Kurzweil KSP8

You have to read the manual. This is actually a good thing, 'cause otherwise you'd never guess the things this unit can do. Once you have played with it a bit, it is very easy to get around and tweak, even if you are running four separate effects at a time as I do.

I really use only spaces, and these are very good, especially the smaller spaces (as compared to the other units I have used).

My experience with Kurz has been quite good. So far, neither of the units that I own personally has had a problem.

At my day job I deal with them quite a bit, and they are always very cordial and helpful.

I use the unit for live reinforcement, and am very happy with the usability and the performance. Why do I give it only an 8? 'Cause that's about as good as anything gets :-)

At first glance it seems like something only for real tech geeks. But if you read the manual it's not bad (other than a lack of description of where in the signal chain the Groups are - but if you start with a factory Studio, it's pretty easy. And once you play with it a bit, you may decide that even for live use, the remote is not really needed. It's quite easy to make changes on the fly.

The reverbs are quite good, especially the small faces. I'm not that thrilled with most of the effects, but they are better than most things I've heard.

Certainly. My experience with Kurz is that their electronics are quite reliable.

Sometimes it takes a day or two to get a call back, but they are very cordial and helpful.

This is a tough one. There's a learning curve, but it's worth it. It's more expensive than most units, but it can do four stereo effects (or eight mono, or somewhere in between). Is it as good as a pair of PCM91 or M3000/R4000? I dunno. Is it able to give you more processing? Yes. For me it was the right choice.

To begin, this review is really just a first impression, since I only got the unit last week; I'll check back when I know it better. But it's such an exciting piece I had to jump in and give any folks who might buy such a device a heads up: This thing is HOT!!

You definitely have to read the manual, which I've done--several times!--and there are still confusing issues, mostly because I haven't tried all of the millions of options. Getting to the audition stage is quite easy...altho I did have to buy a SmartMedia card and reader, then wait for a tech-support callback (only took 2 hours) to get the OS upgraded so the remote could see the unit. I'm giving it a 7, which is probably generous, because as I get the hang of it, it's not too bad, but it is VERY deep, with capacities that go far beyond most other processors (the thing's a simple 8-track digital mixer, for cryin' out loud!). Also, there's a very responsive and quite helpful mailing list at Yahoo groups, that's monitored by Kurzweil insiders.
Still, I think there are a few needlessly complex and unintuitive areas of the interface (like, even tho there's a big, beautiful display, there are virtually no graphics; it's all just lists and data entry fields; I wish more companies would follow tc's lead and spend some design time on their user interfaces---the G-Force and FireworX are simply brilliant in that respect), and I still have many unanswered questions after a week of serious reading and trying it out. The manual (and the huge algorithm reference) is very well written, and offers a few user tips, but like most manuals, could use a lot more explanations and examples rather than just feature lists.
A perfect example is the FUNs. These are mathematical FUNctions that will transform the action of any modulators, in endless and complex ways. It's cool that they are there, but where's the tutorial on how to use them to do basic things that lesser boxes just give you simple, direct controls to do, like scaling a footpedal when it's controlling multiple parameters. Instead, the manual just tells us the best way to understand them is to "use them." Sorry for the rant. I realize that I'm still a total neophite with the KSP, and hopefully my opinion will be different in a few months, but my experience with complex processors (see below) has often very frustratingly been that, while they clearly CAN be made musician-friendly (witness tc), you'll get the most from them if you're an engineer or mathematician or computer programmer. But the bottom line so far is that I'm more excited by the options than daunted by the learning curve. Go the website (www.ksp8.com), download the manuals, and see for yourself.

In a word: WOW!!
I'm a rack effects junkie, when I can manage it, and have had lots of units in this price range in my at-home guitar studio where the KSP8 now sits, including a tc G-Force and FireworX, Lexicon MPX1, G2, and PCM-80, Eventide GTR4000 and Eclipse, and Ensoniq DP-Pro and DP-4. Even compared to these, I have to say the KSP8 is simply the most awesome sonic device I've heard. Obviously these other pieces are damn fine--no problems with them sonically, for the most part; I'm simply reporting my subjective experience of being knocked out by the "gloss," clarity, and headroom this thing has. It just seems noticeably better to me. Maybe it's the analog converters they brag about in the ads; whatever--I notice the difference!
It's hard to single out any effects yet; everything sounds marvelous, but the reverbs and delays are really fine, with incredible variety, and this is where I've so far spent the most time. I like to create repeating rhythms with multi-taps, and all the KSP various multi's feed back via a loop tap, rather that with individual feedback paths, so rhythms are easy to do. Maximum delay time in most algorithms is 2.5 sec, but at least one multi-unit alg. offers around 20 secs of loop time, and tho I haven't tried it, I can't see why you couldn't run several of these in series or parallel. The distortions are very flexible, ranging from smooth tube-amp/cabinet simulations to really raw shapers and bit quantizers. The amp sims are not quite Pod-quality, based on the little tweeking I've done, but the range is impressive; definitely usable with good tones coming in. A few of the preset chains prove that you can do synth-like transformations of a guitar signal (check out the chain Scorched Earth, for instance), and there are several sound-producing oscillators---such as an add-noise parameter in the flanger for getting more audible results with clean source material. Before the processing blocks, there's a rich batch of input eqs, filters, noise sources and shapers that don't use processing units; you can even use MIDI note messages to pitch a sine wave source and patch a resonant filter after it, creating a simple mono-synth before you even get to the monster fx rack. The many filters include some that are very synth-like. There's no pitch shifting or "harmonizing" per se--seems to be the only thing missing--but there's a spectral "pitcher" effect that does something that sounds fresher and almost more interesting to me using comb filters. Ring modulations are here aplenty. I'm about half-way through the Algorithm Reference, and suffice it to say that there's no scrimping on adjustable parameters, and PLENTY of complexity and originality.
I'm using it via the analog i/o with mixer sends, and feeding it with various guitar modelers (VG-8, PodXT, etc...), in parallel with other processors and loopers. Haven't yet sent it any vocals, synths or percussion...there're a lot of audio demos of that kind of thing on the KSP8 website.

Too new to comment. The buttons seem a little wobbly, but the knob is very solid; overall, it's confidence-inspiring for studio use.

So far it's been fine. Only reason I'm not going for 10 here is that I've had to wait a few hours for call-backs, or overnight for an e-mail response in the mailing list.

I play and record at home, doing guitar-based looping and free-improv in many styles and no-styles, and use a LOT of effects. The Roland VG-8 is my main squeeze gear-wise, and I use synth and standard guitar sounds about equally. Sound design is at the heart of my musical life, and the KSP8 is, in my world, the box of the hour---and a bargain, to boot.