Studiologic Numa Compact 2x

[RandyFF]

Control center? What are you talking about?

 

iOS' control center gives you access to on-screen volume control from any app. Not practical for moment by moment adjustments, but to set once to equalize levels when your volume buttons are hidden by a case, it would work.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202769

https://www.macworld.com/article/3226732/ios/ios-11-how-control-center-works.html

https://www.imore.com/control-center

 

Thanks for the tip, didnt really pay attention to the control center before. I see now that it has a volume slider thats easy to use and responsive, better than using the volume rockers.

 

At some point Ill be mixing 2 or more sounds from the iPad, I suppose Ill have to get a MIDI mixer app.

 

Randy

[The_Star_Guy]

Woo hooo!

 

I just received a sweet track notification that my Numa Compact 2x has just shipped out to me with Fed Ex tracking numbers from Sweetwater!

 

Looks like the NC2x has finally landed in the USA!

[goatghost]

Wow...lucky you. My Sweetwater rep sent me an email saying November 6th, and I was supposedly in the first batch. Just wondering...when did you place your order?

[The_Star_Guy]

My order was placed in mid-February approximately 3 weeks after NAMM, so I would probably have been at or near the top of the list. Good luck to you getting yours quickly!

[goatghost]

Thanks, man! I held off on pre-ordering, not realizing how long the wait would be and because I needed to sell an existing piece of gear to fund it. My pre-order was placed in June, so I guess thats still not high enough for the first batch.

 

Thanks again! I have renewed hope (like Linus and the Great Pumpkin...LOL).

[goatghost]

Well, I got my shipping confirmation from Sweetwater! Yay!!!

 

I'll post my first impressions, once I receive it. Good luck, all!

[MPN21]

I ordered mine from Kraft Music about three weeks ago. Their first shipment had been already sold. So mine is coming in the next shipment. Looking forward to feedback and reviews from those soon to get their Compact 2x.

[BenWaB3]

I got an updated shipping estimate from Sweetwater today of 11/07. I had ordered in early June as well. Not a statement of jealousy about goatghost's shipping time - I actually welcome your review of this piece before mine comes in. That can either assure me of having made the right decision or warn me to hit the "delete" button on the order if it has too many flaws.

[Rusty Mike]

The Kraft Music demo by Chris Martirano has been posted up on YouTube.

[To B3]

Liked the demo, but annoyed that he insists on the old Jimmy Smith sound when "exploring" the organ, ignoring some more agressive and geared to rock/soul/blues settings. Still not clear if you can control the leslie fast/slow from the foot switch... Loved the wurlitzer bit as well as the synth control ability... Would like to see someone saving and acessing the user sounds...

[KorgyPorky]

I played it for an hour or so..

The synth action is kinda misleading on an 88 key

But its actually not bad, for a semi weighted synth action

 

The sounds are great..

And the sound engine is very versatile

I also liked the synth and the organs..

Pianos where above average, more then acceptable.

 

Complaints?

 

Yes overall build quallity feels like a low end casio..

 

 

[The_Star_Guy]

Okay, sorry for not getting back to everyone sooner about this, but this will be a quick overall "first impressions" review. There will be more to follow up later, when I have had more time to explore the details.

 

First of all, My Numa Compact 2X arrived exactly when Sweetwater said it would last week; but I happened to be out of town unfortunately. It was GREAT to carry the entire Sweetwater box with one arm out to my car!

 

Most importantly, the form factor and weight are great! It was wonderful to make ONE trip in for my band rehearsal. The action is a true semi-weighted action, not a hammer action and also not a synth. It has enough heft and resistance to be playable for just about any part. Definitely a multi-purpose board.

 

I purchased the Numa Compact 2x, the SLP3-D triple pedal and the Numa Carrying case, which includes a backpack style set of handles as well as the usual. I took it to a rehearsal this weekend, and my bandmates loved the sound of it! The NC2x inside of the Studiologic case even fit across the back seat of my car! No need to fold my rear seat down. Also very easy to carry even up and down stairs.

 

I have had a chance to go thru most of the voices at home, and more importantly also compare them side-by-side thru my stage sound system (DXR-10's) with some of my other gear as well. The acoustic pianos are very decent, and a couple of them are great. The Stage piano voice has a gritty tone that works well for blues & gospel type tunes, I thought. Mark 1 Rhodes was clean and also worked well with the onboard effects and a couple of the FM pianos also play & sound very well, both solo and with my band. I actually like them better than the sampled FM voices that Yamaha has been putting on it's P series pianos. The keyboard voices in general are good, although I would ask them to add more clavs down the line. Guitars & basses were okay. The orchestral and ethnic voices are mostly excellent. Brass sounds are surprisingly good. The synth section is good, versatile, and most importantly for my needs, practically real-time once you call up a voice. Drum sounds need to be improved and updated, but still usable with a DAW. The organ section is actually quite good and one of the strongest parts. Chorus, vibrato, key click and percussion adjustments are all there. But some might find the Drive control a little too touchy and biting. This can hopefully be modified down the road in firmware with a softer "tube style" overdrive. But the raw sound and smooth drawbar operation is there!

 

Operation is actually a breeze once you get used to the Studiologic way of doing things. Splits and layers are fast and simple! A lot of the controls are actually "smart controls" in that they default to the adjustments that you expect to make, and some take on different functions after a brief 3 second period. I have been thru the edit pages and made some adjustments but have not yet had a chance to set it up yet either for use with my iPad, or with Mainstage. It seems to have great MIDI flexibility, and it looks like MIDI settings can also be remembered in a saved program, making it a very flexible & quick to use MIDI master controller. I will report back on that more after I explore it further.

 

Because of the versatile keyboard weight and action, I can easily see this as also being a top board for pianists, or as a bottom board for organists and synth only players. It has already proven to be a very decent rehearsal board, as I could cover every part that I needed to with my band. For personal practice the onboard sound system is decent and all you really need if not onstage.

 

Caveats?

 

not crazy yet about the location of the Volume control. it is on the right side and I kept reaching for it with my playing hand during rehearsal because I forgot to bring an FC7 pedal. Really needs to be on the left in my opinion.

 

Still don't really have a handle on the Mastering control yet, either??

 

But if you like the NC2, then you are going to love the NC2x!!

[To B3]

Can you tell about how you managed your user sounds? Both the process of saving edited sounds and locating them to play live... Seems to be one weak point of the board, no banks or quick access... Your practical impressions would be great...

 

Okay, sorry for not getting back to everyone sooner about this, but this will be a quick overall "first impressions" review. There will be more to follow up later, when I have had more time to explore the details.

 

First of all, My Numa Compact 2X arrived exactly when Sweetwater said it would last week; but I happened to be out of town unfortunately. It was GREAT to carry the entire Sweetwater box with one arm out to my car!

 

Most importantly, the form factor and weight are great! It was wonderful to make ONE trip in for my band rehearsal. The action is a true semi-weighted action, not a hammer action and also not a synth. It has enough heft and resistance to be playable for just about any part. Definitely a multi-purpose board.

 

I purchased the Numa Compact 2x, the SLP3-D triple pedal and the Numa Carrying case, which includes a backpack style set of handles as well as the usual. I took it to a rehearsal this weekend, and my bandmates loved the sound of it! The NC2x inside of the Studiologic case even fit across the back seat of my car! No need to fold my rear seat down. Also very easy to carry even up and down stairs.

 

I have had a chance to go thru most of the voices at home, and more importantly also compare them side-by-side thru my stage sound system (DXR-10's) with some of my other gear as well. The acoustic pianos are very decent, and a couple of them are great. The Stage piano voice has a gritty tone that works well for blues & gospel type tunes, I thought. Mark 1 Rhodes was clean and also worked well with the onboard effects and a couple of the FM pianos also play & sound very well, both solo and with my band. I actually like them better than the sampled FM voices that Yamaha has been putting on it's P series pianos. The keyboard voices in general are good, although I would ask them to add more clavs down the line. Guitars & basses were okay. The orchestral and ethnic voices are mostly excellent. Brass sounds are surprisingly good. The synth section is good, versatile, and most importantly for my needs, practically real-time once you call up a voice. Drum sounds need to be improved and updated, but still usable with a DAW. The organ section is actually quite good and one of the strongest parts. Chorus, vibrato, key click and percussion adjustments are all there. But some might find the Drive control a little too touchy and biting. This can hopefully be modified down the road in firmware with a softer "tube style" overdrive. But the raw sound and smooth drawbar operation is there!

 

Operation is actually a breeze once you get used to the Studiologic way of doing things. Splits and layers are fast and simple! A lot of the controls are actually "smart controls" in that they default to the adjustments that you expect to make, and some take on different functions after a brief 3 second period. I have been thru the edit pages and made some adjustments but have not yet had a chance to set it up yet either for use with my iPad, or with Mainstage. It seems to have great MIDI flexibility, and it looks like MIDI settings can also be remembered in a saved program, making it a very flexible & quick to use MIDI master controller. I will report back on that more after I explore it further.

 

Because of the versatile keyboard weight and action, I can easily see this as also being a top board for pianists, or as a bottom board for organists and synth only players. It has already proven to be a very decent rehearsal board, as I could cover every part that I needed to with my band. For personal practice the onboard sound system is decent and all you really need if not onstage.

 

Caveats?

 

not crazy yet about the location of the Volume control. it is on the right side and I kept reaching for it with my playing hand during rehearsal because I forgot to bring an FC7 pedal. Really needs to be on the left in my opinion.

 

Still don't really have a handle on the Mastering control yet, either??

 

But if you like the NC2, then you are going to love the NC2x!!

[brenner13]

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

[The_Star_Guy]

Not a weak point at all.....once you understand their way of doing things...

 

first of all , the 8 sound bank category buttons also operate essentially as "Favorites", because they remember the last program selected with all effects applied , so right away you always have 8 remembered "go to" voices....one from each category

 

and splits & layers are dead simple too... the 'Split...Upper & Lower" buttons always light up when in use and tell you the status of the board at a glance...without hitting a note.....perfect for stage use

 

 

and because the drawbars are live for the organ and the synth, they are real-time adjustable; so I can make edits even while singing and playing at the same time... great for real-time tweaking

[The_Star_Guy]

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

 

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

[To B3]

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

 

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

 

Ok, but what If the saved sound is a, let's say, organ and wurly split with effects applied and stuff and not a single sound as you Said?

[The_Star_Guy]

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

 

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

 

Ok, but what If the saved sound is a, let's say, organ and wurly split with effects applied and stuff and not a single sound as you Said?

 

If the program called up has both of those voices, the "SPLIT, LOWER & UPPER" buttons will indicate by lights which voices are actually "ON", or just "waiting"...if only the UPPER is lit, then only the top voice is ON....if both the UPPER & LOWER are lit, then both voices are active AND you are in a LAYER....if the SPLIT button is then pushed on it will lit up and then you are in a SPLIT....it is only a one button push to alternate....to switch...even on a darkened stage

[Al Quinn]

Nice review Star Guy! Thank you.

 

I'm interested in this board as a lightweight midi controller with backup sounds. So far, I haven't heard anything that's dissuading me.

[The_Star_Guy]

Nice review Star Guy! Thank you.

 

I'm interested in this board as a lightweight midi controller with backup sounds. So far, I haven't heard anything that's dissuading me.

 

Thanks! I hope that it helps. I will post more after I have a chance to test my ipad apps and make some more program edits. But a light weight controller that also had decent built-in sounds was pretty high on my feature list, also!

[brenner13]

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

 

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

 

Ok, but what If the saved sound is a, let's say, organ and wurly split with effects applied and stuff and not a single sound as you Said?

99 spots to save registrations which capture a snapshot of every setting on the board.

[AnotherScott]

Can you tell about how you managed your user sounds? Both the process of saving edited sounds and locating them to play live... Seems to be one weak point of the board, no banks or quick access... Your practical impressions would be great...

Not a weak point at all.....once you understand their way of doing things...

 

first of all , the 8 sound bank category buttons also operate essentially as "Favorites", because they remember the last program selected with all effects applied , so right away you always have 8 remembered "go to" voices....one from each category

To B3 is talking about user presets, you're talking about factory voices.

 

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

 

Ditto.

 

For User presets, IIRC, you don't hit the sound bank category buttons at all. You just use the knob to scroll though the 99 user preset locations. (Or you can send MIDI Program Change from another keyboard/device.)

 

 

[Radagast]

I played it for an hour or so..

The synth action is kinda misleading on an 88 key

But its actually not bad, for a semi weighted synth action

 

The sounds are great..

And the sound engine is very versatile

I also liked the synth and the organs..

Pianos where above average, more then acceptable.

 

Complaints?

 

Yes overall build quallity feels like a low end casio..

 

 

I must protest. Casio has been getting better with their build quality.

[To B3]

Can you tell about how you managed your user sounds? Both the process of saving edited sounds and locating them to play live... Seems to be one weak point of the board, no banks or quick access... Your practical impressions would be great...

Not a weak point at all.....once you understand their way of doing things...

 

first of all , the 8 sound bank category buttons also operate essentially as "Favorites", because they remember the last program selected with all effects applied , so right away you always have 8 remembered "go to" voices....one from each category

To B3 is talking about user presets, you're talking about factory voices.

 

Much like the VR09, user presets require a spin of the dial, or the main knob in the case of NC2(X).

exactly......hit your preferred category, and if the voice called up isn't the one that you want, just spin the knob....not a big deal because there are only 8 to 16 voices depending on the category, and you can see 4 at a time when you first hit the category button

 

Ditto.

 

For User presets, IIRC, you don't hit the sound bank category buttons at all. You just use the knob to scroll though the 99 user preset locations. (Or you can send MIDI Program Change from another keyboard/device.)

 

 

Thanks AnotherScott... that's the user presets I was referring to... If The_Star_Guy could talk more about how he is dealing with user sounds, it would be great...

[hatricklov]

Operation is actually a breeze once you get used to the Studiologic way of doing things. Splits and layers are fast and simple! A lot of the controls are actually "smart controls" in that they default to the adjustments that you expect to make, and some take on different functions after a brief 3 second period. I have been thru the edit pages and made some adjustments but have not yet had a chance to set it up yet either for use with my iPad, or with Mainstage. It seems to have great MIDI flexibility, and it looks like MIDI settings can also be remembered in a saved program, making it a very flexible & quick to use MIDI master controller. I will report back on that more after I explore it further.

Thanks so much for your detailed review!

 

I am anxious to hear how you get along using it as a controller for MainStage and how many of the controls are mappable.

 

Also, would love to hear your opinion of how well the pitch bend and mod sticks work?

[Al Quinn]

For User presets, IIRC, you don't hit the sound bank category buttons at all. You just use the knob to scroll though the 99 user preset locations. (Or you can send MIDI Program Change from another keyboard/device.)

Does this mean that when using the Compact 2X as a midi controller you can't just press the category button (e.g., piano, organ, etc.) to select the desired software instrument in MainStage, but rather patch selection in MainStage via the Compact 2X would need to be done by scrolling with a knob? Or, is it just a matter of mapping MainStage to do what's desired based on the midi info that's sent when the category buttons are pressed (which I've done with other keyboards)?

[AnotherScott]

Does this mean that when using the Compact 2X as a midi controller you can't just press the category button (e.g., piano, organ, etc.) to select the desired software instrument in MainStage, but rather patch selection in MainStage via the Compact 2X would need to be done by scrolling with a knob? Or, is it just a matter of mapping MainStage to do what's desired based on the midi info that's sent when the category buttons are pressed (which I've done with other keyboards)?

Assuming it's the same in this respect as the NC2 (which I would expect), you would need to scroll with the knob. As far as I've seen, hitting category buttons (or selecting sounds from within those categories) does not send any MIDI which you would be able to intercept and remap. So you'd have to use the knob to scroll through the 99 possibilities. You might be best off using a phone/tablet to send your Program Changes, and using the Numa for its keys/aftertouch/sticks/pedals, maybe its speakers as well in some cases, and, in the case of the 2X, its 9 sliders. (And as a backup/additional sound source.)

[MPN21]

The_Star_Guy, I enjoyed your review. I couldn't PM you. I was wondering if I could quote your review on some other keyboard forum.

 

Thanks,

[David Emm]

Nice review Star Guy! Thank you.

 

I'm interested in this board as a lightweight midi controller with backup sounds. So far, I haven't heard anything that's dissuading me.

 

Thanks! I hope that it helps. I will post more after I have a chance to test my ipad apps and make some more program edits. But a light weight controller that also had decent built-in sounds was pretty high on my feature list, also!

 

That's why I hold on to my old Korg TR61. It has multiple merits in odd places. I'm very impressed by the 2x. I always mentally apply 10% of an exciter plug-in for YouTube videos, since many are iffy, overly compressed or etc. There don't seem to be any major lacks in sound quality; its crisp or meaty as needed. Yeah, it has a serious VR-09 aroma, although its synth side seems a bit puny. That's not a big negative in a combo/stage piano. The VR-09's synth is far better, but deep editing requires an iPad and Roland's last editor version, which may eventually die of Unsupported OS Rot.

 

The 2x is appealing in so many ways, it makes me wish for a physically sturdier model with just a bit more parameter access up front. Meanwhile, big deal, its still a well-conceived keeper you'll probably see as the 2nd or 3rd instrument in some stacks. It might also eat into a bit of that Casio Privia dollar.

 

[Al Quinn]

Assuming it's the same in this respect as the NC2 (which I would expect), you would need to scroll with the knob. As far as I've seen, hitting category buttons (or selecting sounds from within those categories) does not send any MIDI which you would be able to intercept and remap.

Thanks Scott. You saved me a purchase and return. Less than 20 lbs., 88-keys, pitch and mod sticks, 9-faders, and USB audio were pulling me in, but I need to select MainStage patches by pressing buttons on the keyboard. So, I'll just keep using my Electro 4D as a midi controller for now.