If you have to choose between Yamaha Tyros or KN7000 what is your choice ??

I have not had a Yamaha since PSR500 some 10 years ago, but for Tyros would be an easy choice.

Besides the fact that it is cheaper and lighter, it has IMHO a better user interface, better features, better vocal harmonizer, a hard disk, way better sounds.

For my style of playing the Technics just would not do it.

Regards

JM,
You have to define what's important to you...each has its advantages.
Zuki

jm,
My vote would and has opted for the Tyros.
Terry

Hi Alex . Actually I've found the street price of the Technics KN7000 to be substantially cheaper than the street price of the Tyros, especially after you outfit the Tyros with Tyros Speakers and an optional HD as well. The KN7000 includes terrific sounding built in speakers and SD memory in the core package. As far as weight goes, yes, the Tyros only weighs 27 lbs, but it's without speakers, so considering how terrific the KN7000's speakers sound, at 37 lbs (10 lbs more), this is actually lighter then the Tyros if you factor in the Tyros speakers (12 -14 lbs). As far as the USER interface goes, as much as I like the Yamaha friendly interface, I still think Technics interface has the edge. I also think the Technics KN7000 sounds (orchestral) are very impressive, especially the Steinway grand sample, which sounds better (to my taste) than even the best Yamaha Live Grand. Another big plus re the KN7000 is its superior full keyboard mode chord recognition. Yamaha's full keyboard mode chord recognition sucks. What kills it for me about the KN7000 is its crappy sounding & featureless vocalizer and wimpy sounding drum fills. In contrast, Yamaha's vocalizer & dynamic drum fills truly SHINE. Am I upgrading (from the PSR2000) to the Tyros or KN7000. I don't know yet. I've now auditioned all the contenders (KN7000, SD1, XD9) except for the Tyros now, so at this point, I'm just going to WAIT till I have the opportunity to play and hear the Tyros IN PERSON before deciding which keyboard to upgrade to (if any). - Scott

I'm in exactly the same position as you Scott.
It's gonna be interesting to see what we both end up with................ watch this space!

Ron

Scott,

thank you for your feedback. Here in Phoenix there is only one dealer (3 stores owned by the same company) of Technics, and not much competition from the Internet retailers, so the lowest price I saw was $4000. You may be right about the weight, as I have not tried the Tyros myself yet. You are right of course about the harmonizer - Yamaha wins hands down. Also, the memory card in KN7000 is touted as a replacement for the hard drive. In fact, capacity-wise, it is a replacement for the floppy drive, although one is still provided to take up space and add heft to the keyboard. It is quite subjective, of course, but I do not share your observations about KN being built solidly - to me it looked and felt plasticky, perhaps not flimsy, but brittle. I am not going to argue about the sound quality - we could go on forewer debating wheter the Technics piano is better than Yamaha's or wheter a Stradivarius violin or a Buffet clarinet sound is better of worse than an instrument made by Gvarneri del Jesu or Selmer. This is strictly a matter of personal preference - obviously you have voted for Steinway (which looks very nice on your photos, btw). My piano is a 5'8" Young Chang, and though it is definitely not a Steinway or a large Yamaha, it sounds almost good enough for my ears.

But even if all other things were equal, the 7000 is not for me - the salesman was telling me that there is no way to keep the left voice playing together with the accompaniment. I use this mode all the time, layering bright piano, for example over the stock style. This works well with the Roland intelligent chord recognition mode - press three or four keys and it sets the accompaniment chord, play a riff with one or two keys pressed at a time - a piano part comes through the mix. I don't think I can do without this feature now.

As a more general observation (again this is only my opinion here), I found 7000 to be very much old-world oriented - its styles and database presets are full of organs and mellow string and flute sounds. It is not well suited for my type of music, and it seems to me that a Roland or a Yamaha or a Ketron (or even Korg) have a wider range of genres supported right out of the box.

On the subject of user interface, the Technics is certainly very flashy, the screen indeed is very big. My problem is that the density of information is very low, and you can only see 10 selections at a time. Surely they could put twice as many selections, and it would still be extremely readable, while at the same time helping the user avoid having to page through the selections unnecessarily. I also find it cumbersome to reach from one side of the screen to the other while making the selections. In other words, although I like the idea of a big screen, in Technics case bigger is not better, but more wasteful. Another example is the location of the Presets(?) buttons, arranged in a circle on the right hand side. I believe if the presets are to be used to change sounds (for the right hand) the buttons should be located in the middle, for easy reach with the left hand. I also do not find the circular arrangement of buttons easy to use - looks like just another gimmick to me.

But this is just my opinion, and I am not even on the market for a new keyboard (I don't think there is anything on the market which is a quantum leap from my G1000). I am sure there are many people for whom the KN7000 will be perfect, and I certainly wish them much enjoyment using whatever keyboard they chose.

Regards,
Alex

Alex,
The salesman may be wrong. The older Technics keyboards allowed you to play left hand parts along with the accomp., just as you described. I would be surprised if they took that feature away.
DonM

I can attest that if Alex's salesman actually told him: "that there is no way to keep the left voice playing together with the accompaniment", that his salesman is 'flat out' WRONG !

I auditioned and played the KN7000 myself, and it DOES allow you to play (and hear) your left hand part together with the auto accompaniment.