Best keyboard for orchrastra sounds???

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Sterling30

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I'm leaning towards the Kurzweil PC1x because I'm a bit familiar with them having used the K1000 on some recordings, I'm not sure if the current version is better than the VAST engine which is still in use on the 2600 I believe. (Better or not?) And from what I can tell, the orchrastra sounds on the PC1x and keyboard action should be identical to the costlier PC2x, am I correct on that?

Opinions on other models other than Kurzweil will be appreciated also..
 
Sure, Kurzweill has good sounds. I had a K2000, liked it. I was also impressed with the Emu proteus sounds. That was years ago, but I would check out the Proteus line for Orchestral stuff.
 
The more expensive keyboards like the 2500 and 2600 series are going to be much better for orchestral than the PC1x or PC2x. The PC series are very cut down and are basically preset boxes, even the versions with the orchestral expansion board.

The 2500/2600 with the orchestral expansion boards are good for orchestral work.

The Emu Virtuoso Orchestra box would not be a bad choice for orchestral, if you need a compact rack module. I think the orchestral cards are becoming hard to find separately now, so you would definitely want to get the module itself.

For orchestral, a couple of the best boxes out there right now are Roland, in my opinion. That is, Roland modules with some expansion boards installed.

Specifically, the Roland XV-5080 or Fantom XR are good for orchestral if you add the SRX-04 Symphonique strings, SRX-06 complete orchestra, and SRX-10 Brass section boards.
 
SonicAlbert said:
The 2500/2600 with the orchestral expansion boards are good for orchestral work.
Click to expand...

I have both a K2500R and K2600RS, and I would have to agree with this. The orchestral ROM is very nice for orchestral work.
 
Appreciate the feedback very much. I had a Roland XV88 but because of my recent workschedule it never left the box in came in and became a Christmas gift for someone over the Holidays.., any opinions on the onboard sounds of this keyboard? I know there's orchestra expansion cards for it, I'm sure I could find one with some looking, do they stack up well with those mentioned?
 
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There are a number of expansion boards which could be used for Orchestral work for Roland Boards. They include Orch1-2 and Vocals for the JV series (which is compatible with the SV series) and the Strings and Brass XV cards. That puts a lot of samples at your fingertips. I like Roland sounds and think they have done a good job of developing Orchestral Sounds... (for hardware synths/samplers at least) since back in their old 2 CD Orchestral Collection for the S-760 series days. Some people think the Roland sounds are a bit bright, but I find it easier to dampened sounds than boost a dull sound (I personally think they are fine.) Roland doesn't make the 5080 anymore, but if you can get a used one, it will hold a lot of expansion boards and put thousands of sounds at your fingertips for live work.

Take Care
 
I use a Roland 5080 for my live work and it does the job well. It's maxed out on sound cards though. I use the SRX-02 piano, SRX-04 Symphonique Strings, SRX-06 Complete orchestra, and SRX-10 Brass Ensembles. I also have the JV slots filled with other stuff.

The best two SRX boards to have for orchestral type work are the 04 and 06.
 
SonicAlbert,
How does it compare to the Kurzweil 2600?
 
I personally like the Roland sounds better, meaning the expansion boards. However, the Kurzweil is tops for playing live gigs due to some of the great features it has. The Kurz has a ton of memory slots for patches, and there are no glitches when changing patches. With the 5080 you are limited to 128 patches and 64 performances, far too few for a lot of shows. I find myself having to work around this frequently.

The other bummer about Roland gear in general is that changing patches is not seamless. The sound cuts out and there is a pause before the next patch loads up. Really the only -major- problem I have with the 5080. The Fantom XR does the same thing. You wonder what Roland is thinking sometimes.
 
The internal memory of the 5080 is limited, but you can easily get an expansion card which holds numerous banks of patches (I only have an additional 128 loaded, but there is only using a small fraction of the card.)

I guess the key would be to listen to Roland, Kurzweil, others and decide for yourself.

Good luck!
 
Kurzweil K2500 / K2600

Kurzweil, in my opinion, is tops. I still check out all the other manufacturer's keyboards continually at the stores, but Kurzweil just seems to be on top of it all.

And enough cannot be said about the wallop of extra capabilities that come with the Kurzweil line, namely the K2500 and K2600, and the User Manuals are so in depth and comprehensive!

The K2600, I believe, comes standard now with all the options that were extras when the K2500 was being sold. And the KDFX effects board (standard on the K2600) is like... man... capabilities in the stratosphere!

I use the orchestral sounds all the time, and think highly of them. And if you really want to, you can buy the 3rd party high-end samples, load them onto your internal harddrive, program a macro file that loads automatically upon boot up, and you have tons more patches & sounds ready to go immediately.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I personally like the Roland sounds better, meaning the expansion boards.
Click to expand...

You know, I'll have to go back and re-listen to the Roland stuff, cause I was not that impressed before with the Fantom. I still *much* prefer my k2600 and its Orchestral ROM. Maybe I'm missing something.......
 
hey what about the emu line of keyboards you put in andy of the orchestras roms as you set fit
 
SonicAlbert said:
You wonder what Roland is thinking sometimes.
Click to expand...
Every Roland I've had made me think this. The alpha-Junos are the last keyboards they've sold that I've understood.
 
steve350 said:
I just updated my Kurzweil K2600 with the ROMS 1,2 and 4. The Orchestra sounds are the best I've ever heard.
Click to expand...

Which are those?
 
ROM 1 = Orchestral ROM Option Card

ROM 2 = Contemporary ROM Option Card

ROM 4 = Vintage Electric Pianos


ROM 3 = Stereo Dynamic(SD) Piano ROM Option Card.

There are about 100 different sounds per ROM
 
Roland

I can vouch for the 'Complete Orchestra' SRX expansion card for the Roland synths.

Harps and horns are great, percussion believable, although the strings might take some tweaking to convince the critical ear. The vocal section sounds quite lush - includes Gregorian monk chants and latin choir phrases - handy to drop the odd one into a mix for that extra little something. Worth the money though - you can get the card for around £160 in the UK.
 
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