Martini digital piano - anyone familiar with these??

Dick Turnip

Hi,

any advise would be much appreciated. looking to get back into playing piano after a LONG time. want to buy an 88 key digital piano on the lower end of the price scale.

saw a Martini digital piano in a place in town for €549, not sure of the model but saw a similar looking model (M200A) online.

anyone have one of these, or any experience of them? its going to be purely for personal use, not looking for something to bring on stage with me or anything.

does it have an authentic sound? realistic touch? digital effects any good? anything else ye would like to share?

Thanks,
D

BSOM

Dick Turnip wrote: »

Hi,

any advise would be much appreciated. looking to get back into playing piano after a LONG time. want to buy an 88 key digital piano on the lower end of the price scale.

saw a Martini digital piano in a place in town for €549, not sure of the model but saw a similar looking model (M200A) online.

anyone have one of these, or any experience of them? its going to be purely for personal use, not looking for something to bring on stage with me or anything.

does it have an authentic sound? realistic touch? digital effects any good? anything else ye would like to share?

Thanks,
D

Hi Dick,

Martini isnt a bad brand but it would be worth your while shelling out the extra €200 - €300 for a Casio AP220

nicknackgtb

Martini????

Isint that the name of a drink??

bogmanfan

Hey Dick,
did you end up going with the Martini in the end? I've been looking at them in Walton's. The guy in the shop said that model is custom made by Martini to Waltons' specifications. Seem to have loads of features and a nice sound.

condra

You would be mad to spend that sort of money on a "cheap" product.

It's likely to have low quality features, bad build quality, zero online support, and dismal resale value.

Can you find an official website for Martini or Worlde? They only thing I am brought back to is the Waltons website:
http://www.waltons.ie/Product/Search.aspx?search=worlde&searchMid=&searchCid=&min=&max=&showAdvancedSearch=False
Red flags anyone?

Since M-Audio have "upped their game" so much in recent years, I suspect these guys are the new kings of cheap flakey chinese crap. I imagine they have the same dodgy products for sale around the world under different names.

I have a Worlde midi keyboard in my studio which I got off an X girlfriend. It's rubbish.
The casing is plasticy and hallow and creaks at the slightest touch. The keys seem to have about 4 layers of velocity sensitivity. The rotaries grind off the main chassis when you turn them. There is no official product page or manual available online.

The fact that Waltons alone are flogging these products is very telling. What other supplier in the country would have the arrogance to stock such crappy products, just to try to make a few quid?
I already avoid Waltons because of their ridiculous pricing, but this just adds insult to injury.

My advice is to have a look in X-Music or another reputable supplier. Waltons lost their way a long time ago.

condra

EDIT - I've done more research.

These products come under a huge number of names.
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=150547&p=1196654#p1196654

keyboardcook

It looks to me that Martini are a Waltons brand. Basically, short of being drop shipped, they are bulk made unbranded gear made in China, and then labeled according to the retailers wishes. Same goes for their accordions.

I think it would be fair to say that the actual quality of these as instruments would be very poor.

If yo look around at other etailers doing this sort of thing (gear4music.com being one) you will find the exact same model under a different brand name.

One other interesting source of research might be one of the giant Chinese wholesale sites (globalsourcesdirect.com for example). I wouldn't be surprised if the pianos are there also

In short- steer clear.

condra

I would say, for midi stuff, you get what you pay for. A cheap midi keyboard or controller could do the job and tie you over for a year say.

For anything with a signal flow, such as microphones or digital pianos, I wouldn't touch these cheap brands with a barge pole.