Still my favorite synth of all time. 20+ years and I still haven't even scratched the surface of its capabilities and continue to learn new things about it every time I boot it up.
Children - Robert Miles. Didn't realise it was done on one of these. I love Kurzweils - you play one in a music shop next to a Roland or Yamaha workstation and you may be a bit underwhelmed, those other keyboards are stuffed with presets where you hold a key and a million things happen, which is impressive in a shop but pretty unusable when it comes to making your own music. Kurzweil never went in for ear-candy like that, instead they gave you endless super-high quality useable sounds that sit in a mix and just ooze class, coupled with a synth engine so advanced it still whups arse even now, 30 years later. Add in the KDFX effects engine and you've got a real weapon on your hands. If you want to see a K2600XS getting a tune bashed out of it, check my vids for the cover of 'Sit Down' by James - my playing is dubious but the Kurzweil just sounds sooooo good.
I bought the K2000 with sample option back in 1991 and paid so much that do this day I did not tell my wife about it. Strangely enough I try to sell it in 2024 and people offer very little money for the set, I will never understand how underappreciated this synth is.
for a while in the late 90's/early 2000's my stage rig was a K2000 (with both daughter boards and PRAM) and a Korg 0/1w Pro. KILLER boards!!! The K2000 was definitely under-appreciated.
Yes, it’s a remarkable instrument. I had the K2500s with the KDFX-board and it was lovely. But as I am very visually affected I always was more inspired to work with the K2000. I miss it dearly.
@@SlyHikari03 Honestly, it was almost 30 years ago that I found this - I used to sell them. Luckily someone made a video of how to get to it - ua-cam.com/video/sD5UsofF1QE/v-deo.htmlsi=-Jhlxe8gjyXjQ9q6
I got one of these this year as a pass down. Was on the verge of getting the hang of it but then it started reapeatedly blowing its fuses. Took it out again recently then for a quick session but somehow the 3 brand new AA lithium batteries I had put it in either drained that fast or stopped working for whatever reason, so the few patches I had were already lost. Headaches... would like to get back to it one day though.
I assume the reason why it was so expensive back then was that at the time there was quite a demand for sample based keyboards, romplers, that were able to play realistic sounding emulations of pianos, strings and breath instruments like clarinets and hobos. That’s all very nice, but with the development of chip technology 8MB ROM memory is tiny by today’s standards. The quality is nowhere near to what current day romplers can archieve, with only a fraction of its weight.
I disagree. The sounds are still very usable, and the converters are (imo) richer sounding than the modern ones. The synth engine is still the standard for depth of sound design, and the keyboard is fantastic! Oh, they are also built like tanks. I have two K2000s, a K2600sx, and a K1000, all still working and sounding great! The modern Yamaha and Roland romplers sound like CDs compared to vinyl - clear, but no body or warmth.
My favorite keyboard of all time, they became unreliable with time, caps always coming loose, keyboard reboots in the middle of gigs, lol I hope the k2061uses the same sounding synth board with upgraded storage, polyphony, sample ram, screen
big fan of all the Kurzweil stuff going back to the K250 - I have a bunch if Kurz gear the K2000 series is VAST in more ways than one 🙂 Tangerine Dream used it a ton as well as Robert Miles and many others
Still my favorite synth of all time. 20+ years and I still haven't even scratched the surface of its capabilities and continue to learn new things about it every time I boot it up.
Children - Robert Miles. Didn't realise it was done on one of these. I love Kurzweils - you play one in a music shop next to a Roland or Yamaha workstation and you may be a bit underwhelmed, those other keyboards are stuffed with presets where you hold a key and a million things happen, which is impressive in a shop but pretty unusable when it comes to making your own music. Kurzweil never went in for ear-candy like that, instead they gave you endless super-high quality useable sounds that sit in a mix and just ooze class, coupled with a synth engine so advanced it still whups arse even now, 30 years later. Add in the KDFX effects engine and you've got a real weapon on your hands.
If you want to see a K2600XS getting a tune bashed out of it, check my vids for the cover of 'Sit Down' by James - my playing is dubious but the Kurzweil just sounds sooooo good.
I bought the K2000 with sample option back in 1991 and paid so much that do this day I did not tell my wife about it.
Strangely enough I try to sell it in 2024 and people offer very little money for the set, I will never understand how underappreciated this synth is.
K2VX was my dream synth for the longest time. Finally got one and it still holds up to this day especially with some of their top end libraries.
I had the K2000S. it was awesome. I still miss it. The most expensive piece of kit I'd ever bought at the time. But it did so much. Memories.
for a while in the late 90's/early 2000's my stage rig was a K2000 (with both daughter boards and PRAM) and a Korg 0/1w Pro. KILLER boards!!! The K2000 was definitely under-appreciated.
I remember the adverts in future music
It was never a sexy beast
But bloody powerful
If it's that cheap now
I'm looking chaps!
Yes, it’s a remarkable instrument.
I had the K2500s with the KDFX-board and it was lovely.
But as I am very visually affected I always was more inspired to work with the K2000.
I miss it dearly.
A classic synth.I have Kurzweil SP2x stage piano love it.
Not to mention… no other keyboard at the time had a built in pong game!
How do you get to it?
@@SlyHikari03 Honestly, it was almost 30 years ago that I found this - I used to sell them. Luckily someone made a video of how to get to it - ua-cam.com/video/sD5UsofF1QE/v-deo.htmlsi=-Jhlxe8gjyXjQ9q6
I got one of these this year as a pass down. Was on the verge of getting the hang of it but then it started reapeatedly blowing its fuses. Took it out again recently then for a quick session but somehow the 3 brand new AA lithium batteries I had put it in either drained that fast or stopped working for whatever reason, so the few patches I had were already lost. Headaches... would like to get back to it one day though.
Fabulous vid guy's, on a fantastic piece of kit that's still viable, even in this day & age kids¡! thanx dude(s)
I assume the reason why it was so expensive back then was that at the time there was quite a demand for sample based keyboards, romplers, that were able to play realistic sounding emulations of pianos, strings and breath instruments like clarinets and hobos. That’s all very nice, but with the development of chip technology 8MB ROM memory is tiny by today’s standards. The quality is nowhere near to what current day romplers can archieve, with only a fraction of its weight.
I disagree. The sounds are still very usable, and the converters are (imo) richer sounding than the modern ones. The synth engine is still the standard for depth of sound design, and the keyboard is fantastic! Oh, they are also built like tanks. I have two K2000s, a K2600sx, and a K1000, all still working and sounding great! The modern Yamaha and Roland romplers sound like CDs compared to vinyl - clear, but no body or warmth.
Was it a Robert Miles choon, children?
DO THE VID! DO THE VID!
The demo video is up
@@takethefearoutthegear6229 and very nicely done it is too chaps!
My favorite keyboard of all time, they became unreliable with time, caps always coming loose, keyboard reboots in the middle of gigs, lol
I hope the k2061uses the same sounding synth board with upgraded storage, polyphony, sample ram, screen
Play that keyboard from the episode unsolved mysterys them song
big fan of all the Kurzweil stuff going back to the K250 - I have a bunch if Kurz gear
the K2000 series is VAST in more ways than one 🙂
Tangerine Dream used it a ton as well as Robert Miles and many others
I’ve owned 2 K2000’s and can navigate the menu blind.
Awesome
It's a robot. Like, seriously!