KN7000 arrived today after a small hiccup with Panasonic's delivery to my dealer ( Bank Holiday blamed )
Initial reaction ... WOW !! Got to get started on the learning curve now.
I'll have look at the Harmoniser ASAP since there seems to be a lot of interest - watch this space.......


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Willum

Congratulations, enjoy and have a lot of fun !!
GJ

Great Bill, try playing Jealousy as the first tune, and, tell us what time you went to bed!!Cheers. Walter.

strangely these final production versions seem to sound even better than the review sample, though aural memory is notoriously difficult to quantify accurately. If it is at all possible I do recommend a comparative listen alongside a 6 or 65. The results are very interesting.

Willum,

Congratulations on your new KN7000. When you refered to the 'harmonizer', I assume you meant the 'vocal' harmonizer, right? Is it possible to turn the vocal harmony (on/off) directly via a dedicated (physical) button on the KN7000's tilt panel and/or remote footswitch, or must you go into sub menu(s) to access this feature? Also, please report on the sound 'quality' of the vocal backup harmonies compared to the KN6500/6000.

Please tell us what you think of the 'tilt Panel' button layout as well as the stability of the tilt panel itself, especially when pressing buttons while playing. Does the panel bounce or move whatsoever when pressing its buttons? Just 'how hard' do you have to press the tilt panel before it moves?

Which sounds and/or styles are your fav standouts and is there a significant difference in the sound of the KN7000's acoustic piano from the KN6500?

Does the KN7000 support quick/easy conversion of KN7000 produced (Technics format) songs (including the auto accomp tracks) to standard midi file (GM) format, so they can be played (as standard midi files) by people who don't own Technics keyboards?

I'm also excited to hear how the SD Memory card works. How quickly does it take to load a Technics File which contains composer, panel, sound, as well as manual sequencer data? I'm willing to bet it must be almost instantaneous, right?

Really looking forward to hearing your candid feedback on your new keyboard as soon as you can find time to pull yourself away from playing it.

Scott

the harmoniser looks about the same as on the 6X00 as far as I can see.

the panel is quite solid, unless you actually jab at it hard. If you press any buttons normally it stays at whatever position you leave it in. The display is separately hinged around a central horizontal axis within the panel for sitting or standing angles, so the panel can rest in its full back position in all normal operating circumstances.

the sounds are superior due to either better speaker/amp system or resampling, it is difficult to say which reason for sure.

the apc to smf convert feature is the same as the 6X00. Not as easy as a system which actually uses midi format as its patterns, but quite possible nevertheless.

sd card saves in 5 seconds, loads in 1 second for a selective save, 2 seconds for a full performance save. Very similar to the sx6 hard drive, only without any spin up time delay. Custom save/load takes about 25 seconds because this writes to internal flash. Single custom load takes about 1 second. Turn off the "completed" message screen, since this takes longer than the actual load!

Go to bed Willum and count these ! It is 01.30 UK time and I can still hear you going strong from here in Essex!
I'm only jealous
Derek

Hi, Further to Alec's comments :
In my opinion, the Vocal Harmoniser is no better than on the 6xxx however, it appears that they have dropped the Brass simulators - probably a good thing. I haven't explored the possibility of turning on/off with a footswitch - will do so tomorrow. There is no dedicated panel button for this function.

I've still got my KN6000 and I set up both keyboards side by side and removed the external amplification from the 6000. I loaded the same sequence into both keyboards and started them together, so that I could compare the sounds. I set the volume levels as near as possible to the same level and then used a dummy jack plug in the headphone socket, to altenately shut off the outputs of the KN6000 and KN7000.
It seemed to me that bass output from the KN7000 was quite a bit down on that from the KN6000. This may be due to the different positions of the bass ports. The keyboards were set up away from walls so I could walk around them, but still got the same impression. Tomorrow, I will try linking both, via a selector switch, to my external amp, and see if the effect is the same.
My first impession of the acoustic pianos is that the quality is definitely an improvement, compared to the KN6xx - even the 'Concert Grand' on my EW65 expansion card. The piano sounds are crisper and really meaty down at the bottom end.
As Alec has already said, the tilt panel is adequately 'stiff'. If it is rotated all the way back, it rests against backstops at each side, but even if you don't put it all the way back, it is still sufficiently rigid, to allow normal pressures on the operating controls, without moving. I can't see any real advantage or reason for not putting it all the way back.
The new positions of the controls take a bit of getting used to - but after a couple of hours, I didn't experience any real problems. It's not much different from moving from say a KN5000 to a KN6000. I like the new circular arrangement for the Panel Memory controls.
Loading and saving Technics format files to the SD card, is just like loading and saving to Disc but BOY! is it fast I'm sure it is faster than the hard drive on my KN6000.
I'm still a little confused about the file transfer from PC to KN7000. I've copied most of my Technics format files, sequences, custom styles etc., to a CD but have yet to find a way of transferring them via USB to the keyboard. I have transferred a complete 20 file Floppy in one operation, to the SD card, without any problem. My understanding was that the KN7000 would just look like an external device, on the USB as far as the PC was concerned - a bit like a digital camera on the USB port. However, the PC software that comes with the KN7000, for file transfer, doesn't seem to work like that. I tried transferring a file from the KN7000 to the PC, using the supplied software and this worked fine. When I had a look at the set of files, an additional file is created which has an extension '.ACT' and the transferred file set appears on the PC as a small Icon. Although, there are other valid Technics format files in the same folder as the successfully transferred set, the Transfer software does not 'See' them. I'm probably missing something and will do some more exploring tomorrow.
As far as styles are concerned, there are quite a few familiar ones from the KN6xxx but many new ones. The first ones I tried were in the 'Swing' category - some nice new ones in there
The keyboard (keys) is quite different from the KN6xxx. It's much whiter and it feels different - seems to have a lighter touch and I found I could play faster runs.
I haven't even scratched the surface yet but its well past midnight so I'm off for some ZZZZZs - More later

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Willum

hi BILL

thanks for the nice info on the 7000, best regards ,BENNO, looking forward to the the next one.

I echo Benno's sentiments. Bill, many thanks for your fine inital report on the KN7000. It's terrific that you own BOTH the KN6000 & KN7000 to offer a true side by side comparison. Interesting to hear that the KN7000's acoustic piano sample (crisper and meaty at the bottom end) is substantially (WOW) improved over the KN6000 (which I had thought was quite impressive already) in spite of the fact that you say the bass output on the KN7000 is substantially less than on the 6000. I look forward to reading your report after you have both KBs hooked up to a single external speaker setup.

It's also reassuring to hear that the KN7000's does not move or bounce when the panel's arranger buttons are pressed (fairly firmly). This had been a major concern of mine. I just hope that over time, the panel's hinge won't eventually loosen making the panel less stable.

I hope that Technics reputation for its fantastic arranger 'chord recognition table' on the KN6000/6500 (in BOTH full keyboard & split kb modes) is continued on the KN7000 as well. Some of these advanced 'rootless' style chord voicings include a variation of the famous Bill Evans Jazz (A/B) voicings:
These include:

in BOTH 'full keyboard (pianist) mode' & 'split keyboard mode' (notes played as a chord with left hand):

(lowest,middle,top): Chord:
(F - C - E): Dm7(9)
(F - B - E): G7(13)
(E - A - D): C6(9)
(B - F - A): G7(9)

(E-A-Bb-D): C13
(E-Bb-D): C7(9)
(Bb-D-E-A): C13
(Bb-E-G): C7

Full Keyboard (pianist) mode:
(left hand) (right hand): Chord:
(Eb - A - D) (G - C - F): F7(13)
(A-Eb-G) (C-F) : F7(9)

I'm most drawn to Technics KN arrangers for their excellent support of jazz style chord recognition, traditional jazz swing styles (terrific for playing those classic jazz standards), and impressive acoustic grand piano samples, so Bill, I'm hoping you (or others) can test out the above chord voicings on the KN7000 and report if the above chord voicings are recognized as similar to the above.

I'm looking forward to hearing further reports from you on the KN7000. Thanks again and have FUN playing your new KB. - Scott