Kurzweil K2vxS

I have the 3.7 OS. ...as far as 'ease of use', it's pretty easy to use the basic functions of this keyboard...pretty intuitive. But, once you get into the nitty gritty of programming it will be a little more cumbersome due to the many pages you have to flip through and the limited amount of 'physical' controllers to manipulate or page through each parameter. But it's still pretty easy to navigate....as far as it being kind of cumbersome to program, I don't think there's any way to get around it because you can do so much with this thing...you need patience in this regard. You need patience when programing any keyboard i guess...hopefully your inspiration won't run out before your patience ;o)

As far as it being a 'synth' based keyboard action, I love it...it feels so nice. Better than average for sure. There's a certain feel you get from it which makes you think "this keyboard was built properly"...

The polyphony on this thing is 24-voice. You may or may not have problem with this depending on what you're producing.

Very extensive Midi capabilities....of course touch sensitive, after touch.etc etc..

you can expand the sampler up to 64 mB...this is awesome, considering the fact that you can manipulate those samples through the kurz's VAST system...and so since there's a sampler on board you don't have to stick with just the on board sounds.

The sequence is very very good...and pretty easy to use. But i'm eventually in any case going to switch to computer based sequencing because I hear it's more convenient. But the sequencer on this keyboard is very powerful..and you can make corrections down to 700 something pqs..

there is onboard effects which i haven't figured out to use yet..kind of confusing, and they are ok...but in the future i would rather run the thing through an external processor..

The sounds are anywhere from good to excellent. The strings especially are right off the bat incredible. the pianos on this board I personally hate. I think the pianos are too 'mid rangey'..they sound compressed and not full. The guitars are really nice, same with leads. sax's are really nice. ..most of the sounds are really good..the samples are good. But the real power of this thing is not in the sound itself, but in the fact that you can manipulate them in all kinds of way and make them really musical. If you don't want to mess around with 'programming'...then this may or may not be your board. Perhaps you may get more instant gratification with Korg or Roland.

I've had no problems with this so far, but the plastic casing on the keyboard doesn't look or feel very sturdy....I've seen stronger keyboards .... If I gigged and did a tour, regardless of what i was taking, I would bring back up. Because you never know what will happen... But i've had no problems with this keyboard so far. I'm giving it a 8 because I don't like the outter shell quality.

Never had to deal with Kurzweil so far...

There's plenty plenty resources for this and other models of kurz keyboards online (kurzweil community)...and plenty of forums and mail-lists going on...so you won't have to worry about support in that regard.

If my K2vxS was lost or stolen...I would miss it alot (sniff sniff). ...i guess as a musician you do build an attachment to your gear to an extent. Would I buy this board again? Ya I would....if I could find one in good condition....but on the other hand, I really wish I had something with at least 76 keys or more...so that's another consideration to take into account. Conclusion of the matter: This is a great keyboard which will produce excellent mind boggling music...but it demands time and patience to learn the whole VAST architecture.

3.54

I have maxed out the sampling RAM with 64MB.

It may just be the unit I reieve but I have had many power source and switch problems. As I use the unit only for composing via a notation application (Finale 2001) I hardly believe that my use comes near real world application. I am very disapponted in this regard.

Due to this particular instruments lack of reliability I would not encourage anyone to buy the K2VXS

I use a Kurzweil K2vxs. I thought about buying a korg triton but.. after reading the many reviews (critical).. I changed my mind. I think Kurzweil will alwayz be the best workstation that you can ever by. The reason is none other than the friendly board. How hard is to build a touch screen sensitive screen? may be in the future korg will build a keyboard with a microwave and tv attached to it. what I am intrested is the keyboard sounds.. and so far... I can't come up with no... good pianos sounds on the triton... except the midi piano.. its alright.. kurweil has.. lots of good sounds.... I mean.. very nice sounds.. but.. sorry it doesn't come with a microwave attached to it... sorry... he he.. But.. i have to give some credit to the drum sounds... on the triton ..except asian drums.. suck... i mean.. they stink... bad... rats.. arm pit.. kind of smell... anywayz... i am very happy with the keyboard I have now... and I am sticking to it...
Joe

Currently using OS 3.54, 64 MB RAM. I have owned the instrument for almost six months, and I was able to navigate in little or no time. I have already created sequences in a number of genres using this instrument. Loading samples of many file types is a piece of cake as well. In this category, it definitely delivers. I'll refrain from giving it a '10' at this point only because I haven't yet done any sound programming.

24-voice polyphony/96 oscillators; already expanded with Orchestral and Contemporary ROM blocks; sampling option installed. Also features aftertouch sensitivity. The polyphony may seem particularly limiting at first, but given Kurzweil's sophisticated voice-stealing algorithm, and the number of simultaneous oscillators available, I have not yet noticed any notes dropping out of my compositions.

Great onboard sequencer (16 tracks, 768 ppq) - I use it to produce all of my work. Capable of importing standard MIDI file types 0 and 1, and exporting SMF type 0 (with OS 3.87, SMF type 1 export will also be possible, but this OS version has not yet been released). Be sure to upgrade to OS version 3.54 or higher in order to receive up to eight MIDI drum channels.

Ships with 2MB of sample RAM, expandable to 64MB - reads Akai, Ensoniq, WAV/AIF, Roland, Kurzweil samples. Has a built-in effects processor, which is honestly perhaps the instrument's weakest feature. I do not do too much with effects anyway, so for me, it works, but for more demanding projects, I would recommend a stand-alone effects processor.

Other points worth mentioning: the sequencer/program information is stored via battery-backed RAM. The information is retained on power-off, and the batteries (3 AA) can be easily replaced. Back panel features six outputs, MIDI in/out/thru, and a standard built-in SCSI port, as well as S/PDIF and AES/EBU interfaces.

Kurzweil is known for its sound, and after purchasing this beast, I understand why. Great electric pianos, basses. Good drums, acoustic pianos. The Orchestral and Contemporary ROM blocks provide some variety to the mix. There are an additional 200 sounds with the K2VX series that are not featured on any other Kurzweil instrument; they were programmed by combining waves from the different ROM blocks. The true power of this instrument shows when programming it oneself, or listening to the efforts of experienced Kurzweil sound programmers.

I have not had any problems with the instrument at this point. It has only been to a service center twice - once to upgrade RAM, and once to upgrade the operating system. Very solid construction. The K2VXS seldom leaves my apartment, but I think I would feel comfortable using this on a gig without backup.

As I have not yet had to deal directly with Young Chang, I cannot comment too much on this. However, I have heard a horror story or two. Fortunately, there are a substantial number of alternate resources available that can be used both to obtain upgrades and answer questions.

Given its features, it is definitely worth what I paid for it. If it were lost or stolen, I would probably look at either the K2500S or the recently announced K2600S (improved polyphony and effects).

I looked at the Trinity before making a decision, but I did not find the future sonic possibilities quite as intriguing with it as I did with the Kurzweil. In addition, having at one time owned a TS-10, I had amassed a decent Ensoniq sample library which the K2VXS could utilize immediately.

I like 61-key controllers (they take up less space in an apartment), so for me, the K2VXS is ideal. It gives me both processing power and ease of use, and it serves as the centerpiece of my modest studio.

This synth is reasonably easy to use, given its complexity; I do find myself fumbling through the nested pages of editing sometimes - editing layout is good but I think could be better. The manual is above average, and explains just about everything you'd ever need to know to understand this powerful unit. More knobs/sliders would have been nice (read: K2500) to control all the lurking power beneath. If you've got it connected to a PC, I highly recommend WinKruzer, a freely available program that lets you use your PC keyboard to type in patch/program names.

24 note polyphony, synth-key action w/ aftertouch. The effects are pretty lousy, but I do find a lot of use for them. The reverbs aren't bad, and the flanging & chorus are usable. I haven't found a way to sync the delay effect to MIDI, so that kind of bugs. Also: only one effects bus! I definitely recommend an outboard effects unit.
A K2vxs is pretty much a K2000 with all (but the RAM & HD) expansion boards. I highly recommend more RAM (I've got 34 mb), the unit's sampling quality is great. It takes old-school type 30-pin simms which are still available if you look around. Get yours with the 3.54 ROM, it's worth it. Most K2000's I've seen have the 3.18 ROM in them.
Everyone raves about the sequencer in this thing. I'm a long time Cakewalk user, so I find it more cumbersome than anything else. I do admit it's nice to have when playing away from the studio. The sequencing features are robust and better than a lot of other synths I've seen, but I almost never use it.
The keyboard is extremely MIDI capable. The unit is really designed to be controlled through every means possible. I'm a programmer for a living, and the K2000's programming facilities do not disappoint. Even the brain-dead effects section can be coerced through MIDI.
I have two complaints about the unit: The difficulty of syncing the LFO's, delays, etc. to MIDI (I haven't been able to yet!) and the lack of resampling while playing a song sequence (the K2500's will do this).

The acoustic instruments are okay, the orchestra ROM is kind of neat, though not what I'm after. The K2vx has 24 mb of ROM, and there are a lot of good sounds lurking in there. I'm partial to the hammond sounds, some of which are really quite good. To experience the raw power of this synth you really do have to program it. Then it all becomes clear: this synth is worth the bucks. It really does it all, and is quite good at it all too. The filter section is fantastic. The onboard sample editing is suprisingly easy to use. In fact, the whole sampling system is great; it will sample from an analog or a digital source. Also a very responsive keyboard to play.

The unit seems very solid, and I haven't had any of the disk drive problems other people have had (though I use my ZIP drive on it a lot more than the floppy, and I recommend you do too!). Since I don't have another, I'd defenitely use it without a backup! I've had it almost a year and no mechanical problems at all. It's a dependable unit.

I've never had to call customer support, so I can't say. I upgraded the thing myself (both the ROM and RAM) and will say this: don't do it unless you know what you're doing. I had to do minor surgery to get the ROMs in there; I would recommend most people let the tech guys to this.

The vx is loaded with a lot of sounds that frankly I don't use. I spend most of my time programming new sounds into it, not using the presets. I could get the same results with the cheaper K2000S.
I wish the unit would resample & didn't have the sync issues. Still a fantastic keyboard. You can make just about any sound imaginable with this thing. I'd also have preferred more than 4 outputs on the back.
A great synth. It is the heart & soul of my studio.