Re: KSP8 first impressions....it's a looper, too

["Italo De Angelis" <italoop@libero.it>]

David

obviously you didn't check a DSP7000 or 7500, which have all those features
you described, w/many more resources, like 43 sec delay or 216 sec 
delay/173
sec sampling, morphing new distortion, Pitchtime (delay/shifter w/real time
time-compression/expansion and pitch shifting (16sec), 32 sec reverse 
delays
and shifters, up to 100 taps delay and much, much more, all usable in many
instances in a real open platform.

Sorry!


Greetings
Italo



----- Original Message -----
From: <dcoffin@taunton.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 12:26 AM
Subject: KSP8 first impressions....it's a looper, too


>
> Greetings, fellow loopers....just spent some time with an new "tool of 
>our
> trade," and wanted to share the meat of  a review that's waiting to get
> posted at H-C....This box'll definitely loop your loops and then some.
> David
> btw; best price I've seen is at AMS:  about $2300
>
> <<
> (This review is really just a first impression, since I only got the unit
> last week; I'll check back when I know it better. But it's such an
exciting
> piece I had to jump in and give any folks who might buy such a device a
> heads up: This thing is HOT!!)
>
> Ease of use:
> You definitely have to read the manual, which I've done--several times!
> --and there are still confusing issues, mostly because I haven't tried 
>all
> of the millions of options. Getting to the audition stage is quite
> easy...altho I did have to buy a SmartMedia card and reader, then wait 
>for
> a tech-support callback (only took 2 hours) to get the OS upgraded so the
> remote could see the unit. I'm giving it a 7, which is probably generous,
> because as I get the hang of it, it's not too bad, but it is VERY deep,
> with capacities that go far beyond most other processors (the thing's a
> simple 8-track digital mixer, for cryin' out loud!). Also, there's a very
> responsive and quite helpful mailing list at Yahoo groups, that's
monitored
> by Kurzweil insiders.
> Still, I think there are a few needlessly complex and unintuitive areas 
>of
> the interface (like, even tho there's a big, beautiful display, there are
> virtually no graphics; it's all just lists and data entry fields; I wish
> more companies would follow tc's lead and spend some design time on their
> user interfaces---the G-Force and FireworX are simply brilliant in that
> respect), and I still have many unanswered questions after a week of
> serious reading and trying it out. The manual (and the huge algorithm
> reference) is very well written, and offers a few user tips, but like 
>most
> manuals, could use many more explanations and examples rather than just
> feature lists.
> A perfect example is the FUNs. These are mathematical FUNctions that will
> transform the action of any modulators, in endless and complex ways. It's
> cool that they are there, but where's the tutorial on how to use them to
do
> basic things that lesser boxes just give you simple, direct controls to
do,
> like scaling a footpedal when it's controlling multiple parameters.
> Instead, the manual just tells us the best way to understand them is to
> "use them." Sorry for the rant. I realize that I'm still a total neophite
> with the KSP, and hopefully my opinion will be different in a few months,
> but my experience with complex processors (see below) has often very
> frustratingly been that, while they clearly CAN be made musician-friendly
> (witness tc), you'll get the most from them if you're an engineer or
> mathematician or computer programmer. But the bottom line so far is that
> I'm more excited by the options than daunted by the learning curve. Go 
>the
> website (www.ksp8.com), download the manuals, and see for yourself.
>
> Sound quality:
> In a word: WOW!!
> I'm a rack effects junkie, when I can manage it, and have had lots of
units
> in this price range in my at-home guitar studio where the KSP8 now sits,
> including a tc G-Force and FireworX, Lexicon MPX1, G2, and PCM-80,
Eventide
> GTR4000 and Eclipse, and Ensoniq DP-Pro and DP-4 (they're not still all
> here!).  Even compared to these, I have to say the KSP8 is simply the 
>most
> awesome sonic device I've heard. Obviously these other pieces are damn
> fine--no problems with them sonically, for the most part; I'm simply
> reporting my subjective experience of being knocked out by the "gloss,"
> clarity, and headroom this thing has. It just seems noticeably better to
> me. Maybe it's the analog converters they brag about in the ads;
> whatever--I notice the difference!
> It's hard to single out any effects yet; everything sounds marvelous, but
> the reverbs and delays are really fine, with incredible variety, and this
> is where I've so far spent the most time. I like to create repeating
> rhythms with multi-taps, and all the KSP's various multi's feed back via 
>a
> loop tap, rather that with individual feedback paths, so rhythms are easy
> to do. Maximum delay time in most algorithms is 2.5 sec, but at least one
> multi-unit alg. offers around 20 secs of mono loop time, and tho I 
>haven't
> tried it, I can't see why you couldn't run several of these in series or
> parallel. All delays have a HOLD parameter and setting up a global
> input-level controller is very easy. The distortions are very flexible,
> ranging from smooth tube-amp/cabinet simulations to really raw shapers 
>and
> bit quantizers. The amp sims are not quite Pod-quality, based on the
little
> tweeking I've done, but the range is impressive; definitely usable with
> good tones coming in. A few of the preset chains prove that you can do
> synth-like transformations of a guitar signal (check out the chain
Scorched
> Earth, for instance), and there are several sound-producing
> oscillators---such as an add-noise parameter in the flanger for getting
> more audible results with clean source material. Before the processing
> blocks, there's a rich batch of input eqs, filters, noise sources and
> shapers that don't use processing units; you can even use MIDI note
> messages to pitch a sine wave source and patch a resonant filter after 
>it,
> creating a simple mono-synth before you even get to the monster fx rack.
> The many filters include some that are very synth-like. There's no pitch
> shifting or "harmonizing" per se--seems to be the only thing missing--but
> there's a spectral "pitcher" effect that does something that sounds
fresher
> and almost more interesting to me using comb filters. Ring modulations 
>are
> here aplenty. I'm about half-way through the Algorithm Reference, and
> suffice it to say that there's no scrimping on adjustable parameters, and
> PLENTY of complexity and originality.
> I'm using it via the analog i/o with mixer sends, and feeding it with
> various guitar modelers (VG-8, PodXT, etc...), in parallel with other
> processors and loopers. Haven't yet sent it any vocals, synths or
> percussion...there're a lot of audio demos of that kind of thing on the
> KSP8 website.
> Check it out!
> >>
>