Digital piano

explosions hurt

I'm in the market for a stage piano. I play with DAWs like reason so essentially I want a midi controller. I need a full 88 keys and something with hammer action weighted keys. I've played piano for years and can't stand plasticy keyboard keys so want something as close to a real piano as possible. Not too worried about features since I run sounds etc. from the laptop. My price range is around 800 euro. So far I've looked at the korg Sp250 which wasn't bad, but I'm not crazy about the weighting on it. The Yamaha P85 seems nice but I haven't actually played one. Anyone have any suggestions? The cp33 seems great but is a bit out of my price range. Anyone have one of these, should I hold out for a month and get one. With the exchange rate against the dollar their working out around the 800 mark actually but are there any American sites that deliver to ireland?

nicknackgtb

explosions hurt wrote: »

I'm in the market for a stage piano. I play with DAWs like reason so essentially I want a midi controller. I need a full 88 keys and something with hammer action weighted keys. I've played piano for years and can't stand plasticy keyboard keys so want something as close to a real piano as possible. Not too worried about features since I run sounds etc. from the laptop. My price range is around 800 euro. So far I've looked at the korg Sp250 which wasn't bad, but I'm not crazy about the weighting on it. The Yamaha P85 seems nice but I haven't actually played one. Anyone have any suggestions? The cp33 seems great but is a bit out of my price range. Anyone have one of these, should I hold out for a month and get one. With the exchange rate against the dollar their working out around the 800 mark actually but are there any American sites that deliver to ireland?

Check out the Casio PX-330, has everything you would want I think and the price would be about right. Sd Card, midi and USB and full 88 note full weighted keyboard.

explosions hurt

that looks nice alright. some good reviews for it on other forums too. thanks.

pinksoir

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055956738

I was in a similar scenario there. I liked the SP-250 though. Keys were nicely weighted I thought. The P85 was really cheap feeling.

If you're looking for just a dumb midi keyboard there's tons of options. http://www.thomann.de/ie/cme_uf80.htm. I've played this before and it's fantastic. I have the 66 key version, it's only semi weighted, but it's a good solid keyboard. Obviously the benefits of midi keyboards is programmable faders and knobs, which are really handy for real time controlling of stuff like organ drawbars and filter cut offs. You wouldn't have this option with a digital piano. It's also possible to get midi keyboards with onboard sounds. But you're getting into big money then.

Do try before you buy, cos all the online reviews in the world won't tell you what you're personally after. For example, the P85 got great reviews online, but when I tried it it just wasn't up to scratch.

The Casio PX-330 definitely looks good, but it depends what you want it for really. It has 250 sounds. Will you use them? Brillaince, chorus and reverb control, will you use those? If you're just using it as a midi controller in a DAW you can do all that stuff on the computer. If you're looking for a standalone piano it could do the job. Try it first though! If you're in Dublin, both X-music and Music Maker have a range of keys. Music Maker have slightly lower end (SP-250, P85) and I'm pretty sure I tried the PX-330 in Xmusic.

Is there any particular reason you want to buy from the States? You'll have to pay import duty and tax on it (21%). Thomann is your man - http://www.thomann.de/ie/casio_px_330_bk_privia.htm

explosions hurt

that's a nice looking board alright. I'm not too bothered about knobs and faders really since I have an m-audio oxygen with plenty on it. Key weighting is a big issue for me really. Want to get as close to the real thing as possible for the money I'm spending. I'm in Limerick and the music stores are **** down here so I've just booked a train to Dublin at the weekend so I can try a few out in those shops. The casio px -130 seems to be the same as the px 330 minus all the sounds and effects which would suit me if someone has it in stock in Dublin to test out.

pinksoir

I didn't see it anywhere when I was looking as it was one that I was interested in.

Is the oxygen the 49 key dealy? Honestly, if you're looking for a good hammer action, weighted midi keyboard the UF80 is yer man. It's a great keyboard. It's also possible to buy expansion boards for it (midi modules) if you want in the future. The shops in Dublin are extremely crappy too. Better than Limerick though. I'm down there a good bit and there's no comparison. But you can't beat Thomann for range.

http://www.xmusic.ie/MIDI-Controllers-p-1-c-556.html

This is Dublin's biggest music shop and that's their range of midi controllers. Depressing.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=master_keyboards_up_to_88_keys&oa=pra

This, for comparison's sake is Thomann's selection of specifically 88 key dealios.

You'd be pretty set with any of those over 400 quid. Obviously I can recommend the UF80 as I've played it, but you're safe with that Akai MPK88, the Fatar Numa Nano or even the Fatar MVK 188 plus. If you're buying a digital piano part of what you're paying for is the onboard sounds, so the build quality will be compromised for better sound samples unless you pay over a grand. If you're getting a midi controller it's all about the build quality so you'll get better action, better feel, better weighting and a more hard wearing machine than a digital piano for the same money.

explosions hurt

pinksoir wrote: »

I didn't see it anywhere when I was looking as it was one that I was interested in.

Is the oxygen the 49 key dealy? Honestly, if you're looking for a good hammer action, weighted midi keyboard the UF80 is yer man. It's a great keyboard. It's also possible to buy expansion boards for it (midi modules) if you want in the future. The shops in Dublin are extremely crappy too. Better than Limerick though. I'm down there a good bit and there's no comparison. But you can't beat Thomann for range.

http://www.xmusic.ie/MIDI-Controllers-p-1-c-556.html

This is Dublin's biggest music shop and that's their range of midi controllers. Depressing.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=master_keyboards_up_to_88_keys&oa=pra

This, for comparison's sake is Thomann's selection of specifically 88 key dealios.

You'd be pretty set with any of those over 400 quid. Obviously I can recommend the UF80 as I've played it, but you're safe with that Akai MPK88, the Fatar Numa Nano or even the Fatar MVK 188 plus. If you're buying a digital piano part of what you're paying for is the onboard sounds, so the build quality will be compromised for better sound samples unless you pay over a grand. If you're getting a midi controller it's all about the build quality so you'll get better action, better feel, better weighting and a more hard wearing machine than a digital piano for the same money.

It's the Oxygen 61. I've gotten by with it up til now but I struggled to do anything more than hammer out chords with it. I've read a few reviews on some of those controllers on the thomann website and I'm liking what I hear about a few of them. I particularly like the build of the doepfer LMK2 with the built on flight case cos it saves me an extra 120 odd quid on a separate one.
I'm gonna play everything I possibly can in Dublin tomorrow so I at least get a feel for what companies are producing. I really can't see myself ordering something online without having played it or a very similar model first. Like I originally said, it's all about key action for me and there's too many conflicting opinions out there on keyboard action for me not to try before I buy. I'll post my findings over the weekend.

pinksoir

Best of luck! You won't find a great selection up here, especially of midi keyboards. In fact, I didn't see a single midi keyboard with over 61 keys...

Hopefully someone here can recommend somewhere I overlooked.

explosions hurt

Well, Dublin was crap. Very disappointing. Went to Walton's who only had Kurzweils with horrible action and poor customer service. Music maker wasn't a whole lot better. However, they did let me try out a Yamaha CP33 which I was quite impressed with but it's a bit outside my price range. I decided that the P85, when I played it, was too cheap feeling. They had a Korg SP250 in store which I tried. The sounds weren't first class like the CP33 but it actually played quite well. I was surprised cos my friend has one one of the older versions and I always found it a bit clunky under my fingers. They seem to have lightened the action in the latest model which definitely put that board in the running for me.

I've decided that while I'll mainly be using whatever I buy with midi I'd also like to have a few decent onboard sounds so I can just play the pianos and a few basic organs without having to hook up my laptop. So right now I'm leaning towards a digital piano with decent action rather than just a midi controller. Just called a store in cork who stock the new Yamaha P95 and I told the guy I found the P85 to be quite cheap feeling. He, of course, reassured me that the P95 is a lot better. For the price (630) I think it might be worth my while driving the hour to Cork to try it out.

Everyone in every music shop seems to have the same old attitude about Caisos being inferior (despite all the forums I've read raving about the new Privias) so it seems unlikely I'll ever get to try one out in this country.

explosions hurt

Been reading online and it seems the action on the P95 is the same as the P85 so I'll be avoiding. Jeez, what a bare-faced lie from the sales assistant I spoke to on the phone telling me it was "greatly improved".

pinksoir

Honestly, I thought the SP250 was great. Sounds could be a bit better, but the action was really good. I bought an ex-display model from Thomann for 589 euro. Maybe check there, save yourself a few hundred quid...

DamoRed

I really despair of some of the shops in town. I'm in the market for a 49/61 keyboard myself, and having done as much research online as possible, finding out about weighted keys, hammer action, aftertouch and the likes, I was there to get hands on experience to see what all these felt like in reality. So I went into one well established shop on Exchequer St, I'm there with keyboards all around me, and I'm told the best way to learn about those is to go online!

:mad:

Is it any wonder people spend their hard earned money buying from Thomann and Musicstore?

nicknackgtb

explosions hurt wrote: »

Well, Dublin was crap. Very disappointing. Went to Walton's who only had Kurzweils with horrible action and poor customer service. Music maker wasn't a whole lot better. However, they did let me try out a Yamaha CP33 which I was quite impressed with but it's a bit outside my price range. I decided that the P85, when I played it, was too cheap feeling. They had a Korg SP250 in store which I tried. The sounds weren't first class like the CP33 but it actually played quite well. I was surprised cos my friend has one one of the older versions and I always found it a bit clunky under my fingers. They seem to have lightened the action in the latest model which definitely put that board in the running for me.

I've decided that while I'll mainly be using whatever I buy with midi I'd also like to have a few decent onboard sounds so I can just play the pianos and a few basic organs without having to hook up my laptop. So right now I'm leaning towards a digital piano with decent action rather than just a midi controller. Just called a store in cork who stock the new Yamaha P95 and I told the guy I found the P85 to be quite cheap feeling. He, of course, reassured me that the P95 is a lot better. For the price (630) I think it might be worth my while driving the hour to Cork to try it out.

Everyone in every music shop seems to have the same old attitude about Caisos being inferior (despite all the forums I've read raving about the new Privias) so it seems unlikely I'll ever get to try one out in this country.

did you check out mccullagh piggots when you were up in dublin? he has alot of the casios up there and are really nice people to deal with. even try giving premiere music in clonmel a ring, close enough to limerick and may have a bit of a range also, quite close to limerick!

The Real Bandit

A Casio Privia PX 410R is a good option. It has decent piano and organ sounds. There's one on adverts.ie for €425. It has 88 full graded hammer action keys and 799 sounds.It's also got an SD Card slot and decent on board speakers. I have one that I bought on adverts and am very pleased with it.