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Kurzweil PC4 Introduction

Specs
Shallow End
Performance Keyboard Automatic For The PC
Sounds
Keyboards Synthesizers Who's The PC4?
By Robin Bigwood Published March 2020 Alternatives
Deeper & Down
The Outside World

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Kurzweil's PC4 is a solid all-rounder with hidden depths...
On the same subject
Kurzweil are grandees of the big, complex, workstation-style keyboard
Arturia MicroLab Mk3
world, with a history going back to the early '80s, and a remarkable legacy of July 2025
products. The current Kurzweil pro-keyboard line-up encompasses stage Multi-Tier Keyboard Stands
July 2025
pianos, workstations and, in the case of the PC4 on test here, 'Performance Korg microKORG2
Controllers'. The name could be misleading: this is not just a MIDI controller July 2025
Oberheim Two Voice
(though it's capable of that), but a workstation-like synth in its own right. June 2025
Whatever you want to call it, the PC4 sits in the middle of the Kurzweil Roland V-Stage 76
May 2025
range; more expensive and complex than the SP stage pianos, but cheaper
than the Forte–series workstation and Artis stage piano. There is as yet a
From the same manufacturer
single 88-note version, but it wouldn't surprise me if a 76–note counterpart
appeared at some stage. Kurzweil SP7 Grand
September 2023
The Constance Demby Mystery

Specs
October 2022
Kurzweil K2700
March 2022
Headline speci cations are as follows. Two sound engines are on hand: Kurzweil Forte
November 2015
VAST, which encompasses sophisticated sample playback, virtual analogue
Kurzweil Artis
and FM layers, and Kurzweil's KB3 tonewheel organ emulation. Two May 2014
gigabytes of factory sample content is supplied, leaving a further 2GB for
user samples and other storage needs. Polyphony is 256 voices, with a xed SIGN UP TO
number of those non-dynamically allocated to the KB3 engine when it's in SOS NEWSLETTERS
use. Sixteen multitimbral parts can be active at once, with the proviso that
you're limited to a single KB3 organ instance. Over 1000 single-sound Latest SOS Videos
Programs and 50+ layer/split Multis are provided from the factory, with
room to add 4096 user versions of each. An onboard sequencer with basic
but useful editing facilities lets you layer up your 16 PC4 parts, and/or drive
external MIDI gear. And, nally, the e ects provision is extensive — 32
e ects units in total, available to be deployed at master and part level, as
two aux send/returns available to all parts, and even to the individual layers
that make up a part.

The hardware side of the PC4 is an interesting mix too. The case is plastic Mixing Dune: Part Two OST | Alan Meyerson
(though seemingly tough), and this helps to achieve a very manageable 13kg Webinar
overall weight. Keys are velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive, and the word on
the nerdy piano forums is that it's a Medeli (rather than, say, Fatar) action.
White-key dip is 10mm, with black key fronts sitting 12mm above — entirely
unremarkable, neither particularly deep nor shallow. Nor is it either notably
light or heavy, but somewhere in the middle, so a good choice for this type
of keyboard, where you're playing acoustic piano one minute and
monosynth sounds the next. The action is a little noisy, with some hollow-
sounding bumps from the case on both key down and release. There's also
Trinnov NOVA User Report -
almost no give at the bottom of the key travel, and you'll need rm ngers
PresentDayProduction
to explore aftertouch response. Overall, though, I have few criticisms of this
keyboard. It's not as nice as a top-of-the-range Fatar, Kawai, Roland or Korg,
there's no wood in it and no escapement feel, but it's a lot better than
budget 88-note clunkers.

Real-time controls come in the form of a bank of nine sturdy sliders, knobs
and buttons, pitch and mod wheels, and a Variation button. The rest of the
user interface is based around a 480 x 272–pixel colour LCD with six soft
buttons, and a whole panel's-worth of dedicated buttons for mode and
The Secrets Of Pink Floyd’s Quadraphonic PA
sound selection, transposition, tempo and transport functions, and
navigation. There's also a large 'alpha dial' that's essentially just a value
wheel, in the style of an old-fashioned iPod.

Round the back we nd MIDI and USB ports to the left and a generous selection of pedal
inputs and audio I/O to the right.

Connections to the outside world are good. Two quarter-inch output pairs
can be con gured as a mirror or as separate stereo outs, exibly fed from
internal parts. Not only that, but a quarter-inch input pair can be routed
through onboard e ects, and there's an 3.5mm stereo socket as well. For
those that like to give their feet something to do, the PC4 sports two
continuous pedal inputs, and two sockets for switch-type pedals which can
handle no fewer than four switch pedals if they're wired appropriately.
There's just a MIDI In and Out on ve-pin DIN sockets, but USB A and B
sockets allow for the use of thumb drives as well as a computer connection.
Power enters via a 15V 2.5A mains adapter: rather disappointing given how
grown-up the rest of the I/O provision is, and it doesn't help that there's no
strain relief for the input plug, although the adapter itself looks to be of
good quality and runs cool.

Shallow End
After an approximately 22-second boot-up time, the PC4 is ready to use, and
with program names appearing on the LCD screen with informative pictorial
backdrops (of piano keys, orchestral instruments, details of Prophet VSs and
Minimoogs, etc) it's all very inviting.

Program selection can be done in

multiple ways, such as scrolling via
the alpha dial, pressing Category
buttons to leapfrog to your preferred
instrumental group, and direct recall
via an embedded numeric keypad
and a Program's ID number. There
are also 'Quick Access' banks, which A colour backdrop typical of Program
are a kind of setlist feature, whereby mode sound selection, and one of the
editing screens you can access with the
the user can gather together any 10 front panel EDIT button.
programs at a time and recall them
with a single button press. It does not appear to be possible to step through
these using a pedal though.

Whichever way you do it, sounds come online pretty much instantaneously.
And, happily, notes held or which are sounding from a previous program
are often una ected by loading a new one. Kurzweil don't make any formal
claims for this kind of seamless transition, but it seems pretty robust in
practice. The only exception seems to be going between KB3 organ
programs, or from a KB3 to a VAST program, then we do hear a glitch, or
silence.

This is as good a time as any to mention all those front-panel real-time

controls. The most direct correspondence between sound parameters and
labelling is for KB3 organ sounds. For VAST Programs it's slightly less
obvious, with some parameters that look like they're on the knobs actually
mapped to the faders. Unexpectedly there's a three-band EQ lurking in
there too.

Setting up an ad-hoc keyboard split or layer is done via LCD soft buttons
always visible in Program mode. They'll both switch you into the PC4's Multi
mode, and immediately display full-width keyboard diagrams, with
keyranges, selected programs and mute/active status all tweakable via
cursor button and the various methods of program recall. Real-time control
allocations change now, and synth parameters are sacri ced for part level
and pan. Via editing screens (more about those later...) this can be changed
and saved (per Multi) just as you wish.

Here's a thing we need to get out the

way sooner rather than later, though.
The PC4's Multis are of the least
sophisticated and most problematic
kind, which is to say that they only
contain references to individual
Programs, and don't store program
data itself. If you have ve multis, say,
that all reference the same program, and you one day happen to tweak that
program (or indeed mangle it out of all recognition), all ve multis are
a ected. I suppose this distinctly 1980s way of doing things is at least simple
to grasp. The only other silver lining is that the PC4 makes it hard for you to
overwrite factory Programs, and tweaks you do make will be saved into one
of the many thousands of user memory locations. So if you're careful this
dependency-related problem need never occur.

Using the PC4 as a MIDI controller is, thank goodness, much less
contentious. Multi mode's keyrange displays really come into their own
here, and setting DIN or USB output and channel assignments is easy. You
can also independently transpose keyranges, adjust velocity curves and
range limits, decide if zones transmit pedal messages (and so on), and opt
to send out program changes when the Multi loads. Especially if you're using
other hardware MIDI sources the PC4 makes for a really good MIDI
controller: perhaps as good as anything out there currently.

Like all other Kurzweils I've played, the PC4 always felt willing, and
musical, and is an extremely useful thing to have around for
many live and studio applications.

Automatic For The PC

In contrast to that entire bank of real-time hardware controls, the PC4's
arpeggiator gets a mere two buttons, one to turn it on and o , and one to
latch incoming notes. That's because all other settings are made in an
editing screen accessed via the EDIT button and a soft button beneath the
screen. Then it turns out that the arpeggiator is amazingly capable.

Old favourites like 'up/down' are

there if you know where to look, but
they're amongst hundreds of far
more sophisticated algorithmic,
pattern-based and indeed
programmable step-sequenced
options, with independent velocity
and duration patterns and other It's a long way from a DAW MIDI editor, but
nuances. You might be glad of the the PC4's piano-roll display is at least
informative. In the absence of mouse or
150 or so factory arpeggiator presets, touchscreen all event editing goes on in
and the ability to save your own. the attendant list.

This leads us nicely to Song mode, which relates to the onboard 16-channel
MIDI sequencer. There are six hardware transport buttons, but again most
work goes on in several di erent editing screens that are available after
hitting the Song button. There's even a 'piano roll' display of sorts, which
runs vertically and helps identify events that you'll still edit numerically, and
mixer pages with simple graphical representations of track level and pan.

Although much less sophisticated than a computer DAW, this is still a useful
sequencer, with quantising, an ability to handle controller and other non-
note MIDI events, and surprisingly full editing features. It'll knock out
complete songs and also lets you record smaller snippets that can
subsequently be used as a so-called Ri : looped mini-sequences of drum
beats or auto-accompaniment-type gures, triggered by pressing one note
in a single zone of a Multi.

There's a limitation in terms of total memory (~50,000 events per song), and
no means to vary tempo or time signature within a song. Also, the
sequencing model is strictly linear, with no option to build up larger
structures from smaller sequenced blocks, say, other than via copy and
paste. Users must also be aware there's absolutely no undo function for
editing actions.

Sounds
Over decades past it's largely been the quality of Kurzweil's sounds that
have made their keyboards so desirable. Generalising to a simplistic degree,
they've sometimes sounded full and rounded when Japanese counterparts
tended towards the memory-starved. Which is surprising, as Kurzweils often
had less ROM memory than their competitors.

While this generalisation isn't valid

any more, the Kurzweil reputation for
quality is still very much intact and
lives on in the PC4.

Every stage piano or workstation

needs a ' agship' piano, and here it's
the German D '9ft' Grand. Initial
In-depth synthesis on the PC4 takes place
impressions: really full and healthy- through dozens of screens like these.
sounding, classy, dynamic, These show one of the 'wiring algorithms'
that de ne basic signal ow, parameters
responsive, playable. Half-pedalling for LFO/envelope/function editing and one
(with a compatible sustain pedal) and of the unusual multi-stage envelopes. The
potential is immense, but it's all done with
sympathetic resonance features help cursor and value dial, one parameter at a
with the realism aspect. Several time.

companion programs o er variations of the same sample set (bass starved,

muted, velocity-skewed versions, etc) and you'll often be able to zone into
the style of piano you like through preset selection alone.

Although it's not always obvious if other piano programs are varying sample
sets or just keymap or algorithmic processing settings, there do seem to be
several other source pianos on o er, including a 7ft studio-style grand, and
one based on far less naturalistic but still useful 'legacy' samples from
Kurzweil K2600 days. The variety is immense, and in many typical
performance contexts — rock bands, worship, theatre work — you'll feel
spoilt for choice.

If you are looking for absolute cutting edge, state-of-the-art piano replay
though, this is not it. The sampling is neither as deep nor three-dimensional-
sounding as you'll hear from a Nord, and there isn't the fundamental
exibility that comes from a system with a modelling component, like
Roland's SuperNatural. Factory presets don't seem to o er piano-wide
sustain pedal resonance (which is di erent, and potentially more telling
than note-based sympathetic resonance), or una corda samples. Upright
pianos are clearly not made from true upright sample sets, but are just
kludged and detuned grands.

Worse, though, I discovered that in

the rmware I tested, v1.06, many
piano programs have out-of-tune
notes. The agship Program 1, for
example, has four frequently used
bass notes that beat obviously with
octaves and fths played above. The
discrepancy moves to di erent
pitches when the sample keymap has been modi ed for other programs,
but it's not only the 9ft sample set that seems to be a ected. In fact, only
the old legacy piano sounds were bang in tune. I asked Kurzweil about it,
and they said they're aware of the issue, are investigating, and plan to x it
in an update. It's not a di cult x — a user prepared to investigate it and
work through all the a ected velocity layers could in fact x it themselves —
so I'm sure this will happen.

Keyboard sound provision goes on, as you'd expect, via dozens of Rhodes,
Wurlitzers, Clavinets and harpsichords. Everything is very playable, and all
sounds reassuringly hi- . Like the pianos, they don't survive forensic
examination of velocity sample-switching, but again, with my pragmatic hat
on, most will sound very good in a live setting or within a mix.

The KB3 tonewheel organs do stand up to close scrutiny. They're immensely

vibey, they can sound soulfully knackered one minute, and potently clean or
driven the next, and to my ears the complexity of the Leslie rotating speaker
e ect on o er here (with rotation speed toggled by the front panel Variation
button) is pretty magical. Pipe organ sounds are also of excellent quality and
are o ered as single stops which combine beautifully into layered
registrations. An entirely di erent matter to many lesser keyboards' single,
hideous, garish 'Cathedral Organ' sound.

Amongst the virtual analogue synth

sounds there's quite a bit of name-
checking from synth history, with
various characterful Moog, Oberheim
and Roland-inspired sounds. Good
basses, pads and leads alike, as well
as lots of multi-layer D50-esque
timbres. Real-time controls get you so
far with shaping these further, but a true knobby interface is sorely missed,
and of course the hammer action keyboard feels all wrong. I was surprised I
didn't hear the PC4's parameter-automatic CC Sequencers more often
amongst synth presets, but this parameter automation/animation feature is
there when you want it.

Through the many hundreds of string, wind and brass programs, the quality
stays very high. There are solos, small ensembles and sections, and some
are nicely 'contemporary' in nature, and very playable. The Variation button
often switches in octave stacks, or (for strings programs) pizzicato
alternatives. There is not, though, any other ready-done provision for
accessing multiple articulations in real-time, as we've grown used to with
software samplers, and no evidence of a 'scripted'-type playback for hyper-
real representation of solo instruments.

With the same proviso (of there only being single articulations on hand)
guitar and bass sounds are about as good as you're likely to get at this price.
The dozens of drum kits cover most styles imaginable, with a really good
provision of tuned percussion to back them up.

Who's The PC4?

Summing up the PC4 is surprisingly easy. In most performance and studio
situations it feels just like a good stage piano: preset-based, immediate,
reassuringly simple, and with a handy sequencer at the ready. If you like the
Kurzweil sound, the more than respectable keybed and overall balance of
features, this might be all you need to know. However, go down the EDIT
button rabbit-hole and everything changes: if you can learn its ways you'll
have a powerful, complex sampler/synth and organ emulator at your
disposal.

Quality of preset sounds might be the thing to consider most carefully. The
acoustic pianos, as I mentioned, are not quite as good as on some other
keyboards costing about the same as the PC4. But where they lack soundset
breadth and editing depth, the PC4 o ers it in spades. And by most
standards, and thinking about real-world use, it sounds excellent (we just
need that crucial rmware re nement to make the pianos as good as they
can be).

Like all other Kurzweils I've played the PC4 always felt willing, and musical,
and is an extremely useful thing to have around for many live and studio
applications. If you're looking for an all-rounder get it rmly on your
shortlist: it could be everything you need.

Alternatives
At a street price of £1800, the PC4 is undercut by Yamaha's MODX8:
that's a workstation of sorts too with somewhat friendlier synthesis
features, but its sequencer is crude and there's no dedicated organ
emulator. A fairer comparison might be with Roland's highly regarded
RD-2000, which has a top- ight key action, excellent acoustic and
electric pianos, and at least as good organs, though no sequencer at all
and nothing like the programming depth. A Korg Grandstage 88 o ers
a far simpler and more direct user experience, and a Nord Piano 4
even more so, but its piano sounds are arguably unsurpassed.

Deeper & Down

If you have experience of the way most modern–day keyboards pan
out, you'll have noticed that everything I've described about the PC4 so
far is closer to the vibe of a stage piano than a workstation. So what of
this 'Performance Controller' business?

Well, lurking just beneath the user-friendly surface, and mostly

accessed via the innocuous front-panel Edit button, is a whole universe
of possibilities that most stage pianos could only dream of, even in
their most reverb-soaked out-there moments. It's a full, unlimited
synth and e ects architecture in which every single parameter of the
PC4's sound engines can be accessed.

Starting with the VAST architecture, let me tell you that name is
appropriately descriptive... This is a sound engine of prodigious
complexity and potency. A single program can have up to 32 functional
'layers', each with oscillators, sample keymaps, lters and signal
processors exibly deployed according to hundreds of provided
algorithms, some with signal splitters, combiners and feedback loops.
There are no less than 22 di erent types of virtual analogue oscillators,
plus FM oscillators with their own DX7-derived algorithms, and multi-
waveform possibilities. Arcane delights such as FUN[ction] blocks
perform maths and logic functions on incoming signals, and there are
remarkable AAAD(S)RRR loopable envelope generators (no, the cat
didn't just walk over my computer keyboard).

Just one VAST layer can sound really good, supported by a plethora of
very good-quality e ects (which can be inserted in ready-made chains).
A bunch of layers together will support the most ambitious and
outlandish sound design or sample replay requirements.

The ip side is that working with VAST frequently recalls the worst of
1980s digital synth practice, with programming interactions all done
with cursors, value dials, numerical values, and nary a knob in sight.
The clear colour LCD does at least show visual representations of
algorithms, envelopes and (in a basic way) keymaps, and on some
pages presents multiple numerical parameter values at a time. But for
anyone who enjoys free-rolling, aimless synthesis explorations, via
knobby analogue interfaces, VAST's dozens of parallel and nested
editing screens might feel like torture.

There's also the matter of polyphony. The headline 256 voices on o er

is good, of course. But every VAST layer uses a voice. So if you do go all-
out and program a 32-layer program, that leaves your PC4 capable of
playing just eight notes.

The full 'Musician's Guide' PDF manual does at least explain VAST
thoroughly (even if it does take on a little of the character of a nuclear
power station textbook at times). Terminology like 'User Object', 'ID',
and algorithm makes a lot of sense when you have history with
Kurzweil products, but isn't self-explanatory for newcomers.

The PC4's other main sound engine, the tonewheel organ-emulating

KB3, is far easier to grasp. You can only enable one KB3 instance, at
which point it grabs somewhere around 45 voices of the overall 256–
voice polyphony count. Then it (intriguingly) uses DSP-generated
waveforms for the lower half of the tonewheels, and samples for the
upper. The possibility of using organ keymaps with sawtooth waves
rather than sines, and thereby explore transistor organ territory, is
really welcome.

Compared to a Nord tonewheel model, say, the PC4 is much more

tweakable. Via editing screens you can vary the total number of
tonewheels in use, to accurately match the varying design of
Hammonds from across the decades. Or use organ keymaps that vary
amplitude between individual keys or tonewheels, to change character
or deliberately introduce imperfections. Tonewheels can also be tuned,
or made to virtually 'leak', electrically speaking, into each other.
Adventurous programmers can further use VAST algorithm processing
blocks — LFOs, envelopes, function generators, etc — with KB3
timbres.

The Outside World

When you need something beyond the factory programs, the PC4 can
import all kinds of data from an inserted USB drive to its 2GB of Flash
memory, which is fast-recall long-term storage that survives power
cycles.

At the time of writing this review, Kurzweil hadn't provided any

additional soundware in the PC4's native format, but it handled various
PC3 and Forte-series programs and sample-based sounds I threw at it.
There's some valuable stu out there to be ingested: lots of PC3 banks,
plus SP6 and Artis sounds, and DX7 patches in SysEx. With a little e ort
and experience you can create your own unique sounds from imported
8- and 16-bit WAVs and AIFs. A Soundtower-based Windows and Mac
OS software editor, which might help with this and many other tasks,
was not available during the review period but may well be by the time
you read this.

Pros Cons
Broad, high-quality soundset A disconnect between surface-
with some ne acoustic piano level simplicity and potentially
sounds. bewildering, laborious
Stage-piano ease of use, programming depth.
underpinned by accessible, Old-fashioned referenced Multis,
massively capable synthesis despite huge user memory
features. provision.
Sixteen-part multitimbral, with External power adapter.
multitimbral e ects.
Generous provision of real-time
controls, pedal connections, and
audio I/O.
Good hammer-action keybed
with aftertouch.

Summary
The PC4 is a really useful, portable mid-range all-rounder. Some aspects of
architecture and programming betray their decades-old roots, but the
package as a whole feels well rounded.

Information
£1799
www.soundtech.co.uk
www.kurzweil.com

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