MusicRadar

Kurzweil hasn't attempted to do anything new with the PC361's design.

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• Review

Kurzweil is highly regarded in the synth and sampler world. Known for its deep and powerful synth engines and Variable Architecture Synthesis Technology (VAST) it's been producing synths since the early 1980s and has always been at the forefront of sound design technology.

Based on the latest version of VAST, the PC361 is a keyboard that follows the now pretty standard workstation template – coupling sample-based synthesis with virtual analogue synthesis, powerful FX and a sequencer (but no sampling).

Overview

Straight out of the box, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd just purchased a keyboard from the 1990s – the PC361 looks fairly old-fashioned among today's breed of workstations and so, on-stage, it's not really going to turn any heads.

Though this is the most 'portable' version of the PC3X range, (with a 61-note synth action keybed) it's still a heavy beast and once in a case it's even heavier.

The front panel is neatly laid out, though there's still a lot of info to take in. Functionality of the buttons/sliders changes depending on the selected mode, so we'd recommend reading the telephone directory-like manual to familiarise yourself with all the various functions before you start.

In fact, more than for most synths, the manual is essential reading – there's just so much functionality crammed in.

Which brings us onto another point – the display. Compared to some competing workstations, the screen is a nightmare. It's small, hard on the eyes (as there's no colour to highlight different functions) and there's just too much crammed into the space for our liking. It makes negotiating the 'board frustrating, particularly as so much menu diving is required to get the best from this synth. We'd highly recommend using the Soundtower computer editing software for any serious editing tasks.

Thankfully, the keyboard itself is very playable, with a fast and precise yet soft feel. It's easy to play every type of sound from this keybed, though you could of course marry the PC361 with a weighted controller (via MIDI) for getting the best out of the piano-type sounds.

In detail

To the left of the PC361 is a set of nine sliders that operate according to the mode selected.

In program mode, the sliders can affect parameters including filter cutoff/resonance, LFO rate, layer volume, envelope parameters and FX control. This is handy for making quick changes to sounds while performing, though it would be great if the screen flashed up with the function you were editing when a slider was moved, as it's easy to forget what function each slider is assigned to. The sliders transmit MIDI CCs too.