KURZWEIL K2600R [2001 – ]

This one replaced my Akai S2000 as a “sample-based instrument”. It is not strictly speaking a sampler, as I don’t have the sampling option installed, but it imports wav files, which makes all the difference. The V.A.S.T. synthesis is extremely flexible, but it’s also a very non-analog editing process. The Nord Modular got me into knobs and real-time editing, so in contrast, editing the Kurz is far from inspiring. The editing interface itself is very good, but it’s just another menu-based, enter-parameter-value-kind of interface with endlessamounts of parameters. Getting Sound Diver, however, has me programming this one much more than I used to. I like this machine a lot, and apart from the very digital nature of it, it is quite irreplacable in my rack. I’d say it’s the “sampler equivalent” of the Nord Modular, slightly exaggerated. Internally, it has loads of samples, ranging from standard analog-ish sine & square waves and the like, to straight sampled acoustic instruments. These building blocks combined with the V.A.S.T. modular approach and layering makes it one powerful mutha which can basically sound like anything. I find the sound to be a bit sterile, though, but all in all, this one is a keeper. And it should be, as it cost an arm and a leg. My only regret is that I didn’t get the 88-key version, which in comparison would only have cost a few extra fingers or so. Technically, it runs a risk of begin replaced by software some day, but given the amount of usable sounds I’ve got for it, I don’t think that will happen too soon. Internal hard drive installed for extra convenience, as a result of my Zip disk breaking down taking a bunch of sounds with it. And I thought I had learned something about the importance of backing up data.