Kurzweil K2700 from a Pianist perspective. A comprehensive review including all piano samples demo'd

Kurzweil K2700 - from a Pianist perspective. Includes all 49 Piano samples demo'd and much more! ** SEE CLICKABLE VIDEO INDEX BELOW! **
This powerful workstation does it all, but in this video I focus on the needs of the Pianist. Full review coming shortly, stay tuned!
To get your custom low(er) cost quote on the K2700, visit www.PianoManChuck.com
** CLICKABLE VIDEO INDEX **
00:00 - Start
00:05 - Intro Song (“Forgotten”, Copyright © Chuck Gilmore, 2013)
00:49 - Intro Dialogue
02:03 - Microphone Input via built-in Audio Interface
02:53 - Microphone Demo with FX
03:45 - 9 Buttons, Sliders and Knobs
06:24 - Ribbon Controller
07:18 - Polyphony, String Resonance, etc
07:33 - Transpose
08:20 - Key Action / Touch
10:26 - Fatar TP40L with AfterTouch
10:44 - Trying out the 49 Piano samples:
10:54 - 1) Bristol Piano
11:13 - 2) Dynamic 9ft Grand
11:27 - 3) Velvet Grand
11:43 - 4) Simple Solo Piano
11:59 - 5) Burnished Piano
12:15 - 6) Power Dynamic Grand
12:46 - 7) Sizzle Piano
13:02 - 8) Bright Jazz 9ft
13:19 - 9) Smooth Grand 9ft
14:03 - 10) Recital Grand 9ft
14:19 - 11) Recital Piano
14:36 - 12) Concert Piano
15:13 - 13) Fierce Rock 9ft
15:29 - 14) Punchy Edge
15:42 - 15) Seventies Piano
15:58 - 16) Blues Piano
16:16 - 17) New Orleans
16:31 - 18) Modern Rock Piano
16:48 - 19) Stadium Pop Piano
17:04 - 20) Rich Grand 7ft
17:21 - 21) Studio Grand 7ft
17:39 - 22) Solo Grand 7ft
17:55 - 23) Intimate Piano 7ft
18:08 - 24) Stereo Piano K26
18:32 - 25) Concert Piano K26
18:57 - 26) Horowitz Grand
19:15 - 27) Rubenstein Comp
19:35 - 28) Deb’s Ghost Piano
19:52 - 29) Vintage Grand 7ft
20:10 - 30) Old Pub Piano
20:28 - 31) Upright Piano
20:43 - 32) Pub Piano
21:01 - 33) Mono Upright
21:17 - 34) Mono Piano
21:33 - 35) R&B Stack
21:52 - 36) Bright Piano Pad 7ft
23:00 - 37) Piano & Strings
23:34 - 38) Glam Rock Piano 9ft
24:19 - 39) Dark & Distant
24:37 - 40) Indie Piano
24:52 - 41) Smile / Rocky Racoon
25:17 - 42) EDM Piano
25:31 - 43) Hip Hop Piano
25:47 - 44) Arakis Piano ^ Dark Piano
26:03 - 45) Film Piano
26:22 - 46) Alt Piano Space
26:35 - 47) Alt Piano Echo
26:56 - 48) Dream Piano
27:31 - 49) Slo Piano (1176)
27:58 - Variations (Variation Button explained)
28:15 - Bristol Piano + Variation
28:49 - Sizzle Piano + Variation
29:22 - Fierce Rock 9ft + Variation
29:55 - Solo Grand 7ft + Variation
30:24 - Rubenstein Comp + Variation
30:55 - Pub Piano + Variation
31:33 - Bright Piano Pad 7ft + Variation
32:01 - Indie Piano + Variation
32:39 - How to use and benefit from the built-In Demo’s
33:51 - Conclusions / Closing Remarks

[@peergroning7556]

Thanks Chuck for this very clear video. The Light2 setting for the touch really makes all the difference

[@TimE_5150]

Great demo as always Chuck, your playing is amazing!! Thank you.

[@PianoManChuck]

Thank you kindly!

[@ruanof7]

Thank you so much for the upload. Is so hard to actually play a Kurzweil , so this is very helpful, Thanks again!

[@PianoManChuck]

No problem!

[@pockybandit]

Yo Rev Chuck you married my wife and I 13 years ago to the day and we looked you Up to see what you’re up to! Glad you’re doing what you love. Got a sub from me keep up the good work!

[@PianoManChuck]

Very cool! Small world. Retired from doing weddings after doing a couple thousand of them but they were fun days! Happy Anniversary!

[@GabePickles3837]

18:09-19:52 I just love how it has the old Piano sound from previous keyboards. That exact sound is so iconic because it’s been used in many children’s shows such as Caillou and Teletubbies. Definitely a big reason for me to get this keyboard.

[@3dloon430]

Kurzweil's are fantastic. Used to have K2500 Rack module, far ahead of its time. Tons of piano options these days, but I still miss that one.

[@giannagiavelli5098]

i still have my maxed out k2000rs ;*> new screen like a 2500.

[@Nalinc33]

Maurice Gibb and Dave Innis My Favourite Kurzweil Users .

[@abdielvelazquez773]

Will love to see a comparison between this and the Forte

[@omedome2787]

the K2700 is a workhorse, it does many things well, so it's the main piano and controller in my live set up. Sounds perfect in a mix. The piano's are fairly good, action is a bit odd but you get used to it. It replaced a Nord Electro 5 which sounds very good - though the action was ridiculously loud - and the interaction feels more engaging and natural but as most things Nord, is simply too expensive. Sound wise most major brands have caught up with them. There's a learning curve with the Kurzweil, get into it, it's worth it because you can just about make any sound you want. But, if I have to play piano solo, then I have to get out the Kawai mp11SE, which feels and sounds fantastic but is too heavy and fragile to lug around. The Kurz is a, very versatile, smart music-tank. It's definitely worth it's price.

[@xp50player]

Whenever they add the larger display from the SP7 Grand, they will have something competitive.

[@mrdavies7894]

This is the first in-depth review of all the piano sounds I've come across and always great to have your perspective, PianoManChuck! Definitely looking forward to your full review! One thing I'm already surprised and a little disappointed by is the slight drop-out when switching patches - doesn't quite live up to the "seamless patching" that FlashPlay promises… or maybe I'm conflating that with other marketing? Anyway, would love to get your thoughts on the K2700 vs Forte and, of course, the old show-down against other similar boards; e.g Roland Fantom, Korg Nautilus, &c. Would also like to hear more about the feeling of the TP-40L keyboard itself, not just the fact of the adjustable touch curve. Thanks for your great reviews!

[@PianoManChuck]

Yes, that seems to be a problem with most manufacturers when switching from one piano to another. The piano engine is normally a separate engine than everything else. All other (non-piano) patches definitely are seamlessly switched.

[@Benqo]

The seamless switching is possible when using less than 14fx units (btw you can use up to 32 fx units in total). Some of the factory programs use huge combination of effects. For example pianos have string resonance, equalizer, enhanvcer, phaser, delay, reverb etc. So it is practical to reduce the unnecessary effects to help the seamless switching.

[@mrdavies7894]

That's a great point, @@Benqo. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@asimahsan2868]

Excellent demo like always, I checked out all the demos available so far on KZbin but the pianos sound so thin in comparison of Kurzweil Forte. Also why is it cheaper then Kurzweil Forte when it has so many functions Ribbon Controler mic interface, Etc. ???????

[@PianoManChuck]

Forte has been discontinued!

[@alphasxsignal]

Nice

[@dominikbalaz1894]

What do you think aboud the action (fatar TP40L), is it sluggish? How is it for playing organ or some fast repeated notes on piano?

[@DonLeino]

Same action as the nord piano 5 but lighter. I liked it better than yamahas cp 88 action , rolands pha 50 and kords rh3. The nord piano was lighter and i could really play on it , so i imagine tp 40 is like 20g lighter.

[@giannagiavelli5098]

can u record audio into the sequencer?

[@EverettDudgeon138]

I'm really interested in this but I'm hesitant in terms of the rubber buttons and their longevity.

[@PianoManChuck]

I wouldn't worry about that... a lot of manufacturers have been using rubber buttons with no problems in terms of longevity.

[@giannagiavelli5098]

I'm very happy it has the vox conti. so many skip it. why! goddamnit why!

[@arcticfoxstudios2018]

Is that the same Fatar action as on the Forte? I really disliked the feel of the Forte unfortunately. I'm too spoiled after playing a Nord Grand.

[@pawelsz95]

Seems yes, also TP/40L

[@towjam2359]

I’d love to see a 73/76 semi-weighted version. (I don’t expect it but I can dream can’t I?)

[@PianoManChuck]

If it follows the history of the (now discontinued) Kurzweil Forte, they introduced a 76-key version of it a couple of years later... so you may just get your wish!

[@towjam2359]

@@PianoManChuck That would be awesome! On a side note, I'm looking forward to your further reviews of this beast.

[@Screaming-Trees]

Well the PC4 has a 76 note version I think. It's essentially the same keyboard in terms of features but not sure about the action.

[@samiam9059]

Not too sure how good your ears are at your age but with Kurzweil's v.a.s.t you can do near anything with it to alter the samples in the most granular amount. Have programmed them for well over 20 years and try and tell people don't sell them short! have owned a 88 key Kronos for 10+ years and replaced the drive for a 10x larger solid state drive and was a warranty station for Kurzweil many years back. Great group to say the least.

[@Lainer1]

I was going to get the Kronos but they were discontinued and I do not like the Nautilus came out. I love this Kurzweil. I'm wondering about the workstation in it VS the Kronos and Fantom. I hear the Fantom is an easier task of using this as a workstation...more intuitive. How are you liking the Kurzweil compared to say the Kronos? I am on the fence right now.

[@lucygodfrey141]

❤

[@cjc4765]

Wow, So impressed I had to look up where it was made and was more than surprised to find out if was founded by Stevie Wonder and Ray Kurzweil!! "They say that Heaven is 10 zillion light years away, But if there is a God, we need him now" - Stevie Wonder- ( was he ever right )?! One of the best vids ever! "Forgotten" always puts a smile on my face and it sounded great on this instrument. Thanks so much Chuck, I hope things are getting better for you with the containers. Things are moving along at a snails pace here also ( but moving). Stay safe! -:)

[@PianoManChuck]

Yeah, most people don't realize that Stevie Wonder and Ray Kurzweil were co-founders. Shipping container problem is much, much worse and getting worse every day! I read that if you took the containers sitting at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports and lined them up, they would stretch from Los Angeles to Chicago.... and that was two weeks ago!

[@Star_Kay]

can you use it as vocoder ?

[@mrdavies7894]

This is also something of interest to me, as well as being able to do real-time sampling (as e.g the Fantom can now do and Nautilus did from the start). I know the K2700 is technically capable of both, but might have to create a multi for the former and wait for a firmware update for the latter.

[@Benqo]

Realtime sampling is not possible for now. But many people aks for that, so let's cross the fingers. But you can run the audio input through the fx engine, that is cool too.

[@lowboy913]

Most of the workstations have great pianos

[@giannagiavelli5098]

i have a kawai mp7 and its a top piano, the only other box that came close was the forte (but not that level of keybed) now I'm temped to get a 2700 but.. its 3k! yikes!

[@ivo4357]

I love your playing, but I feel to get the best "taste" of every sound, you're better off playing the demo that is integrated for EVERY single program. You demonstrated it yourself when you played 41 Rocky Raccoon, it suddenly came alive when you actually played Rocky Raccoon after first playing your more classic piece. I bet the Jazz, Blues, Rock and Pub pianos would have benefitted from that also. Of course, just pressing a button would have demonstrated the sounds, but it wouldn't have been 'your' demonstration, so I get it.

[@jbluesb3southside]

Ok good review Not a winner $$$ better spent