All topics involving amplification and other accessories you are using with your Nord, and how all those things work together.

New Roland KC amps

Postby danrv » 18 Oct 2017, 19:58

I notice that Roland have refreshed their KC series amp range.
https://www.roland.com/us/categories/am ... mplifiers/

I always liked my KC350 as it was a one box stereo multi keyboard mixing solution. Easy to set up, stereo line out to PA, monitor in mono.
The info says improved sound and also good to see an IEC socket. I always found the attached cable
a bit of a hassle on my KC350.
Still a fair weight though and wouldn't go back to one now I have my DXR10's.
Last edited by danrv on 18 Oct 2017, 20:02, edited 2 times in total.
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New Roland KC amps


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Re: New Roland KC amps

Postby onthecorner » 25 Nov 2017, 01:26

I've had a KC-350 for almost a decade. I will say this, the thing has been a real workhorse. Hundreds of gigs and tens of thousands of miles in the back of a van or the trunk of my car and there was never an issue with it. The ground plug did fall out a few years ago and now some of the wires are exposed, but the thing works as well as it did on day one ...

...pity about the sound, though. And the awkward shape, and the weight. I've found it's frequently not quite loud enough for certain rooms/bands. Somehow makes just about every sound on the Nord dull and lifeless. I just switched to the spacestation v3 and I don't see myself every going back to Roland.
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Re: New Roland KC amps

Postby danrv » 25 Nov 2017, 13:31

onthecorner wrote:And the awkward shape, and the weight. I've found it's frequently not quite loud enough for certain rooms/bands. Somehow makes just about every sound on the Nord dull and lifeless. I just switched to the spacestation v3 and I don't see myself every going back to Roland.


Yes, agree about the shape and weight. Easier to carry with speaker facing inward.
Would like to try a Spacestation but don't know of anywhere that has them in the UK. Given the price though I'd imagine it's pretty good.
The Yammie's are great for everything but sometimes I'd like to just use one amp for quick, simple setup. The Nord uprights I think sound best through a single DXR10 so that's what I use for jazz and cocktail piano. Would be interesting to compare this with pianos through a Spacestation.
Last edited by danrv on 26 Nov 2017, 15:18, edited 2 times in total.
Nord Stage 2 HA76, Korg Triton Extreme 61, Roland XP80, Yamaha P140, Yamaha PSR2000 , 2 x Yamaha DXR10, Roland KC150, Toa D3 line mixer, Quiklok 2 tier X stand.
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Re: New Roland KC amps

Postby someclevername » 07 Feb 2018, 11:08

onthecorner wrote:Somehow makes just about every sound on the Nord dull and lifeless.


I think anything, even Roland keyboards, sound bad through them. There's a rehearsal room where there's a Roland RD700 and a KC350 which I occasionally play in. I usually roll the bass off and boost the treble to get rid of the dull muddiness.

In my own rig I use a Yamaha StagePas 300, to me it feels so much nicer to play through.
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Re: New Roland KC amps

Postby tkeys08 » 15 Mar 2018, 05:43

I've used KC 500 / 550 for many years, with Yamaha CP and Roland RD stage pianos. Great sound, great clarity, full spectrum. Roll off a little bass, boost the treble a little and it's all sweet.The 350 has a 12" speaker and different amp specs, sounds more in the mid range / boxier to my ear.

Here comes the heresy: I'm not quite as thrilled with the acoustic pianos on my NS2, even through the KC-550. The sampling is not as detailed as Yamaha or Roland sampling. I recently put it through a KC-350 at a session and had to go to the EP, the acoustics just sounded so wrong. More recently, I wiped all the acoustic samples off the NS2 and replaced them with one of the large (200MB) samples from the NS3 library. Ran that through a 550 this week and it sounded decent. Still not up to what I hear from a YCP, but the bandmates weren't complaining.
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Re: New Roland KC amps

Postby harmonizer » 15 Mar 2018, 19:53

I have had the same (positive) experience as related above, with my KC-150 being a workhorse.
But the harshness of the sound in my KC-150 centered on the G which is 1.5 octaves above middle C is painful,
and I believe it is in the electronics, because I also hear it in recordings that take signal from the line out on the KC-150.
This is what caused me to get my Electrovoice zx-a1.
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