Vintage Synth Explorer

Kawai • K3

The K3 uses the same technologies as the popular K1. Although it was among the first from Kawai, it is surpassed by the K1 and K5. The K3 is a wavetable synthesizer. It has 32 waveforms, some of which are samples of acoustic instruments like piano and percussion as well as some unique waveforms. By combining two of these waveforms you can create unique new sounds or add a twist to a traditional sound. Since there are only 32 of these waveforms, the K3 also features a programmable digital waveform where you can tweak the harmonic content of a waveform allowing for added flexibility and range of sounds.

What's really neat about the K3 is that (unlike the K1) it has analog filters and envelopes! So although the sound may be digital at first, it sure does get warmed going through the filter. The low pass resonant filter even has its own envelope generator. There's also a hi pass filter and a highly flexible LFO. The K3 is an interesting synth, nicely bridging the gap between the analog and digital domain of vintage synthesizers. The K3M is a rackmount module version of the K3. The K3 has been used by Jan Hammer and Patrick O'Hearn.

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bill

Posted 293 days ago

underated synth by a lot of people. hard to really describe can sound very analog and you can get a amazing bass sound from it. it can also tread somewhere into dx sounding patches due to the digital waveforms.
analog envelops and analog filter. nice. i somewhat suspect its very simple yet nice chorus and delay effect are based on bucket brigade technology and not dsp. i could be wrong but they sound very nice.
keyboard is not the best feeling action but it is pretty good.
saying this keyboard is surpased by the k1 is just out to lunch. you either havent heard one or havent sat down and programed it at length. the k1 is a completely different animal and well no where near as fun to program.
this synth has its issues without a doubt. no mod wheel no midi through.
ok so for the prices they go for still it is one of the best bargains out there.
its not as cool as some but way cooler than most.

CaptPicard

Posted 300 days ago

I like this synth. I've had one second hand for over a year now . It's easy. ADSR envelopes - compared with more complex structures on the D50 and ESQ1. A warm analog filter. The chorus is great as well. It's build like a brick proverbial, the only thing to watch is the JX8P style membrane buttons which wear out. Disadvantages? Firstly - no midi through on the keyboard. The waveshapes are 8 bit samples and have a lot of digital noise - so its lucky that the thing has a great filter! You need it to filter out the 8 bit noise at the high end. Last disadvantage is that the modulation routings aren't great. One envelope each for VCA and filter and assignable LFO. Still its simplicity could be an advantage. This is not a DX7 or D50 alternative and can't do acoustic emulations. However, it does produce warm character-filled sounds that are a nice blend of digital and analog. It's a good alternative to a Roland JX8P.

Frayo

Posted 422 days ago

Yet another underrated Kawai product. This is a fun wavetable module with real analog filters. You can do a few sounds on here that are reminiscent of it's much bigger blue relative. With some programming, you can come up with some really fat sounds. The editable wavetable helps, even though I personally find hard to program. The K3M is what I own, and it's perfect because while the machine is cool, it's not worth wasting a full keyboard of space on just the K3 (I say this because I have more rig than apartment now). The K3M can be had for less than $100. Adding two of the same waveforms will fatten up that single waveform. If you use the filter envelope and put the machine in unison mode, you have a very fat lead that will impress, especially when you tell them how much you paid for it.

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