works.tons of features on this synth and for bang for your buck analog i cant think if much better.this is a programers synth spend time with it and it will reward you greatly.great under the radar synth!!!

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Thursday-Aug-28-088 at 05:30

bill a professional user from canada writes:

this is a amazingly gratifying little synth. i do not get the comparisons to the jupiter6 or the juno60 different animals i would say. i mean sure they are from the same era and they were made to compete with eachother but they are so different from eachother. the kawai is not built as well as the others i mean there is a bender on the kawai wich scares me to touch it. that being said it is better made than most new keyboards like the juno g or the sh 201. sounds thats what people want to talk about. well it dosent have the bass of a many synths but it can make some amazingly deep bass sounds if you tweak the filter and program it properly. personaly i think this keyboards niche is pads. with its cool architecture featuring ring modulation and decent envelopes it can make some very pretty sounds indeed. will it bury a jupiter no. but honestly the jupiter wont bury it either. i see very little in common with this board and the akai ax80. i mean the akai does some great sounds. however the lush strings on this kawai bury the akais synth sounds. also there has been some comparisson between this board and the kawai k3. completely different sounding synths i mean both of them have similiar filters but thats about it. if i had to choose between one or the other i would have to say the sx240 is a far more useful board. midi limited of course but its there and well thats a cool thing. the onboard sequencer is very limited but that kind of a cool thing. i mean i dont anticipate using the sequencer anytime soon. this synth can make some absolutely great lead sounds and the chorus wich seems to make the synth quieter when turned on is very nice too. in fact it is the same sounding chorus as the roland juno chorus. overal the lack of sliders and such take a bit of fun out of this board. i would give it a five for the sounds but i cannot give it a five beacause well its a kawai sx240 its not a mini moog or a jupiter8 but it is a amazingly cool little synth for cheap. hell for bang for the buck i am giving it a five.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Friday-Apr-27-077 at 22:39

Robert a hobbyist user writes:

I think it has a nice sound. It's worth the money if you want that DCO vibe. I like its filters.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Jan-30-077 at 15:43

Patrick a hobbyist user from Germany writes:

Thirst I thought I've made a great bang for the bucks (only around 176 Dollars in perfect shape), but after 25 minutes of using this synth I was disappointed because of the quality of the sound and the lack of flexibilty (not the lack of clarity of sound because it's a vintage synthesizer). I bought it on Ebay (I've read many reviews before and heard of course several sound examples that were available in the internet). Specifications read quite impressive in comparison to the price, 8 voice architecture, MIDI IN OUT THRU, Mono Mode with 24 Oscillators, DCO1 DCO2 (normal full analog sound with digital stability, but extra: SUB OSC)...

But, as already mentioned, after 25 minutes (I had exactly the same interface (the principe) on the JX-8P and the K-3, but here INCREMENT instead of a DIAL --> totally easy in comparison to FM Operators or PHP programming : ( ).

The LFO is not fast enough (only usable as a very slow affect to another function), Sub Osc sounds, well **** and doesn't mix very good with the DCO1 especially when you want to use it of course for sub-bass action, quite the same with the ENSEM function (don't use it, sound will lose power but gets more "fluid" in a bad creamy way, so that the sound is not neutral enough to mix it with other equipment, also it's to easy to recognize the sound (everyone can tell you which synth you have used (but it's the same as with the chorus effect in roland's --> but vintage roland's have more powerful neutral waveforms and 2 settings for chorus)), the CUTOFF is digitally controlled (that means stepping in sound because chips of that era were slow and had poor memory), resonance doesn't cut like on any other vintage synth i used, pulse wave is 2 or 3 times more powerful than saw wave (only 1 saw wave type in DCO1 ?!?) so for people like me who don't like pulse waves for ambient pads instead of pcm realistic sounds or multiple layered saw waves with lfo controlling of each saw wave with wide opened release and 30 percent attack stacked together into a good sounding reverb effect with 50 percent original sound and 50 percent effect sound it's not acceptable even if you use another gear to process the sound afterwards (I maybe did the fault to use the jd-800 before that synth ; ) ), BRASS option adds a better bass sound instead of the sub-osc, DUAL option is **** because upper/lower sound is routed to pan left and right and doesn't interact like a layer between the two sounds (but it's the only way to make a more complex sound or to fatten up a sound when you have two saved sounds with slightly different coarse and fine coarse settings for upper and lower sound (think of the Accent Virus, jesus what a perfect classical synth in matter of sound and flexibilty; ), built-in sequencer doesn't matter because today you can use much better software sequencers or workstations, funny thing is the memory write option together with the keys.

Pros:

- at first it looks quite impressive (wonderful vintage design; looks like a star trek computer interface ; ) ) - 8 Voice analog sound with 3 oscillators - Midi In Out Thru - ENSEM[BLE] Mode (like Chorus) - BRASS - Pulse Width Modulation - SUB Osc - very easy to use (all parameters with leds, no layered or hidden functions) - build quality very sturdy (ok you can hear the springs of the keys, but hey they work ; ) ) - CHEAP VINTAGE

Cons:

- all points which were mentioned before - no matter what you do (even if you shut down all extra options, so that only the basic waves can be heard), it always sounds creamy - can be outperformed by a casio cz in ringmodulation with a cheap added delay or chorus or reverb, especially when you want to use special fx sounds because the sx-240 can't be used for evolving pads or simple pads, fast attack bass-sounds, cutoff sounds, strings or any other sound which sounds good)

Alternatives:

add ca. 40 dollars more and buy a Roland JX-8P (ok only 6 voice, but every voice sounds wonderful vintage (like the powerful and sweet sounds of the old Kim Wilde synth songs and thanks to the roland neutral sound it sits well in the mix even in modern songs), it doesn't matter if a synth has 6 or 8 voices if the voices don't sound good)

Maybe another alternative could be the old matrix-6/r, but I haven't used it (no possibilty till yet). Think of flexible matrix option with reliable dco's, 6 voice and also midi... architecture was used later on the matrix-1000 till 1994 (it says many things if a concept lives more than 5 years, like the jv-workstation pcm concept, the FM-sound or the vector synthesis)...

I don't know, but the sx-240 reminds me heavily on the k-3 in terms of the sound of the filter (only filter, because k-3 uses sampled waveforms), price, the interface and the lack of flexibilty (funny thing, both synths are from the same company...)

Rating: 3 out of 5 posted Saturday-Sep-25-044 at 18:58

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