Kurzweil K2700

[Fleer]

What happened to the Forte's 16GB? This seems closer to the PC4, twice as heavy but with a metal cover and a Fatar action. Don't think they can overcharge for this.

[Werno]

Not liking the pitch/mod placement. I just find it clunky on boards. Yes, it saves space, but I find the poor ergonomics outweigh that. I use the mod wheel a lot for filter sweeps and such while playing notes with my left hand (usually I stretch a pinky over), but that only works well with the wheels to the left of the keys.

 

Edit: this placement is particularly bad. Looks like it will be too far up to even reach without taking my hands off the keys. Come on.

 

Maybe you could use the ribbon controller for sweeps and such, if that's any comfort.

[AnotherScott]

I would have thought the Forte brand had a much longer lifespan.

I thnk Forte was not initially intended to be marketed as a workstation, they kind of backed into it over a number of years by adding the full on-board sound editing, 16 zone functionality, sequencer, custom sample loading (including K2600 compatibility). Who knows how much of that was even in the initial roadmap, or if they had never necessarily expected it to ever be more than a high end stage piano. But as a full workstation, with all those features plus actual on-board sampling, I can see where it makes sense to market this model as either a PC or a K...

 

What happened to the Forte's 16GB? This seems closer to the PC4, twice as heavy but with a metal cover and a Fatar action.

 

Yes, Forte still has some advantages... 16 GB flashplay, the LED fader displays... but I think there is enough overlap that this is probably ultimately replacing the Forte.

 

It does address the requests for the features of a PC4 mated to a high quality action and metal chassis with an internal power supply. More the studio version rather than the weekend warrior's version. Plus some other enhancements... more memory, audio over USB, built-in ribbon, trigger pads.

 

I know the Forte got rid of Quick Access mode...wondering what's in place for this model

Favorites Banks was added in OS 1.2 and expanded in 1.4 -- I thnk that's the equivalent of QAM?

[Theo Verelst]

I suppose there's backward compatibility with .PC3 files.

[Lady Gaia]

It does address the requests for the features of a PC4 mated to a high quality action and metal chassis with an internal power supply. More the studio version rather than the weekend warrior's version. Plus some other enhancements... more memory, audio over USB, built-in ribbon, trigger pads.

 

Yes, it's exactly what they needed to do in order to appeal to a lot of the folks seeing the advantages of the PC4 but balking at the build and action. Like me, as I would have bought one a few months back when I settled on the CP88 as a controller. That said, I don't foresee replacing anything I already own with a K2700 at this point. I'll just resume my traditional decades long wait for a K3000. ;-)

[ElmerJFudd]

This is definitely to accommodate their fans who want the TP40L, not the Medeli in the less expensive models.

[CEB]

It"s a thing.

[Moonglow]

I was a long-time Kurzweil guy until I had issues with the display on my PC-3x that rendered it unusable. Fixable, but costly to do so, and it left a bad taste in my mouth regarding Kurzweil reliability. I know... but the PC-3 was not an inexpensive axe.

 

Prior to the PC-3 I gigged with a K2600x for several years. One of the things that frustrated me about both boards was that I would make simple ADSR or filter modifications to a patch using the on-board physical controls, but then these changes could not be saved by subsequently pressing a 'Save' button. Accomplishing such changes required a menu dive involving parameters which I often could not wrap my brain around.

 

I hope the KB3 engine has been upgraded, as well as the Leslie sim, although I was able to get it sounding greezy through a Ventilator.

 

I am also among those who are not a fan of the Medeli action, which would have been a deal-breaker.

 

I"m looking forward to giving the K2700 a spin.

[ElmerJFudd]

4.5gb of sounds and 4 outs -compared to Forte and PC4 price points. What"s this thing going to cost...

[Al Coda]

Great specs !

 

When I look at the frontpanel, I see the "break" button for KB3 but miss the slow/fast button because I hate using the modwheel for that.

But can be compensated by the 2 ft-switch jacks accepting up to 4 ft-switch pedals.

 

Is it really a metal chassis ?

 

Ice on the cake would be when they used the Fatar action w/ triple sensor tchnology.

Dunno if that cost the aftertouch feature though ...

 

A.C.

[Jim Alfredson]

When I look at the frontpanel, I see the "break" button for KB3 but miss the slow/fast button because I hate using the modwheel for that.

But can be compensated by the 2 ft-switch jacks accepting up to 4 ft-switch pedals

 

Slow/fast is usually assigned to the VARIATION button above the main volume slider.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Not liking the pitch/mod placement. I just find it clunky on boards. Yes, it saves space, but I find the poor ergonomics outweigh that. I use the mod wheel a lot for filter sweeps and such while playing notes with my left hand (usually I stretch a pinky over), but that only works well with the wheels to the left of the keys.

 

Edit: this placement is particularly bad. Looks like it will be too far up to even reach without taking my hands off the keys. Come on.

 

Maybe you could use the ribbon controller for sweeps and such, if that's any comfort.

 

Didn't think of that. Thanks!

 

I notice that the Kurzweil.com/k2700 link no longer works - it redirects back to the homepage.

[Mighty Motif Max]

What happened to the Forte's 16GB? This seems closer to the PC4, twice as heavy but with a metal cover and a Fatar action. Don't think they can overcharge for this.

 

Yeah, I'm wondering about that too. I haven't cared for the PC4 pianos from the demos I've heard, but I liked the Forte's pianos quite a lot. I'm really hoping they found a better way to optimize the samples without detracting from sound quality, or that maybe those specs are being mis-reported (like they were with the Nautilus).

[Mighty Motif Max]

The link is now https://kurzweil.com/covidnamm. Interesting...

[Fleer]

The plot thickens ...

Come to think of it, for those of you owning a Forte 8, does it have MDF underneath or metal?

[Al Coda]

The link is now https://kurzweil.com/covidnamm. Interesting...

 

redirects to Kurzweil homepage too now.

 

A.C.

[Fleer]

I still don"t understand how this K2700 is like a PC4 with a metal cover and Fatar action at twice the weight and (probably) twice the price.

Meanwhile you can get a new Forte for the price of a PC4 (https://www.muziker.be/kurzweil-forte-88). Go figure

[Mighty Motif Max]

The link is now https://kurzweil.com/covidnamm. Interesting...

 

redirects to Kurzweil homepage too now.

 

A.C.

 

Yep, they keep changing it. I'm not going to spoil their fun (or annoy them) so I'm not posting anything further.

[AnotherScott]

I still don"t understand how this K2700 is like a PC4 with a metal cover and Fatar action at twice the weight and (probably) twice the price.

plus more memory, audio over USB, built-in ribbon, trigger pads, internal power supply. And price is not yet a certainty.

 

Meanwhile you can get a new Forte for the price of a PC4

evidence perhaps that that board is indeed in closeout status to be replaced by the K2700... so maybe a good time to pick up a Forte if it meets your needs!

[Al Coda]

Slow/fast is usually assigned to the VARIATION button above the main volume slider.

 

Thx for the info !

You know the K2700 already or is your info based on PC4 ?

How does that work in a "MULTI" where you use a KB3 patch together w/ other patches in different zones/ on different MIDI channels ?

 

With the PC3, in a "Performance" (=MULTI), I´m able to set up the instrument that way, I can switch between the common performance controls and KB3 controls via the "Switch" button (MIDI 29) on the fly.

When playing a KB3 part, that offers all the "organ" related controls incl. rotary "slow/fast" while "stop" mode is assignable to any other physical (p.ex. ARP button) or MIDI controller.

A great feature they hopefully didn´t sacrifice.

 

O.T.:

The more I watch videos about H/S SK Pro, I think both K2700 together w/ SK Pro would be a very nice combo.

So,- please elaborate a bit more about SK Pro MIDI parts in the other thread.

I´m very interested in how well SK Pro is controlable via MIDI while I really love Kurzweil keyboards as MIDI controllers even they are limited to 1 port/16 MIDI channels (which I think is still very usable for a small rig).

 

A.C.

[Fleer]

Not mine, a/Scott, not mine. I"m a happy PC4 camper as I prefer to travel light.

So I could be interested in a 61-key version of that K2700, as it might weigh less.

[Al Coda]

I still don"t understand how this K2700 is like a PC4 with a metal cover and Fatar action at twice the weight and (probably) twice the price.

plus more memory, audio over USB, built-in ribbon, trigger pads, internal power supply. And price is not yet a certainty.

 

Meanwhile you can get a new Forte for the price of a PC4

evidence perhaps that that board is indeed in closeout status to be replaced by the K2700... so maybe a good time to pick up a Forte if it meets your needs!

 

And PC4 is already twice the polyphony of the Forte while I can imagine, K2700, compared to Forte and PC4, might have a bit more DSP power under the hood.

 

A.C.

[Mighty Motif Max]

I think we're missing something here - there's no MIDI Thru and we lost a switch pedal input from the Forte as well.

[Mighty Motif Max]

So far the Forte is only marked down at that one Belgian site linked above.

[Fleer]

So far the Forte is only marked down at that one Belgian site linked above.

They"re from Czechia with e-stores all over Europe. I got my PC4 from them for $1600 USD.

[Jim Alfredson]

The plot thickens ...

Come to think of it, for those of you owning a Forte 8, does it have MDF underneath or metal?

 

Metal.

[Mighty Motif Max]

So far the Forte is only marked down at that one Belgian site linked above.

They"re from Czechia with e-stores all over Europe. I got my PC4 from them for $1600 USD.

 

How's warranty work for those of us in the US then? I buy K&M stuff from overseas routinely, but those products don't have electronic components where I would be concerned about a warranty.

[AnotherScott]

I think we're missing something here - there's no MIDI Thru and we lost a switch pedal input from the Forte as well.

My guess is that they wanted to bring this in at something below the price of the Forte, even if that's the board it's replacing, which would also explain the cutbacks on the LEDs and total memory. Current U.S. prices are $2k for the PC4 and $5k for the Forte, that's a big jump. If they wanted to bring in the K2700 at a price that may be a grand or more cheaper than the Forte, especially considering that it also includes things the Forte doesn't, it would be understandable that they would look to cut everywhere they think they can as well.

[Fleer]

So far the Forte is only marked down at that one Belgian site linked above.

They"re from Czechia with e-stores all over Europe. I got my PC4 from them for $1600 USD.

 

How's warranty work for those of us in the US then? I buy K&M stuff from overseas routinely, but those products don't have electronic components where I would be concerned about a warranty.

My thoughts as well. But I see the lower price as a trade off. Without tax, that PC4 was actually $1350

[Fleer]

The plot thickens ...

Come to think of it, for those of you owning a Forte 8, does it have MDF underneath or metal?

 

Metal.

Thanks Jim, wonderful news. It"s OCD, I know, but I don"t like MDF bottoms (on Korg"s SV2 for instance) as I dread spilling liquids.