(Message inbox:160) From: Karl Haberl Subject: K2000 FAQ V1.1.0 (33K) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 20:09:56 -0400 To: Multiple recipients of list K2000 _______________________________________________________________________________ K2000 SERIES FAQ Version: 1.1.0 Last Modified: September 14, 1994 Previous version: 1.0.0 Date of previous version: March 4, 1994 Maintained by: Karl Haberl (Internet: khaberl@bbn.com) Comments: This is release 1.1.0 of a FAQ (frequently asked questions) for the K2000 synthesizer. As the author of this FAQ, I would sincerely appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have on its content or form. If you find any information in the FAQ that you feel is in error, or is not stated clearly enough, please send me email to that effect, along with suggestions for improvement. Similarly, if there are any topics that you feel should be included in the FAQ, send those suggestions to me as well. I will be updating this FAQ again very shortly to reflect the availability of some new files (3rd party vendors, disk drive compatibility, etc.) but decided to post this version now, rather than wait. Finally, my apologies for taking so long to issue this update; there just isn't enough time in this world to do everything I want to do ... Changes: 2.2 List Glenn Workman's (KOG) email addresses on Compuserve and AppleLink. List UK Group. 2.3 Kurzweil no longer supports GEnie. List David Fox's Compuserve address. List Kurzweil's tech support number. 2.4 Mention K2000 Cookbook. 3.1 K2000 S versions come standard with 2 MB sample RAM. All K2000s now ship with V3 SW installed. 3.2 Added a few more details about V3. 3.3 Removed V2 from list (superseded by V3). Updated V3 pricing. 3.4 Alchemy is again available for sale to the public. Added PC programs Samplevision, SDX, wav2sds.exe and sds2wav.exe, and Sound Forge. Added sampling of audio CDs on Mac CD-ROM, Disk-2-Disk, Transfer Station. Removed mention of nonexistent program "Secret Life of Walter SMDI." Added Atari programs "Avalon" "SoundDiver/SoundSurfer" and "MIDI QUEST". 4.1 Augmented with some words about the importance of after-sale support. 5.2 Starting with V2.07, K2000 will recognize .MID files. 6.2 Added sentence about display contrast changing as unit heats up. 6.5 Added info about SIMM sizes and recommended vendors. 6.7 New item discussing Calvin and Janis chips. 6.8 Added new item for parking floppy drive heads. 7.2 Corrected typo: 7.2 should be 7.1. 10. New MISCELLANEOUS category. 10.1 New item: how to get to the pong game. Table of Contents: 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 What is the purpose of this FAQ? 1.2 Where can I obtain copies of this FAQ? 2. FOR MORE INFORMATION 2.1 What's available for the K2000 on the Internet? 2.2 What organized user groups are there for discussing the K2000? 2.3 How do I contact Kurzweil Tech Support? 2.4 What other published information is available about the K2000? 3. K2000 MODELS AND OPTIONS 3.1 What are the differences between a K2000, K2000S, K2000R, and K2000RS? 3.2 What are the differences between the different K2000 OS versions? 3.3 What internal options are available? 3.4 What external HW/SW options are available? 4. RETAIL AND SOUNDS 4.1 Where can I get the best deal on a K2000? 4.2 Where can I obtain more samples and sounds? 5. K2000 AND EXTERNAL COMPUTERS 5.1 How do I hook up my Mac/PC and K2000 via SCSI? 5.2 Can I exchange files on floppies between my K2000 and a Mac/PC? 6. HARDWARE ISSUES 6.1 What's the story on static electricity blowing the output transistors? 6.2 My LCD is dim, is it defective? Can I replace it with a better one? 6.3 Keyboard says there's a high frequency rolloff - what gives? 6.4 My board seems noisy? How do I make it quieter? 6.5 What's the deal with ROM, RAM, and P/RAM? 6.6 Can the K2000's 68000 CPU be accelerated to increase polyphony? 6.7 What's the scoop on Calvin and Janis? 6.8 How do I park the heads on the floppy drive? 7. PROGRAMMING 7.1 What is a drum program and how come I can have only one? 7.2 How come some programs have parentheses around them and won't sound? 7.3 Can I control the wet/dry FX mix for each channel? 7.4 How can I create custom banks containing only the objects I want in them? 8. SAMPLES 8.1 How are the ROMs compressed - how does this interact with user envelopes? 8.2 Can I effectively resample internal ROM samples? 9. SYSEX AND UTILITY PROGRAMS 9.1 How do I obtain a copy of the SYSEX spec for the K2000? 10. MISCELLANEOUS 10.1 How do I get to the pong game? 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 What is the purpose of this FAQ? This document is intended to provide summary answers to frequently asked questions about the Kurzweil K2000 series of synthesizers, and to serve as a reference for sources of further information. The reader is encouraged to use the document as such; as a courtesy to others, please familiarize yourself with the contents of this FAQ and explore the other sources of information described herein, if possible, before posting to one of the USENET newsgroups or to the K2000 LISTSERV. Please forward any comments or suggestions concerning the content or form of this FAQ to the maintainer indicated at the top of the FAQ. 1.2 Where can I obtain copies of this FAQ? This FAQ will soon be available for anonymous ftp transfer. Stay tuned. Until then, and for a limited time only, you may request a copy by sending email to khaberl@bbn.com. 2. FOR MORE INFORMATION 2.1 What's available for the K2000 on Internet? On USENET, the rec.music.makers.synth newsgroup often features discussion of the K2000 as part of its normal message traffic. Better yet, there is an active and worthwhile K2000 LISTSERV being maintained at listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu. This list is populated by many K2000 owners (and K2000 wannabees) who are intelligent, knowledgeable, and willing to help newbies (you will find that these are common traits of most K2000 owners :-). For more details on how to join, see 2.2 below. A large library of samples and programs for the K2000 is maintained by John Buckman at ftp.uwp.edu (see 4.2 below). 2.2 What organized user groups are there for discussing the K2000? There are a few organized groups formed for the purpose of discussing issues related to the K2000. A LISTSERV on the Internet is being maintained by John Buckman at listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu. To subscribe to this list, send an email message to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu with "SUBSCRIBE K2000 Your Name" in the body of the message (for example "SUBSCRIBE K2000 Jane Doe"). The LISTSERV will automatically extract your email address from your message and send you a welcome message with more information on the group. A variety of text files with useful K2000 information are available on this listserv, and all the articles posted to the list are automatically journaled and available as well. There is also a K2000 Owner's Group (KOG) coordinated by Glenn Workman, who publishes a newsletter called "In Gear" and maintains a public domain archive of samples and sounds. To join this group, send a letter and four postage stamps to Glenn Workman at KOG/Freq Sound, 5451 Watercress Place, Columbia, MD, 21045-2455 USA. Glenn also accepts email on Compuserve (70671.454@compuserve.com) and on AppleLink (freqsound@applelink.apple.com). There is a K2000 Group in the UK. The owner/president is Peter Buick, who is reachable at 100333.3701@compuserve.com; the Group address is K2k- K2000 Owner's Group, PO Box 907, London SE27 9NZ. The UK Group offers three levels of membership (the 3rd level includes a monthly 3.5" HD floppy of stuff), CD- ROM pressing services, sound libraries, European BBS specifically for the Group, classified ads, and more. 2.3 How do I contact Kurzweil Tech Support? Kurzweil Tech Support maintains a daily presence on Compuserve in the MIDI Vendor Forum (send email to David Fox at 75300.2272@compuserve.com ), PAN, and MIDILINK, and also monitors the K2000 Internet list. Kurzweil Tech Support can be reached at Young-Chang America in California, USA, by phone at (310) 926-3200. 2.4 What other published information is available about the K2000? Keyboard and Electronic Musician (EM) magazines have each published several articles about the K2000. The first reviews of the K2000 are found in the March 1992 issues of Keyboard and EM. The sampling option was reviewed in EM's May 1993 issue and Keyboard's June 1993 issue. Articles containing programming tips for the K2000 are found in Keyboard's February 1993 issue and EM's March 1993 issue. There is also a document called the "K2000 Cookbook" available commercially, but reviews I have seen to date have not been very flattering. 3. K2000 MODELS AND OPTIONS 3.1 What are the differences between a K2000, K2000S, K2000R, and K2000RS? * The K2000 is the base keyboard version. * The K2000S is a K2000 with the sampling option (SMP-K), 2MB sample RAM, and fan. * The K2000R is the rack version of the K2000 and comes with 4 additional outs, a fan, and a 2nd SCSI connector (for daisy-chaining). * The K2000RS is a K2000R with the sampling option (SMP-R) and 2 MB sample RAM. 3.2 What are the differences between the different K2000 OS versions? * V1 Base operating system: the wonders of VAST. 1.0 - The original 1.28, 1.29, 1.3 - New factory programs, support for SMDI and more external SCSI devices (e.g., flopticals), variety of minor bug fixes, several new features * V2 Added graphic sample editing, looping utilities, DSP functions like time compression and expansion, resampling, trigger on release, and better support for loading samples of other manufacturers * V3 Adds real sequencer, hierarchical file system with capability to load and save individual objects, MACRO facility for load operations, improved SCSI performance, compatibility with DOS-format SCSI drives, plus a range of other operating system improvements. 3.3 What internal options are available? The following options are offered by Kurzweil (send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for more details on each option): FK-1 fan kit (keyboard, std on rack) $69.95 - internal cooling V3 ROM OS upgrade from v1.x: $150.00 from v2.x: $75.00 purchase within 60 days of v3 release: $20.00 (suggested installed prices) - sequencer, better file system, improved SCSI, DOS SMP-K Sampling w/V3 (keyboard) $699.00 SMP-R Sampling w/V3 (rack) $749.00 - 16-bit stereo sampling 24-48kHz - AES-EBU & S/PDIF digital input/output PRAM 760K battery-backed RAM upgrade $395.00 - increased storage for all objects exc samples RMB-K Soundblock Daughter Board $125.00 - board needed for ROM-1 and ROM-2 ROM-1 Soundblock 1 (requires RMB-K) $395.00 - 8MB of orchestral ROM samples plus patches ROM-2 Soundblock-2 (not available) $395.00 HDC-1 Kit to install internal hard drive $14.95 The following can be purchased from 3rd party vendors: SCSI drives a range of internal hard disk drives; send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for list of compatibles SIMMs up to 64MB of 32-pin 8-bit Macintosh-style SIMMs; 4 slots - SIMMs installed in pairs; send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for list of compatibles The Audio audio quality HW upgrade (different OP AMPs) $300.00 Clinic Weyer/Smith Labs (406) 652-1564 - see Keyboard mag 2/94 3.4 What external HW/SW options are available? SCSI drives range of hard drives, removables, CD-ROMs; send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for list of compatibles Patch Editor/ GPE (Galaxy Plus Editors from Opcode) and Unisyn (from Librarians MOTU = Mark of the Unicorn) are universal editor/librarian programs that feature profiles for graphic editing of K2000 patch information and database storage of patch parameters on a Macintosh computer. Neither will allow you to store or transfer samples to a K2000. Profiles are also included for many other popular synthesizers. Edit One is a less expensive version of GPE with just a single synth profile. Eddie Yee [eddieyee@netcom.com, 2075 31st Ave. San Francisco CA 94116 (415) 665-0656] sells KLIB, a K2000 editor for Windows for $45 + $3 S+H. At Work Software [Box 672 Tijeras NM 87059 (505) 281-2194] sells a K2000 editor/librarian for Windows for $110. For the Atari, Emagic's universal librarian program "SoundDiver/SoundSurfer" has a K2000 driver, as does Sound Quest's "MIDI QUEST v4.0". Samples/ SMDI = SCSI Musical Data Interchange protocol. SMDI SMDI-compatible devices are able to exchange samples over SCSI, which is much faster than Sample Dump Standard (SDS) over MIDI. Peavey developed SMDI and implemented it in their SX/SP sampler. K2000 added SMDI support in OS>1.2. Later versions of Alchemy support SMDI, as does Max (a graphical object-oriented MIDI programming language for the Macintosh from Opcode), "Transfer Station" from Interval Music Systems [310-478-3956] transfers samples from a Macintosh in AIFF format to a K2000 using SMDI, and MOTU's Digital Performer (announced intent to support SMDI for transfer of their digital audio files at NAMM '94). Alchemy (from Passport - $695) is a graphic sample editing program for the Macintosh. Mac users with a an Apple CD300 CD-ROM drive and Apple's Simple Player can digitally sample audio CDs and save the audio as QuickTime movies on the Mac; then shareware like movie2snd or soundtrack can be used to extract the sound portion as System 7 sound files or AIFF files, which can be transferred via SMDI to the K2000 by other programs. Disk-2-Disk (Optical Media International - $199) reads CD audio data and stores in AIFF format (+ other features). Samplevision (Turtle Beach - $99) is a sample editor for IBM PC compatibles; a $79 option permits sample transfer to the K2000 using SMDI. Sonic Foundry is developing a full-featured sample editor for Windows that supports SMDI sample transfer to the K2000 as well as SDS (projected release 7/94 - $TBD - contact Monty Schmidt at 608-256-3133 or fax: 608-256-7300 for more info). SDX (FTP from alf.uib.no) converts and sends .wav files to the K2000, and wav2sds.exe and sds2wav.exe (FTP from ftp.uwp.edu) convert.wav files to SDS files. For Atari, Steinberg has a sample editor called "Avalon." 4. RETAIL AND SOUNDS 4.1 Where can I get the best deal on a K2000? Casey Palowitch maintains a new equipment price list that is posted frequently to the rec.music.makers.synth, comp.music, and rec.audio.pro newsgroups. Deciding where to buy your unit depends on many factors including price, dealer integrity, service competence and product support, location, convenience, and personal relationships. Every individual weighs these factors differently according to their own situation. Consult Casey's list for the latest best prices, check out your local dealer(s), call the mail order places, and then secure your best deal. Remember to factor support into your evaluation as well as price; a good dealer will be there for you *after* the purchase, helping you to get the most out of your unit and perhaps offering other goodies like samples and 3rd-party patches at reasonable (or nominal) prices. Sweetwater Sound has been one of the most popular mail-order dealers for the K2000, as they are the largest Kurzweil dealer in the world and have traditionally offered good prices and service as well as products developed in-house. Recent posted experiences with Sweetwater, however, seem to indicate that perhaps their own success has begun to spoil them somewhat; it would appear that better prices can often be obtained at other dealers. There are many reputable dealers out there; post an article to the K2000 group for current advice concerning dealers of interest. 4.2 Where can I obtain more samples and sounds? Kurzweil has been generously supporting the K2000 series with development of reasonably-priced patches and samples available on floppy disk. Please send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for a list of the disks that are currently available. In addition, a number of 3rd-party vendors also offer sounds and samples for the K2000 in a variety of formats. If you pick up a recent copy of Keyboard magazine, you will find ads featuring K2000 sounds from such companies as Sweetwater Sound, Sound Source Unlimited, GreytSounds, East-West Warehouse, Invision Interactive, Pro-Rec, Voice Crystal, and others. Public domain samples and sounds are also available for anonymous ftp transfer at ftp.uwp.edu (FTP anonymously to ftp.uwp.edu, then change directory to /pub/music/kurzweil), and by mail for a nominal fee from Glenn Workman, who is the coordinator of the Kurzweil Owner's Group (see 2.2). There is a possibility that the entire contents of this public domain archive may be made available on CD-ROM; stay tuned. Of course, with the power that the K2000 provides with VAST and the sampling option, you should not overlook perhaps the best source of samples and sounds there is: make 'em yourself!. 5. K2000 AND EXTERNAL COMPUTERS 5.1 How do I hook up my Mac/PC and K2000 via SCSI? In many situations, it may not be a good idea.to connect a K2000 and an external computer via SCSI. In a nutshell, this is is because each of these devices (K2000, Mac, or PC) like to be the SCSI master, and disk drive formats for all are fundamentally incompatible (i.e., you cannot partition and/or share a drive between the K2000 and either of a Mac or PC). There are really only two scenarios in which it makes any sense to connect a K2000 and an external computer via SCSI: (1) you want to transfer samples over SCSI using SMDI, or (2) you want to be able to alternate use of a removable media device (e.g., CD-ROM, Syquest drive, etc.) between your K2000 and external computer without having to turn things off and switch cables around. For (1), you will need to be running a SMDI-capable program (such as Alchemy) on your computer and have OS > 1.2 installed on your K2000. For (2), you will need to know how to "tell" your K2000 or computer to "chill out" when there is a foreign-format cartridge in the drive. You may need to obtain additional SW for your computer (like AccessPC or DOS Mounter for the Mac) to accomplish this. Please send the message "get mack2000 txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for more discussion of SCSI issues. 5.2 Can I exchange files on floppies between my K2000 and a Mac/PC? The K2000 reads DOS-formatted floppies. If you format a floppy disk on a DOS PC, or on a Mac equipped with a SuperDrive and Apple File Exchange, the K2000 can read it (and vice versa). The K2000 currently will only recognize files with the .KRZ extension (except that OS versions >= 2.07 will recognize .MID standard MIDI files). So if you download a file containing a bank of programs and samples off ftp.uwp.edu using FTP in binary mode, and store it on a DOS- formatted floppy in a file with a name of 8 characters or less with a .KRZ extension, the K2000 will be able to load it. If you similarly store a Standard MIDI File on a DOS-formatted floppy, your K2000 will be able to load the file and play it using the onboard sequencer. Note that if you are using a Mac, you must be careful that certain Mac-specific file information is removed before saving the file on floppy; consult a knowledgable Mac person for help in doing this. 6. HARDWARE ISSUES 6.1 What's the story on static electricity blowing the output transistors? There has been some discussion about the sensitivity of the K2000 to static electricity. Some on the K2000 list have experienced failures due to blown output transistors. The output transistors used in the K2000 were designed to prevent loud popping sounds when the unit is turned on. These transistors are static-sensitive and may blow if the correct procedure for hooking up cables to your K2000 is not followed. The correct procedure is simply this: always plug one end of your 1/4" audio cable into a properly grounded external amplifier or mixing board *before* plugging the other end into your K2000 output jack. This will ensure that there is no electrostatic potential difference present on the leads of your cable when you plug it into your K2000. There have been rumors that Kurzweil is developing a hardware retrofit kit to make the output transistors less susceptible to static discharge, but as yet there is no official confirmation of this from Kurzweil. 6.2 My LCD is dim, is it defective? Can I replace it with a better one? Many people complain about the brightness (or lack thereof) of the K2000 LCD. Sorry folks, but the one that Kurzweil uses just isn't that bright, and there's not a whole lot that you can do about it. To our knowledge, there are no hardware replacements available for it. Try using a little external light above and behind your LCD if you need to increase its readability. Also, you may notice that display contrast changes after the unit heats up; this is not a software bug, but rather a characteristic of the display hardware. 6.3 Keyboard says there's a high frequency rolloff - what gives? Keyboard magazine's testing of the K2000 sampling option for its review in the June 1993 issue found that the frequency response was not flat out to 20KHz as they expected. Kurzweil specs for the sampling option show flat response out to 20KHz. This apparent discrepancy is due to the fact that Kurzweil sampling option specs are listed for the A/D converter section only, while the Keyboard specs include not only the sampling A/D converters, but also the output D/A converters of the K2000. It is the D/A converters that are apparently responsible for the measured frequency rolloff (-1db@16KHz and -3db@18kHz, 44.1kHz sampling rate). Is this significant? Unclear. Some people argue that frequencies in that range are important to our psychoacoustic perception of sound quality, even if they are so high as to be almost impossible to hear, given the natural limitations of our hearing. Others claim frequencies in this range are of little, if any, practical importance. Let your ears be the judge. 6.4 My board seems noisy? How do I make it quieter? The consensus seems to be that most of the noise that you hear is probably due to a combination of noise introduced by the onboard effects chip and improper use of gain staging. The quietest output is obtained when using the direct (dry) outputs, rather than the mix (wet) outputs. Noise can also be minimized by paying proper attention to maximizing signal-to-noise ratio. Review the gain stages in your algorithms to make sure that your individual patch outputs are as "hot" as possible without inducing any unwanted clipping (send the message "get gainstag text k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for more info on gain staging). Also, when operating in multitimbral mode (e.g., driven by an external sequencer) make sure that MIDI volumes are set as high as they can be while maintaining the relative volume balance of your individual tracks (ideally, at least one of your tracks should achieve MIDI volume 127 at least once - if not readjust the overall volume balance of your tracks in the sequence). 6.5 What's the deal with ROM, RAM, and P/RAM? ROM stands for Read-Only-Memory. ROM chips are programmed with information using special equipment. Changing the information stored in ROM requires replacing the chips themselves. Information stored in ROM is retained when the power is turned off. The K2000 uses ROM to store its operating system code (e.g., V2.x), to store the factory-supplied patches, and to store factory-supplied samples (8MB sample ROM comes with the base unit, expansion provides for two additional 8MB ROM sets up to a combined total of 24MB). RAM stands for Random Access Memory. RAM chips are used in the K2000 to store user-loaded samples (these can be loaded either from floppy disk, over SCSI, or over MIDI using the Sample Dump Standard). RAM is "volatile," meaning that when you turn off your unit, any sample information present in RAM will be lost. The K2000 uses standard Macintosh-style 30-pin SIMMs. 1, 2, and 4 MB SIMMs can be purchased from most any vendor. For 8 and 16 MB SIMMs, Kurzweil recommends Lifetime Memory (800) 233-6233 & Simple Technology (800) 367-7330 (PS Systems, a former supplier, has gone out of business). Please send the message "get op_acc txt k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for more info on options. P/RAM stands for Program RAM. The P/RAM in the K2000 is "battery-backed," meaning that the batteries in the K2000 continuously supply power to the P/RAM so that the information in them is retained when the unit is turned off. P/RAM is used to store all user-created objects except samples (programs, songs, keymaps, etc.). 6.6 Can the K2000's 68000 CPU be accelerated to increase polyphony? Kurzweil tells us that it is not possible or cost-effective to increase the polyphony of an existing unit by "accelerating" its 16MHz 68000 CPU. The design of the K2000 and its implementation of VAST relies on other special- purpose DSP hardware in addition to the 68000 CPU. As such, this design does not permit "acceleration" by simply popping in a faster clock crystal or by replacing the CPU with a more powerful one. Accelerating the K2000, therefore, would really involve a complete redesign of the unit, resulting in a new instrument. 6.7 What's the scoop on Clavin and Janis? The Janis chip replaces the Calvin chip. This is the "sample fetch" chip used by the K2000. Kurzweil made the change as part of a manufacturing update. In terms of the results for the end user, there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE in features or capability. However, because of differences between the two chips, the Janis chip requires a slightly modified circuit board and engine firmware. You can tell what kind of board you have by whether or not there is a J after the version number displayed on power-up. If you are updating your unit to a new version of the operating system, you will need to know which version you have so that the proper engine firmware will be sent. There is no damage caused by installing one version of firmware in the opposite machine; it will simply not work. 6.8 How do I park the heads on the floppy drive? To park the heads on the K2000, simply press "Load" with no disk in the drive before turning the unit off. 7. PROGRAMMING 7.1 What is a drum program and how come I can have only one? "Drum programs" are programs that use more than the standard limit of 3 layers (up to 32 layers are possible in a drum program). They are _called_ drum programs, not because they can only be used for drum sounds (they can be used for any sounds at all), but because using many layers is very handy for tailoring the characteristics of the individual instruments in a drum kit. You can only have one drum program active at a time because of the additional processing power demanded of the K2000's synthesis engine. 7.2 How come some programs have parentheses around them and won't sound? As explained in 7.1, only one drum program can be active at a time. On the MASTER page, you designate which MIDI channel is the "drum channel" (i.e., that channel which can have a drum program assigned to it). When you see programs with parentheses around them, this means they are drum programs, and you are viewing programs for a channel that is not the designated "drum channel." 7.3 Can I control the wet/dry FX mix for each channel? The K2000 has only one FX processor, and it is not possible to specify separate wet/dry mix amounts for each channel directly. This can be accomplished, however, by reprogramming your patches to select an algorithm that uses either a panner or mixer, setting the lower output (on the OUTPUT page) to B(Dry), and then adjusting either pan position POS or mixer AMP to achieve the desired levels. 7.4 How can I create custom banks containing only the objects I want in them? Let the K2000 operating system do the work for you. Instead of deleting all the objects that you don't want, simply save the programs containing objects that you do want to an initially empty bank and then save that bank to disk, with its dependent objects. Later, reload that disk file into an empty bank and all the objects (and _only_ the objects) that were needed by those programs (samples, keymaps, etc.) will be available. 8. SAMPLES 8.1 How are the ROMs compressed - how does this interact with user envelopes? The ROM samples are compressed using a Kurzweil proprietary algorithm. Compression is used to stuff as much sample data as possible into the onboard 8MB ROM. Decompression of the sample data happens automatically, and is encoded as part of the natural envelope for the sample. This is important to remember because if you alter the natural envelope of the sample, you may find that the timbre of the sample has been changed. This is because alteration of the envelope affects not only the loudness of the sound, but the decompression of the sample as well. 8.2 Can I effectively resample internal ROM samples? Yes, if you have the sampling option installed. You just need to set your sample start to some value *before* the actual start value for that sample so that you'll have enough time to trigger the sample recording and catch the attack transient. Send the message "get smptutor text k2000" to listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu for more information on sampling. 9. SYSEX AND UTILITY PROGRAMS 9.1 How do I obtain a copy of the SYSEX spec for the K2000? At present, you don't. We have heard rumors that one does not exist, and that the developers responsible for 3rd-party products like the K2000 editor modules for GPE and Unisyn were only able to obtain the needed SYSEX information by spending long hours on the phone with Kurzweil engineers. Authorized third-party developers who are privy to what K2000 SYSEX looks like are bound by non-disclosure agreements not to reveal the information. Many feel that it is in Kurzweil's best interest to release the information generally. Stay tuned. 10. How do I get to the pong game? Press "Master", "Util", and then the button without a label. This gives you a screen full of hex dump, and if you press the "Setup" key you get the pong game.