V-synth or K2661

[InsideLookinOut]

I own a Roland V-Synth and have been offered the K2661 at a really good price. I know the V-Synth's mangling capabilities. Can anyone comment on the K2661's VAST technology ? I've also have interest to use it as a workstation. I've been using Motif ES7 and haven't owned a kurzweil, so I can find out for myself which I like best in that dept.

 

Lookin' Out

[bax]

Lookin' Out - I guess to be of any meaningful help here it might be good to know exactly what you are looking for outside of the V-Synth and the MoES that you think the Kurz might fulfill... I can maybe guess from your post that you are looking for sound design and/or workstation capabilities, but your question seems a little more general than that.

 

VAST is pretty open-ended in that it can be used to design a wide variety of different sound types (VA, bread & butter, FM, sample weirdness to name a few). Its sound quality is second to none and it is a competent controller and sequencer. From a workstation standpoint it might not have as much in the "specs" department as the MoES and that would be an area where you might do some comparisons - you can download the manual for the Kurz and peruse it to get a feel for what it can and cannot do. From a sound mangling standpoint, I would say its capabilities could be considered complimentary to the V-Synth. The V-Synth is more of a performance synth and while not a one-trick pony per se, it isn't quite as deep in its capabilities as the Kurz. That said, the Kurz cannot really do the things with samples that Variphrase does and it takes more "under the hood" programming to get weird than the V-Synth does. If you take into account the V-card expansion capabilites (especially the VC-2 card vocal stuff) then that widens the gap even further there. I think having both a Kurz and the V-Synth is an excellent combo from a sound design/mangling standpoint. I do have both a V-Synth and K2600 so at least that is a qualified (and somewhat biased) opinion

 

Hope that helps - I'd also take a look over at the Sonik Forums for a lot more info on the Kurz side of things. Good forum, good people, great synths!

 

Thanks!

bax

[pighood]

V-Synth is WAAAAAAAAAAY funnerer.

[b3keys]

K2661:

 

Pros: Great sounds (pianos, keys, orchestral, etc)

Large Sample Library available

 

Cons: flimsy keybed

 

 

V-Synth:

Pros: Great sounds and sound mangling capabilities

Cons: Not really multi-timbral, what is up with the zones?

 

They are really two different beasts. Both are great, but very different.

[mildbill]

 

Originally posted by pighood V-Synth is WAAAAAAAAAAY funnerer.

 

 

 

 

probably.

 

with the v-synth you've got knobs and d-beams and {censored}.

with the kurzweil, you've got 8 sliders, wheels, pedals, bc input, (on the k2600 you also get a nice splittable ribbon), and so on.

 

but you don't get immediate gratification. all that stuff needs to be set up. but first you've got pick your algorithm, and what functions you want to go into each slot.

i think you can probably get a lot more stuff automated with lfo's, envelopes, asr's, FUN's, vtrigs, and so on with the k2661.

the k26xx series also have excellent controller capabilities.

then, the KDFX are on a whole different level than the fx you get with the v-synth.

 

i've never owned a v-synth, but have played around some with it.

i do have a k2600.

from my experience, i'd say ya - the v-synth is probably more fun right out of the box, but the k26xx series can take you to more different places, especially with things like triple mode.

 

never having had a v-synth tho, i could be off track, but i don't think so.

[InsideLookinOut]

thanks for the helpful replies. I like differing opinions from actual users.

[pighood]

I had a K2VX, but didn't dig into it as much as I should have being a lazy pig. V is WAAAAAY more hands-on instant gratification. Cannot and will not pretend it to be deeper than a Kurz....that would am be falsch.

[droolmaster0]

 

Originally posted by pighood V-Synth is WAAAAAAAAAAY funnerer.

 

 

for a few days. the K sounds much better, and is deeper overall.

 

And the vsynth, is essentially not multiimbral either.

[WhinyLittleRunt]

I just recently played a K2661 and I thought it was amazing. I didn't feel that the keybed was that bad for a machine of that calibur either. The sampling in that unit is very precise and the sounds are fantastic.

 

Kurzweil does have this one annoying feature of marketing their product right on the face of the unit. it's actually a riot when you think about it; they print advertising details in the upper right-hand corner on their most expensive models and you can't remove it

[dxdreamer]

keep ur v-synth barrow the K2660 for fun

as v-synth has a greater user group, more sounds~

as if u need realistic sounds, ur not going to get anything better than motif ES, or maybe the fanton with expensions.

[stikygum]

 

Originally posted by b3keys K2661: Pros: Great sounds (pianos, keys, orchestral, etc) Large Sample Library available Cons: flimsy keybed V-Synth: Pros: Great sounds and sound mangling capabilities Cons: Not really multi-timbral, what is up with the zones? They are really two different beasts. Both are great, but very different.

 

 

I think you forgot a Pro of the K2XXX is great mangling also.

 

The V is one crazy dude. I haven't owned it, but played it and it has nice potential. I do own a VP9000 which I love.

 

I know the Motifs are nice, but there are much better software libraries like Colossus that have the best sampling rates and are considered to be the best set of realistic instruments. Just a little suggestion.

 

I like the sound of my Kurz. K25K a lot and wouldn't sell it for a V synth. I feel I get a lot more use and bang for buck than I would from a V synth. It covers the weird and the realistic in one.

 

BTW, Did you guys hear Hyundai bought Young Chang.? Looking forward to see Kurzes comeback.

[Umbra]

I don't see you gaining much of anything by changing your current rig for a kurz

[InsideLookinOut]

Well I bought the K2661. The guy who sold it to me had to send it to a repair shop to take care of a power supply issue. It just so happens that it's only 40 minutes away from me. I called them up and had them install the sample option, double the ram, add the stereo piano and classic keys expansion and last but not least, throw in the external ribbon controller. They get every thing from Kurzweil at a fraction of the cost and they're not located very far from them. As a matter of fact the tech who took care of my new machine used to be the head tech for Kurz for many years. Picking it up this weekend!!

[bax]

Congrats - excellent choice and you're gonna enjoy a lot of quality time with the Kurz over the years. Spec-wise it may not look as good as other synths on the market but ignore that stuff and judge for yourself the level of quality - you won't be disappointed!

 

Have fun!

bax