Hi!

I'm ready to buy a new keyboard but I'm having a serious hard time deciding between a Korg N1, an Alesis QS8.1 and a Kurzweil PC88.

Obviously, I'm looking for a good piano action but I'm concerned about getting good sounds as well.

What are the main differences between these models, and their pros/cons?

Anyone could help me making the right decision?

Thanks a lot!

Hmm. You chose a difficult one here. The Alesis has 64 note polyphony, 100 General midi, expansion card. The sound is Okay. Kurzes PC-88 has 64 Genrl midi and room for
100 customized setups. Polyphony technically
is 32 notes with layering. Single layer piano
is 64 voice. The piano in the PC-88 sounds better to me than the QS-8. I would suggest to look at both websites that can be found
in this forum. Also go to your music store to try both of these monsters. My opinion is an opinion, but its yours thats going to count regarding your purchase. To me both are great instruments.

make sure you can get a Kurzweil "loaner" when it goes into the shop and get it in writing. They seem to have some production problems. You will have to judge the samples for yourself. Everyone has a different ear.

While I love my K25 and wouldn't trade it for anything, unless they have changed the PC88 it's a bad choice. Although I do not have any personal experience with a PC88, I have heard nothing but horror stories in their regards. Just a warning.

Up front, I must say that I am currently a Korg dealer, and a previous Kurzweil dealer.

The stories and suggestions about the problems with the PC-88 are true. Kurzweil (Young Chang) has had major problems with the PC-88 for a number of years (it's by no means a recent model). The major problem with the unit seems to be a lack of torsional rigidity. That is, the case twists too much. Most of the problems people have with the PC-88 come from moving it around. The stress on the long circuit boards from movin the unit cause connectors to become intermittent, and this causes software problems (random crashing).

As to the QS 8.1, I've not been overly impressed with the percussion sounds. Maybe its because I've owned Korg boards for years.

Steve Martin
Ward Music Ltd.

Thanks Steve.
I have a friend that is a major Kurzweil dealer but everytime you walk in the store they are all broken. He doesn't deny the problem but at least now I have an idea of why they seem to break every 4 months.

How about the Kurzweil Micropiano module?
Ive never really heard it in action. Ive also looked at the Triton, the piano sound
has a pretty good sound, but in my opinion is way too bright and tinny. I purchased the
4meg piano ROM block for my K2000, I think its the best sounding piano so far. From what Ive heard through the grapevine, the quality control issues in regards to the PC-88 have recently been resolved. I hear that
the entire piano action was reworked over the past 2 years. Of course this was info was from Kurzweil so you never know.

[This message has been edited by Chris Attison (edited 09-07-1999).]

Well, as far as things go, no PC88, I got it!

But that still leaves the N1 vs QS8.1 battle going on.

Any help around these finalists? (After all, this is a deathmatch, you know!)

Before you do anything the Yamaha S80 weighted keyboard synth will be out in October with expandable synth options which increase polyphony above the original 64 notes. I have never heard one so I can't tell you about the sounds. the price is around $1500.

Update, everyone. The action on the PC88 has been replaced. What was happening at Kurzweil was that they were cranking production speeds without sufficient quality control. This led to some poor products. But about a year ago, they got it into their heads to fix things up. So they did. I just bought a PC88 and it ABSOLUTELY RULES! I wouldn't buy the Yamaha S80 because new products could have any number of things wrong with them. I strongly considered it as well, but decided against it. THe QS8 sounds to me like the sounds are lower quality than the Kurzweil. The action is also too light. And it looks cheap. And the buttons suck. The N1 has many features, but I personally hate the action. And it goes without saying that the PC88 looks the coolest by far. Whatever you choose (PC88) I hope that it serves you well for many years of intense jamming.

Any further questions? HamComet@rocketmail.com

Good luck!

-Tim Butterworth

I have an N1 after trying a PC88 and QS8 (tho not the new QS8.1) and love it. To me, the piano and other sounds are better on the N1, and the keyboard action is great for both piano and other sounds, since the response is quick, unlike the QS8 action, which to me seems clunky. There are plenty of (mostly good) sounds on the N1 (about 1600), and a good interface for programming, tho the N1 is not expandable as is the QS8.

You might want to check out Peavy. I noticed TV bands like The Tonight Show use one. The guy also plays for Sting and I've seen him use it in the studio too.