Kurzweil K2500 Series Keyboards
January 18, 1996Kurzweil Music
Systems has recently
released the first of
its new K2500
"Production Station" Series, the
rack-mounting
K2500R. The
K2500 Series is
Kurzweil's most
powerful generation
of sampling
synthesizers utilizing
their powerful
V.A.S.T.
architecture. Now the
company is introducing two additions to the series - the K2500 76-note and K2500X 88-note
keyboards.
The K2500 features a 76-note semi-weighted piano-style keyboard and the K2500X features an
88-note fully-weighted piano-action keyboard. Both instruments offer an exceptional range of
controller functions, expanded from those of the critically-acclaimed Kurzweil PC88 Performance
Controller. The front panel includes eight control sliders and eleven buttons, plus three dedicated
sequencer transport buttons. There are also two ribbon controllers. The small ribbon is pressure
and direction sensitive and resides below the pitch and mod wheels. Above the wheels are two
self-illuminating buttons which are fully programmable. The long ribbon, which resides between
the keyboard and the control panel, is programmable in three zones and responds to changes in the
player's finger position. Both of these ribbon controllers add tremendous expressiveness to the
K2500's performance.
All K2500 Series instruments feature true 48-note polyphony; a large illuminated 64 x 240
front-panel display; 60 internal DSP functions arranged in 31 algorithms; up to 28MB of internal
ROM sounds; sample RAM expansion to 128 MB; program memory expansion to 1,256 KB;
dual industry-standard SCSI ports; and a wide range of interfacing options, including digital
connection to popular modular digital multitrack recorders. Also featured are a full-function
32-track sequencer and a hierarchical file directory system for powerful file management. Flash
ROM enables K2500 system software to be easily updated from floppy disk or via SCSI,
eliminating the need for professional servicing to upgrade your software.
The K2500 boasts an impressive new 8MB on-board soundset with 200 programs and 100 setups
- additional disks are supplied containing 1500 more programs and extra support. K2000 owners
will be happy to know that their entire sound libraries are compatible with the K2500 Series.
Optional Contemporary and Orchestral ROM SoundBlocks for the K2500, each adding 8MB of
sounds, will also be offered. A new 4MB Stereo Grand Piano SoundBlock offers the most realistic
stereo piano sound Kurzweil has ever created.
The rear panel includes four footswitch jacks, two continuous controller jacks and a breath
controller jack.
The rear panel also includes two SCSI connectors, a pair of mixed audio outs, eight
separate audio outs, stereo headphone out, and MIDI In, Out and Thru, (Thru jack switchable to a
copy of MIDI Out).
The K2500 Series has a broad upgrade path which includes the SMP-2 Sampling Option, KDFX
(Digital Effects Option) and DMTi (Digital Multitrack Interface). The sampling option provides
digital I/O including AES/EBU and S/PDIF optical plus sample-while-play, which allows
sampling while continuing other operations or sampling sequences. The KDFX option
incorporates Kurzweil's powerful new effects VLSI design and provides four stereo buses with full
bandwidth and flexible signal routing. The DMTi provides data format conversion and real-time
sample rate conversion between K2500, AES/EBU, Alesis ADAT , Tascam DA-88 and S/PDIF
optical formats at any number of selectable sample rates. The DMTi also performs valuable
stand-alone functions, such as converting ADAT digital data to DA-88 format, and vice versa (two
DMTi's are required for this function).
K2500 provides battery back-up for program and set-up data. Disk storage consists of a single
1.44 MB 3.5 in drive. There is provision for the internal installation of a SCSI drive of up to 1.2
GB. For more information on the K2500 Series and other Kurzweil products, contact Kurzweil Music
Systems, 13336 Alondra Blvd., CA 90703. Tel: 310/926-3200; Fax: 310/404-0748. Visit their web site at www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com. | 
