OK, what do I do now?

[Postman]

As many of you know, I bought a K2600xs for my birthday last March. Some of you also know that I returned that and one more to Sweetwater because both units periodically stopped producing sound. Both Kurzweil and Sweetwater were models of customer care. Kurzweil even took the unprecedented step (in my experience) of putting me in touch with one of their techs. He discovered that both of my units (and I would guess some others) had the wrong chip stuffed into the DSP board. Both were replaced. Fine.

 

This afternoon I'm playing the third unit which I've had for maybe a month (if that) and all of a sudden I get screeching static in both channels. Unfortunately, I was wearing headphones. I'm experiencing slight loss of hearing in my left ear because of it (don't worry, I've had worse from concerts; it'll come back). I'm also shaking like a leaf, but I'm pretty sure I'll survive that. Thank God I wasn't playing a gig!

 

So what do you think? Am I just unlucky or is it time to look elsewhere? The problem is I don't particularly like Tritons or Motifs, but, I mean really...

[Dave Pierce]

Originally posted by Postman:

As many of you know, I bought a K2600xs for my birthday last March. Some of you also know that I returned that and one more to Sweetwater because both units periodically stopped producing sound. Both Kurzweil and Sweetwater were models of customer care. Kurzweil even took the unprecedented step (in my experience) of putting me in touch with one of their techs. He discovered that both of my units (and I would guess some others) had the wrong chip stuffed into the DSP board. Both were replaced. Fine.

 

This afternoon I'm playing the third unit which I've had for maybe a month (if that) and all of a sudden I get screeching static in both channels. Unfortunately, I was wearing headphones. I'm experiencing slight loss of hearing in my left ear because of it (don't worry, I've had worse from concerts; it'll come back). I'm also shaking like a leaf, but I'm pretty sure I'll survive that. Thank God I wasn't playing a gig!

 

So what do you think? Am I just unlucky or is it time to look elsewhere? The problem is I don't particularly like Tritons or Motifs, but, I mean really...

Well, I don't have any specific experience with these problems, but three strikes would be out for me. And reading your experience, I'm suddenly feeling that much better about going with the Roland instead of the Kurz PC2x.

 

OTOH, 3 is a pretty small sample set...

 

--Dave

[Lee Tyler]

So what do you think? Am I just unlucky or is it time to look elsewhere? The problem is I don't particularly like Tritons or Motifs, but, I mean really...

You are probably at the end of your unlucky streak. The K2xxx series ain't perfect, but the sound baby, the sound is where it's at. So is the amazing flexability. (Not to mention complexability ) Stick with that gal and she shall reward you with the best emulations available in the world, IMHO.

Cheers, ---LEE

[kybdwackr]

hmmm...kurzweil eh?...ive been so tempted to pawn mine off on some poor bastard...but i guess i have some kind of morals...my pc88 forgot the sax sound last gig...couldnt find it anywhere...spinning the dam knob all through the tune..go figger..absolutely abused my dx7 for 20 years...no problems...oh well

[Lee Tyler]

Originally posted by kybdwackr:

hmmm...kurzweil eh?...ive been so tempted to pawn mine off on some poor bastard...but i guess i have some kind of morals...my pc88 forgot the sax sound last gig...couldnt find it anywhere...spinning the dam knob all through the tune..go figger..absolutely abused my dx7 for 20 years...no problems...oh well

Hey Whacker, as long as your DX7 gets you off, I'd say you are in good hands. Your sax player should be fired on the spot, though.

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

OTOH, 3 is a pretty small sample set...

 

--Dave

Not when you consider 3 units is the 100% of your testing universe... so a 100% of tested units did not pass the quality test.

 

If you don't like Korgs and yamahas you should try a Roland or try that Pro Mega 3 is being discussed right here .

[Superbobus]

Kurzweil is freaking expensive over here and when I hear stories like this I don't even think about buying one, although there's a Kurzweil cat out here with great tech support. No matter how great the sound is, a board should never let you down on a gig, IMO.

[Rod S]

I have owned 3 kurzweil products (still own 2 of them), and have never had a problem (knock on wood).

 

I think you had a streak of bad luck; however, loyalty/patience has a limit, and I would reached mine if I had been in your position.

 

Yamahas tend to be very reliable - but users in the CS6x yahoogroup, are complaining about problems with one of the buttons, and also with the keybed. So unfortunately this is a problem that afflicts us all.

 

Hope your hearing comes back OK. My alesis qsr does a loud pop when turning it on, so I have to be careful.

[Dave Pierce]

Originally posted by Gus Lozada:

Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

OTOH, 3 is a pretty small sample set...

 

--Dave

Not when you consider 3 units is the 100% of your testing universe... so a 100% of tested units did not pass the quality test.

 

If you don't like Korgs and yamahas you should try a Roland or try that Pro Mega 3 is being discussed right here .

Yes, but it's surely less than 1/10 of a percent of the total manufactured base. Probably a lot less.

 

BTW, I visited West LA Music the other day, and I asked about the Pro Mega 3 since it sounds interesting. The sales guy said he could order them, but discouraged me from doing so. He had ordered a couple for someone, and had a lot of problems, and ultimately had to return them to Italy, at great cost, for repairs.

 

Course, that's a sales guy with who-knows-what incentives, so use the appropriate grains of salt...

 

--Dave

[Superbobus]

Yamahas tend to be very reliable - but users in the CS6x yahoogroup, are complaining about problems with one of the buttons, and also with the keybed. So unfortunately this is a problem that afflicts us all.

Rod, which button is that? The CS6x keybed is not the greatest out there, that's true. Rolands are reliable too. With Korg I have a love/hate relationship. Love the sound, hate most of the keybeds and some of the keys break down too.

[Rod S]

The page knob, super. I've seen more than one complain about a glitchy knob. The data knob seem to be problematic too. I don't do a lot of editing from the front panel, so I think mine is getting a lot less wear and tear than other user's.

 

I haven't heard too many problems with the keybed, other than what looks like some random triggering of adjacent keys, pointing to possibly a problem with the sensor.

[Lee Tyler]

Hey there folks,

I felt compelled to share this with the board at large. Kinda like "taking out the dirty laundry" This is a "private message" I received from our esteemed board member, Mr. Whacker in reference to Kurzweil related issues.

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

"Subject: hey..mr idiot

 

why should i listen to you...dumbass..you floridians cant even figure out a voting machine"

--------------------------------------------------

 

 

Dear Mr Whackoff, I can only respond to your simpleton statements by informing you that I was born, raised, and educated in the great city of New York. I find the voting machine comment quite amusing, naturally. But where do you get the balls to insult me personally without provocation and then, behind the anonymity of your computer, CLOSE your email so I cannot respond in kind privately? Listen, you snapper-head, Jagger was a client of mine, I played Carnegie at the age of 14, even saved a few lives on the job. You may not be a dumb ass or an idiot, and there is an outside chance you probably are not, BUT , I think an apology for those personal attacks are in order. MY E-mail is open to you .

[kybdwackr]

a thousand appologies to mr. diagnosiees.but his statement about me getting off?...well in my hands?...thought that was uncalled for.Wasnt that being "provoked?"..just made a comment consoling the gentleman with his problems on HIS kurz...geeshh..now ill be shunned by the "board at large"

[Lee Tyler]

Originally posted by kybdwackr:

a thousand appologies to mr. diagnosiees.but his statement about me getting off?...well in my hands?...thought that was uncalled for.Wasnt that being "provoked?"..just made a comment consoling the gentleman with his problems on HIS kurz...geeshh..now ill be shunned by the "board at large"

Nice stretch there pal, but I am not buying your ridiculous piss-poor interpretation of my obviously well-meaning post. A feeble attempt on your part to substantiate your nasty comments. If you simply read and interpreted my comments as most rational and semi-intelligent folks such as myself, you would see my humorous attempt at suggesting you "keep the keys you like, and "fire" that sax player". You and I both know where your head is at and you have wasted enough of my valuable time. And if that initial statement is your apology, I gladly accept it......and hope you feel better soon. I guess your past has been a real bitch, eh? WELL SO HAS MINE. Here are some quotes from my late dad and a boss I worked for. 1) "It's nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice. 2) It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

 

Have a nice day

[Lee Tyler]

Oh....and by the way you all, if you cant hear the difference between a Kurz and most of the other great synths out there, you are still invited to the pool party and B-BQ next weekend. Theme: T-back-MANIA

[Super 8]

"Why can't we be friends, Why can't we be friends"

 

Okay, lets keep one thing in mind here, before we all get more defensive. You can't see or hear the person on the computer screen. Sometimes comments that would have sounded fine if spoken in person, come across totally different than intended when they are read in a forum.

 

I agree that the private 'dumbass' message was uncalled for. Before he got offended, he should have asked "what was up with the 'getting off on my DX7' comment", before jumping into personal attack mode. Maybe he had a bad day today, and just overreacted. But there is no sense in getting into a bitch session over a simple misunderstanding. How 'bout it? Can we all kiss and make up?

 

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance"

[Rick K.]

BE NICE, YOU GUYS!!!

 

Anyway...

 

Sorry to hear about your problems, Postman. I've been there. Not fun, especially in a live situation where you rely on it. Good luck.

 

Rick

[MsIvoryKeys]

Wow, just hopped on here and read some of the comments. Can I say something in defense of KYBDWACKR? WACKR is a fellow local musician and dear friend of mine who, like most musicians, lives in solitude despite being in a room full of people. Because of this solitude we can all lack something sometimes. (money, communication skills, fresh milk in the frig, clean clothes) Heck, I'm still looking for that 3rd brain cell....it was here yesterday dagnabbit....We can be a little too sensitive too. I guess it's a negative side effect of our creative nature as we sit back and overanalyze comments and make mountains out of molehills. Of course I'm the exception . Tho' it's great to be verbal and opinionated we need to remember why we're here. We're here to help each other and not get bent out of shape just because something isn't what we want to hear or it's said 'not quite right'. Let's start giving each other the benefit of the doubt here and stop killing off the voices of the great musicians who have something to say but are afraid to speak. Where will that get us? A new generation of Penn and Teller you say?????

[Postman]

What in God's name motivated you to bring this ugliness up again?

 

Oh, well. I'll take the opportunity to update the situation. I did get another K2600 (the fourth!), and it's working fine.

 

In the end, I've got to give props to Kurzweil and Sweetwater for sticking with me, even though it must have seemed suspicious. I think it's fair to ding Young Chang for not keeping track of which units a given batch of chips were installed in. The folks who make the networking gear I work with (Cisco, Lucent, etc.) do it. It isn't that hard. Oh, what the heck. I got unlucky, that's all. The odds of getting one of the bad boards was low: I got three of them. I knew I should have sacrificed something to the synth gods.

[realtrance]

Okay, thanks all, for that brief Monty-Python-esque moment....

 

Re: the CS6x page knob going glitchy: it sounds a lot like some of the issues Roland users had with the dial on the XP-80 or, worse yet, the dial on the VS series of DAWs.

 

Those, and the CS6x's page knob, all have one thing in common: they are what are known as rotary encoders.

 

I don't have the full spec on these things, but I know at one point I did some internet searching, found some parts catalogs (Digikey? I think?), looked at lifespans for rotary encoders and yes, these things generally have a much shorter lifespan than the usual plain old potentiometers.

 

They are used, I believe, because -- and check out the "endless rotaries" on a Waldorf Microwave XT for comparison on this -- the click-stops on them sync up better with functionality for selecting digital values, one at a time. The comparatively "analog" rotaries on an XT require a certain level of training and expertise to use successfully. The rotary encoders are a little more "decisive" in feel for value selection.

 

Stilll..... I wish the whole industry would get away from these things, for the sake of longevity.

 

OR: alternatively, make it very easy to get to them, desolder them and replace them. The part itself is like $5 US or so to buy direct, it's the fun of getting to the encoder board that's the headache in most cases, I'm sure.

 

Note that if you use these things gently, they do last longer. None of the synth manufacturers indicate there's any need to be especially gentle with rotary encoders, but I think it should be in all manuals right next to the warning about epilepsy if you look at flashing lights for too long, etc....

 

Just trying to help.

 

rt