TECHNICS  KN  RANGE  FILE DESIGNATIONS AND OTHER  DETAILS

The following data is reproduced here by kind permission of Alec Pagida and Gunnar Jonny.
The information was originally compiled by Alec and has been extracted from Gunnar’s website.

TECHNICS Keyboard models :

| KN800 | KN1000 | KN2000 | KN3000 | KN5000 | KN6000 | KN6500 | KN7000

KN800 (1989)

 cmp -   Composer file consisting of 8 patterns only, no intros, fills or endings. Bass, Drum  and 3 Accomp tracks of  limited polyphony (Accomp 3 would drop out at  polyphony limit).
 lsw -  Panel Memory, only 8.
 seq - Sequencer Song file, 1 song.
 tm  - Sound Memory, 24 edited sounds.
 This machine had an optional memory card and optional plug-in floppy disk drive. 
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KN1000 (1991)

 cmp - Composer file consisting of 10 patterns, 1 intro, 1 ending, 2 fills. Bass, Drum, and  3 Accomp tracks where Accomp 2 and 3 now had greater programming  polyphony.
 lsw -  Panel Memory, still only 8.
 seq -  Sequencer Song file, 1 song.
 sqf -  Sequencer set up conditions (sequencer reset).
 tm  -  Sound Memory, now 30 edited sounds.
 Floppy disk drive now more commonplace and often sold with the machine. Could load 800 files.
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KN2000 (1993)

 cmp - Composer now 2 banks of 6 patterns, 1 intro, 1 ending, 2 fills available for each  bank. 5 part accompaniment, Bass, Drum & 3 Accomp parts with no polyphony  problems now.
 lsw -  Panel Memory, now 24, 3 banks of 8 each.
 seq - Sequencer Song file, 1 song.
 sqf - Sequencer set up conditions (sequencer reset).
 tm  - Sound Memory, now 36 edited sounds.
 Disk drive now built in as standard. Could load 1000 files.
 Also KN1200 and module version AC1200 in 1994. Both of these machines had  the same files as the KN2000, but with different file identifiers in the code. 
They had a mode to save files as KN2000 files rather than 1200 files, and this  enabled 1200 files to be loaded into the KN2000.
Up until this time, all the floppy drives had been DD drives using 720K disks.
 This led to problems if you used HD disks and formatted them as DD in the  machine, and then wanted to load them into later machines like the 3000.
Covering the disk type hole (not the write-protection hole) often allowed reading  in these circumstances.
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KN3000 (1995)

 cmp -  Composer now 3 banks of 4 patterns each, 2 intro, 2 ending, 2 fills for each  bank. 5 part accompaniment. Bass, Drums & 3 Accomp. Also Composer Chord  Map allowing different patterns for major, minor, seventh and diminished chords.
 lsw -   Panel Memory, 24, 3 banks of 8 each.
 msp - Manual Sequence Pads, 9 pads, 3 banks of 3 now with phrase programming.
 seq -  Sequencer Song file, now 10 songs at once.
 sqf -   Sequencer set up conditions (sequencer reset) for 10 songs.
 tm  -   Sound Memory, now 40 edited sounds.
 HD floppy drive, and hard disk option, sold as 3500 in some markets. Could load  2000 files.
 KN1500/920 in 1996. These keyboards would load 3000 format files, but the  3000 would not load 1500/920 files without first changing the code identifiers in  the hex. Data.
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KN5000 (1997)

 cmp -  Composer, same contents as KN3000. Composer Chord Map dropped, also no  more Dynamic Accompaniment on presets.
 lsw -   new Current Panel memory file.
 msp -  Manual Sequence Pads, 12 pads - 2 banks of 6.
 pmt -   new Panel Memory file consisting of 10 banks of 8 memories each.  Approx 76k if 10 banks saved, 7k8 if only 1 bank saved.
 sqt -    new Sequencer file for 10 songs and setups.
 tm  -    Sound Memory, same contents as 3000.
 rcm -   new Custom Rhythm section of 20 sets of composer patterns in flash memory.
 md -    new midi user file, 3 setups in flash memory. 
 Hard disk option with pc backup link available.
 Could load 2000 and 3000 files, also 1500 and 920. Also Style Conversion now  available.
 KN1600/1400/930 in 1998. KN930 basically the same as the 920, but 1600/1400  incorporated features of the 5000 files, although obviously more limited (fewer  Panel Memories, no Custom etc).

 By now the file sizes were getting so large that the number of saves on even a  1.4MB floppy were limited. Therefore it became important to selectively save and leave out files not needed  in the save, in order to save space to fit more files on the floppy. 
 A useful trick if saving single songs on the 3000, was to save twice, once as an  'all' file, and once sequencer only. Then delete the 'all' sequencer files, and substitute the sequencer only save files  on the pc, re-numbering to suit. 
 The 'all' files were now much smaller, enabling 15 or 17 files on floppy, rather  than the normal 9 or 11.
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KN6000 (1999)

 cmp -  Composer, 3 banks of 4 variations, 4 intros, 4 endings and 8 fills each. Now 8  Part - 2 Drums, Bass and 5 Accompaniment.
 efc -    new Effect Memory file with 50 DSPs.
 lsw -   Current Panel memory.
 msp -  Performance Pad files. Now 18 pads, 3 banks of 6 each, pads now  2 track with ability to control auto chord as well as follow.
 pmt -  Panel Memory file of 13 banks of 8 memories each. Approx 9k6 if 13 banks saved, 2k6 if only 3 banks saved.
 sqt -   Sequencer file, 10 songs and setups as per 5000.
 tm  -   Sound Memory, 40 sounds and drum kit now with full edit suite.
 ast -   Custom Style section in flash memory. Now 20 complete styles, each style with  20 composer patterns, 4 registrations , 6 performance pads, and any edited  sounds, drums, effects 
 fav -   4 Favorites Pages of individually programmable menu functions in flash memory.
 hmp - the individually programmable Home Page in flash memory.
 md  -  3 User Midi setups in flash memory. 
 cst -  a single Custom Style in flash memory. 20 composer patterns, 4 registrations, 6  pads etc.
Two hard disk options available, from third party source - professional SX6 and domestic SX3.
2 programmable stereo send and returns and clearer karaoke display with  Technics lyrics on the SX6. PC backup and programming link promised for SX6. 
Can load 2000, 3000, 5000, 1600 and 1400 files. Style Converter as per 5000.
Provision for 2 expansion cards inside the keyboard body.
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KN6500 (2001)

 All information same as KN6000.

 The 6500/6000 has compression on all these files so loading is much faster than  5000 or 3000. 
 20 normal files can easily be accommodated on a HD floppy with plenty of room to  spare, for instance another 80 or 90 single custom styles, which load in 1 second  each, can be saved too.
 More than 120 single customs can be accommodated on a blank HD floppy.
 The 4 pages of programmable menu shortcuts and the programmable home page  take little space, so it is easy to load different versions of these with different  files, eg a home page with information for song playback loaded with songs, and  a home page with information for pattern & registration loaded with these files.
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KN7000 (2002)

cmp -  Composer, 3 banks of 4 variations, 4 intros, 4 endings and 8 fills each.  8  Part - 2 Drums, Bass and 5 Accompaniment.
 efc -   Effect Memory file with 50 DSPs.
 lsw -   Current Panel memory.
 msp -  Performance Pad files. 18 pads, 3 banks of 6 each, pads  2 track with ability to control auto chord as well as follow.
 pmt -  Panel Memory file of 13 banks of 8 memories each. Approx 45k if 13 banks saved, 10k if only 3 banks saved.
 sqt -   Sequencer file, 10 songs and setups as per 5000.
 tm  -   Sound Memory, 40 sounds and drum kit with full edit suite.
 ast -   Custom Style section in flash memory.  20 complete styles, each style with  20 composer patterns, 4 registrations , 6 performance pads, and any edited  sounds, drums, effects 
 fav -   4 Favorites Pages of individually programmable menu functions in flash memory.
 hmp - The individually programmable Home Page in flash memory.
 md  -  3 User Midi setups in flash memory. 
 cst -  A single Custom Style in flash memory. 20 composer patterns, 4 registrations, 6  pads etc.
 act – A new hidden file containing script for slideshows in sequencer rather than demo memory. 

Provision for 4 expansion cards inside the keyboard body.
Can load 2000, 3000, 5000, 1600 and 1400 files. Style Converter as per 5000. 
Improved internal sound system with high tech flip down main panel. 
Digital audio and midi transfer via USB.
Rock solid 128 note polyphony. 
SD flash card introduced with duplication of all floppy disk functions at much greater speed than disk with playback of digital audio available which can be synced to the sequencer. 
New loading functions via SD including alphabet sort and load by number for 1,980 Technics saves per SD card, 40 pages of 9 programmable shortcuts for any Technics file on the SD card. Programmable medley mode for Technics songs on SD with user lists for each card. 
In addition to this programmable playlist creation for midi and audio files, 99 playlists available each with possible 99 songs each, to a max of 999 midi or audio songs per SD.
Copy floppy to SD. 
KN2600 and KN2400 introduced 2003 with minor sound and control differences, the KN2600 with SD card only, the KN2400 with floppy disk only.

The end of Technics keyboard history. (Sadly !!)
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