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#57927 - 08/28/02 12:10 AM Re: GOT IT !!
Alain Offline
Member

Registered: 02/28/99
Posts: 380
Loc: De Panne , Belgium
Hello,
I think you're one off the first off us that has the kn7000 at home.
I suppose you live in England.
The dealers in Belgium prommissed the kn7000 would arrive next week at the price off 3250 Euro.

I have 3 Secured Digital cards off 64 Mb.
I already copied all my sequenser files (in technics format) to the SD cards.
I wonder if it will work.
On my first Sd card I have three directories with on the first directory 100 sequenzer files (each song has 7 different files with extentions cmp,efc,lsw,pmt,sqt,tm and a ttx file)
Will the kn7000 be able to see the 100 songs ?

On one directory I have almost 200 songs...is this not too much ?
Do I have to make more directories with less songs ?

Thanks a lot,
Alain

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#57928 - 08/28/02 04:09 AM Re: GOT IT !!
technicsplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/17/02
Posts: 3319
correction for information purposes - the brassiliser is still in the production versions, called brass simulator 1, 2 and 3, for what it is worth.

I can't agree on the bass, Bill. If you try it side by side with 6500 on anything with real bass, the 7k is, if anything deeper, but clearer with less boom. The only way to test it in domestic circumstances is to physically swap the positions of the 2 keyboards, maybe eigentones of the room etc will affect the subjective result depending on position, a known effect of bass reflex systems?

The big improvement in the acoustic piano was from 6000 to 6500. In the 7k resampling , or the sound system gives it a greater impact and resonance.

The chord recognition has not changed from the 65 as far as I can see, but one finger has been replaced with basic, like on the pianos, which combines both one finger and fingered chords. All these examples come out as you say in pianist mode but not in fingered mode. Of the ones that are recognised in fingered mode, E A D comes out as Asus4, B F A as Fb5, E A Bb D as BbM7b5, E Bb D as Bbb5, Bb D E A as BbM7b5, Bb E G as Emb5, at least as far as the display is concerned.

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#57929 - 08/28/02 04:36 AM Re: GOT IT !!
technicsplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/17/02
Posts: 3319
Alain, you need to copy your files using the supplied software, because the card has folders for each type of file; technics, midi, audio etc and writes an inf file with the contents. If you copy and paste directly to the card from explorer the correct inf file is not created, and the files not seen.

Initially you have 99 folders, each with 20 technics loads, thus 1980 technics loads possible if they all fit on the card, and additional separate menus for midi files and audio files.

Also you can program playlists. You can have 99 playlists, from 999 songs, each playlist can have 99 songs. In addition you have a favourites system for files on the card with 40 pages of shortcuts, with 9 titles in each page, similar to the menu favourites.

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#57930 - 08/28/02 06:11 AM Re: GOT IT !!
John North Offline
Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 449
Loc: Alfreton, Derbyshire, England
Bill, Congratulations on getting the KN7000 - you must have a fairy godmother or something - two of my local dealers still have no idea when delivery will be!!!!!
Thanks also for your e-mail - I'm off to Warwick with the caravan at the weekend, so I'll be in touch later. cheers - and don't burn too much midnight oil - you still need your beauty sleep

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#57931 - 08/28/02 06:16 AM Re: GOT IT !!
Alain Offline
Member

Registered: 02/28/99
Posts: 380
Loc: De Panne , Belgium
Hello ,
Thanks for the reply Alec.
So on 1 Sd card you can have 99 folders (directories) and in each folder 20 technics songs(sequencer songs).
Before I sold my kn6500 I made a backup off the hdsx6.
Now I have the backup on my computer : part1,2 and 3.
On the first part I have 300 songs (technics format) part 2 : 500 and part : 500.
All these songs have a number...I think this will be a hell off a job to reorganize all these files on the SD card , because all my songs were located on a specific directory on the hdsx6.

Greetings,
Alain

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#57932 - 08/28/02 09:11 AM Re: GOT IT !!
Scottyee Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 10427
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US...
Alec: Terrific to hear that the KN7000 recognizes (in pianist mode) all of the jazz 'rootless' chord voicings I outlined above. Technics is the only arranger kb manufacterer to support this. Because of this, Technics KN boards are (imho) the only arranger kbs tailored for professional jazz piano style playing.

Though I personally would have liked the above keyboard voicings to be recognized in split mode as well, it's 'far more' important that they are supported in pianist mode, as the KN7000 is.

My only concern now is the KN7000's vocalizer. Is it completely unacceptable for professional level gigging or is it (hopefully) at least passable enough to provide minimally acceptable pro sounding vocal backup harmony for the smaller-medium gigs? How does the KN7000/6000/6500 vocalizer sound quality compare with the one included in the Yamaha PSR2000? Anyone here heard/own both of these kbs to compare? I would really like to hear from Technics KN arranger players & vocalists who successfully utilize the KN's vocal harmonizer in their act.

Scott
_________________________

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#57933 - 08/28/02 11:09 AM Re: GOT IT !!
technicsplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/17/02
Posts: 3319
I'm surprised they did not push the boat out a little and expand the recognition more into the split mode, but again, tending to use all of the programability myself, and not playing 9ths and 13ths with the resulting complex backings, it is not an issue for me personally.

For the harmoniser see my replies in http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum25/HTML/000785.html which deal with this. Is the 2000 harmoniser exactly the same as the 9000 one? I've only played around with the 9000 harmoniser and did not get round to trying the 2000 one yet. I doubt very much you could be satisfied with the 7k built in one. That's why they have a dedicated comprehensive digitech/prism setup screen built in. You must admit that even the 9000 harmoniser is not as good as an external kit in the final analysis, though probably good enough to avoid buying one if it is sufficient for your purposes.

The load time looks the same as the sx6 if you have the platter permanently spinning. I did not like to leave the hard drive permanently spinning so had it set to park after a load/save was completed. Then a load required an extra second or so of spin up time from the hard drive every time, this is the time saved in an SD card load. The "completed" message screen seems to take longer than the actual load, so is best left switched off.

Willum talks sense, so I would be interested in his judgement when he has had a chance to get around the styles and sounds and absorb them a little...

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#57934 - 08/28/02 12:41 PM Re: GOT IT !!
Mel Trevey Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 06/22/02
Posts: 23
Loc: Ft Myers, Fl, USA
Greetings Alec from Florida--First thanks
for all the help you have given Technics Lovers and your excellent article in TechPlus... As far as I can determine from the Technics representatives at the present time no Macintosh software is available for the KN7000..there may be an alternate approach but lets assume
I have to load from floppy disc to the SD card......I have about 400 plus style/registrations that I use on gigs.
When you go from floppy disc to the SD
card can you explain to me just how the files appear on the keyboard screen.
Presently I have the KN6000 with EW65
and an SX3 hard drive...All my files, i.e. styles, technics songs and midi files
are numbered with a five digit numeric
code.... Directories 001, 002 etc. with
16 files in each directory. I key the the five digit code to bring up a style that I am going to play using the Auto Load by number. Thanks again for your help, Mel in Florida
_________________________
Bobby Bear

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#57935 - 08/28/02 01:29 PM Re: GOT IT !!
Mike Harrison Offline
Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 78
Loc: Oxford U.K.
Congratulations Bill, would love to get one as well but my poor old car needs quite a lot of money spent on It to pass the dreaded MOT, still have fun and will look foward to your posts.
Mike

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#57936 - 08/28/02 01:53 PM Re: GOT IT !!
Bill Norrie Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/16/02
Posts: 2330
Loc: North Yorkshire UK
Another happy day spent with my new toy
Here are a few more observations which I've made during the day.
Quite a few of the original KN6000 Styles have been re-worked although some of the changes are quite subtle - slight differences in the drum sounds and patterns and also in the ACP1 to ACP4.
Where the KN6000 had separate rhythm groups for 'Big Band and Swing' and 'Jazz Combo' these have now been combined into one group called 'Jazz and Swing' On the KN6000, there were a total of 28 styles in these two groups, but the KN7000 only has 20 styles in the 'Jazz and Swing' group. I thought we had lost one of my favourites - Lounge Piano - but it's just been moved into a new group called 'Movie and Show'. The separate 'Latin' and 'World' groups on the KN6000, have been combined on the KN7000 into a single 'Latin & World' group. The KN6000 had 17 Latin styles and 13 World styles and the KN7000 'Latin & World' has a total of 26 styles. It is possible that some of the 'missing' styles have been moved to other locations within the Rhythm Groups, like the 'Lounge Piano' has, from Jazz Combo on KN6000 to 'Movie and Show' on the KN7000. I haven't fully explored that possibility. There are also some new Rhythm groups - '60s and 70s' and 'Ballroom'. Since quite a few of the KN6000 styles appear to be missing or have been changed / have new names, until Technics get their download site operational, if you intend to trade in a KN6xxx for a KN7000, it might be a good idea to save your favourite built in styles to disc.
The general layout of the controls has not caused me any problems. Although generally, the controls are a bit further away from the keys, the important ones which are used during performance, are still nearest the keys.
Having spent some more time exploring the PC / KN7000 file transfer system I have found that it does function as I initially thought. Files, sequences, panel memories, custom styles etc., can be transferred straight from my master CD on the PC, directly to the memory in the KN7000, via the USB channel, using the supplied 'Song Manager' software. It's just a case of navigating to the required folder, in a small Explorer type window, clicking on the folder, click OK and the file list appears in the Technics transfer window, just like the Load window on the KNxxxx, when loading from floppy disc. From there, the required file group is just dragged and dropped to the 'KN7000' area of the Song Manager window. Just before the transfer takes place, you are given the choice of which files within the group to transfer, again, similar to the Load or Save options when using normal disc operation. Having made a selection, clicking OK starts the transfer. Obviously, the transfer time will depend on what data is being transferred.
With reference to the Vocal Harmoniser, it can be turned On/Off using a footswitch, assigned to 'Mic Reverb&Effect'. A possible downside of this, is that it also turns off the reverb on the Mic. However, if the keyboard is being used through an external amp which has reverb built in then perhaps that would not be a problem. This facility was also available on the KN6xxx.
I must apologise for misleading you about the Brass Simulator - as Alec rightly says, it is still present on the KN7000. I missed it because the screens are arranged slightly differently. (Who cares anyway )
As far as the sound of the KN7000 is concerned, I connected both keyboards via a stereo switching arrangement to my external amplifier and speakers. I then adjusted the volumes of each instrument, while playing identical files, so that their levels were the same. I then closed my eyes and got a friend to operate the switch, while the identical files were playing. Result ? I couldn't really tell them apart. During the test, it was interesting to note a very slow drift in synchronisation between the two units - very slightly different clock frequencies but not a problem.
I then carried out another listening test, using the two keyboard's internal speaker systems, again with identical sequence files playing . I think that the comment I made earlier about lack of bass, may be due to the fact that the middle and high frequency sounds, produced by the internal power amp/speaker system on the KN7000, seems to be more pronounced than on the KN6000. This being the case, then when trying to balance the sound output levels on the two keyboards, the volume control on the KN7000 was set lower than on the KN6000, to produce the same subjective sound level. This would result in the Bass sound being apparently reduced.
I should add, that the listening tests were not carried out in a 'Living room', but in my sound proofed music room. Whilst it is not exactly an anechoic chamber, it is very 'Dead' and was originally used as a recording studio, to produce demo tapes etc.
I regret to say that the user manual has NOT improved it is still C**P, for an instrument as good as the KN7000. Anyone not having previous experience and good knowledge of the latter Technics instruments, would find it pretty hard going to get the best out of the instrument, if they had to rely on the manual....... Shame

If anyone has a specific question about the KN7000 please post it here so that everyone can benefit, rather than email me. I can't say that I am very knowledgable on the KN7000 but will do my best to help. If I can't - I know a man who probably can

One for Alec..... When I attended the KN7000 presentation in July, Chris Whithead used a SD card adapter to transfer data from PC to the SD card. I asked him if the adapter was supplied with the KN7000 kit and if I remember correctly, he said it was. When you reviewed the instrument, was an adapter supplied? I did not receive one in my package.

That's all for now folks

------------------
Willum
_________________________
Willum

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is Music.
Aldous Huxley
( especially when the music is played on a KN7000....)

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