Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is the most recent addition to the Kurzweil family. I've owned practically all of them (some stolen or broken, most sold in exchange for something better--from weight and size to the number and quality of sounds to more readable instruction manuals (dream on). The Japanese-made K1000 (circa 1990) remains my favorite, but I can no longer find one that's "fit and ready." Which brings us to the SP4:
Pros:
1. The size and weight are just right for the traveling (and tiring) week-end warrior--sufficiently compact to fit across the smallest car's back seat (thanks in part to the placement of the modulation and pitch-variation wheels above, rather than at the left end of, the keyboard).
2. The number of sounds. 4 times as many presets as the SP76.
3. The ability to split and layer. Increasingly, I'm required to be the "bass player" on the job, a role not suited for the preceding SP76.
Cons:
1. No ability to layer a ride cymbal onto any of the bass sounds. This is the SP (i.e. player's, performer's) model as opposed to the PC line (great for the programmer or orchestrator). So what is Kurzweil thinking when they throw in vocal sounds (an embarrassment to play in public) and overlook the crucial (and actually useful) layered ride cymbal?
2. The usual Kurzweil learning curve (and be prepared for Kurzweil's tendency to come up with new operating systems and upgrades, some of them a challenge even for a dealer to download and install). The instruction manual is guaranteed to keep the neophyte up nights, whereas the previous SP76 was instantly playable. Immediately I wanted to dial up a touch response that was less soft and soggy than the factory setting. Try the sparse index--nothing under "touch," "sensitivity," "keys," not even "parameters" or "global" (which is where you'll find the adjustment). And from all indications, customer support is worse, not better.
Neutrals:
Supposedly the piano and other sounds are based on the new and "amazing" PC3. Frankly, the piano sounds of the PC1 and PC2 strike me as no less sterling than those of the PC3.
Previously, the Kurz SP76 was the handiest of all professional-level performer's keyboards, so small that I could carry it to a job strapped over a shoulder with an amp in one hand. Its limitation was the absence of any splits, making it necessary to have another keyboard or tone generator on the job for left-hand bass. Moreover, the keyboard was simply time-consuming and frustrating to MIDI with another device. The Kurzweil SP2 appeared to be the solution, but it frankly proved an unexciting instrument to play. Moreover, it's a rather cumbersome axe, twice as heavy as the SP76, and prone to misfire when set-ups are switched in the middle of a beat. Finally, I wasn't able to get a bright, ringing ride cymbal sound layered to the bass--a feature that has vanished or diminished since my K1000 from 20 years ago, when Kurzweils were still made in Japan (they were bought out by the giant Korean piano maker, Young Chang).
Except for the added cost (the SP76 would occasionally be as low as $500), the SP4-7 is far closer than any other current Kurzweil to the original SP76 in size and weight, and it offers the advantage of splits and layering, plus more and better sounds (e.g. vibes), and a full bank's worth of 128 presets (the SP2 had 64; the SP76, 32). Despite the inevitable difficulty of programming even Kurzweil's most basic keyboard, the additional preset sounds are a major improvement. That feature alone makes me wish I'd waited longer before trading in my previous SP76.
[It passed the first test--a 2-hour dance job, played after an hour or two of reading the instructions and saving several useful sounds. The vibes on this new SP model make me realize how much they were missed on the previous SP76. The next big test will be a job requiring that I split the keyboard and play acoustic/electric bass. A WARNING to those who haven't purchased a Kurzweil recently: I'm unable to get my 2 recent Kurzweils' audio jacks to accept a conventional, high-quality instrument cable (Monster) with monaural jacks. Only "balanced" (stereo, or TRS) cables "push" all the way in. As sturdy as they look, the CBI balanced cables sold by Amazon have been a disappointment--shorting out, stripping, etc. I hope the "economy" Hosa balanced cables remain in stock.]
would connect with my PC1 and PC4-76.]
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