Alec,

Thanks for the GREAT report. Wonderful news to hear that the KN7000 will support SD (secure digital) memory cards. Actually not that surprising considering Panasonic Matsushita is the company that developed SD cards in the first place. I hear that SD memory cards (about the size of a postage stamp) can hold up to 512 mg of data. With USB support, data transfer back and forth between the PC computer & KN7000 will be a LOT faster than currently possible with the TechManger's parrallel interface system. Alec, do you know if a desktop PC software: 'KN7000 data management software utility program' will be included with the KN7000, or will that have to be purchased separately? Will Technics be producing & supporting the software, or will they be farming this out again to a third party company such as Keysoft Service?

Sounds like the sounds in the final mix presentation demo you heard were impressive. Alec, were you able to discern the quality of any specific sounds individually? I'm curious to find out if the piano patch or any other paticular one(s) were a 'stand out'. Is the KN7000 sampling rate and/or length of the samples any higher than on the KN6500? Curious if you thought the KN7000's sounds are different (more advanced?) then the KN6500, which is already terrific sounding.

I'm also interested to find out if the KN7000 supports Technics format file to standard midi file conversion (including the accompaniment tracks)? This would allow KN7000 owners to share their songs (midi format) with people who don't own a Technics keyboard, as well as allow you to edit your Technics KN7000 created songs in an external midi sequencer such as Cakewalk Sonar or Cubase.

I also like the KN7000's 'Starship Enterprise' design cocept. Since my audiences are already wanting me to 'beam them up', it sounds like the KN7000 may be the perfect next Keyboard for me. - Scotty
http://scottyee.com