I hate multi-page threads so am carring on here...

Ok now, I'm in question overload and have to sleep sometimes...

The following has to be GUESSES since NO DETAILED INFORMATION on these points has been mentioned so far:

The comments on 'drag and drop' are based on my experiences with my USB camera, MP3 player, Hard drive, Handheld etc. It would be a fair assumption that if the KN7000 has a USB 'identity' it will be no different in this respect.

As I described a CD with software suit will be supplied for beginners which will enable them to use all the features. We may not need any of the software suite if already used to pc file manipulation and digital recording etc. But newcomers or people with a new pc will have what they need.

Like my camera and MP3 player folders must be available, surely, to organise work on the SD cards. If features from the Keysoft software are also included it would be a great addition. I don't know yet.

No details available on harmoniser, no of rights and lefts, etc etc.

I did talk to EMC while I was there and style conversion is certainly available on the KN7000 and if we are lucky it will be the new extra cost disk which includes Yamaha and Wersi? but included as standard.

I've just discovered a reason for keeping the floppy drive... style conversion! I wonder if the software can be loaded in a corner of the flash card to be quickly availble at any time...? that would be cool.

Sound quality... I said people were questioning whether a CD was playing when the 7000 was being played live. If that does not tell you anything...?

I have said before I hate giving opinions on sound quality. It is all personal, and my opinion is worthless to you. I may like a Steinway. You say no Yamaha Grand is better, who is right... no-one. It is as pointless as arguments about 'my keyboard is the best in the world'. You either like the sound and which buttons you have to push, or you don't.

After many shows and exhibitions I have learnt you cannot tell anything until the machine is in front of you, preferably by the side of the other machine you are interested in, in the quiet surroundings you are used to.

I cannot make a decision based on speakers and headphones I am unfamiliar with, because when I get it home I will find things I did not hear before, and I may not like them.

The demo was very impressive, and sounded like a master tape. I attended several and Phil Leader, who was playing, would deliberately add different trills and riffs every time to prove that the sounds were live.

The very fact that it sounded like a master tape leads me to believe that there should be enough DSP and EQ internally to achieve this with the sounds. Presumably the female vocalist (a great track by Sara Raybould) had some reverb? added on the digital recorder to her track, and then that wave file was put on the SD card, and mixed in with the keyboard output. I am guessing here, but the final result was very good.

I generally do not like the sound of many PA speakers, too much colouration for my ears. These were particularly clean at high levels with clear high frequencies (easy to judge with a female vocalist track).

I know that some of you may be chewing the chair legs for all the info you can get... but I must disappoint for the moment and say I am waiting to hear the inbuilt speaker system in a comfortable way, preferably with my 6500, and through my usual monitors, before I can say how different.

regarding the questions on SD memory cards:

a very quick search on SD came up with 64 MB for around $45 and 128 MB for around $90.

So if we assume 6500 technics format - a reasonable assumption...

On a 64 MB card you should fit way over two thousand technics files if you do performance saves (around 30k). If you do selective saves for setups, songs, sounds, pads etc you will get many more.

the same two and a half thousand would go for midi files with lyrics.

It all depends what folder arrangement is there, and how many files you can have in a folder etc.

On 128 MB that's four and a half thousand typical technics files,

OR four to five thousand midi with lyrics.

OR about 40 typical MP3 files,

OR about 4 CD tracks at full quality

OR proportional combinations of any of these...


lets face it, if you only have 10 or 20 retail disks, and play at home, all you will ever need is a cheap 8MB card for 7000 format.

have a look here http://shop.store.yahoo.com/digi4me/secdigsdmemc.html maybe you can find cheaper?

I use a pcmcia card reader for my microdrive and compact flash because it is most convenient and super fast. For SD have a look here http://shop.store.yahoo.com/digi4me/usbulcarread2.html

all this stuff, and the KN7000 should be hot pluggable in your laptop / pc.

[This message has been edited by technicsplayer (edited 03-17-2002).]

Do you think the software (styles and sequencer songs ) will work on the kn7000 and will it be easy to copy everything from the hdsx6 to the sd memory cards ?

Thanks

if you backup the hx6 to your pc, yes, I think so as far as I can guess at this time.

Alec,

I just want to add my thanks for the excellent review. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the sound quality, price and availability, because what we've seen so far is looking good.

Mike

Thanks Alec for the great review of the KN 7000 boom-a-rang. I'm not chewing a table leg, but the sofa is taking a beating. Sound cards is something new to me, but am all for learning more. Maybe a very brief lesson on sound cards and there use in the keyboard?? Just a thought for us ole guys without the technical skills. Appreciate your input on the forum and waiting to hear more about the KN 7000. Have to go and chew on the sofa.
Best Regards,
Dave

soundcards as applied to the 6000/6500/7000? just refer to the ew01, ew02, and ew65(special case 6000 upgrade only) add on boards that slot into the inside of the keyboard.

they contain an extra 16 MB of new wave rom (each one extra 50% for 6000, extra 33% for 6500) with new samples not present before.

2 slots are available for them in 6000/6500.

these new voices appear in new screen buttons in the sound explorer, each having a new explorer menu system like a smaller version of the existing main sounds. They are colour coded blue and yellow so you can see where the sounds have come from.

the new sounds can be used anywhere in the keyboard just like the existing sounds, and the samples can be mixed in sound edit with the existing samples normally.

the 01 and 02 have around 200 new sounds each, depending on how you count drums and vocal patterns at different tempos.

Hi Alec,

A super report and still the questions keep coming. It proves how diverse the interests, needs, and expectations of our fellow members are - and the diversity deliberately designed into the KN series of arranger keyboards to meet them. A member asked if the KN7000 has 61 keys, or has the number of keys been increased. Haven't seen an answer to that question yet. Please, when you have some spare time, let us know. Also, you have not mentioned if the power supply is multi-voltage or not and a retardando function has been incorporated. I suspect these are specs that may not be known yet since the production model has not been finalized. Would you advise writing to Technics to request these features be incorporated into the production model?

Thanks a bunch, Alec. Chuck

answered this on technote - 61.

the rest - don't know yet.

I would always write in with suggestions. The company that does not pass them on to the relevant department is stupid because it is free market research. You never know what may happen!

I think I put my first reply in the wrong topic. Who do we write to, how do we get suggestions to Technics?

I have a few ideas that could be implemented in the software, so maybe it's not too late???

Jim