I think it is not usual to have both keyboards, KN7000 and VA7. I know nobody in that situation. But if I remember well, Marilyn Boissoneault, a forum member, have both.
It would be nice to have a comparative opinion from her: pros and cons, etc.
Not all are Yamahas in our world...

I've gone full circle, buying a few boards over the last few months and finally settled back to the one that floats my boat....The VA.
Zuki

Well, it would be very interesting too to know your opinion, your circular travel into different keyboards, to end it buying a VA-7.
Why Roland?

I have a VA-7, a pa80 and a PSR2000. I hardly ever play the pa80 and play the VA-7 even less. I just like the Yamaha the best.

Tom G.

TomTom,
I still long for your FC-7 My rank is totally opposite - a)VA b)PA-80 c)2000 That's why there are so many models to match individual tastes
Tracknet,
The VA draw to me are in the styles and overall sounds, particulary acoustic piano. It truly continues to amaze me as I constantly discover new things on this board.
Zuki

Funny how our music gear could potentially be continously transfered from one forum member to another, cuz, as I recall, Tom got his FC-7 from me. - Scott

I no longer have the VA7. I liked the styles and Certain other features, but the sounds just didn't compare to what I had on the KN7000 to my ears. I also got aggravated with having to wade through a million pages to do anything. I don't see why the main screen couldn't have had some usful info on it. Like telling what all sounds I had on, the volumes etc. Back when I had an E86 the screen was tiny but it had some useful info on it! I was always a Roland fan in the past, but I hate the way they took all the buttons off and then call it more 'user friendly'!!!

I've been wanting a light weight keyboard for a long time.....so I have a PSR550 on order...my first Yamaha keyboard since my PSR6300 back in the late 80's I think it was.


Marilyn

I rank 'em different too.. PA80, Motif, PSR2000. Don't get me wrong.. I like them ALL .. that's just the order of the amount of use each one gets. I always liked my PA80 from day one, and nothing has changed. The Motif was a love hate affair until I was able to figure everything out on it. Now it probably gets close to the amount of use that the PA80 gets. Looking past all of the features it has, for me the Motif is just a joy to play when I just wanna be a keyboard player.... The 2k is mainly a backup for live work, but it gets some use at home too. The key feel is the main reason I use it less.. but it sounds great and operates flawlessly. Zuki has it exactly right though ... Different boards for different players.. all of them have a reason to be.

If I had the room and the funds.. The VA76 would be a welcome addition to the home studio. I really liked the one I demoed last year. I don't know from the KN7000, but I liked the 5000 I played, so I'm sure the 7k would also be a welcome addition. Heck, I'd even add the MZ2000 again because of a few of the cool sounds and features it had. Hey I wouldn't turn a Tyros down either if it came my way.. We choose what suits us best, and I wound up with the 3 boards I have for a variety of reasons, but all of the mid to high end boards mentioned here could work for me in some capacity, even the MZ, which really isn't in the same league as the others. Point being for me is that I could make any of these boards "sing" if they sat in front of me and I apply myself.. What a great era to be a kb player...

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 06-23-2003).]

It's curious.
While Tomm hardly ever play the pa80 and play the VA-7 even less, because he prefers PSR2000, Zuki arrived to VA after a long travel, and he likes its styles and sounds. But Marilyn don't like VA sounds nor "to wade million pages to do anything", and she prefers KN7000 a lot.
But none of you speak about Tyros.
I would like to know Zukis and Marilyn' opinion about Tyros, and specially Marilyn one, because she has KN7000, and she may inform us more directly why prefers Technics and not Yamaha. In this forum, people usually prefers Tyros, and because of that, it would be very interesting to know the reasons for a "inverse preference" from a person which has KN.
Cheers

I have never seen a Tyros, there are none to see locally. I do hear a lot about them on this Forum. Generally I think the Yamaha's have a reputation for not being user friend which Technic's excels at. I certainly wouldn't buy one without seeing and hearing it. I don't carry for the speaker setup with the Tyros. I have some Yamaha speakers I use with my keyboards but do like internal speakers as well. I'm very impressed with the organ sounds on the KN7000. The Technic's is the first keyboard that has what I consider good organ sounds.

I played Roland for years, then switched to Technic's a couple of years ago. I'm very impressed with them. I love the sounds, and the ease of use.

For some reason no one carries the Yamaha arrangers locally. The store that has the francise only has the small Yamaha's in stock. I assume they think they don't have a market for them. They had the PSR350 in stock and are ordering the PSR 550 for me. They tried to talk me in to the 350 instead. Maybe after I play with the PSR550 I'll decide I like Yamaha better who knows.

I'm buying the PSR550 because of the light weight.

I'm very curious about the Tyros because I know several that have both the KN7000 and the Tyros, and a couple of people that traded their KN7000 on a Tyros.

Marilyn

[This message has been edited by Marilyn Boissoneault (edited 06-23-2003).]

Hi,
keyboard junkie me has 3.
My favourite is my KN7. Ease of use It's audio capabilities. I like the type of styles.
Next is my 9000 pro though I must admit I've grown a lot fonder of it since some of the sequencer frustrastions have been solved for me recently, when I ended up with XG Works. It has good styles too, though my favourite ones are actually Simon William's (third party styles)especially his piano & ballad type styles.
I also ended up with a secondhand VA7. Bought it from friend who was also buying a KN7. Offered it to me at a price I couldn't refuse. Haven't had a chance to really use it yet, but I do enjoy Roland styles ( had an e86 , then, a g800 many years ago) It's not a very intuative keyboard to use. A lot of button pushing and menus) Don't like the sequencer.
best wishes
Rikki

Hi Scott
Well, I did get a foot pedal from you for my old Technics KN5000. But that pedal is now out on the East Coast. It went along when I sold my KN5k. Zuki is talking about the FC-7 that Roland makes. It's a pedal with 7 foot switches. It works on a G1000, EM2000, VA7 and VA76. It's a must for the Roland VA7.

And to Tracknet... I don't mention the Tyros because I have never played one. I would probably love it, since I like my PSR2000 so much. But, it is too big (large width and length, speakers and music rack stick way up), no built-in speakers and costs double what the 2000 costs. Still, some day I might own one.



Tom G.

---posted by Scott-------
Funny how our music gear could potentially be continously transfered from one forum member to another------

Well, I got TomToms' old Korg is40.
Bill E

TomTom,

Better yet, you can throw in the VA-7 with the FC-7

Zuki

I HAVE BOTH. I also own a Roland KR7 piano.
I guess you could call me a keyboard junkie, too. I am not a pro, but just enjoy these keyboards. The KN7000 and the VA7 both have positives and negatives. I like them both. Without going into detail about all those + and - I'll just say that the KN is best suited for live playing and the VA is best suited as a workstation.
I hope Roland comes up with a new VA keyboard that blows the competition out of the water. Hmmm...what would that be like?

Tim Schaeffer

Roland VA 10 ? ))

Personally, I'd like to see the VAKN7007!

Tim