I just saw and heard the Forte, very briefly, in the Kurzweil room at Music Messe Frankfurt. A first impression:
Not bad at all. (I'm English, so I guess that means I'm pretty impressed!). The first sound was the German grand, and I wasnt expecting much, but immediately I could hear a very nice, strong, good sound, a very nice woody quality (probably the wrong word, just my personal feeling).
An Artis was sitting next to it. It was a crude A/B situation. The Artis piano sounded ok, not quite as detailed, maybe not as much body. Back to the Forte, and the grand is definitely a lot better. The difference to my ears is the detail "inside the sound". I only heard the lower middle notes, held as chords (a demonstrator was showing it to me), but the difference was enough that I can say I like the Forte, and not the Artis. (!) Both were going through pretty horrid boxy-sounding speakers, yet the Forte is good enough that I could hear it deserved better. The room was very quiet, so apart from the speakers it was a fairer test than hearing it on the show floor.
I know there seems to be an air of disappointment around the Forte, (more about what it isnt - a "K3000" - rather than what it is). but it surprised me, and I think this is a good thumbs-up sound. Also, a Forte today, doesnt exclude a K4000 tomorrow.
And does the Forte tell us that physical modelling will not be part of the "K4000"?
I have been waiting for a next gen synth from Kurz forever, something which combines VAST with physical modelling and FX anywhere in the signal path. If instead, we only get multi gigabyte sample VAST, with a new UI, updated VA and DSP quality, then it actually wont be that bad. Already VAST can do a lot more than the PC3 presets let on, its just accessing it which is the problem. A new VAST is fine by me. VAST after all is Variable Architecture Synthesis technology. The word is dated, but the concept isnt. I just hope the market supports Kurzweil in continuing this approach. Then one day physical modelling and future forms of synthesis can slot right in.
Malc
Famous synth sounds - a work in progress:
http://enjoythesirens.com