new technics products seen at Frankfurt:


PX663 is an 88 key fully graded action 3 pedal straight digital piano with 80 Watts of amplification.

It has 6 piano sounds and the normal complement of harpsichords, vibes, stereo strings, vocal and organs as alternatives to the concert grand, with a dual function. The concert grand is easily up to the rich and resonant standard we are used to with the technics samples.

PR54 is the new entry digital ensemble with 88 fully graded keys, 2 pedals and 80 Watts of power. The interesting thing is that some of the high end features now make their way down the range to the entry models.

This piano has 16 track sequencer, sound edit and 128 MB of wave rom. There are 128 preset rhythms and 512 variations therof, all with the 8 part composer. There is a bunch of piano stylist styles.

Over 1000 sounds with 33 drums and 2 drawbars now use the nx chip.

Also the progressive pianist learning and practise feature with 100 songs is built into this piano to do your fingering excercises, with score in the screen.

This piano also now incorporates digital networking, so it has a USB terminal which can replace the midi functions and also act not only as a data transfer, but also as a digital audio wave transfer. So this comes bundled with the Song Manager and Audio Recorder software too.

KN2400 is the new entry level keyboard. This again is based on the nx sound chip but with 64 polyphony and less rom, but still over 1000 sounds with 34 drums and 2 drawbars.

Both this KN2400 and the KN2600 have moved up to 170 rhythms with 680 variations with 8 part composers.

They are promoted as "Pop" keyboards and the styles have been upgraded to provide backings for many standards of the last few decades, modern styles with excellent rhythm guitar strums and synth sweeps to complement the usual jazz, big band, latin and ballroom backings, but not as way out as the garage and hip hop type stuff. There were some superb demonstrations of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s standards.

Both KN2400 and KN2600 are digital networking keyboards having a USB terminal so midi is available though this. And both are provided with Song Manager and Audio Recorder software.

Both also have Music Stylist built in. The KN2600 has a few more sounds and stylist settings and an extra modulation wheel.

They have the familiar bass boost mouldings for reflex loading of the speakers, and the cases are now the fashionable silver with see through grills and light coned main speakers. The sound is very good because of 40 Watts total on the 2600 and 30 Watts total on the 2400.

The KN2400 has the normal floppy disk.


The KN2600 has no floppy disk!!!


KN2600 is equipped with SD memory card. Not only that but if you have digital audio on the SD memory card it can play it back!

The card slot is on an angled moulding on the front panel and a push lifts the slot up like the compact disk lid on top mounted ghetto blasters. Another push then closes the slot.

This is maybe a brave move and a little unexpected at this stage in the game. It is surprising how Technics which is sometimes described as a conservative company really push the boat out with new technology like this and leave others in the shade. My latest laptop also has no floppy disk built in, and in a few years the floppy has got to die a death as a dying technology. It will be interesting to see how this innovation takes off. I suppose for people with pcs it does not matter. After I transferred all my data to SD I have never touched another floppy, except to test things out writing the book. But you really need a pc to load new stuff into the KN2600.

I would imagine that the card reader would be mandatory for this product, and presumably software would now have to be bought as secure download to your pc and then transferred to the SD card?

Prices have not been fixed absolutely yet, but if my information is correct these new keyboards will be giving very good value for money indeed at their price points.


Expect to see these in the shops in a couple of months.

Many thanks for the report, Alec. Now, if I can talk my dealer into ordering one of each for the showroom, I'll get a chance to try them out. (And see if any new patterns can be transferred to my kn6k.)

Thanks for the report Alec - makes interesting reading - especially about the decision to drop the floppy.....
Just wondering if this will have a negative effect on the sales of that particular model, since not every keyboard player/buyer will have a PC. I suppose that's the way things are going, even with PCs - removable drive moving toward CD only. I've still got a 5 1/4 drive on one of my PCs !!


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Willum

Hey Bill, ya wanna buy some 5.25 floppies??
I still have an IBM laptop, (maybe the first one ever sold), with the operating system on 5.25 floppies. When you turn the laptop on you have to install the first of two floppies that have the operating system on them.
If you remember this, then I am sure you have earned your stripes
Bebop

Yep, I remember that one ! and the original IBM with the twin 5 1/4 disc drives. We had them at work many moons ago - think they are probably in a museum somewhere now.
If we can remember them, maybe WE should be in the museum with them
Don't need any 5 1/4 discs - I've got a pile of 'em. One of these days, I'll transfer them to CD just in case......

Tut Tut.... Off Topic

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Willum

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Willum

You think 5 1/4 floppies are big. They were preceded by 8 inch floppy disks. I used a Fairlight CMI MK1 digital sampler for an album recording in the early 80s and it used 8 inch floppies that spun continually even when they weren't being accessed.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 03-11-2003).]

I remember the first time "connecting " to the World Wide Web . After waiting for 10 minutes to actually see something, it was like wow ..now what ?

I think it was a 286 or a 386 and connected with AOL V1.0

Anyway, I wonder if the KN2600 would accept an external floppy drive ?
But I suppose we are going to have to learn to live without floppies. In fact I beilieve that the new Dell computers are not made with a floppy drive. You have to order it as an add-on. Did anyone else hear that ?

SeeYa,
Larry Hawk

sure, all the best laptops don't bother building a floppy drive inside anymore!

Hey everyone, I like the ideas of the new keyboards. I especially like the 663. With a usb port it is sure to become a very good seller. My question is why havent we seen any press releases from technics? As far as I know, there have been no press releases from technics at Musikesse. Anyone know why?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nigel:
[B]You think 5 1/4 floppies are big. They were preceded by 8 inch floppy disks. I used a Fairlight CMI MK1 digital sampler for an album recording in the early 80s and it used 8 inch floppies that spun continually even when they weren't being accessed.

NIgel, I remember those. One of my friends had a commodore that used 8 inch floppies.
Incidently does anyone want to buy an Amiga 2000 and a 2500 Amiga with color monitors and lotsa stuff for real cheap?