Back in 1997, this powerhouse arrived as the upgraded version of the original PC88, coming factory-equipped with the VGM expansion board that doubled polyphony to 64 voices and added a full General MIDI soundset—perfect for gigging musicians who needed reliability without the hassle of add-ons.
At its core, it's a sample-based digital synth drawing from Kurzweil's legendary ROM library, delivering 32 voices standard (expandable via VGM) with full stereo output, built-in filters, and effects like reverb, chorus, and delay. The 88 weighted keys respond beautifully to velocity and channel aftertouch, with adjustable curves, while hands-on controls include pitch and mod wheels, four sliders, three front-panel switches, and inputs for two footswitches plus four continuous pedals. Zone up to four sounds for splits or layers across four independent MIDI channels (In/Out/Thru via 5-pin DIN), tweak the integrated arpeggiator for synced patterns, and store up to 1024 patches in internal memory—making it a masterful controller for live sets or studio command.
Players loved its portable 50-pound build and intuitive interface for quick sound switches, earning it a TEC Award in 1995 for the PC88 line; some noted the base model's polyphony limit as a tweak point, but the MX upgrade fixed that for smoother performances.
