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Nicky

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Posts posted by Nicky

  1. On 1/7/2023 at 4:04 PM, Steve Nathan said:

    As I consider replacing my very old CME UF80 with something newer and more capable, I see that there's a lot to choose from.  I'm glazed over from reading opinions on PianoWorld and guess I will have to figure out how to try as many of these as I can.  Kawai VP1, MP11SE, Studiologic SL88 Grand, Numa XPiano, Roland RD, Korg, Nord, on and on and on.

    I don't care about internal sounds, but will pay for them if the action is superior.  I use the CME for a lot, but in reality, I want the best feel primarily for acoustic and electric piano emulations.  Don't care about weight, and I want a dual or triple pedal and release velocity.  I don't play any classical (and I do have 2 actual pianos in the house if I wanted to), but I want something that shines at responding well to touch whether I'm barely pressing the keys or banging the crap out of them.  I've read many of the older threads here, but I'm interested in current impressions.  

    Thx

    Hey Steve, Does the Casio privia PX models not work for you as a controller?

  2. 7 hours ago, ElmerJFudd said:

    👍 that’s disappointing to hear. can you share what dealer is carrying the S5000?  Was at GC today, dearth for keyboards.  Even from Casio nothing but CDPs. 

    Just my opinion fwiw…Sam Ash Manhattan has both the 5000 and 7000 on the floor.

    • Like 1
  3. Had a chance to play the PXS5000 yesterday and compare it to a PXS1100 (was right next to it)...honestly, I don't really understand the $500 difference in price...the new action feels a bit different (lighter maybe?) and is quieter, but I actually preferred to play the older action (prefer the surface of the black keys)...couldn't really hear a difference in the piano tone. I know the 5000 has wooden keys, but these 2 keyboards are Very similar.

    • Like 3
  4. I know there was a discussion on this some time ago but I cannot find it using the search function. If a keyboard only has usb midi and you want to connect it directly to another keyboard (without a computer), what are your options? Is there any cable you can get that's USB to midi?? Can someone point me to the previous thread on this? Thanks!

  5. I played the RD800 for a week+ straight in the pit orchestra for a HS show (their equipment) and found it pretty decent as well. While the action on the RD2000 I found fatiguing and a bit sluggish when you need to play fast, notey stuff. I would look for other Roland models released around the same time (January 15, 2014) with the same spec stated action to compare to.

     

    Check DP-90Se and HP506

     

    https://www.roland.com/global/products/dp90se/

     

    https://www.roland.com/us/products/hp506/

     

    Thanks...was thinking more of a stage piano, like the fp series...could it be that this action was only in the RD800? (in terms of a portable keyboard )

  6. I played a Roland RD800 the last few days as backline. I really enjoyed the action. My understanding is that it has the "ph4 concert" action. This differs form the "ph4 standard" found in the newer RD88. I think the the ph4 concert has been replaced by the ph50 as Roland's premium action (found in the RD2000)...but I think I actually prefer this older action in the RD800. Does anyone know what other Roland digital pianos this action can be found in? Thanks!
  7. Thoughts on Grandstage dynamics knob.

     

    If you can dial in a behavior that suits the sound you"ve called up (which is something we hope Korg has spent some time doing when they matched the sample library or patch to the action). But, if you can dial it in to taste - is this feature adjusting the velocity curve or is it adjusting the sound engine"s behavior? And does it translate to the MIDI output? Or does it only work on the internal sounds? Important point to know when using virtual pianos hosted on PC or other external MIDI connected device.

     

    Some software instruments like Pianoteq, have their own velocity curve adjustment parameters editable within the virtual instrument as opposed to trying to dial it in on the keyboard controller. At one point there was also an effort to offer custom velocity curves for the Kawai VPC-1 with the Ravenscroft VST. I have to Google it, but I would imagine there are also software plugins that offer velocity curve adjustment in from within your DAW in real time. It may even be built into some DAWs or hosts like MainStage or Cantabile. Worth a look.

    the dynamics knob adjusts the velocity curve and yes, it translates to the midi output...tested it with my laptop trying out various virtual pianos

  8. the heavy/slow thing
    I think I get the distinction. SLOW=dragging a ping-pong ball through honey. HEAVY=throwing a bowling ball through the air. Once the heavy thing is moving, it carries on moving with very little additional effort. The slow thing requires effort all the way through its travel.

     

    Cheers, Mike.

     

    I describe it that way:

    heavy - big moment of inertia , light is low inertia

    slow - when the fast repetition is hard to achieve and/or tiring (what I experienced with Roland Ivory Feel-S before switching to Yamaha NWX), fast is self-explanatory

    hard - when it is hard to start the key movement and how hard the keys try to lift up your fingers, may also be combined with short pivot length, when considering "hardness" across the key length.

     

    Yamaha NWX action is for me heavy, very fast and a bit hard (to play pianissimo, it also depends on the reaction of sound module and dynamics curve)

    Korg SV-2 is significantly lighter, a little bit slower and soft (kind of "universal" among hammer actions, you can play some synth stuff on it), Korg has much better pianissimo sound than Yamaha.

    Roland was (from what I remember), a little bit lighter than Yamaha, slower and a little bit softer than NWX

     

    it is why actions like Grand Feel 2 can be very heavy being at the same time soft and fast (long keys)

     

    The pivot length also affects the key behaviour difference at the end of the key / near the fallboard. It is why I really dislike Fatar TP100. From the three actions I believe the Korg has the longest pivot (maybe Roland), then Roland with 22 cm, then Yamaha with around 20,5 cm, maybe 21.

    Also, some purists say that Yamaha GH family actions (also NWX, GH3, GH3X, GHE, NW-STAGE, BHE, but not GHS, not sure about BHS) are not hammer actions. Because hammer is not free. On Korg or Roland actions you can hold the key with one hand, then hit it rapidly with the finger of second hand - the force will cause the hammer to jump and hit the key you are holding when coming back to rest position. In Yamahas you can't do that, key and hammer do not move independently. But once Yamaha actions like NWX allows for fast repetition, I'm not complaining.

     

    Considering fast action. I am able to play very fast repetitive notes on NWX three sensor action. I am able to do this also on Korg RH3 which is two sensor action (but they are located "low" so behave like 2nd and 3rd sensor of tri-sensor action), but Roland action didn't allow me to play repetitive fast notes without fatigue, even if it was quite long-pivot three sensor action. Also Roland had much more noticeable escapement simulation.

     

    very interested in your comments because I'm considering a Korg Grandstage (RH3 action) after owning a CP88...when just comparing the actions without sound, the CP is way more piano like...but there's something about the available velocity curves, together with the "dynamics" knob on the Grandstage that allows me to dial in the touch sensitivity I need (at least trying in a store), particularly with triggering piano plug ins. I wish Yamaha would allow for more "in between" variations of their soft, medium and hard settings.....like Korg and Roland do. I could never get Keyscape to feel right with the CP, even tweaking the velocity settings in Keyscape. I have the same issue with Nord Stages, beautiful piano sounds, but I don't agree with how they're "set up" velocity wise, and the available velocity control on the panel doesn't get me what I need (a harder, more digging in kind of curve).

  9. Here's my experience fwiw...I bought a CP73 last year...within a month I started hearing certain keys make clacking sounds...I got it exchanged and then it was fine. I liked the action but eventually sold it about 6 months later and bought a CP88, because I found the action a bit more piano like/refined and accurate....but still not an easy decision because I think playing rhodes and Wurly (for example) is more fun on the CP73, cause it's a faster action. I will say that I think this particular action is similar to what's found in the p series digital pianos (just not graded), and I think it's just prone to these keybed issues. My 6 yr old P35 digital piano makes really loud clacking noises that have gotten worse over time...but still works perfectly in terms of velocity response.
  10. Ravenscroft is still my favorite and my go to piano 99 out of a hundred times. It's just so well done and so versatile.

    Hey Steve, I find the tone more suited to classical...do you use any additional plug ins on it to get it to "bite" a little more for country/pop/rock? Or do you just use as is? close mic setting? Thanks!

  11. I'm guessing you can't save your own "profile"...but if you launch your daw with the plug in saved as part of the session, it will remember your cc numbers? But if you start a new session, in PT for example, launch BX3, you have to midi learn all over again?
  12. Hey all, I know some of you are using BX3. I can midi learn drawbar control from my controller, but how do you get those changes to be permanent? I'm saving the sound, but when I relaunch BX3, load that patch, it defaults to the original cc numbers for each drawbar...I would love to be able to set it globally for any preset I choose. What am I missing? Thanks!
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