Viscount Releases Legend '70s MKII Modular Stage Pianos

Kraft Music is excited to announce the release of the Viscount Legend '70s MKII stage pianos, bringing with them a handful of upgrades and improvements over the original models while maintaining the unique modular layout and flexibility of their predecessors. To recap, Viscount's Legend '70s series of digital stage pianos was designed to evoke the style and sound of the classic electric pianos and keyboards that hit their stride in the 1970s (and beyond) while providing the sound quality, durability, connectivity, and other features found in modern stage pianos. Legend '70s utilizes a modular front panel that accepts a variety of interchangeable sound modules, enabling you to physically install, reposition, and swap them out to customize your instrument and tailor sounds and controls to your musical needs. With their glossy black finish, aluminum trim, and stained wood end caps, the Legend '70s MKII models exude a distinct vintage vibe.

The most substantial change between the first generation Legend '70s and Legend '70s MKII is a new dual-DSP main circuit that doubles the processing power of the original Legend '70s, offering expanded tonal possibilities, broader dynamic range, and more nuanced sound generation with modules like the new A.Piano 2G Acoustic Piano module. A new EPROM allows for more available presets, which is now up to 24 banks of 16 programs each for a total of 384 total presets, 128 more than the 256 accommodated by the first Legend '70s.

In addition to the increases in computing power and memory, Legend '70s MKII offers a number of other noteworthy upgrades:

• Premium wooden construction for improved feel, durability, and appearance
• Reduced mechanical noise for a quieter playing experience
• TP/110 hammer action keybed on Compact model; upgraded graduated wooden piano action on Artist-W
• Sleek new aluminum knobs for improved feel and aesthetics

Core features of the Legend '70s MKII platform include an effects section housed within the keyboard chassis itself, so the full suite of reverbs, modulation effects, amp simulations, and dynamics processing is available regardless of which sound engines are installed. There are also dual stereo main and aux outputs for simultaneously feeding a front-of-house system and a stage monitor or amp, along with a 3.5mm stereo input for backing tracks or a phone feed. Six footswitch and foot controller inputs handle sustain, program changes, continuous expression, and more independently, while USB to host carries both MIDI and audio to a connected computer and a USB flash drive port allows preset storage and recall for different gigs or configurations. The free Legend '70s Editor software provides access to deep parameters not available on the panel itself and runs on both macOS and Windows.

Legend '70s MKII Artist-W is designed for pianists seeking a true grand piano experience, featuring an 88-key wooden key action and shipping with the A.Piano 2G module installed, plus four open slots for future expansion. The 73-key Legend '70s MKII Compact is built for versatile keyboardists focusing on electric pianos, synths, and vintage keys. It includes the E. Piano module and offers three expansion slots for customizing your rig.

Getting into the individual modules, it's important to remember that each module runs its own dedicated sound generator rather than sharing processing resources with other sounds, which means polyphony and performance stay consistent no matter how many modules are installed. Depending upon their application, certain modules, like E.Piano and Clavi, make use of physical modeling, using mathematical models that calculate the behavior of each key and dynamic level individually for timbral consistency and full polyphony. Others, like the A.Piano and Sound Collection modules, use Viscount's HDS (High Definition Sampling) technology, optimized for the extended dynamic range those instruments require.

Because sound generation is handled by each module independently, Viscount has the freedom to utilize whichever technology (physical modeling, sampling, virtual analog, FM, etc.) is most appropriate to reproduce an instrument without having to worry about the inherent limitations of a given platform. And since Viscount has committed to expanding the module catalog over time, the instrument you buy today can become something considerably more capable in the future.

A.Piano 2G Acoustic Piano module

With its dual DSP capabilities on the MKII platform, the new A.Piano 2G module expands tonal possibilities while maintaining clarity and realism across the full dynamic range. Combined with updated HDS sample sets and increased memory capacity, it provides a refined acoustic piano experience that adapts to a wide range of musical styles. A wide selection of timbres is included, ranging from studio and stage grands to more character-driven options like honky-tonk and layered textures combining piano with pads or choir elements. Dedicated Dynamic and Brilliance controls allow for immediate adjustment of touch response and tonal brightness, making it easy to shape the sound during performance. This module ships pre-installed in the Legend '70s MKII Artist-W.

E.Piano Electric Piano module

The E.Piano module recreates classic electric piano sounds via physical modeling with detailed dynamic and acoustic response, including multiple Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and CP-80 electric grand variations, with advanced modeling algorithms to capture the tonal nuance and playing response of original instruments. On-board bass and treble EQ knobs are accompanied by a built-in tremolo effect with adjustable intensity and speed controls along with a real time LED rate indicator, while an amplifier simulator recreates the character of different amp types. The Legend '70s MKII Compact comes with this module installed from the factory.

Clavi module

Dedicated to faithfully reproducing the distinctive, funky sound of the Clavinet, the Clavi module uses physical modeling technology to recreate the sound of the two most famous Clavinet models, the D6 and E7. Panel-mounted buttons provide control over equalization filters and pickup selection and phase settings. Panel controls are further expanded by parameters that can be modified through the Edit Program menu and the Legend '70s Editor App.

Sound Collection module

The Sound Collection module provides a diverse range of essential sounds suitable for layered arrangements, accompaniment, and sound design — Pad, Strings, Choir, Brass, Keys, Organ, Bass, and Others — covering everything from orchestral textures to modern synth tones. Powered by High Definition Sampling technology, each sound is captured with multiple dynamic layers to accurately reproduce the tonal variation and expressive detail of the original instruments. A dual-part architecture allows two sounds to be selected and controlled independently, with each part accessible via dedicated selection buttons.

FM Synth module

Released in conjunction with Legend '70s MKII, the FM Synth module offers polyphonic FM synthesis with two independent 16-voice parts. The architecture is based on that of classic FM synthesizers: six operators each with standard parameters and 32 algorithms identical to the originals, as well as unique settings like stereo width, FM amount of modulant operators, and more. Most of the sound generation parameters can be adjusted with the module panel controls. FM Synth comes with 256 sounds (Timbres) organized into eight types/Categories (six factory, two user) comparable to the cartridges of the classic FM synths. And speaking of the classics, the FM Synth module is compatible with sound libraries from the Yamaha DX and TX series.

Synth-8 module

Synth-8 is an eight-voice polyphonic virtual analog synthesizer with two oscillators per voice and a vintage-style multimode filter with saturation, 12dB/24dB rolloff, and resonance and cutoff frequency controls. Unique features include classic waveforms with waveshaping and detuned doubling of the oscillators with "fat" modes, ring modulation, hard sync for all oscillator modes, velocity control for filters and envelopes, and an arpeggiator and 4x16 step sequencer. Most of the sound generation parameters can be adjusted with four assignable knobs by selecting the rows of the parameter table on the panel. Deeper editing is available with the the Legend '70s Editor.

External module

A utility module that allows easy access to advanced master keyboard functions, the External module allows real-time control of external MIDI devices connected to the Legend '70s MKII through the MIDI or USB [TO HOST] connectors. Like the sound generation modules, it can be activated/deactivated and assigned to keyboard parts. Without this dedicated module, all master keyboard functions are still available but are instead accessed through the Edit Program menu.