Evening all. I finally found a dealer that sells the Technics brand of Keyboards. I called them and was very surprised they carried not only Technic's Flagship KN7000 but the new KN2400 and KN2600! And they had them all IN STOCK! So I scurried down to check them out. The KN2600 and 2400 are almost identical in specs. The ONLY differences are the KN2600 has SD Memory capability but NO floppy drive while the KN2400 HAS a floppy drive but NO SD Memory slot. The other differences are the KN2400 DOES NOT have a "modulation wheel" (just a pitch bend) while the KN2600 has BOTH. The 2600 has "40" more sounds than the 2400 (1,064 VS 1,024). The only other difference is the KN2600 has 2 extra Watts more output power per speaker, ie., KN2600: 20W X 2 VS KN2400: 18W X 2.

There is no after touch on either, just initial touch sensitivity. Both have 64 note polyphony.

So how does it sound? Well, I thought the sounds were very good. It has a very good Grand Piano Patch plus the Brass and Woodwind sections were very good also. Some of the Guitar voices were good too. Although I thought some of the Organ sounds were rather thin sounding. I was surprised because Technics Keyboards have been known for their quality Organ sounds.

It is very sleek looking and all of the buttons are well layed out. The weight is almost identical, ie., KN2600: 11.7kg [25.7 lbs.] VS KN2400: 11.4kg [25.1 lbs.]

Here are some of the CONS:

The output volume although decent is not outstanding imo. In playing some of the Keyboard sounds I had the volume MAXED OUT yet the volume was less than I anticipated. It definitely would need external speakers in almost any given Gigging environment.

The internal Sequencers PPQ timing resolution is only 1/96, ie., 96 PPQ and I felt the Backing Accompaniment tracks although colorful in many ways, lacked the expressive rich sound I get with my PSR 2000 for instance. Of course you may disagree with my assessment once you hear it for yourself. I asked the salesperson how much Wav ROM the KN2600 had but he didn't know. It could be that the Technics Keyboards utilize another Sample technology other than Wav ROM.

Although most of the sounds sounded pretty good I did notice a slight "Synthesized" sound to many of the patches. Maybe that would be reduced or eliminated if the sound was routed to a good external sound source.

It has no Vocal Harmony chip but it does have a Mic input 1/4". You will need to buy an external Harmonizer if you want Harmony in your Mix.

The price for the KN2400 is: $1,395 [879 GBP]
The price for the KN2600 is: $1,895 [1.195 GBP] Of course you may be able to find them cheaper somewhere.

I also played the KN7000 briefly and the Volume output on it is OUTSTANDING! Much better sound through the speakers. And the Organ sounds on the KN7000 are stupendous. It has to be played in person to realize how awesome it really sounds. Kudos! to Technics for making such a fine Keyboard in the KN7000. But you will have to pay dearly for it though. The price was $3,995 [2.520 GBP] Again, you may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. But if your an Organist at heart you won't be disappointed in the KN7000 IMO!

Best regards,
Mike