Review and Opinion of Kurzweil Forte 8 and Where to Buy It?

Kurzweil Music Systems is an American company that produces electronic musical instruments. It was founded in 1982 by instrumentalist musician Stevie Wonder, multi-faceted (inventor, musician, entrepreneur, writer and scientist) Raymond Kurzweil and software developer Bruce Cichowlas.

Among its stage piano models, we have the Kurzweil Forte 8 with a price of £2,899. This is a great musical instrument with many functions and features that make it a very interesting digital piano, which has the following characteristics:

• 88 weighted keys (Weight that the keys of an acoustic piano have and that digital pianos try to imitate to equal the touch of the piano. The keys in the high register are heavier and in the high register less. This is different from the sensitivity on the keyboard which serves to regulate the volume of the note. But a weighted keyboard always has sensitivity in the keys) with Aftertouch and dynamic sensitive keyboard
• 128 notes of polyphony (Number of notes that can be played at once. This includes accompaniments that also consume notes. So if you play on top of an accompaniment more notes will be accumulated) with 16 parts with different timbres
• 16 multitimbral parts
• 16 GB of fast memory
• 3.3 GB memory for user-created samples
• Split function (dividing the keyboard into two different instruments)
• Dual function (Dual mode allows you to combine two sounds to create a more complete one. Typical is the combination of piano + stringed instrument sound) and layering
• 309 sounds (different piano and other instrument sounds) but up to 322 selected from the PC3 and KORE 64 expansion
• 3072 user presets
• 3-band equalizer
• Master Compressor
• Block of 32 effects including. reverb (Reverb effect), Delay, Chorus
• Reverb effect, chorus and so on up to 32 effects
• Pitch bend wheel (Functionality that changes the sound wave of what you play and then returns to its original state)
• Modulation wheel
• 9 slider controls faders
• Controls for Variation, Tempo and Transposition (Transposition allows you to move the note spectrum of a keyboard. This is useful for playing with transposing instruments. It is not an easy concept but it is made to facilitate the writing of an orchestration for instruments with very different bass and treble registers)
• 9 user assignable controls
• Includes sustain pedal (The sustain pedal of a piano or keyboard is used to keep the note playing even if you stop pressing the key)
• It also has inputs for the volume pedal
• Line output Jack for live
• Midi input and output (MIDI allows you to do such wonderful things as connecting the keyboard to the computer, recording a sound track and with certain programs passing with a click what you have played to musical notes in a score. MIDI tracks store the information of the musical notes)
• USB port for pendrive
• Power supply inside the keypad and comes with a power cable
• Weight 22.5 kg and dimensions 1385 x 140 x 395 mm

Now that we have listed and described the features of this keyboard there is no better way than to take a look at the following video where they tell us more about the Kurzweil Forte 8 and you can hear how its different sounds sound.

Related post you can be interested in

• Ranking with the best digital pianos
• My selection of cheap musical keyboards.
• Basic concepts you need to know about digital pianos.
• The best resources to learn to play the piano by yourself.

Now let’s compare the Kurzweil Forte 8 with its more common alternatives. Also at the end of the post you will find a section with the best shopping possibilities for this digital piano. But you can go directly to that part of the post by pressing the following button.

Kurzweil Forte 8 vs Clavia Nord Stage 3 88.

As a first comparison we will have the following digital keyboards: the Kurzweil Forte 8 which has a price of €2899/£2,699, and the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88 which has a price of £3490/$4500/£3,185. With a difference between them of €590, we will analyze their similarities and differences in the next section:

• Both digital keyboards have 88 weighted keys and speed and touch sensitivity. The Kurzweil’s also have Aftertouch, helping to simulate the feeling after raising your fingers on a real acoustic piano. So we can say that they have an advantage over the Nord Stage keys. Weighted keyboard refers to the weight that the keys of a real acoustic piano have, in the register they have the heaviest keys and in the high register the lightest keys. Polyphony refers to the option of being able to play dynamics in our musical performances, i.e. when we press a key with force it should sound louder than another pressed key with less force.
• In sound, the Kurzweil Forte 8 has 322 preset programs, and 3.3Gb of storage for more samples, with a polyphony of 128 notes. While the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88 has 400 preset sounds and 2Gb storage for more samples from the Piano Nord Library and 120 note polyphony.
• The functions that characterize the Kurzweil are Split function, Dual function and layering, 3 band equalizer, Master Compressor, 32 effect block included. Reverb, Delay, Chorus. Pitch Bend and modulation wheels. It also has the following physical controllers: 9 slider faders, controls for variation, tempo and transposition, 9 user assignable controls, includes sustain pedal and also has inputs for volume pedal.
• The functions that characterize the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88 are Creative Piano filters, absolutely smooth transitions and program changes, String Resonance function (Gen 2), Noise pedal and Long-Release option, powerful synth section with Subtractive synthesis, FM, and Wavetable, Arpeggiator. Unison Mode and Master Clock B3 Organ Simulations, Vox/Farfisa and Main Pipe faithful to the original and Leslie Vintage 122.
• The Kurzweil Forte 8 has the following connections: Live Line Jack, MIDI In and Out, and USB port for a USB stick. When the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88 has: 4 assignable audio outputs 6.35 mm asymmetrical jack, 6.35 mm stereo headphone jack, 1 3.5 mm mini-jack monitor input. Sustain Jack, Rotor Jack, Organ Pedal Jack, Control Pedal Jack, Program Switch Pedal Input 6.35 mm jack
• The Kurzweil Forte 8 has a weight of 22.5 kg and dimensions of 1385 x 140 x 395 mm. The Clavia Nord Stage 3 88 weighs 19 kg and measures 1287 x 334 x 118 mm.

We have some of the best options for digital stage pianos. On the one hand the forte eight comfort that has both a great amount of sounds and a good polyphony, a great amount of effects, its functions and physical controllers and its different connections, make it a real opponent to the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88, which has long been one of the most popular keyboards among professional musicians. And for the price it is a real bargain. Likewise the Clavia Nord Stage is not far behind with its functions and different pedal inputs that dominate the Kurzweil in that section. We also have to know that the Kurzweil is slightly heavier than the Clavia Nord Stage, which is a great stage keyboard.

We will put the characteristics of each of these pianos in 2 different columns to make it easier to see the differences:

And now a video of the Clavia Nord Stage 3 88:

If you want to know more about this model don’t miss our Clavia Nord Stage 3 review

Kurzweil Forte 8 vs Kurzweil Forte SE

We will have from the comparison of the following digital pianos of the comfort brand: the Kurzweil Forte 8, which as we have already mentioned has a price of €2899/£2,699 and the Kurzweil Forte SE €1800, therefore the difference of approximately €1100, with this great difference we will see their similarities and differences:

• The Kurzweil Artis 7 has 77 semi-weighted keys with speed sensitivity. The Kurzweil Forte SE has 88 hammer-action (weighted) keys with sensitivity. Weighted keyboard refers to the weight of the keys of a real acoustic piano, in the register it records its heaviest keys and in the high register the lightest keys. Polyphony refers to the option of being able to play dynamics in our musical performances, that is to say that when we press a key with force it should sound louder than another one pressed with less force.
• The Artis 7 has 256 factory sounds, and 256 configurable sounds and 128 polyphony notes. While the Forte SE has 512 sounds and up to 128 notes of polyphony. Polyphony is the maximum number of notes that can be played at the same time on a computer.
• The features of the Kurzweil Artis 7: Fast 4-zone split function, dual function, reverb effect, chorus and many more, 9 sliders on the front, modulation wheels and Pitch Bend
• The features of the Kurzweil Forte SE: Split function with 8 zones and fast split, dual mode and layering. This has up to 32 effects including typical reverb, chorus, V.A.S.T. Edition: 8 arpeggiators, 9 buttons and 9 sliders on the front. y Modulation wheels and Pitch Bend.
• In connections the Artis 7 offers us: 2 stereo or TRS line jack outputs, stereo headset output, TRS mini line jack input, MIDI input and output, USB port for pendrives, etc. and 2 inputs for foot switches. When the Forte SE offers: Line Out, Stereo Headset Out, 3.5mm Stereo Mini Jack In, 2 inputs for switch pedals that can be used as a sustain pedal and an input for an expression pedal.
• Both keyboards offer a USB MIDI option that allows you to connect to a computer to be used as a MIDI controller in a production or music composition program.
• The Artis 7 weighs 12.6 kg and measures 1077 x 360 x 124 mm (W x D x H), while the Forte SE weighs 18.5 kg and measures (W x H x D): 124.2 x 38.6 x 13.2 cm

Now we come across two excellent models from the Kurzweil brand: the Forte 8 and the Forte SE, which are really very similar but have few differences that characterize them from each other. For example, the Forte SE has 8 split zones, offers more physical controls and is lighter in weight. With all these differences we could say that it is the best, but let’s also remember the great memory it has to record and modify different sounds. This gives the Kurzweil Forte 8 a great advantage.

We will put the characteristics of each of these pianos in 2 different columns to make it easier to see the differences:

And now a video from the Kurzweil Forte SE:

You can also see our review of the Kurzweil Forte SE in more detail.

Where to buy Kurzweil Forte 8

Amazon

• Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
• Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment.
• Sometimes better price.
• He’s got worse stock than Thomann.

 

Thomann

• Free Shipping.
• Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
• 100% reliable payment.
• Leader in trouble-free shipping.
• Usually Best price.
• Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

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