Kurzweil K2000

I bought this this thing, and when i played it, i first noticed the "clak" of the keys, hmm. . .. . .

i'm not the sure of the polyphony, but it didn't have much preset sounds (expandable)

Harpsichord sucks, guitar is ok, through headphones, piano was alright but sounded a little "chimey"

no, i can't, i would't use it in a gig at ALL

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I got rid of tis thing 3 days after purchase, seriously! i have been playing for 2 years, 5 months and i am seriously considering the mark 12, if you're stupid, you'll LOve this, but if you can tell pokemon is a rip-off, then you'll want something else. I did!

I have a K2000 VP v 3.54
Preset sounds are quite good ( especially the Piano... excellent ). Most of musical styles are represented ( Techno, acoustic sounds, hybrid synthesis, FAT analogue, etc... ) Patch editing is quite complex, but so powerful ! I don't use any editor ( I have one ! ) because I prefer working on the machine itself ! Manual is clear.

Polyphony is 24 layers. A patch is up to 3 layers, each of them having its own synthesis algorythm. The keyboard action is quite good. FX are made by Digitech. Good, expressive but noisy !
Expansions are great ! But expensive... K2000 has 8MO ROM, but 2 boards ( Classical and Contemporary ) are available ( 8MO each ). You can also add sample RAM ( up to 64 MO ) and a sampling board with analogue and digital I/O. If yo like progamming, P-RAM option is necessary ( to have more system memory used to save edited patches ).
MIDI capabilities and sequencer are good ( 32 tracks ).

The sound ? Fantastic ! They're realistic, they have dynamic, expression, etc.... It's a f.....g good synth !

I have some synths ( analogue, samplers, etc... ) but no doubt : my K2000 is the heart of my home studio ! I've had only one problem... but it was due to an electric shock during a live act ( an asshole had plugged it on 380 volt.... ! ! )

Ouups ! Kurzweil France are very friendly but... very slow ! 2 months to fix my problem...

Now I have heard the K2000 sounds, I MUST have them ! Of course, i prefer the K2500, but... my bank prefer the K2000 ;o)
I have it since one year and I still discover news functions, sound capabilities, etc... When I mix a tune with my other machines ( some Juno, Oberheim, Kawai, Korg etc... ), there's no problem... The sounds of Kurzweil are my main source of inspiration...
You like synthesis ? BUY IT NOW !

K2000/R?? Yes in deed! This effect box of Kurzweil K2000/R synth have a 256+ inside. Digitech have licensed the whole PCB and all to Kurzweil. Kurzweil have just remowed the front panel otherwise the effects unit is really a Digithech 256+ so if you read the usercoments on the 256+ you then now how the K2000 effect section sounds and what the performance is.

Delay some hars but OK same with the rewerb ,flanger/chorus a litle noisy. The thing that you should avoid or at least to forget is the digital EQ section, its the wors thing of shit i ever have come across. It's noisy as hell an unbelivable to, its huming when you increase the gain from any chosen EQ band,it's actually adding hum! This apply to the 256+ of Digithech to..
Now if you avoid using this EQ section this DSP256+ are just fine to use for adding som space in a patch of the K2000/R. It performs good with percussion and most string patches...

Since its hosted inside the K2000/R synth its no more reliable then it would in a separate box.

Kurtzweil are not good on support, partickulary not on suporting new OS uppgrades to the K2000/R machine.

No,the K20000 machine are to expensive, but the 256+ effekts processor from Digithech are fine as a basic low cost effects unit for most applications.

The presets are good if you're into acoustic sounds; the awesome techno and industrial noises this beast is capable of are nowhere in sight. Patch editors are a bit thin on the ground. The manual is very extensive and quite good.

There are 24 voices. The keyboard action is adequate. The built in effects are totally crap. Expansion capabilities are very good, but the options are very expensive. Sound blocks with techno/modern sounds would have been nice. The onboard sequencer is good. It's flexibility is mainly in its excellent algorythms (filter, parametric eq's, distortion, waveshaping, physical analog modeling, etc.). Where it falls down is in ease of use: it's so laborious that I'm selling mine.

It wipes the ass of nearly any other synth, if you can be bothered.

I had the diskdrive fixed four times. Reliability sucks! I wouldn't consider wiping the dust off it for fear of damaging it.

The company which imports these things in the Netherlands is as crappy as the fuck-all-attitude-shop (Feedback, Rotterdam --> AVOID IT!) I bought it from.

Won't buy another Kurzweil keyboard again until they: a. put it in a nicer box with nicer display b. work on reliability c. get out of the rock-oriented 80's into dance-dominated 90's I love its total kick-ass potential.

The presets sound very crappy as compared to my Korg Wavestation; if i heard it in a shop without knowing it's reputation, i wouldn't have bought it for a quarter of it's normal street price. Editing is not too hard considering the unbelievable depth of this instrument. The manual is very good and inspirational.

Polyphony 24 voices. The keyboard action is very mushy - not so good. The build-in fx suck BIG time: no character, muddy, noisy. Overly complex to program as well considering the small chance of a decent result - it don't use the fx at all, since it sounds better without them. Expansion capabilities are totally excellent: RAM, build-in SCSI for HD's, CD-ROM's etc. The onboard sequencer is probable quite good (version 3 and up only!!)

I disagree with the other review - out of the box, this is useless to create realistic instruments (except the hi- and low-ends of the piano which sound very dreamy - check out Robert Miles' "Children"); i bought this box for one thing and one things only: industrial sound; guys like Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) are really into this; it beats any analog synth i ever had, and is completely capable of nailing you against a wall within five minutes of you starting to program it; control and controllers are unbelievable: it has every modulation routing you can think of, and beats most modular synths straight; don't buy it if you expect it to produce pristine and spacy pads (buy a Korg Wavestation A/D instead) or full-on orchestras (buy an Akai S-2000); buy it if you're into industrial music or crunchy techno

The diskdrive is EXTREMELY fragile; when i bought mine (used model from a store), i had it returned 4 times!!; when transporting this, always put a disk into the drive before you even begin about touching it

I would buy a K2500 now. I love the horrific noise and fat analog sounds it produces. I chose it because there's no other synth out there which is in the same ballpark even, soundwise. I wish it had a half-decent fx unit (the build in one sux!); i wish the 8MB of ROM samples weren't complete rubbish (except for the piano and anolog waves). It's my main axe now, but i do miss the pristine and truly beautiful pads of my Korg Wavestation, and that machines incredible build in fx.

world control
NEW TB-303 Sound Set for the K2000
log on to http://www.u-net.com/~wcontrol
Sites Last update 5/5/96
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Presets aren't that great considering the quality of the instrument. Editing patches is not difficult compared to other modern synths.

Polyphony is only 24 voices, but good sounds do not require much layering. Expansion options include two 8 MB ROM cards: orchestral and contemporary. Contemporary ROM is highly recommended.

All sounds are very realistic. Works well for music that requires warm, non-electronic sounds. Onboard effects are satisfactory. An external processor is helpful.

I use Sweetwater Sound for support; they're excellent. I've upgraded RAM, hard drive, ROM -- all myself. Upgrades are slightly more difficult to complete than computer upgrades.

I'd buy it again, well, I'd probably buy a K2500 instead, but who wouldn't? It's a synth that won't lose its appeal too rapidly. A permanent staple.