Choosing a keyboard

[Fronzo]

I meant to say in my earlier post raving about the Yamaha DGX 670, that it does have a few drawbacks, mainly the connectivity. Just a single stereo headphone / line out jack and also midi is by USB rather than traditional midi ports. I think Yamaha must have deliberately omitted a few pro features on the DGX to steer professional gigging musicians towards their more expensive models such as the P-515 or P-525, or the other pro stage keyboards such as the CK-88, CP-88 and YC series, etc, but the lack of proper line outs can be overcome using a Y-cable, as others have pointed out. Another option might be something like the Studiologic compact SE, which also has 88 keys, but semi weighted rather than fully weighted so is much lighter and smaller than the DGX and has all the pro connectivity you might need for under £500 new.

[ef37a]

Nice one Fronzo! That Studiologic kb seems to have the lot. They don't specify the level out of the 1/4" jacks but then most kb firms seem to hide that information under a bushel!

He could split a headphone output but that has two drawbacks. HP outs tend to be at a feeble level and the MOTU needs +4dBu for inputs 3/4 and you lose the speaker facility which I admit is not really needed in his case but it seems a bit daft, if you have it to kill it!

Yes, I shall pass that information on to him.

Dave.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Just beware, these days semi-weighted means no actual weights at all, it will be closer to a DX7, D50, Korg M1 etc. i.e. a decent synth action. It is not recommended by piano teachers, the student would not be able to practice dynamics correctly.

Here is the action in that Studiologic keyboard, you can see there are no weights, just the spring. It has the same shape and size as a standard piano key, but not the feel. This is the next model up, it is the same mechanism but with a counterweight. That kind of action can actually feel pretty good if the springs are the right tension, it's what is in my old Akai and compares quite well to my Yamaha CP80 electric grand. Although I would prefer even Yamaha GHS.

[Wonks]

The more you pay for an electronic piano, the more like a real piano the keyboard action becomes.

You also get more velocity sensors per key, so if you start off slow and then press harder as the key goes down, you get a suitable change in the sound produced between initial and final velocity, rather than just a sample at a single velocity.

And the number of speakers in the keyboard also increases from a basic stereo arrangement, to maybe five or more, with three of four speakers spread along the top of the keyboard and if a full floor-standing piano keyboard unit, then a built in sub within the body of the unit.

(I know because I sat in a keyboard showroom for 2 hours whilst a friend tested out a whole range from cheap to very expensive so I got to ask a lot of questions).

Definitely a much more realistic sound and feel from the top end units, but even the cheaper ones sounded OK to me if you didn't expect 100% accuracy.

[Nazard]

How about the M audio Hammer 88? I've had a fairly basic, non-hammer M audio 61 note controller for years and it still works fine.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/m-audio-hammer-88

[ef37a]

How about the M audio Hammer 88? I've had a fairly basic, non-hammer M audio 61 note controller for years and it still works fine.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/m-audio-hammer-88

That looks useful. Not happy though about the USB incompatibility with Sonar mentioned in the SoS review? As I said, son runs Cakewalk.
I was a big fan of M-Audio gear until the company was split up. I had several Delta 2496 cards the latency of which has only been beaten fairly recently by run of the mill USB devices (RME were always at least AS good).
As a matter of fact his Evo 49 is basically the same box of tricks as the M-A 49 and they actually share a driver. That 88 key job looks to be of the same configuration. Not a problem, the only thing that has gone wrong with the Evo is a noisy pitch bend pot, could squirt it but you need to take about a million screws out IIRC! Years ago I found a 'filter' in Cubase Ess 6 which turned pitch bend off, looking for same in Reaper and Cakewalk.

Wonks: he IS pretty fussy about "sound"! So my point about not reusing samples? Piano sound especially and I guess that is because he was exposed to some pretty superb instruments when learning at uni? Anyone know what they have at Leeds? He is very much OK with Pianoteq though.

Dave.

[progger]

Due to my unusual line of work, I've had the fortune of playing a pretty wide swath of what's available on the keyboard market. And it sounds like the son in question is going to want good feel as well as decent sounds, if we're not just going to be triggering Pianoteq or other VIs with it.

My recommendation is usually either a used Yamaha P125/115/105/etc or a Roland FP30x. Either of those routes will have a great-feeling key bed and very decent onboard sounds without costing a fortune.

I normally gig on the Yamaha YC series, either the 73 (which I own) or the 88 (owned by the venue I play at most frequently), but those are quite a bit more expensive. Stellar sound, feel, and capabilities, but not cheap.

My home studio solution at the moment for a master MIDI controller as well as handy practice piano (when I don't want to boot the whole system up) is a Roland RD88ex, which I just got last year to replace my venerable P85, and I'm very happy with it. Very decent sounds, fantastic key bed (I'm very partial to the Roland PHA4, it's comfy for a wide variety of sounds), and both MIDI and audio via USB, if wanted. More expensive than an FP30 but I'm happy to have the additional onboard sounds, just for playing and writing if nothing else.