Kawai kicked off their digital drum machine era in 1987 with this beauty, packing 24 professional-grade 12-bit PCM samples at 32kHz into a compact 4kg chassis that feels solid yet portable for studio or live setups.
Touch-sensitive velocity pads let you play with real dynamics, adjustable per instrument alongside tuning over 16 semitones, panning, and output levels for crafting unique kits on the fly—think tuned claves riffing in the demo or routing bass drums to any of the eight individual outs plus stereo pair. The sequencer shines with 100 patterns (up to 99 beats per bar), 100 songs, 10 chains, and 3500-note capacity, supporting real-time recording with error correction, step input, overdubs, and tempo changes; a backlit 16x2 LCD keeps things clear, while MIDI In/Out, DIN sync, clock ports, and footswitches handle integration effortlessly. An RC-16 cartridge slot backs up your work, and those pads respond from subtle taps to full smacks.
Back in the day, players praised its fresh sounds like china bells, agogos, and timbales—crisp and ready to track direct—plus innovative per-note tuning and MIDI assignments that stood out against contemporaries. A few noted the LCD's small size limited views, but the editing tools and repeat/jump sequencing made it a workflow winner that's still sought after by vintage enthusiasts.
