Kurzweil K2000S

Kurzweil K2000S V3, OS v3.01J. Relatively easy of use, access of submenus via buttons. Presets change automatically by rotating the dial.

I believe it's a 64-voice synth. The keyboard feels ok, spongy but firm, with velocity and mono aftertouch. Comes with built in effects, which can be bypassed via editing. K2000 units have expansion modularity, and can be fully expanded in their features. The sampling option is what attracted me, plus its capability of loading files in diverse formats.

I found the plastic case quality very low, cheap plastic material, rough, rubbermaid-like, compared with other late 80s/early 90s units.

This is where I'm very disappointed at. The sound quality is terrible! To start, all the preset patches are sort of dull and uninspiring.

My intention to use the K2000 was for orchestration, and the string samples are simply left to be desired. There is so much aliasing in the upper ranges! It's like if they took the samples from great sources, but the D/A converters are of low quality!

I tried many things, adding other reverbs, removing effects altogether, changed to diverse monitors (regular Altec Lansing computer monitors, Yamaha HS50M's, and the beautiful Adam A7's), even running the machine through mic preamps - nothing helped.

In despair, I purchased again a Korg 01R/W, the rackmount version of the 01/W. I used to have an 01/W back in 1999, and was always fond of its sounds, but I let it go because it did not have portamento or more regular synth features.

I connected the 01R/W to the K2000 via midi. Rented a Yorkville 100KB amp for a plain and straight test (this is how I used to run the 01). The 01 came back to life, the powerful "Dawn Of Time" sounding loudly and clear with great resolution... and the K2000? Opaque, dull, flat, and with aliasing!

What is more, the 01's output is way hotter than the K2000 - at volume level 3 the 01 is already screaming, while the K2000 needs to be cranked up to 8 to par the 01. The 01 is such a powerful sounding workstation, now I realize. As last resorts I performed both a soft reset and hard reset, reloaded everything - and still no sound improvement from the K2000. This is when I gave up!

Never took it out as it was so disappointingly sounding.

My K2000S did not come with its original manual when I purchased it. I went back to the Kurzweil website and they have a manual named as "K2000" but it's in fact a K2VX rack, so no help at all.

Sweetwater has better info, but nowhere to find about the quality of the D/A converters.

The K2000S is widely mentioned as a fantastic machine, with impeccable sound. As I work on orchestrations, I thought it would be ideal to have a great synth with great sampling capability.

This was a total disillusion, and did not want to believe it, trying to put band-aids to its sound. But I gave up. The Korg 01/W is much more animated, with better resolution in its orchestrations. Just compare the 01's "Dawn Of Time" with the K2000's "3rd World Order", you can use high end monitors or just simple computer ones, or even a cheap keyboard amp. I will get instead a Roland D-50 (older and truly Made in Japan, not made in Korea) and will give the E-mu E4K a shot for sampling.

If you like the crazy synth capabilities and can live with the low sound quality, go for it. It can do a lot of crazy stuff. I don't know if the original Ray Kurzweil's K250 would have sounded this bad.

I have OS 3.54 on my K2000s. This 'board is fairly easy to use to perform most operations that you might want. Just remember, this is a fairly modern digital workstation, and not an old-skool analog-type synth, and it can be a bit of a booger to program.

You have everything you need in a workstation, as follows: Lots of great sounding presets, sampling, all the polyphony you really need, and sequencing. The SCSI port is great for hooking up a ZIP drive or a CD-ROM reader.

There are some wonderful sounding presets on this machine. The filter sweeps are wonderful; they sound like a high quality analog. The portamento is also spot-on. The keyboard is velocity- and after-touch sensitive. There are pitch and modulation wheels, as well as a modulation slider. The guitars are excellent; as are the bass sounds. A few of the sounds are mediocre, such as the "grand piano," which sits well in the background of a rock or blues mix, but sucks for neo-classical or crystal-clear new age music. Of course, as it has a sampler, so you can use a number of fine piano sample disks. With an organ sound module or keyboard, and an analog-type synth (if desired), the K2000S can be the center sound-source of a home- or project studio.

The orchestral and contemporary ROM chips, or "blocks," in Kurzweil nomenclature, are both highly-recommended options. Even the General MIDI sounds are terrific. I often compose with a GM computer sequencer. Often the GM tones are good enough for a finished recording. Also, GM sequences can be loaded directly into the Sequencer. The ROM sounds, the sampler, and the sequencer are all very well integrated together.

I would never take my K2000S out of my home studio. It is great for recording, but a terrible gigging keyboard. My K2000S has been in the shop three times. On one of these occasions the techs here in Northern Colorado, nor in southern Wyoming couldn?t fix it; it was sent to Kurzweil to figure it out. Finally, nine months later. I got my K2000 back. Kurzweil ended up replacing the motherboard, but luckily I only had to pay $100 (U.S.) for it.

I ended up buying a Roland XP-30 as a multi-timbral digital keyboard to perform live with and for the next time the Kurzweil decides to go kaput, so I have something to compose and arrange with, as well.
The keyboardist in KMFDM has a spare k2000 behind his regular one, for when it craps out on him, he can swivel it out of the way, and pull out the spare. Enough said?

I have never dealt with Kurzweil directly.

I?ve used electronic keyboards since 1978, this is simultaneously the best sounding and most unreliable piece of gear I?ve ever owed. This is a very good keyboard for recording. When looking for a modern digital 'board, such as a workstation, listen closely to the SOUND. I went to all the music stores from Fort Collins, Colorado to south Denver in the 1980s, and nothing could touch the Kurzweil K2000s aurally. The Korgs were nice, but not quite there, and the Roland JV-1000 was a joke (it was a dumb dumb synth, an Audio Canvas and a sequencer all thrown together in one box). In the following years, the Korg Trinity and Triton were the first workstations to rival the k2000?s sound. If you have the bucks and are shopping for a new keyboard, check out the Korg Tritons, the Roland Fantom, the Yamaha Motif, and the current crop of Kurzweils. I f you are looking for something used, a K2000 can be a very good studio machine, assuming it?s in great shape, and has the orchestral and contemporary options. With 64 MB of RAM, you?re ready to take over the planet. Just don?t take it out of the house or studio!

Last/final upgrade installed Oct 2003. Swell, but they are fresh out of appliques to stick on the panel to identify the new functions for the buttons. "Hmm, wonder what THIS button does NOW??"

Try to sweep a wave form with an VCF. Go ahead - try! Write me and let me know how you're doing. That's it - you keep trying!

Newer synths have tons more polyphony.

The best sound on this box is the English Horn. Need an English Horn? This is your box, dude!

Do NOT buy a K2000S for live music. It will LET YOU DOWN. DEPEND on THAT. Mine has had an intermittent problem since I got it years ago. Even after the chip upgrade I had problems. Playing at a quiet wedding, the piano patch suddenly lets out a whoop! People jumped out of their skins. Then, on 12-19-2003, in the largest concert I played this year, here comes my big solo: I press a button to get my Special Solo Patch - and the g--d--- thing crashes! Great moment - captured live on video and digital audio. Thank you, Kurzweil. In all fairness, it does work - MOST of the time - at home.

They are especially good at telling you take your question to someone else. Essentially, 'Ask someone who cares.' Really. Real good about selling you an upgrade.

I wish someone WOULD steal the d--- thing. You know, the Kurz has a lot going for it science-wise and upgrade-wise - ON PAPER. But I am going back to Roland, Emu, and Yamaha gear for live concerts - and I will never again worry about onstage failure or need a back up. So long, Kurzweil. Incidentally, I have played 6,000 gigs in the last 30 years. I remember only one other time when another musician showed up with only one keyboard and it failed and he sat out the gig. Guess what? Right, a Kurzweil. If you need a dependable instrument for live gigs, there is NO GRAY AREA. It works or it doesn't, right?

The Kurzweil is easy to use, not so easy to master. This is the keyboard equivalent of Emagic's Logic in that it gives you so many options, it takes awhile to grasp them all. But once you do. Nothing can stop you. I cannot think of one thing more I could ask for in a keyboard.

This keyboard is very expandable. I installed a hard drive in it as well as the sampling option and a fan - and I am a complete moron with that sort of stuff. I fear it. It was so easy my dead grandmother could have done it.

The sounds are the best. I have noticed a little bit of noise in critical studio applications, but the beauty of the sounds makes it well worth it.

I have had it since they came out. NO PROBLEMS - EVER.

I asked a few questions about installing newer operating systems and upgrades and the support team was great.

I have been playing for a living since 1980 on the road and in the studio. I have owned over 30 keyboards of which I still have 15 - including many of the best classics: Yamaha DX-7, Roland D-50, Oberheiem, Korg, Emu, Alesis, Elka, Eko, Moog, Arp, Sequential circuits, and nothing is close to the Kurzweil for sound, experissive features, flexability and reliable stability. Period.

I am using the latest software version, 3.87. The presets are dynamic, warm, brilliant, fat, etc. Whatever you need is there. Nice samples built in. Manual is indexed, thorough, and easy to use. Editing is too easy. The user interface is so intuitive, even a totally drunk street person can take a minute and get what's needed. Very elegent, efficient.

The keyboard feels substantially nice. Onboard sequencer is easy to use. I keep scratching my head and thinking, "isn't this kind of professional quality supposed to come with a dauntingly difficult learning curve?" Not in the K2000's case. Lots of effects.

This keyboard can fit any situation. All styles can be created. Acoustic instruments are reproduces well. The acoustic guitar, piano, horns, brass, etc. are great. The flute is freighteningly good. Synths like Prophet, Moog, Arp, sound great.

If you attach the K2000 with a SCSI unit (computer, etc.), know what you're doing first. You can get some intercommunication glitches otherwise. Otherwise, solid.

Never needed it.

I've been through the Yamaha DX's and PSR's all the way up to the Korg M1 and rack-mounted beauties. The K2000 is like the Rolls Royce you always wanted and never thought you could get. Once you've driven it, you'll never look back.

very easy, i don't even have a manual and i can do just about every thing that i want to.

it was used. i bought it in a pawn shop on a sunday for $590.00 it was tagged 2195.00. I opened it and put 16 meg worth of ram from an old computer that i had torn down and it has worked like a charm. God was with me :)

never had to call them but i am sure they are cool.

I have a k2000s with the last o.s. the 3.87. I have every option, all
of them. My k2000 sounds outstanding all type of intruments are covered
as well as most type of systhesis. If you have common sence and if you
are literate it's really easy to navigate. The manual is among the best
written and very to the point, as well as helpful. But it is alot to
absorb because of it hundreds of features, so if your a instant grati-
fication junkie go try another brainless instrument from companies like
korg and roland, Kurzweil's all class and quality.

O.K. it's 24 voice polyphony and the effects are a bit noisy, but it's
voice stealing is superb and I like most of us have a multitracker and
outboard fx. So I take this opportunity to tell all of you Kurzweil
bashers to shut the hell up! It's about the sound, something you don't
have. My k2 has the orchestra and contempary roms and I must say I have
heard almost every company's product, a k2000 destroys them all. Lets
not even try to approach a k2500 or k2600. 600 on board sounds and in-
finate expansion, cd-roms from sweetwater and others, and compatability
with Akai, Roland 760 and Ensoniq samples, I get any sound I damn well
want without editing shit, from the worlds largest selection don't get
it twisted guys. But lets say I want to edit or make sounds from
scratch. The VAST engine gives me all the weaponry I need, 60 dsp fun-
ctions in 31 algorithms with a total of 96 oscillators assignable to
any midi parameter I want, that my friends is a real engine! Forget all
that korg pcm bullshit, their need their fx without them they really
suck. The 32-track sequencer with event editing, 768ppn resolution and
so on is THE BEST IN ANY KEYBOARD WORKSTATION the most flexible and the
biggest.

THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY, PERIOD.

I've had my baby for two years and it was used when I bought it. Never
gave me no funny stuff.

I call they call back their internet support is unrivaled. Got all my
upgrades from the same center. No problem here.

64 meg full featured sampler, 32 track sequencer, 600 onboard sounds
infinite sound library, the best synth engine ever designed, industry
best sound quality with little help from a damn effect, total midi
control(I have an expression mate ribbon controller with 3 arppegiators)
Total creative power, all for the price I paid (thats all options incl-
uded). There are only two other better keyboards and they are Kurzweils
the K2500 and the K2600-more polyphony and KDFX and countless other
enhancements. If I had one of those I could make whole song from idea
to master on one keyboard. But my k2000 with my soon to be owned Tascam
788 and my Tc M-one I'll be Massive.

Relative easy to use, programming somewhat complex (comparable to the old Moog Modulars)
Software version 3.54 and supports a lot of import files for sampled sounds. It needs a good ventilation as the power suply is really getting warm.
Editing patches is easy, of course you need the have the maual in your head. By the way the maual is really good.

Polyphony is only 24, but toghether with the Rack version I have now 48 voices.
All expansions are inserted (I did it my self) and are really great, espescially the orchestral ROM-1. ROM-2 is somewhat disapointing.
It needs older version SIMMS, which are hardly to find nowadays. At present I filled mune with 16 MB sampling RAM and the usual Kurzweil P-ram for the programmes.
The sensitivity of the keys are really good, but the 61-keys are not enough.
Although it has a very good on-line seq. they could better put more synth power in it (I use Cubase)

All sounds are really great. The sampled one, the created ones and especially the orchestral sounds.
I use it for symphonic and electronic music...perfect!
The effects are satisfying, I combin them with an external effect prosessor as there are 8 outputs possible.
The interaction of the keyboard and the effectprocesor is really good.

At present, my k2000 is 5 years already, only had the display repaired once.
Gigging without a back-up is always risky.

Very good support.

I can not live without my K2000 anymore. Even if I will by=uy the latest K-version, e.g., 2600.
I use it together with my old Moog synths. They are brothers and sisters.
Before buying it, I compared the k2000 with e.g. Korg, Yamaha Ensoniq etc, but I loved the sounds, the lay out of the kurzweil instrument.
There is a big wish, a direct output of the discplay to e.g. a screen. Just making the editing more confortable.