This is what will be in the 7000:


Built in hard drive.

TV output.

USB connection (excellent!)

Space for EW03 and EW04 cards, which will also work in the 6000/6500.

(Presumably all the existing sounds including 01 and 02 will be built in,
or maybe there are 4 sound card slots?)

Some kind of MP3 capability, probably play, maybe save?

(transfering mp3s to the hard drive via usb will let you play them and transcribe composers accurately. This is effectively what I do at the moment by playing my mp3 portable through the line in sockets)

Lots more...


we shall have to see what turns up

Alec

[QUOTE]Originally posted by technicsplayer:
[B]This is what will be in the 7000:

technicsplayer
what you trying to do here "start a war"
what about the kitchen sink
Johnnie

Hi Alec, Thanks for the advance information. At last they have seen sense and fitted the hard disc! My fun will start when I try to transfer all my files from the SX3 drive on my KN6 - suppose it's the price you pay !

Best Regards,

------------------
Willum

Hi Alec,

I've heard similar rumours going around too, but I assume that what you are saying now is 'substantiated knowledge', not just speculation, right?

Finally including a built in hard drive is GREAT news (even though I would have prefered them to go the flash media card route). I hope that Technics will also include the hard drive management/backup software as well. I also wonder what the hard drive's size will be, and what the HD's managment software features will include. Does anyone here know?

Great to hear that the built in hard drive will support USB. I've been long tired of the SLOW hard drive backup time on my KN5000, with its antiquated SLOW parallel port interface. I'm just curious HOW MUCH faster it will be to backup the same amount of data on USB vs parallel port?

MP3 support sounds nice too, though I'm concerned that MP3 quality may not sound 'good enough for professional quality music performance/production. It would be great if the KN7000 supported 16 bit audio (WAV file) playback/recording too. The GEM Genesis already supports both WAV & MP3 formats.

As each week passes, I'm getting more and more excited about the prospects of the KN7000. I'm making an extra effort to save $ up for what sounds like could be a big step forward in arrangaer keyboard advancement. Historicly, It seems like Technics comes out with a BIG WINNER, every other model release, so the time is ripe.

- Scott http://scottyee.com

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 02-09-2002).]

Well Scott, we'll just have to wait and see won't we?

You keep going on about the slow parallel port. The usb on the SX6 would only be max 50% faster in data transfer rate, but this would be only a small difference in total time because the majority of time is taken up with hard drive writing and reading at both ends, as I have explained before. The protocol is arranged to be able to abort at any time and have a working file system with all custom lists and everything else up to date, and do archive backups from only new work since last time. An image transfer would take less time but have downsides in useability compared to this way of doing it.

I don't go with this 2 generation argument. The 3000 was a much better machine than the 2, and the 6000 a big step upward from the 5000. Dealers tell me the 6000 is the best selling machine that Technics have ever made...

The 7000 will have to be something good to beat that

Hi Alec.
Quote:
Dealers tell me the 6000 is the best selling
machine that Technics have ever made...
End quote.
--------------------

This I think depends a lot of where in the big world we're talking
about. Usually when a new model is for sale, there are a lot of 2nd
hand "past" models to choose from.
When KN6 came, there was far less of used KN's to find, and even today
it's very hard to find any KN5 in this area/country, but I can see a
couple (in the TechPlus magazine) in your country.
Earlier on when a new top range KN came, it was a lot of second hand
equipment to find.
I can't imagine that most KN owners have both KN5 and KN6, or??
I know some dealers have good sales, but it would have been nice to see
world wide statistics on this matters.
GJ

[This message has been edited by Gunnar Jonny (edited 02-09-2002).]

Alec or others,

Any word about the harmonizer on the KN7000? I assume it 'will' include one, and hope it will be a considerable improvement in sound quality/features over the one in the KN6500. I currently use a Digitech Vocalist Workstation EX and am wondering if the I'll be still needing it anymore with the KN7000.

Alec: Thanks for clariying the USB/parrallel port speed issue (once again). The good thing about USB is universal compatibility with current computer systems, and a 50% (though not earth shattering) is still a considerable improvemnt in speed.

Though I agree that the 3000 and 6000 (now 6500) are both substantial improvements over their predessors, I still think Technic's biggest keyboard successes (at least here in the US), were the 2000 & 5000. Whatever the case, I think it's time for Technics to showcase something new and innovative. Afterall, the 6000/6500 line has been around for quite a while now and the competition from the other arranger keyboard manufacterers has continued to grow quickly (with both more features and lower prices).

I think the biggest obstacle in the USA is Technics restsrictive sales policy. Currrently in the US, Technics KN keyboards can ONLY be sold thru traditional piano/organ stores and NOT thru the major music retail stores such as Guitar Center, Sam Ash or Mars Music. Also, there is really no regulated 'list price' that dealers must adhere to. As a result, piano/organ stores (really one of the only places in the USA where you can purchase a Technics arranger) can adverstise the list price at some astronomically inflated figure, perhaps 400% above dealer cost, and then tell the customer what a deal they're getting when they lower the price to 200 percent above dealer cost. Unfortunately because of this as well as its retricted availablity: to home piano/organ stores only, Technics keyboards (in the USA) end up costing quite a bit more than comparable arranger keyboards from Yamaha, Gem, Solton-Ketron, Roland, and Korg. Until Technics USA lifts its sales restrictions and expands their KN keyboard sales to the major pro music & music chain stores, there will continue to be problems getting the product line known and accepted by much of the pro musician market as well as getting KN keyboard prices down to be more competitive with Yamaha, Roland, GEM, Ketron, and Korg. - Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 02-10-2002).]

Hi Scott,
the point I'm trying to make is that if the data transfer time is only 10% of the total backup and restore time (because the rest is all hard disk time at both ends), then a 50% improvement only in that 10% does not make much difference to the total time.

It is done file by file so that the custom scripts and other feautures are up to date if you abort half way, and you can do selective updates, and auto selective backups of just files that are new since the last backup. You could do it other ways but with pros and cons in the features resulting.

But usb is far superior just from the point of view of pc resourses, and no conflict problems with other gear. I've been asked to write a booklet for the Techmanager and have described how to get the parallel port working no matter what other parallel drivers may be loaded.

Roll on usb...(preferably usb2! perfect for data transfer from hard disk to hard disk)

Yes, your Technics distribution scenario in the States has been described to me on many occasions in many mails from Stateside owners. Here it is the other way round, Ketron is not easy to find, the support and backup is poor, and General Music loses their distributor every few years, as various firms play musical chairs picking up the brand. Some even go bust. This does not help long term support if you are not on the net and technically clued up. Yamaha is everywhere from white goods shops to the shopping channnel, but Technics still tend to be concentrated in music shops.

The manufactures will not tell you their sales figures, these are top secret!
In the first year of release the 6000 consistently had the majority of the market against all keyboards in the similar price band - not just the 9000, but all the competition combined, according to the British Music Fair at the time. It was keyboard of the year 2001, and now still sells remarkably well according to anecdotal evidence from various dealers I have contact with. I believe it is the most successful keyboard they ever made.

I agree with Scotyee,
Just supporting MP3 on the new KN7000 will not be really a step forward in comparison to other arranger keyboards. When I change the format of one of my audio-CD's in MP3 (on my computer) and then play it, the quality of the sound has degrated far too much. It's sounds nice as background music, but to use it on one of my gig's with the new KN7000, the quality of the sound just would not be good enough.
If technics wants to create a new professional arranger it must support wav files as well, and then not only playback, but ALSO recording. Yes, it would take a very large amount of the resources on the keyboard (lots of extra memory and harddisc space to save your songs). But it would be the only way to compete with the other arrangers in my opinion.

I too don't see the point of just mp3, since you need the wave file in the first place to create it. If you have the wave file and a hard disk, saving the wave files are not a problem. If you can send the wave files digitally down the usb to the pc edit suite... then it could not be easier?

we'll have to see...