Fantastic sounds, reliable performance, musical expressiveness, ease of use--these are the things Kurzweil believes are essential to the design of an affordable keyboard instrument. Kurzweil"s PC3LE Series combines the amazing sound quality and performance control features of the enormously successful PC3 with a new streamlined, intelligent user interface, providing an interactive experience that is bound to inspire creativity. Under the hood, the PC3LE Series features the same groundbreaking chip technology that has made the PC3 the most talked about keyboard in recent years. All of the PC3"s sounds are included--the famous Kurzweil grand piano, vintage electric pianos, Clavinets and Mellotrons, dazzling Orchestral and Strings collections, stunning VA virtual analog synths, KB3 organs, realistic basses, drums, guitars, percussion and horns, General MIDI, plus nearly 200 new programs developed specifically for the LE; over 1050 programs in all. Kurzweil has improved the method for navigating through such a massive sound set; programs in the LE can be viewed and selected with a new set of Category buttons. Select "Leads" and you"ll see a list of all the synth leads in the machine, grouped together. The same goes for the other 20 categories, everything from Synth Bass to Mallets to Guitars. Kurzweil"s V.A.S.T. Synthesis Engine The PC3LE Series uses pristine samples paired with detailed programming of literally hundreds of synth and effects parameters. Whether it"s the rosin of a bowed string instrument, the resonant harmonics of a piano"s damper pedal, or the thumps and squeaks of an electromechanical keyboard, the PC3LE provides a level of detail and realism that can only be found in a Kurzweil. Which means you can focus on the important business of making music. More Than 700 Onboard Effects The PC3LE Series comes with more than 700 onboard effects chains from which to choose, all with real-time controllers already assigned to relevant parameters. With world class reverbs that decay into complete silence, warm, classic sounding phasers, flangers and choruses, and burning, saturated distortions, you"ll have everything you need to make your music sound like a polished, finished product from the outset. The architecture provides up to 10 insert effects, which can be distributed among 10 channels, with available auxiliary effects as well. Customize Your Sound In any given program or effects chain, select relevant parameters have been pre-assigned real-time controllers for easy access. Move a controller and hit the SAVE button--no menus, no pages with endless parameters--and you get one touch sound customization. The PARAMETERS page allows you to re-assign any controller to any available parameter. You can save your custom sounds to the user bank, with over 1000 ID slots. Drum Pad Triggers The PC3LE series introduces a new set of dynamic physical controllers--8 backlit, velocity-sensitive drum pads that can be used to trigger sounds, sequences, chords and arpeggiations. Every program in the machine has a drum kit assigned to the pads, so you"ll always have access to a rhythm track when you need it. As a bonus, over 100 new drum programs are included, with acoustic brush kits, slammin" rock kits and a number of heavily effected techno/ electronic kits, in addition to the 24 existing kits from the PC3. Classic Kurzweil Features Complimenting the LE"s new features are a few old familiar Kurzweil favorites. User memory provides over 1000 ID slots each for your own Quick Access banks, Setups, and Songs. Setup Mode enables the LE to act as a powerful MIDI controller as well as providing 16 simultaneous, independent, fully programmable arpeggiators, with factory and user-programmable patterns. A Quick Access Mode allows you to create custom banks of 10 sounds that can be accessed by a single button press. And Song Mode delivers a full-featured 16 track sequencer with all of the powerful editing features that you"d find in a high end workstation--event editing, swing, controller scaling, input quantize, input filter, and chasing controls. RIFFs. Trigger MIDI phrases, beats, or even full multi-track songs via any built-in physical controller. Easy Updates. Easy O/S Updates, installed via direct-USB connection to a computer and/or USB thumb-drive. Easy Audition. Just hit the front panel "play" button and get a quick musical preview of the current program. World Class String. Section Articulations abound, every nuance captured, with samples of full and divisi sections. K.urzweil V.irtual A.nalog. The VA-1 Virtual Analog Synthesizer, synthesis engine built right into the V.A.S.T. signal path. Drum Pad Triggers. Trigger notes, chords, RIFFs and arpeggiations with 8 backlit, velocity-sensitive drum pads. Which Kurzweil PCE3LE Performance Controller is Right for You? PCE3LE6 PCE3LE7 PCE3LE8 Keyboard 61-note semi-weighted action with velocity and aftertouch sensitive keys. (Fatar TP8) 76-note semi-weighted action with velocity and aftertouch sensitive keys. (Fatar TP8) 88-note fully-weighted hammer-action with velocity and aftertouch sensitive keys. (Fatar TP40L) Display 240 x 64 backlit LED w/ dedicated back panel contrast control 240 x 64 backlit LED w/ dedicated back panel contrast control 240 x 64 backlit LED w/ dedicated back panel contrast control Polyphony 64 Voice Polyphony, dynamically allocated, lightning fast performance 64 Voice Polyphony, dynamically allocated, lightning fast performance 64 Voice Polyphony, dynamically allocated, lightning fast performance Multitimbral 16 parts (one per MIDI channel) 16 parts (one per MIDI channel) 16 parts (one per MIDI channel) Architecture Full PC3 Synth Engine and V.A.S.T. Editing Full PC3 Synth Engine and V.A.S.T. Editing Full PC3 Synth Engine and V.A.S.T. Editing Dimensions 5" H x 14.5"D x 41.5" L 31 pounds 5" H x 14.5"D x 49.9" L 37.5 pounds 5" H x 14.5"D x 56.48" L 54.15 pounds