Aidan Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Could scratch an itch for some, especially those nostalgic for the Kurzweil Micro Piano? [video:youtube] Quote Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37 Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 certainly seems like it's not designed to be rack mounted, so it's a desktop piano module. OK. Trying to figure out what the market is for this product. So far, not sure. :idk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 It shows it with rack mount ears, too. If you are gigging with multiple rack mounted devices, rack mount makes sense. if you're just using a single module, and you have a keyboard that has a space to put it, a free-standing module makes more sense. Best is a module you can also attach rack ears to, which looks like the case here. But again, I don't like the EPs... I'm not sure it has anything of notable sound beyond the piano. Cool that you can add soundfonts, though, and that it has patch remain. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Yeah, Scott, I am also totally unmoved by the EPs, I have to say. Dexibell seem to be bringing out products left, right and centre at the moment. As a business proposition, I wonder whether they may be a bit thinly spread by having so many different variants. Quote Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37 Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 As a business proposition, I wonder whether they may be a bit thinly spread by having so many different variants. I suspect a lot of the guts of all the pieces are the same. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJR Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I didn't see anything hinting at multitimbral capability? I'm not sure using 2 rack spaces for one sound would work (at least in my rack...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I'm very interested in this type of thing. Pending on it having great libraries and able to load user sample libraries (of course to compensate for taste where you run into stuff like above - underwhelmed by the EPs). I still prefer dedicated hardware. Compact, has the right io standard, not running on a bloated desktop OS, does what it's designed to well. MainStage is great and we want the quality and variety of those VSTs obviously - but in this form factor. Unfortunately RECEPTOR wasn't able to make a go of it - too much like a computer, dependant on licencing, business/profit issues. Haven't heard anything about that Synthogy Ivory hardware - priced too high anyway. So good for Dexibell. I'd love to see a Forte or Stage 3 in this format and not stuck into buying yet another Fatar action that wasn't my pick. The Gemini desktop is tempting - want to see user samples supported there as well. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Ive always liked piano modules, still have my GEM RP-X and Realpiano Expander. The video says its a combination of sampling and modeling. Look forward to giving this a spin. Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I'd love to see a Forte or Stage 3 in this format A Kurz module would be hot. Heck, even an SP6 module. Nord is trickier, I agree, it would be nice to have the sounds to drive from your preferred keyboard, but so much of what makes a Nord a Nord is its front panel controls. What's the point of a knobby synth with no knobs? ;-) But an updated Electro Rack would have some appeal. The Gemini desktop is tempting Speaking of Electro rack... it would be cool if the Gemini desktop had some real-time controls on its barren top. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 The Gemini desktop is tempting Speaking of Electro rack... it would be cool if the Gemini desktop had some real-time controls on its barren top. ...and some APs on par with Nord. Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 ...and some APs on par with Nord. Maybe that's an SX7 market... you could stack it on a Gemini to get a better piano! Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeJackson Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Thanks for posting this video. I don't see anything about this rack unit on the Dexibell site. The video says that it has 1.5 gigs of sample memory, which is apparently being used for the included instruments. Says it can be reconfigured completely--I wonder if that means that all of the included sounds can be deleted, leaving 1.5 gigs for user samples. I do like the sound of the piano, for the most part, in this demo video, but I would probably want to delete everything else and create some piano sf2's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Ok so, there's 1.5gb of storage. You can swap out the 80 sounds in it for other stuff in their library - which I presume they are working on. And it does read sound font format. You guys familiar with sf2 files... How detailed can one get with sf2 format? Are three limits on sample length and does it support velocity layers? How many? I've seen some effort by at least a few guys to offer libraries of good source instruments in the format. Maybe our budy Busch would be inclined to convert some decent stuff over into sf2? Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeJackson Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 A second video, in Italian. Partly an interview with the developers or engineers, and partly a hands-on demo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Anyone see a price or online manual? Quote ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 certainly seems like it's not designed to be rack mounted, so it's a desktop piano module. OK. Trying to figure out what the market is for this product. So far, not sure. :idk At the 20 sec mark in the video it says desktop or rack mounted. It appears to be mono-timbral where the Gemini module is bi-timbral. Also, from listening to some online videos the pianos have a metallic sound to them, the EP's are ok (not great) and the leslie simulation is not usable on fast speed (the way it is currently adjusted on the videos). The Gemini from a sound quality perspective is a notch above this. The Gemini module is 1199 USD per their website, per the Dexibell website the SX7 is 799 GBP (1100 USD), not a significant difference. So if they are going after the Gemini market with a $100 discount with a mono-timbral vs. bi-timbral instrument whose sounds are a step below the Gemini, I don't see that happening. Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeJackson Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Anyone see a price or online manual? No, but this document lists the specs and has some nice, but small photo's on page 12: http://shop.heuff.nl/upload_tmp/BR_DEXIBELL-STAGE-PORTABLE-COMBO_ENG_LR.PDF Page 26, in addition, describes and gives a screen shot of one pane of the software editor for all of the pianos. Yes, not what we want, but at least it fills in some details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahfume Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 And at least on the Gemini you do have that flat top on wich you can put your scull voodoo charms n' such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teashea Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 As a business proposition, I wonder whether they may be a bit thinly spread by having so many different variants. I suspect a lot of the guts of all the pieces are the same. Yes - that is true. They use the same quad core processor in all of their instruments. They also use the same sounds, sampling and modeling. Quote Thomas Shea Nebraska Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalH Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 You guys familiar with sf2 files... How detailed can one get with sf2 format? Are three limits on sample length and does it support velocity layers? How many? The main limitation is the overall file size (2GB) as it uses 32-bit addressing. Otherwise no limitation on sample length, number of samples/splits/modulators. It's been superceded though by SFZ, which is just a text file referencing a bunch of sample files in any format. I run a 4GB SFZ Rhodes instrument on my iPad, which compresses down to 2GB flac files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Ok so, there's 1.5gb of storage. You can swap out the 80 sounds in it for other stuff in their library - which I presume they are working on. And it does read sound font format. You guys familiar with sf2 files... How detailed can one get with sf2 format? Are three limits on sample length and does it support velocity layers? How many? I've seen some effort by at least a few guys to offer libraries of good source instruments in the format. Maybe our budy Busch would be inclined to convert some decent stuff over into sf2? Thanks man. I will stop in and talk with these people at NAMM. SF2 is a decent format for bringing samples. It supports multiple layers and the standard tuning and levels of samples. I would use it a bit on the Kronos, but there you have all the editing ability once the samples are trandered. I have no idea as to what's available in this engine. Busch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 It appears to be mono-timbral where the Gemini module is bi-timbral. Also, from listening to some online videos the pianos have a metallic sound to them, the EP's are ok (not great) and the leslie simulation is not usable on fast speed (the way it is currently adjusted on the videos). The Gemini from a sound quality perspective is a notch above this. The Gemini module is 1199 USD per their website, per the Dexibell website the SX7 is 799 GBP (1100 USD), not a significant difference. So if they are going after the Gemini market with a $100 discount with a mono-timbral vs. bi-timbral instrument whose sounds are a step below the Gemini, I don't see that happening. The Gemini's #1 strength is its clonewheel organ, it has only a minimally adequate acoustic piano. The Dexibell's #1 strength is its acoustic piano, it has only a minimally adequate organ. So the question may come down more to, are you looking mostly for a piano module, or mostly for an organ module. The surprising twist would be that the Gemini is also stronger at EPs. Both have a variety of additional supporting sounds. I would say Dexibell's edge here would be in being able to load your own samples, Gemini's would be in including a VA synth. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I run a 4GB SFZ Rhodes instrument on my iPad, which compresses down to 2GB flac files. Which app are you using to run that? And which iPad are you using? (to know how much RAM you have) Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I saw a screen shot of an editor that has "lower" "coupled" and "main" as part of a part select screen, that might indicate it can do at least 2 sounds at once. Quote Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 It might be like the earlier electros where the keyboard was mono-timbral but a 2nd keyboard function for lower manual organ was available. Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 The Gemini's #1 strength is its clonewheel organ, it has only a minimally adequate acoustic piano. As a user who has used the Gemini module extensively over the past year I would say that although the acoustic piano is the weakest of the instruments in the package, it is far from minimally adequate. One of the sounds in any package will be classified as the weakest but that doesn't mean because it is the weakest that it is minimally acceptable. The acoustic piano is not bad at all. I've tweaked mine to uncompress (provide more sound dynamics) the feel and adjusted the harp. Sounds much better to me than originally delivered. The surprising twist would be that the Gemini is also stronger at EPs. I guess we can agree to disagree but the EP's (Wurli and Rhodes) in the Gemini are outstanding as well as the Clav. So no surprise to me. Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PianoManChuck Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Ok so, there's 1.5gb of storage. You can swap out the 80 sounds in it for other stuff in their library - which I presume they are working on. And it does read sound font format. Actually, all Dexibell products have 3gb of storage: 1.4gb in factory-supplied samples, 100mb user area, and an additional 1.5gb of memory that was dormant until their newest OS ver 4 release (AquaViva). I'll be releasing a video on that shortly. Quote PianoManChuck Authorized reseller: Casio, Dexibell, Kurzweil, Nord, iLoud, Viscount Keyboard Reviews + Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I would say that although the acoustic piano is the weakest of the instruments in the package, it is far from minimally adequate. One of the sounds in any package will be classified as the weakest but that doesn't mean because it is the weakest that it is minimally acceptable. Yes, sorry to have over-stated the point. Similarly, calling the organ in the SX7 minimally acceptable may over-state the point as well. I was speaking relatively. Compared to how good piano can be in so many boards today--and compared to how good its organ is--the Gemini piano is not very impressive, but it's still plenty usable; and for the many people who don't need the utmost in organ control and authenticity, the SX7's organ sounds are also likely to be plenty usable, even if lagging far behind the best of what's available in organ sounds these days, and lagging behind its piano sound. The real point was that the Gemini has particular appeal to people whose priority is organ, and the SX7 would seem to have particular appeal to people whose priority is piano. The surprising twist would be that the Gemini is also stronger at EPs. I guess we can agree to disagree but the EP's (Wurli and Rhodes) in the Gemini are outstanding as well as the Clav. So no surprise to me. I don't think we are disagreeing here. My point was that the surprising twist is that it is the organ-centric module rather than the piano-centric model that seems to have the stronger electric pianos. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Dave Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I don't think we are disagreeing here. My point was that the surprising twist is that it is the organ-centric module rather than the piano-centric model that seems to have the stronger electric pianos. Got it. I interpreted your response differently than how you just explained it. Quote 57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn Delaware Dave Exit93band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Here are some EP demos: [video:youtube] Wurli from 50:20 - 51:10 Rhodes from 56:10 - 1:02:40 They're certainly trying, but the sound just doesn't work for me. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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