Westgarth wrote:Hi Colin
I can't comment on your present set up but I'll tell you about my experience with Technics and Yamaha if I may.
A number of years ago I traded a Yamaha for the Technics 5000. I found it completely different from the Yamaha keyboards. The keyboard itself, just the feel of the keys and the control of the velocity, was amazing compared to Yamaha. The voices, although not perfect had far more guts and sounded very professional. If I was a stage player I would have loved this instrument. As a guitar player I found I could express a lot of emotion in a guitar but Yamaha keyboards always made me feel flat. The Technics was brilliant, you could put your heart and soul into it. I have the PSRS700 now and it's keyboard is rubbish although the voices are good. I only got rid of the Technics as I hated the menu system. My loss.
I think it comes down to personal preference. If you want to produce authentic sounds you may have to change to another brand. I only play as a hobbyist and when I've had a good hour on the keyboard I want to be able to say "boy, I enjoyed that".
As well as a sound module you may want to think about using your Technics as a controller keyboard with a software package.
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Hi Steve, - Many thanks for your comments. I found them most interesting. I suspect your view of the Technics keyboards, would be the views of many. To be honest, I only bought my KN7000 for it's sequencer. It's an amazing piece of technoclogy. I don't know whether other makes have sequencers that are as versatile as the Technics. ?
As for 'the menu' which you gave up on, I've now become accustomed to it, although I can appreciate your view. I suppose the 'liking of voices' scenario, is purely based upon what sort of music one likes. ! - Each brand of keyboard will be designed with voices to mainly appeal to the specific favourtite tastes of potential buyers. I'm an 81yr old, so my taste will undoubtedly be different than 18yr old youngsters.
Having said that, my favourite voices are those produced by the big bands and the lush orchestras. Plus the older style of jazz produced by such as Charlie Parker - Lionel Hampton - Art Tatum and Louis Armstrong. So, there you have it. I've wandered off the subject a bit, but hopefully I'm forgiven. - Cheers - Colin.