KAWAI SX-210 - Analog Synthesizer Review, Sounds & Demo

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"Kawai SX-210 analog synthesizer review, sounds and demo. This Kawai SX210 synth review covers various features of the Kawai SX-210, a demo of Kawai SX210 sounds and patches, and concludes with my final thoughts including pros and cons of this vintage 1983 polysynth.

The Kawai SX-210 is an 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer manufactured in the early 80s, and competed with the Roland Juno 106 and Korg Polysix. It has 1 analog DCO with saw, square (adjustable pulse width), PWM and sub-oscillator waveshapes. The VCF and VCA are both analog (VCF uses SSM filters) and have adjustable ADSR envelopes, and there is a high-pass filter onboard as well.

The Kawai SX-210 has 1 LFO with adjustable delay and speed, and uses sawtooth, square and sine waveshapes, all of which can be reversed. The LFO can modulate the DCO, VCF and VCA all simultaneously, as well as be used for envelope triggering of VCF/VCA.

The Kawai SX210 also has a 4-voice mode using 2 DCO per voice, a monophonic unison lead mode, and chord memory mode that allows you to stack oscillators for big fat sounds. The built-in Ensemble effects can help to widen the stereo image and is great for pads and strings.

Additional features on the Kawai SX-210 include adjustable pitch bender w/ adjustable bender range, key hold, portamento and glissando, 32 patch memory locations, large LED display, and dial wheel for editing.

Overall the Kawai SX-210 is a somewhat obscure synth with its own distinct features and sound character. The layout is easy to understand and uses buttons to select functions and a dial wheel to adjust their parameters. There were only a few thousand Kawai SX210 manufactured so it is not as common as other synths, but its certainly an interesting vintage synth with some cool features for the time. Keep your eyes peeled for the Kawai SX-210 if it interests you!

TIMECODES:
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00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Overview
02:00 - Oscillator
04:30 - Ensemble FX
05:17 - Pitch Mod
05:49 - LFO Shapes
06:47 - Pitch Mod LFO
07:29 - Noise
07:40 - Low-pass Filter
09:00 - VCF Envelope
09:55 - VCA LFO
11:25 - High-pass Filter
12:03 - VCA Envelope
12:44 - Voice Modes
13:46 - Chord Memory
14:22 - Portamento
14:46 - Glissando
15:02 - LFO Env Looping
15:47 - Pitch Bender
16:10 - Master Tuning
16:32 - Patch Memory

17:05 - Sounds & Patches Demo

23:49 - Final Thoughts
25:09 - Pros
27:37 - Cons
31:02 - Conclusion"