Weighted 73 DP?

[montunoman]

Greetings:

 

God willing, I will soon be starting a jazz studies program at a university, and I need a digital piano to take to jazz combo rehears, jam session, (in doors and outdoors)

 

I thought a 73 would be ideal to have a smaller footprint and better portability. I'd be happy with a good acoustic sounds, Rhodes, a maybe jazz organ sounds too. Budget is around $1200.

 

I do have some small powered speakers that should work fine in a jazz combo situation.

 

The Yamaha p. 121 is priced right, feels and sounds OK, but the sounds are rather limited. I guess the greater concern is if this entry level keyboard would withstand daily commutes in the back seat of the car, and daily ensemble play,

 

It seems like there aren't any other 73 KB in my price range, so maybe I should forget about the idea of a compact 73 and go with one of the many full 88 DP's that weight less than 30LBS? So any recommendation for weighted DP for my intended purposes would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[stoken6]

Options: Yamaha CP73, YC73. Korg SV2 (s/h SV1?) or Grandstage. Nord Electro. Crumar Seven. Viscount Legend. A couple of the Dexibells. And some I can't remember. I think almost all of these will be out of your price range, although secondhand could be an option.

 

 

Most won't have "proper" organ model (the YC73 and Electro do).

 

Many use the TP/100 action (Electro, Crumar, Viscount, Dexibell) which I can't recommend, but that's a subjective thing.

 

If your weight limit is 30lb, that excludes the Korgs, Crumar and Viscount I think.

 

Have you considered a P121 with a decent case, and an iPad/iPhone to make sounds? I'm confident that the P121 can combine USB-MIDI and USB-Audio on a single cable.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Biggles]

700 onboard tones

 

88 keys

 

Compact body

 

Onboard amp and speakers

 

25 lbs

 

$850 for the keyboard + $150 for the model specific case

 

Casio PX S3000

[Brad Kaenel]

I you are willing to shop, and perhaps negotiate some offers , a good option might be a used Nord Electro 3/4/5 *HP* -- not the *SW* models. HP is the weighted keys, SW is the unweighted organ keys.

 

Electro HPs also use the TP100 keybed, as Mike has already correctly noted as a subjective point. If you frequent Reverb, eBay, or even your local CraigsList, I feel pretty confident you could find an Electro HP for $1200 if you are patient, or willing to make offers on a board that perhaps has been listed for a while and not sold because it's priced a little too high.

 

If you want to go even lower budget, you could consider a TP100 MIDI controller like the Studiologic SL73 ($500), and use an iPad as your sound module, as Mike also suggests. See the Korg PlugKey accessory as an excellent way to provide standard 1/4" output jacks to an amp for your band practices.

 

Korg PlugKey

 

Studiologic SL73

[ElmerJFudd]

PXS3000 hasn"t 73 and its action is a tough one to recommend - particularly because its slim design requires a short key that can"t trigger notes close to the fall board.

If going up to 88, the ES-110 is preferable to me. ymmv

[Docbop]

Go the Domi route with MIDI controller and laptop. Add a audio interface you have a lot of situations covered from college dorm practice to gigs with your powered speakers.

[stoken6]

Go the Domi route with MIDI controller and laptop. Add a audio interface you have a lot of situations covered from college dorm practice to gigs with your powered speakers.

What weighted 73 controllers are there? I can only think of the Studiologic. And the digital pianos/stage keyboards discussed above.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[AnotherScott]

There are a decent number of weighted action piano/EP boards up to about 30 lbs and $1200, and many are pretty compact in their 88-key size. Including a decent jazz organ will be more rare, as their organs often lack single trigger percussion or a decent rotary effect. The idea of supplementing with an iPad or similar is a good one, but may push the budget if you don't happen to already own the device, and would probably also prompt you to a board that lets you send MIDI patch change commands from its own front panel. I'd probably avoid the soundless controller option. though. Sometimes you might just want the simplicity of the built-in sounds. But that's negotiable.

 

My picks would probably be one of the new Casios (probably Biggle's choice of PX-S3000) for smallest/lightest option; Elmer's choice of Kawai ES110 is probably better for the tasks at hand but a bit larger; Casio PX5S if you're willing to trade off internal speakers for getting good MIDI integration (it's about the same size as the Kawai); maybe Kurzweil SP6 (the only one of these with a decent organ engine, and it also has strong MIDI controller functions, though again without speakers), with the caveat that, while it's light enough, the 15" depth might be starting to get unwieldy (compared to 9" for the Casio PX-S3000 and about 11" for the others I mentioned).

 

I guess it's worth mentioning the Roland RD88, which is another option with speakers, though since the only sounds you care about are piano, EP, and maybe some organ, I'm not sure I could see much reason sonically to choose the RD88 over the Kawai. I guess we'll see if anyone here thinks otherwise. ETA: but it may be worth considering for adding MIDI functionality the Kawai lacks.

[drawback]

I like Brad"s suggestion of a used Electro HP.

[montunoman]

Thanks for the great suggestion- keep em' coming!

 

Now that I think about it, it would be nice to have built speakers perhaps for rehearsing with a singer, or other low volume sessions.

 

I do have an Ipad, but I'm not thrilled about the idea of using for sounds. I am not a tech guy, but I am finally using my ipad for leadsheets, so I should really get hip to using the ipad for sounds too.

[ElmerJFudd]

Does GSi"s Key Performer still run on current windows?

There are quite a few cheap, small laptops with enough juice to run GSi VST"s with built in sound card and ASIO4ALL.

https://www.genuinesoundware.com/

 

ie an HP EliteBook from a season or two back with an i7.

[RandyFF]

Sorry, no 73 / 76 key suggestions.

 

+1 on Kawai ES110, at 26 lbs it very portable, has BT MIdI and I absolutely love the action on it, a favorite of all time, light action that is super-expressive/satisfying. It does have considerable limitations however: no aux in, speakers so-so, not many sounds.

 

The Kawai ES520 might work well for you- light and expressive action, very decent speakers, aux in and BT audio in, BT MIDI. both of these Kawais are very piano-focused.

 

Some boards are more iPad or computer friendly, the ones with a built-in audio interface, like many of the yamahas and Rolands in the sub $1000 range. For the non-tech savvy, all you have is one cord between the iPad and the keyboard, thru which it sends MIDI to the iPad, and then audio back to the keyboard, with the sound playing thru the keyboards speakers! Most iPad apps are under $10-20, you get a tremendous sound variety with relatively little hassle.

 

Having BT audio is sweet as well, you can use the keyboard like a large BT speaker!

[AnotherScott]

The ES520 might push the weight/size limit a bit (32 lbs, almost 15" deep)... but I suspect it may well have the best acoustic piano sounds available in the price range we're looking at, and strong EPs as well. And the most usable speakers for playing with others semi-acoustically. MIDI implementation looks pretty limited... it seems you can manually send any MIDI Program Change you want but its one of the few MIDI settings that it looks like you can't save to a recallable Registration, an unfortunate limitation. But if piano sound were the priority, this might be the one to beat.

 

It kind of looks to me like a more modern version of the classic Rolands FP2/FP4, something Roland hasn't really offered since then, in the combination of weight (which has kept increasing in this series), speaker power, and calibre of action. The current Roland in that direct lineage is the FP60x, which weighs 42.6 lbs and has an action I find a bit sluggish. So if someone wished for an FP4 with more up-to-date sounds and features, the ES520 might be it.

[Adan]

I've used the Yamaha P121/IOS combo, it's a great bang for buck way to achieve your particular goals. Easy to set up with as little as a single extra cord, a bit more if you want your ios device to charge while in use. I like Korg Module Pro for this sort of thing because of the continually adjustable touch sensitivity function in the app. I think there might be a slight loss of audio quality in the USB connection, but even with that it's still a significant upgrade over the internal P121 sounds. P121 has some useable piano patches, but the EPs aren't useable imo.

[jeffincltnc]

Kawai ES520 is very good. I just ordered the ES920 but it will be a couple more weeks.

[rickzjamm]

You might be able to get a good deal on a used Kurz. Forte 7, they're weighted and are awesome.

[ElmerJFudd]

Good suggestion but I don"t think you"re going to find a used Forte 7 for under $3k.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Not sure if this would be helpful for you or not, but I started last year and needed to get something to use as a practice instrument. I was going for a controller originally, then decided on a used board with sounds, namely a Kurzweil PC3-76. Sadly, that was damaged in shipping so I used an old JV-1000 for a long time. But none of those were weighted. This was the thread at the time: Decent midi controller for dorm room practice. I recently bought an M-Audio Hammer 88 Pro with some rack modules to replace my other setup, because 76 keys wasn't enough for the material I'm working on now.

 

Honestly if you had a larger budget the Yamaha YC73 would be perfect for you. The CP73 is $500 cheaper though it doesn't have the nicer organs. Otherwise, you're probably looking at an 88 since there aren't many weighted 73/76's out there, and really none at that price point. Maybe a Kurzweil SP6 (unfortunately the SP6-7 is unweighted). A good jazz organ is the hardest quantifier.

[Morrissey]

.

 

The Yamaha p. 121 is priced right, feels and sounds OK, but the sounds are rather limited. I guess the greater concern is if this entry level keyboard would withstand daily commutes in the back seat of the car, and daily ensemble play,

 

Lots of good recommendations in this thread, but maybe don't stray unnecessarily from the pros of the p121. Forumites have had success lugging them around/gigging with them. The P121 checks a lot of your boxes at a very good price point.

[Brad Kaenel]

Good suggestion but I don"t think you"re going to find a used Forte 7 for under $3k.

 

Actually...

KC Classifieds: Kurzweil Forte 7

 

(And I have one I could be talked out of, as well ) They're 40 lbs, though - not an easy schlep...

[montunoman]

Thanks again for the great suggestions, I'm taking notes. Luckily I'm not in a big hurry, and I possibly could save some more money if some gigs come through.

But at the same time I don't know if I really need a pro level digital piano as a jazz studies student. I'm pretty sure all "major" performances will be on the schools acoustic pianos which I believe are all Steinways. I just want a DP for some of the jam sessions/rehearsals and low key performances when an acoustic is not available.

[ElmerJFudd]

Thanks again for the great suggestions, I'm taking notes. Luckily I'm not in a big hurry, and I possibly could save some more money if some gigs come through.

But at the same time I don't know if I really need a pro level digital piano as a jazz studies student. I'm pretty sure all "major" performances will be on the schools acoustic pianos which I believe are all Steinways. I just want a DP for some of the jam sessions/rehearsals and low key performances when an acoustic is not available.

 

For dorm room, at home, to throw in a bag - 73 keys isn"t crucial. Over the shoulder weight and built in speakers and headphone out highly recommended. If you play piano, you want a decent action for the price and a good piano timbre. Rhodes sound. Passable organ, vibes less important but nice, Wurlitzer even less important but nice. A Casio PX-560 would be nice, a 360 or lesser would be fine. Kawai ES-110 also very nice. On the cheap a Yamaha P-125 is fine.

[Tripp323]

StudioLogic now offers the Numa X in a weighted 73.  

Those Kawaii pianos mentioned are great - but no pitch or mod wheels if that is important to you.

Casio S3000 has a knob you can use for pitch bend. Casio Previa has a nice feel for the price. I also like the PX5S, but that is 88 key.

The Kurtz. Forte is a beast of a synthesis machine

A portable 73 key is hard to find in your price range.  

Nord prices are high, and Electro has waterfall keys. Great organs tho.

 

I use a StudioLogic SL 73 with an iPad as the sound source.  Been using Neo-Soul keys. 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Didn’t Yamaha do a 73 key P125 or something at one point?  Or am I think of the guy who posted here that was chopping them? 

[Dockeys]

Yup the P121 is 73 note isn’t it?

[stoken6]

14 minutes ago, Dockeys said:

Yup the P121 is 73 note isn’t it?

Yes, and mentioned in the original post in this thread.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Paul Henry]

24 minutes ago, Dockeys said:

Yup the P121 is 73 note isn’t it?

I just looked and yes it is.