M3 vs PC3, help to decide!

vladimotor · Post by **vladimotor** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 6:00 pm

Hi everyone, i have a weird dilemma here, for whatever reasons my choices are down to Korg M3 73 and Kurzweil PC3. I know one is a workstation, the other is 'performance controller'. Things like sequencers are less important to me, i am after a SYNTH to complement my Roland V-Synth. The Kronos is out of my price range. I know Kurzweil is known to be a powerful synth but, all i hear in the demos are mostly keyboard instrument sounds and orchestral stuff. I used to own Korg Z1 and i see how that is a powerful synth, but with Kurzweil it's more theoretical. I want a quality keyboard and a synth that can handle ambient, atmospheric and aggressive electronic sounds(think modern Depeche Mode) I know PC3 has some sort of VA integrated, but not in the usual way, it is just analog modeled oscillators that can be used within VAST structure. With M3 on the other hand i can add EXB-Radias...
Can anybody compare the two? What are some pros and cons of PC3 and M3? Help me out!

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:09 pm

vladimotor wrote: What are some pros and cons of PC3 and M3? Help me out!

I own a Kurzweil K2661, and even though it's not as up-to-date as the PC3 series, it's given me a chance to access the Kurzweil sound library and experiment with VAST. The Kurzweil is amazingly complex, but... the small display screen makes programming a real chore. I also own a Korg M3, and will say--in my humble opinion--I'd choose it in a heartbeat over the PC3, especially if you are looking for "ambient, atmospheric and aggressive electronic sounds."

The M3 is much easier to program, the OS is more intuitive, and the touch screen gives easy access to everything. You can also create endless textural and/or motion sounds with Karma. The PC3 doesn't offer anything that complex or that much fun!

Of course, being able to add the EXB-Radias to the M3 is icing on the cake.

vladimotor · Post by **vladimotor** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:56 am

I am leaning toward M3 73 at the moment, even though for the same money i can get PC3X with nice hammer action keys... But then with M3 you get ribbon, pads and x/y control, while PC3 does not even come with ribbon.

funkymotifteacher · Post by **funkymotifteacher** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:03 am

if your looking for a good controller keyboard and maybe use M3 module if there is one. The PC3 is the best controller keyboard for on stage controll and setting up layers , splits and on and off zones can't beat the PC3.

I"m trying to see how good the Korg keyboards handle controll features but no one will answer my post.

vladimotor · Post by **vladimotor** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:34 am

Yeah, i should have mentioned that i need studio only synth. I am still torn between the two, M3's ordinary synth keys vs PC3X weighted hammer action and M3's expandability with Radias vs PC3's near-modular synthesis.
Would M3 73 be a poor choice for occasional piano playing? How is it with mellow expressive, perhaps soft, darkish piano? All previous Korgs sucked big time in piano department, has it been improved?

gurn · Post by **gurn** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:09 am

Korg M3m module & a used Kurzweil for a controller.

The beauty of the M3m is you only lose a ribbon controller.
You have all the other features of the M3.
w/a used Kurz, you have access to VAST.

dumeril7 · Post by **dumeril7** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:14 pm

funkymotifteacher wrote:if your looking for a good controller keyboard and maybe use M3 module if there is one. The PC3 is the best controller keyboard for on stage controll and setting up layers , splits and on and off zones can't beat the PC3.

I"m trying to see how good the Korg keyboards handle controll features but no one will answer my post.

What post is that? Haven't seen it...

FWIW, I use my M3 as kind of "mission control" for my live gigging rig. I make extensive use of zones and layers using internal and external sounds. I also use the M3 as a controller for external synths, and external keyboards as controllers for M3 sounds, often within the same song. The M3 also manages all program changes for the other synths. So far I haven't found many things that it can't do from a master controller standpoint, although I'm sure there are plenty of use cases I just haven't needed to do yet. But my overall impression is that its pretty capable in that department.

D7

dumeril7 · Post by **dumeril7** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:36 pm

vladimotor wrote:Yeah, i should have mentioned that i need studio only synth. I am still torn between the two, M3's ordinary synth keys vs PC3X weighted hammer action and M3's expandability with Radias vs PC3's near-modular synthesis.
Would M3 73 be a poor choice for occasional piano playing? How is it with mellow expressive, perhaps soft, darkish piano? All previous Korgs sucked big time in piano department, has it been improved?

A more fair comparison is with the M3-88, which also has 88 fully-weighted keys.

Really for piano, you ought to schedule a trip to the music store and test one out. I think the pianos in the M3 (Expanded) are great. IMO better than the Kurzweil triple-strike piano, but there are plenty of people who wouldn't agree with that. Its such a personal, subjective thing, especially with piano.

VAST is a very deep architecture for programming. I had an original K2000 and loved it, and VAST has grown lightyears since then. Kurzweil also loads it with excellent bread-and-butter samples IMO. That, coupled with built-in VA and clonewheel modes makes it a really good keyboard-player-in-a-band type of instrument IMO. But the M3 is particularly strong with those ambient/atmospheric types of sounds you said you're interested in. For whatever reason, its just really good at synthetic type sounds.

And the M3's EDS architecture certainly isn't a slouch! Its quite deep. Not as flexible as VAST, but it covers 98% of what people typically want to do and its easier to work with IMO. Max out the RAM and add the EXB-Radias card, and you have an incredibly flexible architecture.

Kurzweil has not kept up on the user interface side though; their LCD and workflow aren't anywhere near the M3's IMO. That's a shame because it makes harnessing VAST more of a chore.

D7

vladimotor · Post by **vladimotor** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:22 pm

I think the pianos in the M3 (Expanded) are great. IMO better than the Kurzweil triple-strike piano, but there are plenty of people who wouldn't agree with that. Its such a personal, subjective thing, especially with piano.

But, i hope majority agrees that Triton piano is a joke? It even seems to me sometimes that N364 piano was better.
Yeah, i guess i have to take a trip to Seoul to check M3 again, i now live in the city where instrument stores only carry organs and stage pianos.

madbeatzyo111 · Post by **madbeatzyo111** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:57 pm

From the equipment in your signature, it seems you should already have the synth area covered, so maybe what you're really looking for is a weighted hammer action 88 with good piano sounds that also functions well as a master controller. In that case I would lean toward the PC3.

vladimotor · Post by **vladimotor** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:37 am

Good point. Or perhaps what i really need is a new guitar

How is M3's build quality? Any complaints?

gurn · Post by **gurn** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:05 pm

vladimotor wrote:Good point. Or perhaps what i really need is a new guitar
How is M3's build quality? Any complaints?

As a guitarist, I say get an M3m.

Build quality is superb. I flew mine across the Pacific.
I love this synth.

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M3 vs PC3, help to decide!

M3 vs PC3, help to decide!

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