Hi all,

Now that Technics will be winding things down, so to speak, I wonder whether update 1.6 might never be available through official channels in the UK?

This leads me to think that if I should ever want to take advantage of the fixes in version 1.6, I would need to take the unsupported route of updating from the Taiyo site.

What worries me about this (apart from this being an unsupported upgrade route) is that there is a warning on www.kn7000.de that you mustn't install this version if you use the Plug-ins from Key Soft. Although I don't intend to use the Key Soft Plug-ins, this makes me nervous as it sounds like they have broken compatibility with previous versions at some level.

Also, if I upgrade to 1.6 and I find at some point in the future that I need to go back to 1.3, is there a way that I can re-install 1.3?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on these issues that any of you may have.

Cheers,
Mark.

I have never upgraded my 7000! My feeling is the old cliche: "If it isn't broken, why fix it?" Am I crazy not to upgrade? I have had it since November 2002 and never have had any trouble with it at all. So, I just thought why mess with a good thing. Now that there will be no more Technics products, I am even more wary of fooling around with an instrument that serves my every need, without playing around with the internal workings. Any suggestions or advice? Or am I, as I said above, crazy to leave things as they are? Thanks for any comments.

Ted

Ted, you said ‘thanks for any comments’. Well hears mine. I think you got your head screwed on right, looking straight forward and seeing things clearly. I would like to ask Mark to tell me why that upgrade would make my KN any better than it is and why he thinks his board is screwed up and needs a fix in the form of an upgrade. I even asked Ruthie and she said, “what ever you say dear”! Now this gal don’t need a fix either. She’s got the right attitude. Of course, Ted, I trained her real good from the start. I also would like to close with your gracious closure. Thanks for any comments.

Doug

I agree with Doug - leave well alone. I too have had my 7k since November 02 with (touch wood) no problems - unlike the 6k which needing fixes. The only thing is the volume problem outlined in my "Couple of problems" posting.

I'd love to know the secret of your success in training Ruthie, Doug. I've been trying for 50 years and it's me that ended up being trained...........

Peter

I agree fully in "if it ain't broke, don't
fix it".....
.....but why are the updates made, if it's
not for any use?
They probably fix some problem or another
found after the release of the keyboard ?
GJ

[This message has been edited by Gunnar Jonny (edited 01-27-2004).]

Mark
Leave well alone there are more people not using this unofficial upgrade than are.
Do you see a lot of threads/posts of people complaining about their KN7000 not functioning properly.I think not

Peter quote: "it's me that ended up being trained..........."
Yup, those little lumps of loveliness can be real tricky if you don’t watch yourself.

Doug

A quote by Gunner: “....but why are the updates made, if it's not for any use? They probably fix some problem or another found after the release of the keyboard?

Gunnar, more than likely it’s a German problem that’s being fixed, seeing that it originates from only Germany. Italians are lovers, Frenchmen make good wine, Englishmen are very proper and Germans are always fixing and doodling with things. Could be they just want to keep you Norwegians guessing because you guys are very practical and want to always know the why of things. Us American slobs just want to have fun and work hard to attain it.

You know Gunner? It just dawned on me! There will be no new KN coming out this fall. That means I won’t have to work too hard this year to buy the new model. Say, that’s good news!!! More time for fun. See!!!! There is always a good side to everything. Maybe that's why Ruthie likes me so much and we have had so much fun all these years. Kind of reminds me of a song we used to play in our dance band: Accentuate the Positive or something like that.

Doug

Yes Douglas, you're right, nothing's so bad that's not good for anything,
and you sure do point out some of the positive here.
Now we have to use a lot of time to figure out what on earth we're going
to do with all the money we have saved to buy a new KN.
Maybe Ruthie have something real nice to look forward to for that heaps of
money .... a trip to Hawaii or maybe Italy...

GJ

BTW,
regarding the descriptions you have about the different people around the
world, I've just found out that I'm very very international

I have painlessly upgraded my KN7K up to v1.6. The upgrades so far had only one feature which concerned the German HELP screens, otherwise they were universal. I have also upgraded my Digital Camera's OS on one occasion and will upgrade my MP3 player when necessary. That is the whole idea behind OS on flash EPROM.
BTW, who says that the upgrades were unofficial? And, again, who says that the majority of owners have not upgraded. I have personally distributed many copies of the upgrade files, along with an set of English instructions, and been thanked for them.
Mike O'R

Mike, I think it was Johnnie C. that said that.

Doug

Policy was different in different parts of the world. In the UK we were told that you invalidated your guarantee if installing Taiyo upgrades, as reported on this forum by several people in the past. Since no one can notice any great differences is it really worth the risk for something most people cannot even notice.

Thanks everyone for your views. I don't think I'll be upgrading in a hurry, although I might upgrade in the future. According to Mike ORegan, in a previous thread last July, the fixes in 1.5 (and presumably 1.6 as well) are:

1. Bitmap pics for HOME page can now be selected.
2. SD-Card "%age free" is now corrected
3. Drum Track with transposed files corrected for use with MIDI out.
4. Audio files on SD-Card are all now recognised.
5. The SD-Card Control File will no longer be corrupted
6. Corrections to Technichords which either don't work or produce the wrong results e.g. "add9", "madd9"

I've noticed that the SD percentage free is often wrong, but I guess that is a minor niggle. The most worrying defect in 1.3 is the potential for the SD control file to become corrupt, although I have not experienced that so far.

Does any one know what "Audio files on SD-Card are all now recognised" means? I haven't noticed any problems playing audio files.

I wonder if any KN7000s have been shipped from the factory yet with 1.6 installed?

Cheers,
Mark.

Mark,
I had experience with corruption of my SD control (INF) file which was corrected with Version 1.5
I received my version 1.5 dirct from Technics USA (via Eddie Williams) so I know it was an official release.
Furthermore, I did a binary file compare with the Taiyo 1.5 and they were identical.
I don't know anything about 1.6 but have had no problems since installing 1.5
Walt

Has anyone yet received or asked Eddie Williams for a Version 1.6 update. I have not but wonder if anyone else has. He sent me 1.5 and it works fine.
Let us all know,
Thanks to Eddie for 1.5. Eddie Williams is our official factory rep here is the US
Bebop

Reading all this makes me wonder why Technics Europe/UK has never issued any updates, and my dealer knows of none...


Peter

The model/serial number tag on the box of a KN7000 I sold this morning leads me to believe that it came from the factory with 1.6 installed. The model no. reads SX-KN7000P-S(1.6). Technics shipped this keyboard to me at the end of December. The customer took it home in the box, but promised to let me know about it later in the week.

Matt

I don't know much about this upgrades for KN7000, but
looking at Yahoo KN7000 Group, a user trashed his 7000
installing 1.6 from Taiyo, so the big question is if
it's worth the risk if noone can tell that there are
much difference at all.
Bring me back to what sooooo many say at SZ:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
GJ

Gunnar,
As with any operating system update, if you don't do it exactly right you risk the possibility of trashing the instrument. This is true of computers or keyboards or any item that has updatable flash ROM.
Therein lies the real danger!
No matter the quality of the software update, if you goof, your in one big mess of trouble.
Of course, no permanent damage is done but it might take a factory instructed procedure to straighten it out. If I remember right, Eddie Williams helped out someone in that trouble last year.
Walt

The link you ask for Johnnie, I don't know where to find.

Walt, to be honest, if I had a KN7000, I'm probably been one of the first who
would have installed the 1.6, just because I usually downloads all updates as
soon as they show up, either it is for the keyboard or other PC related software.
But believe me, it do not always be a success after the install..... to many
CRASH BOOMS during the years.
But do I learn to let it be the next time? Nope.....
GJ

I don't have a KN7000 but I can't help but wonder why, if Eddie Williams in the U.S. provides disks and assistance to owners, shouldn't Chris Whitehead be offering the same service to the U.K. owners? And shouldn't Technics, through Eddie Williams and Chris Whitehead, offer an explanation to owners why they should install these upgrades and what impact, if any, failure to install will have on their instruments. It seems to me that rather than getting upgrades from Germany, U.K. owners should be getting upgrades direct from our U.K. Technics representatives along with appropriate instructions/explanations written in English.

Just some thoughts.

Chuck

Gunnar Jonny
I am very sorry .
I went to edit my post and I deleted it by mistake.
It does not really matter because you have covered it well.

I Wrote to Eddie Williams about the v 1.6 upgrade and here is his reply for all US owners:

Hey Bill.



Hope all is well with you. Just wanted to let you know that I do have 1.6. Just have folks give me a call. I also wanted to let you so you can pass it along to the Synthzone Gang. Matsushita is continuing to support the musical instrument products service and parts. I will be at the 1-800-Pantune (option 3) 10:00 to 7:00 east coast Monday – Friday.



Eddie Williams/Technics Musical Instruments

Technical Service Representative III

Panasonic Customer Call Center

661 Independence Parkway

Chesapeake, Va. 23320

1-800-726-8863 option 3

williamse@panasonic.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Bill (BEBOP) Forrest [mailto:bforrest@ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 11:07 AM
To: Williams, Edward
Subject: KN7 version 1.6 upgrade?
Importance: High



HI Eddie,

I just posted this on the forum and wonder if you might have a response to it for our members:



Has anyone yet received or asked Eddie Williams for a Version 1.6 update. I have not but wonder if anyone else has. He sent me 1.5 and it works fine.
Let us all know,
Thanks to Eddie for 1.5. Eddie Williams is our official factory rep here is the US
Bebop

BEBOP
Moderator SynthZone TECHNICS FORUM http://www.synthzone.com/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=25
Bill Forrest in SAN JOSE, CALIF. USA
ICQ # 562519
Email: bforrest@ix.netcom.com WEBSITE: http://www.anycities.com/bebop/

If Eddie Williams is making 1.6 available to owners in the U.S., it begs the question why Chris Whitehead isn't offering the same service to U.K. owners.

Again, just a thought.

Chuck

Maybe we are getting even. You dudes got the reader + in your package that we did not.

If Whitehead does not reply, we yanks will gladly share our official copy.

Fran in Florida

There is no specific Technics Europe. Mainly each country or parts of Europe have there own (main)distributor. The Netherlands for instance "Haagmeyer Techno", find that out if you are searching on web.
So for Germany that is Taiyo. the 1.6. update therefore is an official update.
By the way Taiyo produces some nice disks too. I especialy like the guitar disk. Listen to the demos).

rgds.
Willem

Hi Fran,

If I decide to buy a KN7000 I will gladly accept your offer of a copy of the several upgrades issued to date.

Willem,

I understand the point you have made about main dealers in Europe. We do not have a main dealer in the U.K. who acts as the sole source for upgrades. In fact, we have a full-fledged Technics office which is even better, yet the personnel in that office have never offered upgrades to KN owners. My question is - WHY? We U.K. KN owners are forced to go to a German site for technical support when Technics representatives are here and available in the U.K. Makes no sense. And finally, all of this discussion is really a waste of time now that Technics is out of business, so I will save my breath to cool my coffee.

Chuck

Folks

Again i draw your attention to the Australian site: http://www.panasonic.com.au/support/downloads/results.cfm?ProductCode=SX%2DKN7000&CategoryID=16

the 1.5 and 1.6 downloads are on this site. Seems to me that technics australia woudldn't put them there if they weren't necessary.

I AM having problems with my KN7000.

When I load styles into panel memory the volume increase is dramatic.

When playing using right part one i switch to right part 2 and when i go back to right part 1 the volume drops dramatically.

The repeat on the banjo and madolin sounds go crazy.

So i guess i do need an upgrade.


Ps Chris Whitehead still hasn't answered my email from 6 weeks ago.

Bruce

Folks

Actually it loooks like technics australia only has th 1.5 update

please let me know.

Bruce

I have been in touch with Abel Taiyo in Germany about upgrades, among other things.
For what it is worth, here is a summary of what I discovered:
1. Upgrades later than 1.4 are purely "cosmetic" in that they correct some language irregularities, in both German & English tables.
2. V 1.6 corrected some faults in V 1.5 and it not strictly necessary unless 1.5 had been installed.
3. Unless you are into semantics, V 1.4 is perfectly adequate and the upgrade is still available on two disks.
4. Finally, if anyone has installed Keysoft plug-ins, they should get their update files, if required, directly from Keysoft.
Mike O'R

exactly what we've known and said all along...

ok do where can i obtain the 1.4 update

Bruce

Received the 1.6 yesterday from Eddie Williams. Installed with no problems. It has not corrected my one problem. The pianos go off key afterplaying for a while. Change to another instrument and back to piano and it is all right for a minute or so and goes off key again.

Eddie suggested it could be the Glide Control setting in the foot switch. Changed that and still have the problem. Guess I will have to put it in the shop.

Fran in Florida

Thread here is now more than 32 items long! I am still puzzled as to WHY we are supposed to upgrade the 7000 when it seems to be working just fine as it is?! I have found in the past that upgrades sometimes are worse than the orginal configuration(s); so I have put off doing so until I get some definite reason that I should (MUST!) upgrade. I have been using my 7000 since November 2002, and have not had a single problem nor glitch (yet). So, until I receive a verbal bop on the head and someone who is really expert at these things can convince me I HAVE to upgrade, I still will not do so. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

(My two cents worth today; any further comments?)

Ted

Brucey, if you will go back into the many posts over the past year and a half you will find many, many discussions on the same problem you are having. Volume jumping and crazy sounding voices. Your board doesn't need fixing. The way you use the APC volume slider, the position of the modulation wheel, the way you save to the panel memory section are what need fixing, not the board. Misuse of the volume pedal has also caused much frustration if you have one.

Doug

Brucie,
I am one of those that had problems with the sound levels suddenly changing and It was hard to convince me that something was wrong other than the keyboard.
Doug is right in that there is a big interaction between the use of an expression pedal, the position of the APC slider, the position of the modulation wheel, how things are saved in the panel memories and, I might add, the items that have been selected in the Panel Memory Filter and the Data Protection Filter.
I can only explain it by the fact that the keyboard operating system "samples" all of these settings and produces a result based on the total aggregate.
As an example, the expression pedal, if used, does not control the audio output level directly like a volume control but it's value (depending upon physical position) is merely looked at by the operating system software and added to the mix. The same with the APC slider.
Under certain conditions these can all be altered by the panel memories and/or a loaded sequencer file.
Sometimes it's hard to find just where your little gremlin that's causing the problem is hiding, but it's there somewhere.
Keep looking and exploring and I am sure you will find and be able to correct the problem.
Good Luck,
Walt

Very good advice Walt!

Doug

Ted,

If I was not having trouble with my piano sounds I would not have upgraded from 1.3.

I was only hoping the upgrades would fix my problem.

Fran in Florida