Alec... it is ALWAYS good to know that you are around ... is there such software/hardware for a kn6000?
thank you,
t.

Rich, Unfortunately this is a non starter. IDE converters won't work, the software emulators would need the software written to understand the technics interface to standard floppy drives, likewise for the datastorage device. Considering the costs involved you would be better putting the money towards a more modern keyboard with better a sample rom than something like a KN3000.


Hi Tony, yes keysoft made 2 versions which Walt Tenay asked me to write some small booklets for many years ago. The basic version was HX3 and had 3 partitions, each partition had 240 directories or folders, each folder with 16 technics save slots with a useful 26 character naming. Floppies could be copied to a folder in one pass, but only with the floppy names on the keyboard. There was a free pc program which allowed you to write long names on the pc for each floppy file which then was copied with the floppy direct - much faster than loading, renaming, and saving each individual file.

The more expensive version was HX6 and added features such as 100s of programmable playlists and a ram screen to load up some future tracks while a song was playing with auto start and auto load. It had 4 extra audio out sockets which could be programmed to output various parts. Also a parallel socket which connected to your pc or laptop with a program in windows to backup the disk, transfer files and folders, rename, re-order, edit playlists etc etc.

Alec ... if I could trouble you to stay with this topic a little ...
I have the HD-SX6 hard drive ... is that the one you talk about that can be hooked up to a pc? ... I have done just about NO 'experimenting' or 'digging' into the kn6000 OR the HD-SX6, but the hard drive does have features you mentioned such as the playlists, the "Juke Box" feature with auto load and auto start, but I do not know if it has the 4 audio outs you mention, or the PC connectivity ... Can you elaborate on those? ...
With the 4 audio outs, can certain voices such as drums and or bass be output let's say to a mixer, so that the player can adjust those volumes individually?
As always, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge ...
t.

Hi,
if I remember correctly there were two connectors on the back? I think there was a usb connector? but the usb software was never finalised due to a licensing problem so never used (it was overtaken by the 7k next).

However there was a 26 pin connector and the unit was supplied with a breakout cable for this socket. One end was the parallel printer type cable which went to port on pc or laptop and used the Techmanager6000 program to do the housekeeping on the hard drive.

The other end was 4 audio outs or 2 stereo outs which could output stereo drums, stereo accomp, stereo bass, or 4 individual parts from the sequencer. The selected parts could be muted from the internal speakers and main outs for an external mixer, and you could set the expression pedal to affect none, one or both outputs. Also the settings could be set to be global or you could have individual settings for each save, so loading different songs would enable different output settings according to taste.

It was ridiculously expensive but I really enjoyed using it in my 6k and then 6k5 with laptops at the time, but it took only a little time to appreciate the SD system on the 7k which effectively gave 99% of the practical uses at virtually no extra relative cost. The SD storage, usb and digital audio capability made the 7k a large step in value for money compared to earlier generations when you look back now.

Hello Tony, Thanks for your info, I had a feeling it would be all too easy, nevermind, Another thought which was puzzling me is, I had a email from a kn3k user in the Netherlands saying his hard drive had failed but it wasn't an original, ,,quote from him,,
My old KN 3000 harddrive (which is crashed , after many years good perform ) was not an original sy-hdi but was a : IBM DSOA 21080 specs: 1024mb 16 Heads 63 sectors and 2100 cilinders. So there are stil some of the drives on the market http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/388-24183-1067/IBM-DSOA-21080-HDD-IDE-2.5-1GB-Below.html
I think the missing link is the ""HD-HSO3000" program for the SY-HD1 drive, extention file thats needed to be put into the root of the hard drive for the kn3k to see the drive and accept it, as formatting it would be easy, maybe, just a thought that the file extention could also be put into the root of the emulators as well, just a thought,,,could you scratch your head on this for a minute, thank you.
if anyone who has any Idea's and has the file HD-HSO3000" program for the SY-HD1 drive, would like to contact me about this, I would be grateful.
Ralph

Rich, actually I answered your question, not Tony. The SYHD1 was not just an IDE hard drive, it was a hard drive mounted on a technics interface pcb with chips and prom software enabling communication with the micro in the keyboard. A new drive could be formatted by the KN3000 into the required folder structure. Since the technics board contained a standard IDE drive, that drive could be swapped and re-formatted. But an IDE drive on its own without the technics board is useless.

The HSO3000 pc program has nothing to do with any of this, this was only used for pc communication with the Keysoft KN3000 hard drive system that had a parallel port on the back of the KN3000. The normal (basic) technics hard drive upgrade had no pc communication capability so the software is useless with that.

If you don't have either the basic technics or keysoft SYSTEMS, ie drives on special pcbs, then it is a waste of time and would require the design of electronic interface hardware programed with new software TOGETHER with an IDE drive. Thus not worth the time or money compared with a more modern keyboard with better sounds.