-------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Elliott 'dce@krusty.smsc.Sony.com' wrote: Actually, I think that the Procussion can do some of the same things as the XD-5. Still, the XD-5 is both truly great and truly horrible. You can make some really wild sounds with it. It's pretty easy to program from the front panel, and easy to understand (except for some of the AM parameters). I used a semi-random patch generator and got tons of wonderful sounds. The problem is that you only have storage slots for 48 internal sounds. They do this so that if you have a RAM/ROM card, you can access all the sounds and kits (16 in each bank) with program changes. The thing is, you don't really need to access the sounds via program changes, since you normally play kits. Also, the user interface for creating kits sucks (one of my first MAX projects will be a kit editor). Luckily, the XD-5 is really cheap now (I paid $675 for mine when they first came out, but I have seen them for less than half that). Still, the best possible system would be a sampler. Plain and simple. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc LoCascio 'mbl@media-lab.media.mit.edu' wrote: i have an XD-5 and i like it alot. it has some really good sounds and a good deal of processing power for a dedicated drum box. they were discontinued, and when i bought mine Sam Ash was blowing them out for something like $229. i wouldn't pay alot more than that for one. do you realize that the XD-5 is a K4r synthesizer engine with percussion sound ROMs? so it *is* a real synthesizer with real resonant filters. on the down side, it is a bit tough to program all of the parameters via the two-line LCD, the MIDI implementation is a bit limited, there are alot of really cheap drum boxes out there now with alot more ROM sounds, etc. i do mostly industrial-ish stuff and the XD-5 is in my main stage rack with my Matrix1000 and K2000R, so i *do* like it alot though there are some really impressive little boxes for drum sounds out there. my drummer uses an R8 rackmount with various ROM cards (electronic, ethnic, sound effects) and he gets some pretty twisted sounds out of that -- so, like i said before, the XD-5 is a great box at close-out prices, but i wouldn't discount the usefulness of a newer box with alot more raw percussion sounds to play with. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Miner 'miner@Panix.com' wrote: The Korg S3 is a drum synthesizer, and it splits the drum sound into 2 parts the attack and decay. You can then mix and match and create truly unique drum sounds. I can send you more information if you like. By the way, they units listed for $1200, but because Korg screwed up and announced them before they were ready, they failed on the market. As a result, Dr. Sounds in the village, is selling them brand new for $299. Let me know and I can tell you more. Korg S3 Rhythym workstation (drum machine) Features: pcm sound sources multitrack recording multi-timbre sound module 8 track sequencer drum kits smpte timing signals 2 midi outputs/thru 1 midi in digital effects multichannel output 2 ROM for addtional pcm sounds 1 RAM slots (for storing patterns/kits) voice generation korg's sonic integrity (si) system 100% digital number of simulataneous voices 12 number of touchpads 8 complete with touch sensors signal processor 16-bit processor effects 2 independent digital stereo multieffectors built-in-waveforms 75 Timbres 160(80 preset + 80 user programmable) Drum Kits 20(10 preset + 10 user-programmable) Sequencer capacity 30 songs, 100 patterns Sequencer tracks 8(4 pattern + 4 song) Resolution 1/192 Tempo 40~250 beats per minute External Synch MIDI , SMPTE Output Jacks R/L Mono, 4 Multi Out, headphones Card Slots 2 Rom 1 Ram MIDI 1 IN + 2 OUT/THRU Display Backlit LCD, 24 char x 2 lines External Dimensions 13.7(w) x 13.3(d) x 2.2(h) inches Weight 5.7 lbs. Accessories ac adaptor Optional PCM ROM cards, MCR-03 RAM cards,LB-60 multipurpose carrying case, s3 case -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Larry Peterson 'lpeterso@midi.dazixco.ingr.com' wrote: I got mine because I can start with the samples and make it sound "real", then I can tweak them beyond recognition and get some of the greatest drum sounds around. The cymbals are its weakest link and they're passable right out of the box. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Elliott 'dce@krusty.smsc.Sony.com' In article , you write: |> Isn't the XD5 just a repackaged Kawai K4r. If this is true, then shouldn't |> any K4/K4r patched editor/librarians work with it? They are different enough that this wouldn't work. The basic single patches are similar, but there are some differences because of the nature of drums. For example, they provide a way to handle hi-hat and cymbal chokes. Also, the "kit" patches are completely different from K4 multis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Someone from Quantum Audio Concepts 'quantum@babss.uucp' wrote: In article you write: > >Isn't the XD5 just a repackaged Kawai K4r. If this is true, then shouldn't >any K4/K4r patched editor/librarians work with it? That all depends on if the sys-ex implementation is the same. My guess is that there are slight differences (including the model id in the header) that would cause them to be incompatible. I think GenEdit for the Atari has an XD5 template (if not, it wouldn't be too hard to modify the K4s template to work) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ric 'five@sys6626.bison.mb.ca' wrote: Hi Peter. I've owned the XD5 for about 8 months now. To me, it's the BEST machien that I have ever had for drums. Simply, because, as you said, it's a drum synth. It's got power to spare, and the balls to go along with it. The only thing that I find missing in it, are LFOs. At least 1 would have been great. For a synth (outside of drum sounds) it's not that useable. The ADSRs have a VERY low range as compared to normal 'synths'. What they do have though in exchange, is incredible resolution, in the little amount of time that they work over. The sounds? Great. I love the samples that they've included in the machine. Good selection, EXCEPT for cymbals. But then the ONLY drum unit that I"ve ever owned/used that has had a great cymbal selection (I haven't used anywhere near every machine on the market. Over 10 though) is my new Alesis D4. Zilch for programability, but with so many cymbal samples, who cares? If you find an XD5 for a good price (I paid $500 Canadian for mine, new, about 8 - 10 months ago), and you don't mind programming sounds; buy it. You wont regret it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Peter A. Barszczewski ( * (barsz@bnr.ca) ) ~|~ spirituality through technology. Bell-Northern Research, Ltd. ( | Montreal, Canada ) From tb303+@CMU.EDU Fri Nov 18 15:57:12 1994 Date: Fri, 18 Nov 1994 15:26:49 -0500 (EST) From: Thomas C Butcher To: Electronica Mailing List Subject: Fwd: Kawai XD-5 ---------- Forwarded message begins here ---------- Thomas C Butcher wrote: > First off, welcome to the new [electronica] people! Thanks! > OK, now to business :). Anyone have a Kawai XD-5? I've been thinking > about ways to make my own drum sounds lately, and the thought of looking > for one of these boxes entered my mind. What kind of synthesis does it > have? Voices? Outputs? Can I send sysex to it in realtime? For those > who have it, how do you like it? I've got one -- it's my first and only drum machine, but I'll give you my impressions of it. I originally bought it based on recommendations from the net, particulary on the Analogue Heaven list and have been quite happy with it, especially at the price I paid ($170). It is sample based, with up to four samples being played at the same time. You can choose between a two-sample configuration for your patches or two types of four-sample configurations. It is eight note polyphonic when 4-sample patches are being used -- the manual doesn't say so, but I assume that it is 16-note polyphonic otherwise and with some intermediate level of polyphony when mixing the two types of patches. It's got eight outputs: a stereo pair and six individual outs. I don't think it'll take real time sysex, but you can control various parameters (DCA level, resonance, autobend amount) with note velocity, which can be pretty cool. Another interesting feature is its ability to do amplitude modulation between pairs of waveforms (the samples include a few more 'primitive' waveforms such as sawtooth, square and sine). You can get some intersting noises by combining this with autobend on one of the waveforms :). One unfortunate aspect of this machine is that it has only eight discrete levels of resonance on its low-pass filter. If anybody has any more questions on this device, I'd be happy to try and answer them. Roy rroberts@hmc.edu