![]() This ribbon is superb to play with, allowing for all kinds of slides, swoops and hammerings that just aren't practical with most other modulation controls. Just behind the wheels are a further two programmable buttons, mostly aimed at performance switching (operating the arpeggiator, for example) behind these is the DOS-compatible floppy disk drive.Ī long (600mm) ribbon controller above the keyboard can be zoned to act as three independent control sources. Over on the left are a pair of standard mod and sprung pitch wheels, whilst just in front of the wheels is a small (20mm) ribbon, which can generate data from position or pressure. These buttons also do duty for KB3, such as switching in percussion, vibrato, or changing rotary speaker speed. Above each fader is a programmable button with associated tri-colour LED. Legending on the K2600 also shows the new use for these faders: as a bank of drawbars for the KB3 tonewheel organ emulation (the mod wheel acts as the 9th drawbar). The eight faders sitting to the left of centre can act as simple hardware controls for the internal mixer, or as MIDI volume controllers if required, but also allow access to any number of parameters within the VAST engine. The top panel is very reminiscent of the K2500, with similar physical controllers in evidence. I'm slightly disappointed that the K2600 hasn't introduced more separately addressable MIDI ports. ![]() A single set of MIDI In/Out/Thru sockets is present, and the Thru socket can double up as a second, parallel, MIDI output. On this unexpanded machine a host of blanking panels hinted tantalisingly at the other connection options available in the form of digital I/O, and analogue sampling inputs. An internal SCSI hard drive can also be accommodated. A pair of SCSI connectors takes care of external data storage, and a small switch allows for control of the SCSI chain termination. ![]() Four switch pedal inputs are provided, along with a pair of control pedal inputs, the second of which shares control duties with a breath controller input - it's nice to see this carried over from the K2500. All of the analogue outputs can be connected either balanced or unbalanced, and provide a hotter signal than previous Kurzweil instruments, which can only be a good thing. In addition to its mix left/right outputs, the K2600 has four further pairs of separate outputs. The back panel presents a reasonable smattering of connection possibilities. Generally the design is tasteful and very much in keeping with the instrument's 'professional' status. In general, it's easily robust enough to stand up to life on the road, but the slope of the top panel leaves the end keys exposed, which has some potential for disaster. The 88-note weighted-action keyboard must be responsible for much of the bulk, but the casing itself is also thick and strong. Physically, the K2600X is large and heavy. Unfortunately, the sampling option was unavailable at the time this review was written. Others include the KB3 software-based tonewheel organ emulation and the ability, with the sampling option fitted, to act as a vocoder and RAM-based audio sequencer. Most of the other principal new features in the 2600 were available as upgrades to the earlier 2500: the most notable is the new effects processor, which was previously available only as part of the KDFX expansion board. New features in the K2600 include completely redesigned audio circuitry with the provision of balanced analogue outputs all round, an upgraded sampling option which provides 20-bit digital I/O, and a physical redesign which makes installing upgrades such as memory expansions much more straightforward. The latter is under review here other than the keyboard itself, the K2600 and K2600X are nearly identical. The K2600 comes in three basic varieties: the K2600R rackmount module, the K2600 76-note semi-weighted keyboard and the K2600X 88-note weighted-action keyboard. It utilises Kurzweil's proprietary VAST (Variable-Architecture Synthesis Technology) which, for the uninitiated, is a well-developed system for bringing a powerful set of DSP tools to bear on source waveforms. Kurzweil's K2600 is the latest in a line of workstations that began back in 1992 with the much-vaunted K2000. Paul Ward finds out whether it's keeping pace with the rest of the synth world. Kurzweil's latest workstation is very much the product of evolution, rather than revolution.
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