Product: Kurzweil 1000AX+
Price Paid: 300 (pounds sterling) used
Submitted
11/17/2002
at
03:13am
by
david etheridge
Email: d dot etheridge1<at>ntlworld dot com
Ease of Use
:
10
I bought my AX plus in 2001. I have a total of seven 1000 modules and love them to death.
The sounds are classy in the extreme -it's still a mystery to me why Emu's Proteus series have sold so well when the Kurz 1000 series simply blows them away for quality and class.
Great strings, brass and sax sounds, here in combination on some patches.
Editing will be a nightmare without a manual, so make sure you have one when buying secondhand.
Also essentail is an editing program -I still use Atari Objectmover, which is available FREE from Kurzweil's ftp site (so is a Mac version for that matter), and there are lots of banks for all the 1000 series available there.
Features
:
10
20 note ployphony -groundbraking for the time, and still very respectable today. If you need more polyphony, you can chain link up to 12 together -240 voice poly!!!!
Wonderful range of FX and programming capabilities; you'ld be amazed at some of the wierder sounds that start out as (say) a piano sound. The end up sounding completely different.
Good range of preset FX -chorus, flanging, phasing, tremolo, eyc.
Upgrades available SXA and HXA boards offering classical woodwind and percussion, and alto, sporano, baritone saxes, synth pads and leads. With v.5 software, 1000 patches availabel over MIDI.
Still haven't found those upgrades for my unit, but would love to have them.
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
9
Brilliant sounds! Every time I get my hands on a newer keyboard for magazine reviews in the U.K. I compare them to my Kurzweils.
They still stand up very well over a decade later.
Works for film music, jazz, classical, new age, and light classical stuff. Good backing pads on most styles apart from dance (obviously).
Great onboard FX. Very rersponsive, responding to a wide variety of controllers -but you'll need the manual to tell you what controls what on each sound.
Reliability
:
9
Very few problems since I got my first 1000 back in 1988. A couple of modules had minor problems when staring up. Repaired very easily and quickly by a synth service compnay in the U.K.
The backlights eventually get dimmer and fail. I must get mione repaired!
Otherwise, utterly reliable.
Customer Support
:
6
No problems getting advice and reapirs, but currently no chance of getting upgrades as Kurzweil and Sweetwater sound have stopped producing the chips.
Overall Rating
:
10
In would DEFINITELY buy one again. Very good value, probably undervalued beacuse few people know about this best kept secret.
If you find one, buy it! If you hate it, I might buy it from you!
I Use a Yamha DX5, Rolanmd MKS70, 7 Kurzweil 1000 modules, an OSCar and some drum machines.
I love the Kurz modules, they'\re the basis of my studio and my sound.
