Kurzweil K2061 workstation

General

For decades, Kurzweil has been a brand with its roots in the vintage era. Not many synth models have been made - compared to other brands - but those that have been made have all gained a certain cult status. The K2000 from the 1990s has become a true household name in synth history. Now, many years down the calendar, we get to marvel at the K2061, a very comprehensive workstation, totally of its time. Everyone understands, the computer, with all its brute-force, is here to stay, so a serious workstation has to have something to impress. Well, guess what?

Features of the Kurzweil K2061

The K2061 has 256 voices, and that with multiple engines. For example, you choose the VAST engine (a Kurzweil concept) for your sample playback. But there is also an engine for 6-operator FM. There is a virtual analogue engine, and another tonewheel engine. That FM engine in particular is a huge plus, still the most elegant form of synthesis with a bottomless well of possibilities. Arpeggiators then, those are also plentiful, and when you put all your multitimbral parts to work (each with an arpeggiator), you really are listening to a comprehensive whole. Under the hood is 2GB of samples, with another 2GB for your own samples. So with the latter - and especially if you are a bit creative and can edit samples - you basically have an endless synth at your disposal.

Physical characteristics

As it should be in this day and age: a nice colour screen for all the machine's eye-candy. Faders then, obviously handy for the aforementioned organ engine, but is of course usable with other parameters as well. Aftertouch, always handy, and even a long touch strip. The back is uncluttered; two sets of outputs, one set of inputs, four connectors for separately available pedals, and the MIDI stuff. Sequencing is there too, of course, so handy for your own songs! Long story short: this really is a wonderful synth/workstation, for a price that could normally have been quite a bit higher.