Turn On, Tune In, Tweak
Out
From the creators of the finest synthesizers in
the world comes the world's most powerful
effects processor, winner of the Electronic
Musician Editors Choice award for Best Effects
Processor Over $1000.
 The Kurzweil KSP8 multi-bus signal processor is
an 8-channel effects system designed for the
professional engineer, producer, or musician who
requires high-performance effects, excellent
sound quality, and unparalleled real-time
control. It has over twice the processing power
of KDFX, the world-class effects system found in
Kurzweil's award-winning K2600 synthesizer. The
KSP8 extends the arsenal of effect algorithms
from KDFX, adding newly developed surround
reverbs and many more stereo and mono
algorithms. The architecture has enough
flexibility and power to process up to 8
channels of audio simultaneously, in mono,
stereo, and surround combinations. Unlike other
high-end effects systems whose DSP resources are
fixed to a small number of processing engines,
the 16 available processing units in the KSP8
may be freely shared among up to 8 effect buses.
The sonic quality of the KSP8 is stunning; it
has the best analog audio specifications in the
industry, featuring unique output circuitry
(patent-pending). The power, flexibility, and
sound of the KSP8 truly make it a must-have for
professional and semi-pro studios, as well as
for sound designers in search of exciting new
timbres.
The Architecture:
The KSP8 architecture is elegant, offering a
simple, easy to understand structure. On the
lowest level is the effect algorithm. The KSP8
offers the highest quality algorithms designed
for mono, stereo, and surround applications,
with plenty of parameters for tweaking. From
these algorithms, Kurzweil engineers have
crafted exquisite effect presets ranging from
spacious and gorgeous, to shocking and in your
face rude. Effect presets are easily linked
together to form effect chains on up to 8 buses.
Users can fully customize effect presets and
chains, giving users all the control they want.
Manipulation and automation are a snap using
MIDI or a host of local modulation sources
including up to 36 LFOs and 36 envelope
generators, with 72 functions available for
combining control sources.
The highest level of the KSP8 architecture is
called the studio. The studio is a kind of
"snapshot" of the total state of the KSP8 at one
time. Studios contain all the physical
connection settings, signal routing (analog and
digital I/O selections), analog and digital
signal levels, as well as the assigned effect
presets, effect chains, effect bus assignments
(including all MIDI channel and controller
settings) and all multi-band equalizer settings.
A studio allows you to save and recall your
entire project, quickly and easily. The KSP8
offers up to 999 locations for user-created
objects. SmartMedia cards are used to store your
work.
Signal Routing:
The KSP8's flexible signal routing allows inputs
and outputs to be wired up freely, and signals
can be bused around the system for total
control. Each input signal has its own
multi-band equalizer and stereo or multi-channel panner. Inputs and outputs can be routed and
saved as part of the studio. Effect buses may be
routed directly to the KSP8's outputs, or to
internal mixdown buses for submixing. The unique
multi-stage metering section allows for metering
at 4 points in the signal path, for all 8
channels.
Factory Programming:
The extensive list of 249 DSP algorithms are
used to create over 600 effect presets including
lush reverbs, realistic rooms, throaty flangers,
dreamy choruses, delays, ruthless distortions,
aliasing and chaos generators, rotary speaker
and cabinet simulators, Laserverb effects,
enhancers, equalizers, a full complement of
dynamics processors including multi-band and
side-chain compressors, and much more.
Tempo-based effects such as flangers, panners,
filter sweeps and delays can be synced to an
internal or external MIDI clock; internal system
tempo can be set with the Tap Tempo button.
5.1 Surround Audio:
Today's audio and video markets must be ready to
meet the DVD demands of music and sound in a
variety of surround formats. The KSP8 includes
new algorithms designed specifically for
surround processing, including 5.1 surround
ambience and reverb, and multi-channel
compression. Whether you're using a large-format
5.1 console or a modest line mixer, the KSP8's
multi-channel panners and effects make it the
perfect tool for creating or enhancing a 5.1
channel surround mix.
I/O and Synchronization:
The KSP8 base unit comes with 4 balanced analog
inputs and outputs and AES/EBU in and out, for a
total of 6 possible channels. An I/O option slot
provides a choice of expansion. The KSP8
provides a 48kHz or 44.1 kHz selectable internal
master clock, or can slave to an external
digital clock. 24-bit precision is maintained on
all channels.
Intelligent Interface Design:
The KSP8 has a handsome new design that offers
an easy-to-use interface. It includes a 240 x 64
CCFL backlit display, scroll knob, data entry
keypad, and dedicated buttons for navigation and
actions. It's fast and easy to get to important
features and functions such as configuration
controls, bus selection, level metering, effect
bypassing, and more. The intelligent and
intuitive design offers features like Quick
Pages, allowing instant access to the most
commonly needed effect parameters.
Options and Upgrades:
Housed in a 2-space rack-mountable chassis, the
KSP8 offers an expandable design with user
installable I/O option cards. The KSP8 can
accommodate one of several I/O options: 4
additional channels of analog I/O, or 8 channels
of digital I/O, in Alesis Lightpipe, Tascam TDIF,
mLAN (Firewire/IEEE-1394), or AES/EBU formats.
The Alesis Lightpipe and Tascam TDIF provide
word clock sync. The mLAN option provides a
direct FireWire connection, allowing the KSP8 to
function as complete solution for Digital I/O, a
MIDI interface as well an effects processor for
computer based recording applications. When
fully expanded, the KSP8 can process 8 separate
input signals, selected from up to 14 sources.
An additional hardware option slot is provided
for future growth.
As new technology and capabilities become
available, the user can update the KSP8's
operating system and ROM objects. New OS and
object releases may be loaded into Flash ROM
from the SmartMedia card or via MIDI. Advanced
users may fully customize the ROM objects to
suit their specific needs.
Remote Control:
The optional RSP8 offers totally remote
operation over all KSP8 functions. The remote
offers the same display, navigation and data
entry controls as the KSP8. In addition, the
RSP8 adds a joystick and 8 knobs to control the
KSP8 more efficiently. The RSP8's compact and
attractive design will be at home in any studio
environment. One RSP8 can control up to 7 KSP8s
when used with HUB7, our optional multi-port
hub.
Specifications:
Analog Inputs
Connectors: Four 1/4" TRS balanced jacks
standard, eight optional
Input Impedance: 20K ohms balanced, 10K or 20K
ohms unbalanced
Maximum Input Level: +22dBu
Minimum Input Level for 0dBFS: +4dBu
CMRR: > 60dB @ <= 1kHz, > 40dB @ 1kHz - 20kHz
A/D Converter: 24-bit, 128x oversampling
Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.15dB
Dynamic Range: > 110dB unweighted @ 1kHz
THD+N: < 0.0015% @ 1kHz, +19dBu
Crosstalk: < -100dB @ 1kHz
Analog Outputs:
Connectors: Four 1/4" TRS balanced jacks
standard, eight optional
Output Impedance: 100 ohms balanced, 50 ohms
unbalanced
Maximum Output Level: +22dBu
Minimum Output Level for 0dBFS: +4dBu
D/A Converter: 24-bit, 128x oversampling
Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.15dB
Dynamic Range: > 110dB unweighted @ 1kHz
THD+N: < 0.002% @ 1kHz, +19dBu
Crosstalk: < -100dB @ 1kHz
Digital Audio I/O
Connectors: One female and one male XLR,
standard
Impedance: 110 ohms (AES) or 75 ohms (SPDIF)
Formats: AES/EBU (AES3-1992) or SPDIF (IEC
60958-3)
Input Word Length: Up to 24 bits
Output Word Length: 16, 20, or 24 bits
Dither: None, Flat, and 2 types of Shaped dither
Optional I/O:
4 channel Analog I/O (1/4" x 4)
8 channel AES/EBU or S/PDIF (multi-pin
connector, serial connectors, BNC word clock)
8 channel Alesis Lightpipe and 8 channel TEAC
Tascam TDIF (Lightpipe and TDIF data connectors,
BNC word clock)
mLAN option
Factory ROM:
249 effect algorithms (expandable)
636 effect presets (up to 999 user presets)
138 effect chains (up to 999 user chains)
14 studios (up to 999 user studios)
Effects Algorithms:
Reverbs (booths, rooms, chambers, halls, plates,
stages and more), Delays, Choruses, Flangers,
Phasers, Shapers, Enhancers, triggered Filters,
Distortions, Tube Simulators, Compressors,
Limiters, Expanders, Gates, Bit Resolution
Degenerators, Aliasing, Ring Modulators, Cabinet
Simulators, Spatializers, Rotary Speaker
Emulations, Tremolo, Resonant Lowpass, Highpass
Filters, Bandpass, Notch, Parametric, Graphic
and Multi-band equalizers, Kurzweil?s unique
Laserverb, Pitcher? and Chaos, plus others
Effect Routing: Any 8 of up to 14
possible inputs can be processed and routed to
any 8 of the 14 possible outputs.
External Data
Storage: SmartMedia cards can store up to 64
Mb. Users can store and retrieve via MIDI Sys Ex
Display: 240 x 64 CCFL backlit LCD with
front panel contrast
MIDI: In/Out/Thru ? 16 channel operation
ROM Upgrades: OS and objects upgradeable
via SmartMedia card, or via SysEx dump from a
MIDI sequencer. The curent version is 1.90.
Click here to download v1.90 from our site.
Dimensions:
3 5/8" x 17 1/8" x 15 1/8" 92mm x 435mm x 384mm
13.25 lbs.?6.02kg
Options:
KANA4 - 4 channel Analog I/O
KAES8 - 8 channel AES/EBU I/O
KADT8 - 8 channel Alesis Lightpipe I/O plus 8
channel TDIF I/O
RSP8 - Remote control unit for KSP8 -
more info
HUB7 - Hub connection box (allows up to 7
KSP8's
to be controlled from one RSP-8)
KMLN8 - mLAN option - more info |
