hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
A local music store is dumping brand "new" Kurzweil 2000R modules for seven hundred dollars. Is that really a bargain?
Shailat
New member
If its part of the k2000 series synth and it can be upgarded with RAM as well as the software version, then it might be worth it.
Check to see if you can add some ROMS to it like the 4m piano
one.
Depends on your demands from it though. It is still a much alive synth and has many classic sounds on it.
Even so it is at least 10 years old and with out the upgrades it
showes it's age.
I only question the "NEW" aspect.
Check to see if you can add some ROMS to it like the 4m piano
one.
Depends on your demands from it though. It is still a much alive synth and has many classic sounds on it.
Even so it is at least 10 years old and with out the upgrades it
showes it's age.
I only question the "NEW" aspect.
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
The sounds are really great but ultimately it looks like a big, fat, black, obsolete box. What isn't?
J
JimH
New member
It may depend on what you want to do with it. If you just want a box where you can use the preset sounds, you might be better off with something else. The advantages of the K2000 are its depth of programmability and its ability to upgrade. You should check what is already installed. How much RAM does it have? Probably 2 MB. If you want to load bigger samples, you'll need to add more RAM. The RAM the K2000 uses is the older 30-pin SIMMs, so you'll need to find a source of this. (I haven't checked in a while so I don't know how hard it is to find.) Also check the operating system version. It should be at least version 3.01. I think the latest version is 3.87, but the improvements after 3.01 are minor. But you may want to have 3.87. Check if it has any of the optional sound boards or the PRAM module installed. It probably doesn't, but if it does, that's great! That would make it more worth the $700. For more information check out the K2000 Launch Pad at: http://www.hyperindex.com/k2/k_main.htm. Do you need a sequencer? The K2000 has a 32-track sequencer.
Do you want to buy sample CDs and load up the sounds? You can do it but you'll need to add an external CD-ROM drive and SCSI cable. Alternatively, you can do what I did. I added a SCSI card to my computer and I connected a cable from the computer to the K2000. I use the CD-ROM in the computer. I also added a SCSI hard drive inside the K2000.
I have a K2000 with sampling option that I bought back when they were relatively new. I still find it hard to justify buying another synth these days because the K2000 is enough. I had thought about maybe getting some sort of virtual analog synth. I was recently in the store playing a Waldorf Q for a time and I thought it sounding pretty good. But then I came home and played some of the K2000 analog patches I got off the web. I'll tell you, I don't think there was much difference in how "analog" they sounded compared to the Q, and it certainly wasn't worth paying whatever the Q costs. (Some people may disagree with that however. And of course, the Q has all those knobs.)
I think the K2000 has two minor weaknesses. One is that the effects chip it uses is kind of noisy. It uses the old Digitech 128. It's not up to today's standard. The second is that the shortest attack you can have is 20ms. This is not a big deal in most cases. But there are some sounds where you want to have a shorter attack than that.
I think if you want to do more than just play the factory sounds, the K2000 is a good deal these days because the price has come down but it's still very capable.
Jim
Do you want to buy sample CDs and load up the sounds? You can do it but you'll need to add an external CD-ROM drive and SCSI cable. Alternatively, you can do what I did. I added a SCSI card to my computer and I connected a cable from the computer to the K2000. I use the CD-ROM in the computer. I also added a SCSI hard drive inside the K2000.
I have a K2000 with sampling option that I bought back when they were relatively new. I still find it hard to justify buying another synth these days because the K2000 is enough. I had thought about maybe getting some sort of virtual analog synth. I was recently in the store playing a Waldorf Q for a time and I thought it sounding pretty good. But then I came home and played some of the K2000 analog patches I got off the web. I'll tell you, I don't think there was much difference in how "analog" they sounded compared to the Q, and it certainly wasn't worth paying whatever the Q costs. (Some people may disagree with that however. And of course, the Q has all those knobs.)
I think the K2000 has two minor weaknesses. One is that the effects chip it uses is kind of noisy. It uses the old Digitech 128. It's not up to today's standard. The second is that the shortest attack you can have is 20ms. This is not a big deal in most cases. But there are some sounds where you want to have a shorter attack than that.
I think if you want to do more than just play the factory sounds, the K2000 is a good deal these days because the price has come down but it's still very capable.
Jim
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
Thanks Jim.