From: sef@sef-pmax.slisp.cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Re:      The K2000 vs. SY99 continued...
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 05:39:50 GMT
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon


Well, here's my two cents' worth on the K2000 vs. the rest of the world.  I
own a K2000.  I've only messed with the SY99 for a while at a local store,
though I've owned and programmed a number of Yamaha's earier FM synths.

1. On hardware reliability, the K2000 has had a problem with one of the
cables between the keyboard and the sound generator coming unplugged during
shipping from Korea.  Kurzweil has put in some sort of fix for this.  I've
heard of no other hardware problems.  Perhaps your dealer had a shipment of
units from before this fix, or perhaps there's some other problem that has
not been reported here.  It would be interesting to hear what problems your
dealer has seen.  Without the internal fan the K2000 runs hot inside, which
worries me, but I have not heard of any units failing because of this.  I
don't know about the SY99's hardware reliability, though Yamaha gear tends
to be well-built physically.

2. For a machine of the K2000's complexity, there are remarkably few
software bugs.  I've only found one real bug -- a reboot when you try to
edit one of the factory drum patches -- and it is being fixed in some
future release.

3. The great thing about the K2000 -- the thing that has whipped all of us
up into a frenzy -- is the powerful synthesis engine.  The all-digital
filters and other DSP options are incredibly powerful and flexible, and
they can use either samples or simple generated waveforms as raw material.
The K2000 can sound extremely fat and analog or extremely edgy and FM-like,
as you like.  You can also get very complex evolution of sounds over time.
The SY99 filters are not in the same league, in my opinion.  FM synthesis,
even of the extended kind, does a few things very well and many other
things poorly or not at all.

4. If you just want a sample player and don't care about synthesis or
significant sound-tailoring, either machine will do (as will a Proteus or
Sound Canvas).  The K2000 does have several advantages, however: sample
memory expandable with cheap standard SIMMs, an additional 8M of ROM with
orchestral samples coming soon (and I'm pretty confident that they'll be
very good samples), ability to download samples from the huge S1000 and
(soon) EPS libraries, and the ability to add a sampling option later.  Plus
those great filters if you want to mutate anything.

5. I'm a programmer and software designer, and the K2000 is BY FAR the
best-designed synth I've ever dealt with in terms of user interface,
cleanliness, logical organization, flexibility, and getting all the little
details right.  For example, the envelopes are displayed graphically in the
LCD display, and the times are given in seconds rather than in mysterious
parameter codes.  For another example, there's a neat string-search command
that lets you find all patches that contain the substring "flut".  The
Yamaha machines I've owned have been constantly infuriating -- everywhere
you turn there are dumb design decisions and needless complexity burned
into ROM.  (That's why E!  was able to make a good business out of
correcting some of these mistakes.)

6. On the negative side, the K2000 effects chip was apparently tossed in as
an afterthought.  It's reasonably flexible and has some decent algorithms,
but is also quite noisy.  Unfortunately, instead of putting an effects
processor into the digital signal path, they pass the analog signal to a
Digitech chip that re-digitizes the signal, runs it through whatever tapped
delay line you've selected, then converts back to analog and mixes in.  I
don't know what kind of effects the SY99 has, but it wouldn't surprise me
if it were better.

7. The sequencer on the K2000 is rudimentary.  That's OK with me, since I'd
rather do sequencing on a computer, with its big screen, in any case.  But
if you want a built-in sequencer capable of hairy editing, the K2000 is not
the answer.  There's no reason it couldn't be upgraded in some future
software release, however.  A much larger object/sequencer memory will be
available soon.

8. The K2000 packaging is solid, but lacking in features: only 61 keys, no
poly pressure generated by the keyboard (though it does generate release
velocity), and only one continuous foot pedal.  Most distressing of all, on
a machine in which so many parameters can be controlled in real time, there
is only one control slider.  The K2000 does respond in very flexible ways
to external MIDI control, however.

9. Yes, Yamaha is a bigger company and will probably be around longer.  But
the K2000 is quite successful and Young Chang certainly has the resources
to survive a growth spurt in this market without cash-flow problems.
Sometimes it seems to me that Yamaha is primarily interested in the toy
keyboard market, and that they stay in the serious-keyboard market just to
squeeze the last drop of profit out of the DX7 line.

10. Perhaps your salesman is entirely trustworthy and objective, but it
does seem that Yamaha goes to great (and perhaps illegal) lengths to
prevent big dealers from undercutting the profit margins of smaller stores.
So stores have some extra monetary incentive to push the big Y.  Kurzweil
tried to enforce a similar floor on retail price of the K2000, but it
doesn't seem to have taken -- my local heavy-discounting dealer is still
quietly selling K2000's for $2095.

The factory patches on the K2000 will not reach out and grab you (unlike
the Proteus 1, for example).  However, if you listen carefully, you will
hear all the ingredients you need to make great patches: really fat, smooth
analog sounds, tinkly FM-like sounds, ethereal sounds that evolve for
hours, and acoustic instruments that are both dead accurate and
controllable.

Well, I bought a K2000 and am really enjoying it.  I haven't turned on any
of my other boxes in several weeks.  Your mileage may vary.

-- Scott
===========================================================================
Scott E. Fahlman
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Internet: sef+@cs.cmu.edu