Kurzweil K2500 Version 4.48 Operating System Information

This zipped archive contains version 4.48 of the operating system for your Kurzweil K2500 Series Instrument, as well as a Supplement manual. 

If you are updating from a version previous to 4.21, we recommend that you update to the latest version of Object files.

You can download the appropriate current Objects file from the Downloads page of our web site:

http://www.youngchang.com/kurzweil/html/downloads.html

Information on installing the new OS is included below.


Version 4.48 Release Notes 

This version has not yet been officially released. We believe it to be extremely stable, but we recommend backing up everything in RAM, before updating to his version, as a precaution. (Of course, you should ALWAYS back up everything in RAM anyway.)

This version contains two bug fixes:

1. The K2500 no longer misses recording the first note when KeyWait is turned On in Song Mode.

2. Previously, if you loaded in a file containing a Master Table in which FX Mode was set to Master, the Studio displayed on the Effects Mode page would show the Studio selected when the file was saved, but the actual Studio you heard would be whichever Studio had been previously selected. Now, the correct Studio is heard.


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The complete procedure for installing the operating system is included in Chapter 2 of the K2500 Performance Guide. For your convenience, here's a summary of the procedure:

1. Copy the file K25V444.KOS onto a DOS formatted floppy.

2. Start the K2500

3. Press and release the Exit key while the "Please wait..." message is displayed. This brings up the K2500 Boot Loader.

4. Insert the operating system floppy, then use "Install System" from the K2500 Boot Loader to install the new operating system.

5. When the installation is finished, choose "Run System" from the Boot Loader.

While you won't normally need to reinstall the operating system, you should still put the disk in a safe place, just in case you may need it again.

Note: you can also install these files from a DOS or Kurzweil formatted SCSI disk. When the display asks which device you want to install from, change the parameter to the appropriate SCSI ID. You can only install files from a SCSI disk which is 1 gig or smaller.

We recommend performing a hard reset after installing and running the new system. Choose the Reset soft button from the Master page. (Save any RAM objects to disk before performing a reset.)

Although, you do not have to update the objects when updating the OS, we do recommend that you update to the latest version of Object files.

You can download the current objects files from the Downloads page of our web site:

http://www.youngchang.com/kurzweil/html/downloads.html


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NOTES FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS

The information below documents features added in previous versions, which are not found in the K2500 manual. In addition, previous versions added KB3 Mode and Live Mode, and Disk Partitioning. These features are documented in separate manual addenda. If you do not have these addenda, they can be downloaded from our web site at:

http://www.youngchang.com/kurzweil/html/manuals.html



Version 4.44 Notes

Version 4.44 adds a major new feature - Disk Partitioning Support. This feature is thoroughly documented in the Disk Partitioning Supplement manual (see above). 

In addition, an enhancement has been added to the keymap editor.  Now the CHAN/BANK buttons let you scroll through the key ranges instead of velocity ranges. Although this is a redundant control, it provides a more user-friendly way to access the key ranges while editing other parameters. Any keymaps which have velocity ranges will now show the velocity range as a normal parameter in the keymap editor.  If a keymap has no velocity ranges, the velocity range parameters won't display.

Support for Removable Disks has been added to the Disk Macro feature. This allows you to switch disks or CD-ROMs during the loading of a Macro. Details can be found in the Disk Partitioning Supplement manual.

In addition to the new features & enhancements, a number of bugs have been fixed:

1. A Standard MIDI File type 1 import bug, in which event times might be translated improperly if a track had an end time that was earlier than the song end time, is fixed.

2. Loading of unsupported WAV formats (e.g. compressed WAVs) is now blocked.

3. A bug was fixed which caused possible display redraw problems in Disk Mode, occurring when loading a file that contained a Master Table.

4. An envelope release calculation problem, where engaging the sustain pedal during envelope release would cause the release portion of the envelope to be miscalculated, is fixed

5. AMPENV display scaling, now shows "1/1" when all envelope times are set to 0.

6. After recording a song and hitting the Stop button, if you immediately tried to audition the new song before actually saving, notes would get stuck on when you hit the stop button again. 

7. A bug was fixed in a few user dialogs, where user input was not being range checked properly, allowing bad values to be entered via the keypad.

8. A bug was fixed that could occur when loading or saving multi-root samples, if a large number of samples was within the multi-root.


Version 4.32 Notes

1.  Added an enhancement to track reset at song stop. Now the software will only reset those channels in use by the song. Arrangements now look at track channel assignments to determine which channels to reset when an arrangement is stopped. In previous versions, the Kurzweil would send an All Controllers Reset message on all channels when you pressed stop. This would put all the controllers back to their default values (including restoring volume to full), before resending any controller messages existing at 1:1:000 for each track. This caused problems if you were playing any other MIDI channels live when the song stopped - the volume would suddenly be back at full volume, pan would be centered, and any other controller settings would be returned to 0. Now, only the channels used by the tracks in the sequence are reset; all other channels are left untouched.

2.  Fixed a MIDI song sync problem where the click would accent on the "two" instead of the one.

3.  Improved song/arpeggiator sync when key triggering songs.

4.  Improved MIDI file import/export.

5.  Improved ISO 9660 support.



Version 4.21B Notes:

1. RAM Tracks feature:

This new feature makes it easier to sample in sync with the on-board sequencer; allowing you to record vocals, guitar overdubs, etc. to go with your song. After sampling, the software places the sample into a keymap and program layer, and data in the song track, to allow sync of vocal overdubs, guitar leads, etc. 128M of sample memory allows over 25 track minutes at 44.1kHz.

In order for the RAM Tracks feature to work, you must start recording a sample while a song is playing. If the song is playing when you start recording in the sampler, the system keeps track of that moment in time, and when the song is stopped, or sampler is stopped, the system asks if you want to put the sample "in the song". If you answer yes, the system will ask a few more questions, then automatically set things up to play in sync.

Generally you would want to put the first "RAM track" sample on an empty song track, in which case the system creates a program and keymap for you. Additional RAM tracks would often go on the same song track, in which case the system adds the new sample to the existing keymap, and adds a layer to the existing program. Having each sample on it's own layer allows you to put different DSP on each sample if desired. If you put the RAM track on a drum channel, then you can have 32 RAM tracks per song track, otherwise 3 RAM tracks per song track.

Each time you record a RAM track, the system will ask you to strike the triggering key, which must be different for all RAM tracks assigned to the same song track. This key is different than the root key, it's the key number used to actually trigger the event in the sequence. The system makes sure that the sample plays back at the right pitch, regardless of which trigger key you select.

The RAM track will only play back if the song is started at a point *before* the trigger event. This means you can't locate into the middle of a song and get the RAM tracks to play, unless you record many small pieces (i.e., intro, verse1, verse2, chorus, verse3, chorus etc.). Still, it can be a useful feature if you can live with this limitation, or do the extra work of recording shorter parts.

You can use threshold recording to allow the sampler to start when the player (singer, guitarist, etc.) comes in.

If you start the sampler during the countoff, the sample start point will be adjusted to make it start at 1:1.000, but the alt start point will still point to the start of the sample data.

If you start with Song #1, the system will prompt you to save the song to a RAM location after the RAM track is recorded.

For very long parts, you probably want to record it as several smaller parts, due to the lack of real synchronization, ie the playback rate of the sample is not exactly the same as the record rate. It's very close, but over time there is a small amount of drift (about 0.5 ms per minute). For short songs, it works well, but it is something you want to be aware of.

Mono and stereo sampling can be combined on the same program, since each sample goes into it's own program layer.

2. Keyboard Naming feature:

This feature makes it easier to name objects, or type in strings any place you need them.

Any dialog that allows you to enter a name now has an option "KbdNaming" on the top line of the display. Keyboard Naming is Off by default, to prevent any accidental data entry. Use the Chan/Bank buttons (to the left of the display) to change the mode of this option. After a power off or soft reset, this option is reset to Off automatically, so you will need to turn it on once per editing session.

Choices are "Off", "On", and "Adv".

When set to On, note events control the underlined character, but you must advance to the next character manually, either via the soft buttons, cursor keys, or using certain MIDI notes. This is good for beginners.

When set to Adv, the cursor advances to the next character after you type one. This is much faster, but you need to know the mapping pretty well.

The mapping was chosen to be logical and easy to remember. Letters a-z are on the white keys. Numbers and punctuation are on the black keys. There are some special function keys too, on the ends. The system was designed to work with a 61 note keyboard.

Letters: "a" is on A2, "b" is on B2, etc. The rest of the letters are simply laid out linearly on the white keys. ("j" is on C4, "z" is on E6). To get capital letters, use the sustain pedal, or keys F2 or G6 as a "shift" character.

The Shift function is momentary - you have to hold the pedal or Shift key while pressing another key, just like on your computer keyboard. The Display will show "Shift" while the shift function is engaged.

Numbers: "1" is on F#2, "2" is on G#2, etc., going linearly up the black keys to "9" on C#4 and "0" on D#4. If you use the Shift function (sustain pedal, or keys F2 or G6), you will get the same punctuation you see on the numbered keys on a computer keyboard. (For example, Shift 7=&, Shift 4=$).

Special keys: Cursor Left is D2 or A6 Cursor Right is E2 or B6 Space is G2 or F6 Shift is F2 or G6 (or sustain pedal) Delete is C#2 Insert is D#2 Backspace is A#4 (this is a new function) Enter is F#6

The other black keys (F#4 through D#6, except A#4) fill out the rest of the punctuation: F#4 - Shift F#4 _ G#4 = Shift G#4 + C#5 ; Shift A#5 : D#5 ' Shift D#5 " F#5 , Shift F#5 < G#5 . Shift G#5 > A#5 / Shift A#5 ? C#6 [ Shift C#6 ` D#6 ] Shift D#6 \

3. Improved Pitch Shift and Time Warp sample editor DSP functions: These are very similar to the old functions, but are at least twice as fast, and provide better quality. They are much more usable in general. The "quick = 0" option is unchanged. "quick = 1" tends to use bigger pieces than "quick=2", and hence is a bit faster, but can be a bit grainier.

4. Dynamics DSP function added to sample editor (press the DSP soft button and you can scroll to this function):

This function is optimized to help you loop decaying samples, but can be used as a general purpose compressor or limiter.

Thresh: This is the threshold. It is expressed relative to the maximum amplitude in the selected edit region, so you don't have to worry about what the actual sample level is.

Comp: This is the ratio, but expressed as a percentage. 100% is a limiter, so if you select a thresh of -12dB, 100% will compress 12dB. 50% is similar to a ratio of 2:1, and in this example would compress approximately 6dB. Simply multiply the threshold by the "comp" percentage to figure out about how much compression would occur.

Time: This is the release time. Adjust this to control "pumping". Times in the range 250ms to 1000ms tend to work well, but any time will work. The attack time is always medium fast, and uses look-ahead, which means you can't make attacks more exaggerated by letting them "get by" the compressor. But it means that things will be better tamed in general.

The output level is automatically set to make the peak value in the edit region the same as it was, so the result is, the softer parts are turned up by the compression amount.

5. Arpeggiator Sync feature:

This allows the arpeggiator to stay in sync with song mode or external clock.

Arp Sync is set on the Arp page in the Control Setup (for Program Mode), or per Setup, (in Setup Mode).

If Arp Sync is Off, the arp always re-syncs when the latch is triggered.

If Arp Sync is On, the arp does not re-sync, except when a song starts. That way, even if you play late or early, the arp stays in sync.

6. Song Sync feature:

Song Sync is set on the Common page in the Control Setup (for Program Mode), or per Setup (in Setup Mode).

When Song Sync is Off, the song mode behaves as it always has; any change to the current playing song happens immediately, and key triggered arrangement steps happen when the key goes down.

When Song Sync is On, it allows song changes to be queued up, only taking place when the playing song completes. This allows songs to be scrolled through in performance, choosing the next song while the current one plays.

When Song Sync is On, it also allows key-triggered arrangement steps to be key-triggered early, and will not change steps until the end of the current bar. This provides the ability to keep the beat steady while key arranging in a live situation. The bar length can be set by changing the time signature for each step in the arrangement, or globally for the entire song.

7. Control of Arpeggiator parameters through on-board controllers:

Now you can vary most arpeggiator parameters in real time by assigning sliders or other front panel controls to a choice of ArpOrder, ArpBeats, ArpShift, ArpLimit, ArpLmtOption, ArpVel (Velocity), and ArpDur (Duration). In the Setup editor, any controller can now be assigned to these new functions - they can be selected in the Destination parameter for any physical controller. You will find them in the control source list after Tap Tempo. They can also be selected by typing numbers 40-46 on the numeric keypad and pressing Enter.

8. A new Arpeggiator Latch mode:

A new Arpeggiator Latch mode called AutoHold, provides a key latch that holds the latched keys when all keys go up, but clears all latched notes when a new key goes down. 

9. ISO 9660 format support:

Adds ISO 9660 format support for CD's. This allows you to read CD's in the standard format. Previously we required an "image" of the hard disk format.

ISO9660 support key points:

a) Backup, Copy, and Macro all support this new format.

b) The software supports CD-ROM XA (Mode 2) as well as CD-ROM (Mode 1) 

c) The software supports multi-session CD's, but some older CD-ROM drives may not support multi-session. In this case you will only see the first session. 

d) File naming conventions that work: ISO 9660 level 1, MS DOS, and Joliet. 

e) Do not select "use Macintosh extensions" when making ISO 9660 CD's. This may be changed in a future version, but for now it does not work with our system. 

f) Do not select "append version numbers" when making ISO 9660 CD's. 

g) The maximum "path-length" (total file name, including directory names and slashes) is 64 characters, which means that files in highly nested directories may not be loadable. 

h) Unicode characters do not display correctly.

10. Supports looped WAV files, both import and export. Also correctly handles tuning of WAV and AIFF files.

Saving a WAV file will now export the loop info, if any. Importing a looped WAV file will now get the loop data, if any. The software only handles one loop per sample, so the first loop found in a WAV file is used. The tuning now works correctly.

11. Vocoder feature:

Allows up to 24 vocoder bands. Each band requires two voices, so a 24 band vocoder uses all of the 2500's polyphony.

Vocoder mode can be turned On or Off on the Mast2 page (available now in Master mode). When it is Off, vocoder programs will not work correctly. When it is On, vocoder programs will work, but programs using either "SHAPE2" or "AMP MOD OSC" DSP functions will not work correctly.

Included in this zipped archive is a Vocoder file which contains Setups and Programs designed to do vocoding. A text file documenting this feature in detail is also included.

12.. The Reset function on the Master page has been moved to the Mast2 page.

13. Bugs fixed:

a) Fixes problem where certain SCSI drives would be very slow. 

b) Fixes "Keep" bug in song mode, where keep function  would sometimes freeze. 

c) Fixes local on/off problem over MIDI. Cakewalk and some other sequencers send a MIDI local off message, which was being handled incorrectly. 

d) Fixes SMDI problem when on the sampler page, would cause the 2500 to hang. 

e) Reverses the sense of the MIDI portamento time control (CC 5), to meet the MIDI spec. 

f) Fixes a problem with certain Akai CD's where the samples have a playback rate set to zero. 

g) Fixes a SMDI problem when Live Mode is on. 

h) Now uses Studio 198 for programs that have no KDFX programming, which allows separate outputs to work without any reprogramming.

A number of other bugs are fixed as well.



Version 2.52 Notes

The main feature of v2.52 is KB3 Mode, an astonishingly realistic tone wheel organ model.

KB3 Mode Sticker for K2500 Keyboard owners: 

KB3 Mode makes use of the eight button above the sliders. Newer units have these KB3 Mode functions silk screened onto the case above the buttons. If your unit was manufactured before the release of KB3 mode, there is an adhesive sticker which can be placed above the 8 buttons and control sliders, defining the special functions for those buttons when playing a KB3 program.  You can purchase the sticker from our Accessories company at (800) 400-6658. The cost is $15. In addition, the last page of the addendum manual (which can be downloaded, as mentioned above) contains a full size black & white reproduction of the sticker which you can cut out and tape to the keyboard, if you do not wish to purchase the sticker.



Version 2.31 Notes

Version 2.31 adds support for the KDS Output Option (as well as the KDFX option), which enables you to connect your K2500 with a Digital Multi-Track interface (DMTi).

1.  For units with sampling option plus the KDS Out or KDFX options: When you choose an Input of "Digital" on the Sample page, there are several new options.

The "Src" parameter has three new options: "Ext," "Int," and "Rtn". "Ext" means that the source is coming through one of the external inputs, coaxial or optical, as in previous versions of the operating system. "Int" selects whatever is assigned to bus A, before going through the internal effects. "Rtn" lets you  sample through the return pair of the KDS Output; see the DMTi User's Guide for more information.

The new "Out" parameter has two options: "A/D" and "Dir." The "A/D" parameter routes the output through the internal effects, as in previous versions of the K2500 operating system. "Dir" selects whatever is assigned to bus A, before going through the internal effects. Use "Src: Int" with "Out: Dir" for direct internal digital sampling.

The Out parameter and the new values for the Src parameter will only be seen if the sampling option plus the KDS Out or KDFX is installed.

2.  "Verify" has been added to the Disk page. This option, which is off by default, double-checks the data integrity of all your backup, copy, and save operations. Verification also, however, increases the time required for these operations; you may not need to use it if you have a stable SCSI setup.

3.  You can now copy multiple files with the Copy operation in Disk mode, instead of only a single file. As with other Disk mode operations, use the Select soft button to select multiple files to copy.

4.  On the Utilities Page in Disk Mode, there is a new utility labeled Info. This will display information about the currently selected drive.

5. When formatting a floppy, when the formatting is done, the display will give you an option to insert another floppy and format it.

