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New sub €600 stage piano

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  • 01-07-2010 10:55pm
    #1
    pinksoir
    Registered Users Posts: 1,735 ✭✭✭


    Howdy.

    I'm looking to get a stage piano and I don't want to spend too much. I've pretty much narrowed it down to three.

    M-Audio Prokeys 88 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/maudio_prokeys_88.htm

    Korg SP-170 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/korg_sp_170_bk.htm

    Yamaha P85 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/yamaha_p85.htm

    I'm gonna be gigging a lot an the piano is probably going to get it's fair share of knocks, so I need something reliable that isn't going to crap out on me and leave me in a bind. I'd like a good piano sound, the rest isn't that important as I'll be using a second keyboard with a v-machine/laptop for other sounds.

    I was nearly settled on the M-Audio as I like the sounds on it, especially the electric pianos, but I got freaked out by reading some dodgy reviews saying that it's unreliable, breaks easily and spare parts are impossible to get. Basically calling them the 'new Behringer'.

    The Korg is apparently a new machine, and it's gotten pretty favourable reviews so far. Likewise the Yamaha.

    So I'm just wondering if anyone can recommend which one to get, or even one that I've overlooked. Obviously it's better to try before I buy, so does anyone know where I could go try a few out in Dublin?

    Thanks in advance.

    EDIT: This one also grabbed my attention, the Casio CDP-100 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/casio_cdp100.htm
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    #2
    pinksoir
    Registered Users Posts: 1,735 ✭✭✭pinksoir


    In case anyone is interested, I went into Music Maker (tried x-music too but they had a selection starting at too high a price) and was able to try out a few pianos, including 2 that were on my list, the Korg and the Yamaha. I didn't like the Yamaha at all, and much preferred the feel and sound of the Korg, which was strange because probably the majority of comparisons I read online preferred the Yamaha. Which goes to show there's absolutely no substitute for trying something yourself (or that most people are idiots, or a combination of both).

    However, both of the pianos I tried were too flimsy as I'd be getting this for use as a stage piano and it'd be getting knocked around a lot, so I also tried out a model up from the Korg, the SP-250 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/korg_sp250.htm
    It's a great piano. Sounds fantastic, and the build quality is excellent, really solid.

    I'd said that I would have a limit of 600 quid for a piano. The dude in Music Maker was looking for 749 for the SP-250, so I had a look on Thomann and by luck found they were selling an ex-display model for 589. Which was nice. Yoink.

    I'm still waiting on delivery of my V-machine, so depending on the quality of pianos it's able to run, I may send back the SP-250 and exchange it for a weighted midi keyboard like a CME UF80 - http://www.thomann.de/ie/cme_uf80.htm, and get another V-machine. Despite some flack it's been getting, I've got a good feeling about it. Pianos are notoriously difficult to emulate through vst without being sample based and hence massive in size.


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