E-mu PK-6

Price Paid: US $499

Ease of Use: 8
The presets are pretty good actually. You can do some deep editing on this thing! Some of the editing is a little confusing but that is only when you try to get really into it. The manual is a thick book that is written clearly.

Features: 9
THe keyboard action is more like a synth than a piano. It has 2 fx processors so you can do combos of reberb, delay, chorus, distortion, etc... Plus there is a separate chorus processor. Plus there are the LFO processors. You can really tweak this thing. Everything but the LFOs are easy to use.

It has expansion capabilities if you want to add more sounds....but I found the built-in sounds adequate.

There are some midi capabilities.
It has a play-only sequencer.
It has drum sounds and progressions (called "super-beats) that you can include or exclude track by track so you can play on top of.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
I was pretty happy with the acoustic piano. There are some great B3 patches that I was pleasantly surprised to find! There are a couple Rhodes that are decent but I just couldn't get enough bite. The Clav and Wurlitzer are great!

Reliability: 5
Unfortunately, It arrived with a bug that made the cursor skip around the menus every few times I turned it on. Otherwise it seems like it would be ok to gig with.

Customer Support: N/A
I decided to return it to dealer in order to buy a PA.

Overall Rating: 9
This keyboard surprised me with its good sounds. I would have kept it if not for the bug and the need for a PA. I compared it to a Kurzweil SP76. The piano on the Kurzweil is better and that also has better piano action but for all other sounds (B3 organ and Rhodes) I would recommend the Emu PK6!

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/21/2003 19:59

Price Paid: US $599

Ease of Use: 8
To start, I should explain that I purchased the PK-6 as a controller to replace my old DX7. To my amazement, I found the controllers on the market to be vastly over-priced. So, I figured for just a little bit more money than a low-end controller, I could buy the PK6 and get some of the P2K sounds thrown in as well. I have had the PK6 for a while now, and am only getting around to the review. I paid $599 for it about four months ago. So far, it has been worth the money.

My PK6 must have been old stock. Only has OS1. It is not the most stable OS out there. Inevitably, one of the assignable knobs (left panel) will self-activate and screw up the sound. Seems to happen only once every time I turn it on, so when I start up, I just hit keys a while until it happens and then it is OK.

The presets are quite uneven. To be honest, I found this generation of Proteus to be a disappointment. I was a proud owner of the original Proteus and invested in the excellent Vintage Keys module as well. So, do not think that I am some rabid Korg only, Roland only, orYamaha only zealot. Indeed, I have owned Emu, Roland, Yamaha and GEM gear. I will discuss the sounds in more detail further on.

I find programming to be straightforward. I am accustomed to the EMU interface, so I am not overly bothered by the small LED. Is no worse than my Roland XV-5050. BUT, the Roland has a software patch editor which is pretty handy-dandy. Too bad that the PK6 didn't come with one.

The manual is ok. It does not cover everything, for all its size. For example, not all the velocity curves are charted in the manual that came with mine. Fortunately, I was easily able to obtain a downloadable manual off the internet. Perhaps new PK6 stock has the updated manual.

Features: 9
Polyphony is 64. Realistically, it is typically 32, 16 or less. This is par for the course in this price-range. My XV-5050 only has 64 polyphony as well. It too starts stealing notes when flagship patches are used. What can I say? More polyphony is better.

Built in effects are fine. In addition to chorusing, two effects can be applied to a given patch. NOTE: they can only be applied to one patch when played multi-timbrally. The effects do the trick for the most part; they are perhaps a little under-stated in the presets.

The PK6 has expansion cards, but I do not own these, so I can't comment. I wouldn't mind grabbing a vintage keys card, having tested the vintage keys board that came out a month after I bought the PK6.

The PK6 supposedly has a decent arpeggiator. Don't use them, so I can't comment. Ditto for the beats mode.

Midi implementation is fine for my needs. Read my review about the XV-5050 for an explanation of why I had to buy a controller! The keyboard is rather synthetic, but actually has grown on me a lot. I find it better than the DX-7 keyboard that I used for years. Can calibrate and assign controller (wheels, aftertouch) sensitivity etc.
The velocity curves on for the keyboard are ok, but not optimal for my playing. But hey, what do you expect for $599?

The PK6 has many differnt (z-plane?)filters. This is where it really shines compared to Korg, Roland, Yamaha et cie. Of course, filters are best suited to waveforms / samples with high harmonic content. This means that the PK6 can produce some good synthy sounds from good old triangle and saw waves. (Who needs a z-plane filter applied to a piano, or B-3 sample?)

No onboard sequencer. Computers are better for this anyhow, so I do not see this as a loss. Why pay for something I will never use?

For the price, this board has a ton of features. In fact, if you have a budget of $600 and need the best bang for the buck, you will not find any other board to compete with the PK6 and its sister models.

My disappointment with the PK6 stems from the fact that I have expensive tastes and would have preffered better raw samples.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 7
Indeed. The PK6 suffers from some very marginal samples. This problem is exacerbated by mediocre preset programming. (This was one of the main reasons I purchased a Roland XV-5050 rather than the Proteus 2500.) Rather than focusing on high quality sample / waveform content, EMU went the "more is less" route. Yes, there are tons of raw waveforms, but most of these are not usable or have very limited value. For example, the PK6 actually has WORSE samples of B3s than my far older EMU Vintage Keys module! Some the string samples are no better than those found on my Proteus 1 I purchased in 1989! There are glaring split point problems in some samples, resulting in extreme shifts in harmonic content. The B3 samples are ruined because of shoddy sample / split point work. Booo.

The brass, wind, and string samples are equally uneven and are often alarmingly weak. In this area, the PK6 will not fool anybody. (My XV-5050 categorically destroys the PK6 in terms of its orchestral/guitar content.) The PK6 has no usable classical organ or vocal samples either!!!!

In a really annoying quirk, much of the sample content for pads is unusable, except as percussion because it is in pre-set "jazzy" voicings! Dammit! Let ME decide what chords I want to play. This is what happens when keyboards get designed for drummers.

Finally, in terms of negative comments on the sample content, the PK6 contains an awful lot of wasted samples: unbelievable guitars (I do not mean this in a good way), lame guitar effects, and other sound effects that while initially intriguing become tiresome after five minutes. I believe that EMU has ended up pleasing nobody by trying to please everyone. 50 percent of the sample content sucks. Period.

After all that negativity, I do believe that there are enough good samples on the board to redeem it - especially when one remembers the price of the PK6. I find the piano to be better than the XV-5050 and find the Rhodes and Wurlitzer presets to be quite serviceable. Many presets are less glossy than Roland fare, and are often more usable as a result. There are a lot of decent drum and bass sounds on the PK6. They are actually quite good. Finally, there are many excellent waveforms sampled from vintage syths. When combined with the various filters, the classic synth samples are really top-notch. As such, I believe that the PK6 is actually a techno / dance board rather than a GM board. If you are willing and able to program, the PK6 offers a pretty heavy punch.

In light of the above, I would not recommend the PK6 for jazz, classical, and organ-oriented fare. The PK6 is above average in terms of its Rhodes, Wurlitzers and piano patches. It is excelelnt for dance/techno/house etc.

Reliability: 6
I have owned EMU products for over 13 years. Have had no real problems. I am sure that the PK6 is reliable for gigging as long as one is aware of the startup OS glitch mentioned above. For all I know, this may have been eliminated in other software versions.

Customer Support: 10
I contacted EMU about information on velocity curves etc. I had to look a while to find the phone number on the website. When I did find it, however, it worked. Thumbs up.

Overall Rating: 7
If my PK6 were lost or stolen, I would probably buy the new EMU Vintage Keys board instead. I find it to be better value because the orchestral/guitar/sax content of the PK6 is a relative waste of ROM. I still think the various EMU products are great value. You cannot buy more synth for 600 bucks. At the very least, you have a decent controller with some good sound generating capability. I would recommend the PK6 to anyone with a tight budget. That said, the PK6 should not be overlooked by the more affluent. I find that it compliments my XV-5050, and my Pro1 (mid-range fare to be sure). I am sure that it can compliment other setups as well. Because it packs a lot of whollup for its price, I give the PK6 an 7. Had the raw sample content and presets been better, I would have given it the 10 deserved by its other features.

Submitted by sean at 05/29/2003 18:12

Price Paid: US $520.00

Ease of Use: 8
I am using the latest version of software for the unit. It seems to load the OS and everything as the unit powers up. Interesting feature. Overall, I think the sounds are pretty good. I would not use the pianos in a solo situation (unless I tweak them first and then try it), but the strings are reall kinda neat. There is a Film Score patch (I think it is Bank 0 #79) and it really is expressive. I like how it sounds. I also like the SuperBeats mode. There is some fun stuff in there that can help creativity. The patch editing seems to be pretty flexible, but I have not used it yet. The manual seems to be pretty easy to read as well. I have only had this keyboard for about a week, so getting around it is still new, as are going thru the presets. But thus far, it has been on a gig and worked well on the gig.

Features: 9
64 note polyphony. That is pretty standard nowadays and it seems to be enough. I also like the expandability of the unit. To be able to get 128mb worth of sounds out of one synth and have well over 1600 patches is cool. I would for sure put together some kind of preset user bank though with everything I would normally use right up front for easier access (had that trouble on the gig over the weekend. Was playing the other board with one hand while fumbling thru presets on the Emu....The action does not mean a whole lot to me, since it is probably going to be MIDIed up to other units in my studio. It is too bad that we cannot actually get polyphony expansion on the plug-in boards though. That would be neat. The MIDI capabilities seem to be pretty extensive as well, and I am sure that will not get into them all that much. Iw ill probably set up a Multi Setup or to and just program change for studio work and setup the others for live use.
Overall, this unit is cool and I dig the filters and some of the solo voices.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Again, the piano to me is very weak. To me the Roland pianos are much more expressive and full, but then the board was 3 times the price of the PK-6. The strings are good, and the drums seem to be cool too. I like pads and this one does not have too many of them, but the ones in there are good. The organ sounds are quite good and are better than Roland's organ. The Wurly and Rhoades patches seem to be cool too. To me the best Rhoades sound is still the original Rhoades (I might be getting one of them very soon), and the Alesis QS6 (which I also own, but is in the shop...hopefully with just a bad power supply). The unit is touch sensitive and works well so incoming MIDI messages and processing the data.

Reliability: 9
This unit seems to be reliable. I have a hard case for most of by gear and this went to the gig in an SKB hard case. I am sure that it would work well in one of my other cases too, so that is not an issue. It seemed to be reliable during the gig. I would not use it by itself, as I always bring 3-4 boards to the gig for that layered sound. Plus, only 64 voice polyphony during a gig is just not enough. You need multiple sound sources to make the sounds come alive...

Customer Support: N/A
I have not dealt with E-mu's support line and I never hope to. I have heard stories about how nice they are, but never come thru on the goods....That okay, I own Enosniq too and they were the same way....

Overall Rating: 9
My overall impression of this board is that it is very agressive in is sounds and seems to hold up well in the wall of sound I make. As I have stressed in all of my other reviews, each keyboard has a special place in the sonic creation department. Find a board that meets your needs and go from there. This is a bread and butter type board for me and that is what I am going to use it for. The pianos might not get used, but I am sure that I will use the strings and other sounds. I think the lead sounds are going to be fun too and as I explore the board more, I will find out. I do dig the filter stuff though and being able to tweak it live is way cool. Plus, this board looks neat on the rack next to my others.

I also own the following gear:

Alesis QS6
Ensoniq SQ-2 32 Voice
Korg X5
Roland JV880
Roland XP-60
Yamaha TG-33
Yamaha DJX

Submitted by Harry Ebbeson III at 04/07/2003 13:38

Price Paid: 450 (Pounds sterling)

Ease of Use: 9
Think the software version's 1.01... as a general rule, the presets sound pretty good. I compared it in shop over about 2 hours with a Roland XP-30 and a Triton Le, and the sound quality was pretty similar, I felt, but this had a more instantly useable selection for the style of music I play (mostly prog-rock).

Other people have commented that the patches are a bit thin sounding, and I'd go along with that. However, editing the patches is a dream! OK so because it's so easy it's also easy to make things sound a bit iffy, but practice makes perfect. Within 24 hours of getting this keyboard I'd set up 14 usable sounds by modifying presets, and I'm still happy with 11 or 12 of them (the others I've over-written).

I find the manual to be excellent... it's also well constructed so it doesn't fall apart in the hand. Although sometimes the index is a bit cryptic, the contents pages at the start are much more useful, and everything is written in clear English, not suspectly translated from Japanese or whatever!

I've tried editing sounds before, on Rolands (D-50 and JV-35) and Yamahas (DX-21 among others) and found them horridly confusing. This isn't like that at all. Most impressive!

Features: 8
64 note poly, nice synth keyboard action... edges of some of the keys are a bit rough, but not too horrid and you soon learn to avoid them. Aftertouch has a really positive feel to it.

I haven't messed with any of the built in effects yet, as I've only used it for recording, and if there were effects already on the patch I used them, otherwise I added them externally to suit. I like what I hear, anyway.

Expansion potential was a big selling point for me... I'm not the kind of person who'd want 10 keyboards on stage (I play guitar live as well) so the ability to add 3 extra ROMs is great. I can't afford them as yet, but I fully intend to fill them up soon!

In terms of MIDI capabilities, I've not used much aside from using it as a sound module connected to Sonar... What little I've done with it, it's done fine and I'm quite happy with it. I don't expect to get much more involved than that!

I use Cakewalk Sonar 2 as my sequencer, so intentionally didn't pay extra for a keyboard with a sequencer... it'll mostly be used live, and we couldn't really sequence anything for our live set (or if we did, our main keyboardist would sort that out, I just play the notes!)

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
As I said at the start, I found the sounds instantly usable... I tweaked a few to my taste, and I'm still hunting around for a few sounds, but I'm the kind of person who can gig on 32 sounds (I currently have about 20 that I'm happy with). The string sounds seem to lack a bit of attack, they're a little more pad-y than I would like, but the pianos, organs and synth sounds are fine.

I don't know that I would use it for classical music without adding the orchestral ROMs and maybe the ZR76 ROM for the piano sound. The orchestral sounds are fine for use in pop and rock music, but the discerning listener would tell in an instant that they were synthetic. Which is fine by me, as I mostly play rock music!

I play in a band with another keyboardist who has a Roland JV1080 and a whole load of other gear... so my role is mostly pads and lead lines, which this synth is ideal for. I've done a bit of more dance-y music with it (the patch sfx:Quavering came very close to what I wanted for one particular piece) and it's come out well... the drums seem to be better geared to dance than anything, but then you'd expect that from any keyboard (we use real drums and percussion anyway).

I've found it generally to be quite expressive... it's made me sound like I want to sound (playing deficiencies aside!) and has responded to everything I've thrown at it. I've not played a million different keyboards, so I can't really compare in terms of velocity and aftertouch response, but I've found both very positive and they've done what I expected them to.

Reliability: 8
It's been very reliable so far, and I would definitely gig without a backup for now, as it's all I can afford. Yes it's a little bit plasticky, but that does make it lighter, and I transport it in a decent case and put it on a sturdy stand. So no complaints so far (although if I were going on a major tour I'd obviously take a spare!)

Customer Support: N/A
Not had any dealings with them.

Overall Rating: 9
If, God forbid, it went walkies, I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with another one. There's nothing like it for the price (well, apart from the Halo, MK6 and XK6 from the same stable!) and I've been nothing but impressed with it so far. No, it's not a Triton, but it's way cheaper, and I like the way it looks and sounds. I got it in a sale, saved myself quite a few pounds on the retail price, and that was great cos I'm a student at the moment and money is tight. Once I graduate, I fully intend to get myself another model (probably the Halo) and fill them both up with ROM cards so I've got a better selection of sounds at my disposal.

I've been playing piano for 20 years, keyboards on-and-off for 15, and have owned and used all kinds of stuff. I haven't had a synth for the past couple of years, since my Juno 6 died, as finances were limited, so I've just been using an Evolution controller keyboard and software synths for recording.

Is there anything I hate about it? No, not really... it's heavier than it looks, although this aids stability, and I would have liked it to have a 2nd footswitch socket, but it's a great piece of kit. I use it with a cheapo footswitch / sustain pedal and a Roland EV5 expression pedal, and it's as expressive as I need it to be. The pitch bend and modulation wheels feel really responsive (unlike that horrid joystick thing on the Rolands (the Korg one is much better)). A ribbon controller would be a nice addition, but that'd bump the price, I expect.

Overall, I like this keyboard... a lot. If you're in any doubts, go and try one out, they're great!

Submitted by Martin Cliffe at 01/21/2003 04:41

Price Paid: 700 (Euro)

Ease of Use: 9
Like every E-mu product, this one is also very easy and straightforward to use.If you're used to work with E-mu synths you'll feel right at home, even in the sound departement there are some recognisable sounds from earlier proteus-range. The four control knobs come in very handy if you want to squeek that low pass filter or set the attack time of a sound etc.

Features: 8
The features are that of a modern synth. 64 polyphony, effects, aftertouch,multi-timbral. And lots and lots of sounds.It even has an expansion slot for adding in new sounds like that of the Phatt or XL module. Since it is aimed at gigging or studio environments, it has no sequencer or no disk-drive.For storing sounds there are 512 ram slots available.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
The PK-6 has more then 1000 presets but they don't really justify the potential of this board. With some minor programming you'll be able to come up with better sounds. Compared to some Roland or Korg boards, the E-mu effectsprogramming is very sparse and you'll want to add some reverb yourself.The acoustic piano's sit very well in the mix but played solo they lack some exspressiveness of the Yamaha's and Roland's out there.
The Rhodes and Wurlitzer-patches are very good.This board has some excellent bass and synth sounds and the electronic drums are very punchy.For guitars and sax-patches, look elsewhere, although the trombone,clarinet and flutes are very good.As mentioned before the PK-6 sits very well in every mix and has a very penetrating sound. With this instrument not only the guitarplayer can shine while soloing.

Reliability: 8
It has never let me down, just like any other E-mu gear.
Had problems with Roland gear though.
The buttons on the PK-6 seem fragile but hadn't have any problems with them so far.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with E-mu suppport. Never needed them.

Overall Rating: 10
I own every brand of synths (Roland,Yamaha,Korg,...)and also the E-mu Vintage keys. Always have good comments about my sounds. The PK-6 needs some tweaking to produce fabulous sounds but it is capable of producing them because under the hood rests a powerfull synth beast. I don't bother with the arpeggio or beats mode but it is funny as a gimmick. I would definetly buy it again because it has excellent value for the money.
For gigging musicians, this really a guitarist competitor when soloing, but is also capable of laying down some nice pads in the back.

Submitted by Peter Bressinck at 01/14/2003 07:59

Price Paid: US $500

Ease of Use: 8
I haven't gotten to every feature. I have only had mine a month or so at this point. Getting around seems ok. Assigning patchs to midi channels has been pretty easy. Configureing the external outputs(subs) hasn't been happening yet. The presets sound good. I can hardly wait to program my own and give the unit my flavor.There are some great sounds in here though, Some solid, contemporary useful sounds. What you would expect from a 2002 keyboard. Good varity of drums getting past the whole 808/909 thing with a little dirt to 'em. There is a great TB 303 sound and some nice melodic synth sounds..but these are the types of sounds I look for. You may be looking for something else..or find yourself being pleased with some of the orchestra sounds.

Features: 10
Polophony is good. One of the selling points for me.
Good sounding built in effects.
Very expandible with slots for 3 emu cards. But they are pricey.
Standard MIDI + filter control read by sequencer (pretty cool)
No on board sequencer...good selling point for me. Have a sequencer don't want to pay for another!

Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Great sounds. Z-plane morpheus filter. Front panel filter control.
I think it has 1000 sounds. They show some variaty and they have character and usefulness. Many parameters for sound design.

Reliability: 8
Seems to be a good studio keyboard esp as a module.Pefect for desktop studio. Gig?This is the unit's short-comming. The chasis is thin plastic. The data wheel could fall off and the buttons stick like they were built very cheaply.I forgive Emu, the price is low and the features are breathtaking for the price. I bought it didn't I?

Customer Support: 9
I have called them a couple of times, but still haven't ironed out my external output situation but they are polite.

Overall Rating: 10
Super, super deal. I feel like I have invested well into my musical future. Now I just have to remember not to leave it too long in my friend's studio because he smokes in there!

Submitted by Justin at 11/04/2002 08:31

Price Paid: US $600

Ease of Use: 8
Beginning playing is pretty intuitive, the 16 knobs give easy access to ADSR characteristics. The menu system doesn't take long to catch on to. The one confusing thing at first may be the layers...I didn't realize that you had to put the effects on each instrument layer for a preset.

Features: 10
Keyboard action - flexible, there are a dozen velocity curves you can set for your style of playing.
Effects - There are like 20 reverbs to play around with which sound pretty cool, you can compound those with "Effect B" which is effects like flanging, chorus, delay/ping-pong, distortion.
Also, the patch cords give you a whole lot of flexibility to change instruments - they are programs that take an input and change a sound characteristic. You can make your own effects with patch cords, like tremolo.
Expansion - Slots for ROMs that you can order with sound sets like World Instruments
Sequencer - None but I don't need one I prefer just using my 4-Track.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
Instruments - Lots of B-3 organ variations, lots of Electric Pianos. It even has some Moog samples which are fun. I don't like the guitars much, but why would you doing play guitar on a keyboard? Strings sound pretty good, I've gotten "Eleanor Rigby" fare out of them. The other orchestral instruments sound decent with some tweaking, especially if you take off the patch cord that screws with pitch. Drum sets are decent. There is a whole lot of variety on this keyboard.

Music style - I play a lot of Beatles, psychedelic and fusion. The keyboard serves my purposes very well. I made an awesome flanged moog instrument that sounds great even solo. For dance there are lots of kits and beats to play with.

Reliability: 8
It seems to be dependable, I've had it for coming up on three months so far. I would probably use it on a gig without backup because it is very flexible and there is a whole lot of sound you can get out of it.

Customer Support: 10
I sent in a rebate I found on E-MU's site for a free sound rom. I got it in the mail. To my surprise I also found Steinberg's Cubasis, which E-MU sent me even though the offer had expired two weeks before I could apply for it.

Overall Rating: 10
If I lost/stole this synth, I would buy it in a heartbeat. The $600 I paid for it was a nice deal from $900 I had seen it elsewhere. The free ROM and Cubasis only sweetened the deal. This keyboard is highly flexible and has a whole lot of power, with all kinds of both vintage and modern sounds - exactly what I was looking for. If you are someone who enjoys tweaking with sounds and experimenting, definitely buy this synth. I would recommend it for just players too, but the real strength of this keyboard is the high number of parameters you can change.

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/12/2002 08:26

Price Paid: 650 (GB pounds)

Ease of Use: 8
didnt take long to get working.the preset are really impressive. editing patches is fairly easy . i thought the manual althought 200 pages was a bit short on details.

Features: 8
polyphony is 64 and this is just right. the FX soud ok but the routing could have been more flexible. Expansion is really a big plus. i took advantage of the special offer and got an orchestral board which wasnt too bad. i d like to try the analog boards. it hasnt got a build in sequencer but i never use them on synths. it has a loop 16 parts player which i used straight away on a film score with great results.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 7
pianos are really good with a great choice of them . guitars so so .basses are plenty . great pads . a bit short on fx type of sounds.
havnt tried on board fx so far.

Reliability: 8
the unit sound solid
would use it on a gig no problem

Customer Support: 8
got the free board fairly fast .

Overall Rating: 9
good value for money. not on the same league as triton or motif but plenty of scope to explore the machine. would definitly buy it again.
been playing with it for 1 month. also own korg wave station , gem s2 . d10 akai s3000. really love the simplicity , price , expension facilities, hate manual , output routing are aa bit rigid.
did lots of research before buying it. would be great with 6 outputs.
already used it to write film score.

Submitted by jonlebon at 07/27/2002 14:14

Price Paid: US $850.00

Ease of Use: 9
I'm not sure which software version this unit has, but it's a fairly recent one, and I don't there've been too many revisions on this one yet.

I feel that this board is easy to use once you get the hang of it, since pretty much all synths have their own interfaces. There is an editing matrix which allows you to edit all of the parameters via four control knobs. Obviously, analog synths are far easier to operate than something like this, but they also tend to have a fraction of the parameters, and therefore have less variation in the sounds that they can produce.

Editing patches is really not a problem unless you are creating a sound from scratch, in which case SoundDiver(from Emagic) or Midiquest(from SoundQuest) might be a good idea.

Although presets are 99% of the time never indicative of an instrument's true potential, I have to say that there's a excellent number of usable presets: pianos(acousting & electric), piano-blends, synths, basses, strings, pads, efx, and some other instrument emulations. My only gripe is that they don't exploit more than a fraction of this board's potential(see below).

The manual, while not perfect, is one of the best I've yet to see. Nearly every feature on the synth(as well as some programming terms...) are explained for the user. It IS a large manual though, so as long as you're not intimidated by a 200+ page manual, you're in good shape. It's far better than any I've seen from Yamaha or Roland....

Features: 9
64-note polyphony with 4-element/oscilator voices, although you will encounter some-note robbing, depending on which type of filter(of which there are over 50-types!)you use for your sound. Keyboard action is semi-weighted, but the quality of it's really subjective. If you're used to cheaper keyboards, you might find it a bit stiff and heavy at first. Piano players might find it a little loose - it all depends on your background and preference, but I find this action suits me well.

2 built-in effects units, which I feel sound pretty good, but I'm not one to use a lot of effects on a synth sound - I would prefer to apply them in a mix. LOTS of expansion capabilities here, as you can add up to 3 32 MB expansions, and there's about a dozen of them available(B3, Techno, Hip-hop, Orchestral, World Beat, etc.)

Midi implementation is decent to excellent - you can easily use this as a controller for external gear as well. No sequencer, which probably wasn't a bad move, as most of us(including me...) will most likely be using sequencing software of somekind via the PC or Mac.

My only gripe in this department is the lack of a slot for a smart media card, which many newer synths are incorporating(Yamaha CS6X, Roland XV, etc.). It's not the end of the world, but it would've been nice.

This synth is the only synth I've yet to see with 6-pole filters, which can make a big difference in the sound, especially if you are going for analog/techno/trance-type sounds.

Splits and layers are possible - and no synth I've ever had lets you adjust whether or not an element just cuts off or gradually fades out as you play across it's determined range on the keyboard.

There are so many other features to this board, that I don't have enough time to properly describe them all(like the 16 simultaneously syncable arpegiators, or the morphing z-plane filters, ....). One feature I really DO like is the ability to generate random patches(another feature not found on many synths, except the SCI Prophet VS(good luck!), or the Yamaha SY22/35).

Did I mention you can also merge several patches into 1? Or hardwire the modulation sources to nearly any desination? If you don't know what this means, they do a pretty good job explaining this in the manual.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 8
I think that 95% of the sounds on this board sound extremely realistic for this price range. Realism is really subjective, and you have to bear in mind that a cello sound played on a piano keyboard isn't going to sound exactly the same; the phrasing IS going to be different. However, IF you are going to sequence sounds from this board, you will get much better results.

This board comes with a pop/composer soundset, and I think you could easily use this board for rock, pop, or jazz with few problems. This synth has the same engine as the E-MU Proteus 2500, so it's pretty recent. The pianos are decent, and definitely usuable - but what I like even better are the piano blends(piano blended with other waveforms), and I mean more than just the piano/string combo.(but those are there too, since they are pretty standard now, even if you absolutely hate them....). The "glass piano" patch is a good example of this.

Given that this is one of the few synths on the market to sport 6-pole filters, you could probably come up with some really good techno, trance and analog sounds. I haven't tried any of those yet.

Reliability: N/A
The case is entirely plastic. I've yet to take this baby outside my house, but if I did I would be sure to get myself a hard case, or a Kaces III 'porter' gig bag(excellent investment - about $130.00 USD, especially if you don't like carrying heavy items, this is the sturdiest, thickets gig bag I've come across).

The PK-6 weighs about 21 lbs.(9.5 kg), which is going to be far easier on your back than a Triton/Triniy. :)

Customer Support: N/A
I've yet to deal with them personally, but their web site has been very helpful, and you can get a free replacement manual by downloading a .pdf file.

Overall Rating: 8
Overall, I'd have to say that this is one of the best synths I've seen FOR the money. I'm not going to say it's better than a Triton, Motif, XV-5080, or anything else, because everyone's got their own tastes and opinions. However, there are an awful lot of features available in the PK-6, and it won't cost you $2000.00+ USD

I own, or have owned the following:

Yamaha DX7/9/11/100, CS6X, SY35, TG-500
Roland Alpha Juno-1, XV-3080, D-550
Korg Wavestation, DW-8000

I really like the features that this synth has, and I would not hesitate to use it in any film work that I do. You could use this in a variety of applications, and I would definitely use this board live.

Submitted by Keith at 07/05/2002 16:21

Price Paid: US $899

Ease of Use: 9
FIrst off, this is my first decent keyboard. My last one was a casio, so I might be impressed easily. Second, keys are not my primary instrument. The software is version one. The presents sound fantastic. The pianos are very good. The B-3 sounds are absolutely incredible; think Deep Purple, Boston, etc. Editing the patches are simple. Just screwing around with it is usually enough to figure things out. The manual is huge, but is ok quality. It seems hard to look up a specific topic. I can't get the arpegiator to work like it claims in the manual. I can't tell if it's a misdirection or some sort of a bug in the software.

Features: 8
64 voice poyphony, 32mb, 2-24 bit effects processors, 61 keys. Keys are "semi-weighted". They seem a little stiff, but good. I can't imagine what true weighted keys would feel like. There is plenty of resistance. Keys are pressure sensitive of course, and work good. It seems to have all the MIDI requirements, but there is no on-board sequencer. Expansion is available with emu sound modules.

Expressiveness/Sounds: 10
In my opinion, the sounds are fantastic. Very realistic. The guitars are not natural to me, but being a guitarist I'm probablly more sensative than non guitarists. The strings, piano's, organs, EP's and even horns sound good. This board seems to be designed for all-around use. But if the sound you want isn't there, either editing or adding a sound module will probablly do it for you.

Reliability: 7
I don't think I can accurately analyze this, but it seems like it's built solidly. One of the keys (C# above middle C) has a nasty knock when it's released; almost as if it's missing a piece of felt or something. Also some of the keys have some sharp edges. Maybe it's my technique, but sometimes I feel like it might actually cut mut my finger. The Casio had a softer feel in this regard.

Customer Support: 1
I emailed the company from the support section on thier website regarding the knocking key and arpegiator problem. It's been about two weeks now, and still no reply. It's sad that in a supposed "service oriented society" that service can be so incredibly lame.

Overall Rating: 8
Except for the minor problems mentioned above, I love it. It sounds great and is easy to operate. For the price it's great. To my ears it sounds as good as amything out there. Although I've been playing keys off and on for 35 years, it's still my second instrument. I've worked in a music store, I own a recording studio and come from a family where everyone plays piano. (It was required in our family). I don't think you'll be disappointed with the sounds.

Submitted by Jack Hicks at 07/01/2002 12:21