Yes fellow arranger keyboard fanatics it has been 1 month since I made the conversion from the KN5000 to the Solton X1. I can't believe how scary it was in the beginning with no time to get used to it. Having to go on stage with one day to get familiar with it and "a little help from my friends, Dave:>)" and mucho help on the forums and X1 email listserver was very much appreciated for sure. I have at least 24 gigs under my belt this month with the X1 and let me tell you "I AM KICKING BUTT BIG TIME!!!" Uncle Dave was so right in telling me the best way to do it is to "Just Do It" and learn as you go in real time. As for the X1 I am so glad I converted because once you get this keyboard set up and tweaked it's simply AWESOME! The real sounding instruments are a thing of beauty and in all my years of playing I can truly say that I am enjoying the X1 with such a sense of having the "REAL" feel of a band playing along with me for sure. I haven't even got into the sequencer or sampler yet just editing registrations, sounds, drum sets, and midi songs so far, I will in time after the busy holiday coming up. Getting around the X1 is super easy the layout is very convenient for my style of playing.Theres a button to make the whole keyboard a PIANO instantly which I love for those times when I have to give a guest singer that special Tony Bennett style piano accompiament. Having 48 favorite sounds on the "one touch" feature is great too. The 6 pedal pod is a blessing to make variation changes, transpose, leslie rotor, sustain etc. There is so much more to learn and explore on the X1 w/HD, patterns, styles that it will be lots of fun to find out what I can really do down the road.

What I do miss is the SFX pads on the KN5000 having immediate access to instant on board drum rolls, sound effects, fanfares, etc was a nifty feature. In time I will figure out how to have something similar programmed into the X1, maybe a RAM card? "any ideas boyz?" I still sing out of my own sound system for now. I tried the vocalizer on a few gigs and didn't have the time to set up reverb/delay to my liking and singing style yet.I prefer to have Total control over my voice outside of the keyboard, although for small gigs (without my system) I do use the vocalizer to sing, the trio harmony was awesome and for studio recording is a big plus too.

I'll post more as I go along.

l8tr,

Donny

Hi Donny,

Just got home from my Friday nite show gig and decided to check in here before heading off for bed. Great to hear that you are still psyched about your X1. Yes, the "manual sequencer pads" on the KN5000 are extremely useful and I don't know what I'd do without them. The instant drum rolls, sound efx, and ability to create customized sequences and additional drum fills really provide an the added spontanity and kick to insure a truly exciting show. Unfortunately I can't think of any way to get your X1 to emulate the KN5000 manual sequencer pad (six button pads) feature. One alternative might be to find a way to record and then trigger your X1's sequencer to play your recorded short riffs or recorded efx via specified buttons or foot pedals on your X1. Is that possible at all? Interested in finding out what kind of X1 solution you might be able to devise. Keep us posted.

Still own the Technics KN5000 love it,



Scott

Donny,

Its been great reading your posts.. I have sent you an email with some Dance styles attached to it, these are the styles I use alot. I hope you like them.

DannyUK

Danny,

Thanx I got your email and styles. I'll try them out asap. Did you make these, or?


donny

Hi Dave,
I need to play these drum rolls, short fanfare riffs, etc. when I'm NOT playing a song eg. during a presentation, 50/50 contest, etc. Is there a way to record them onto a RAM card, or whatever and just activate them from the keys from a sound bank?

donny

Following the tough translation of the Solton manual, Donny, you can get the unit to load special Solton Sound Banks that are on the disk that came with the unit. One of the banks is "folk" sounds, two other contain some useable FX. All banks also contain other instrumental sounds. I've not fully explored this feature, but (1) you can play them live from the keyboard because they load as right hand sounds, and (2) you may be able to customize your own sound bank (?) Good luck.

Jim Henry

Donny, I did it when I had the X1. Just find the sounds you need (i.e. drum rolls) and save them in your favorite sound bank. You may have to find samples somewhere. Still it's not nearly as good as having multi-pads. Too bad Solton doesn't recognize the myriad uses for sound pads. (Like the cheap little PSR740!!)
Don