Jerry,

You have to take into consideration that the features of the KN7000 far exceed those of any Yamaha arranger, even the Tyros and 9000 Pro, therefore there is a bit of a learning curve initially but not a big one. The KN7000 is by no means a difficult instrument to master and once you become familiar with the Technics "speak," you'll navigate the KN without a problem. Be sure to delve into all the KN has to offer and I am certain you'll be even happier with it.

I'm a bit surprised you feel the woodwind sounds are weak as I found them to be better than those on my 9000 Pro. Yamaha has a decent sweet soprano sax but Yamaha's other woodwinds and most of the string sounds are very weak in my opinion. I quite liked the KN's oboe, saxes, and even many of the wind sections. Try using the KN's sound edit function to alter filters, FX, and velocity curves and you should be able to tailor the sounds to your liking. In addition the KN7000 offers you four sound card slots to install even more sounds should you feel the need for more. Only the Yamaha 9000 Pro has similar capabilities (two sound slots) and the Tyros has none.

Once you become familiar with the KN's functions, especially the sequencer, style, and sound edit functions, you'll see how limited Yamaha really is compared to the KN.