Noah DC

Chuck Levin‘s is probably the best place to buy a keyboard - or any kind of gear - on the East Coast. The keyboard showroom they keep is insane. I’d give them a call and see what they do and don’t have in stock.

Yeah, the real benefit of my Reface YC is that it guarantees easy access to organ drawbars no matter where I am practicing or gigging. There are a lot of situations when you're gigging regularly in a city where you don't know what a given rehearsal room or low-tech venue is going to have on hand, keyboard-wise. For example, the practice room spot here in DC has a lot of Privias - fine for AP/EP, but tough for organ. That's where I get full value out of my YC - I just toss it in my bag and head over. I bought a Lester K for one hundred bucks that I keep with it permanently in my case. Run through the pedal - especially in stereo - it sounds more than good enough for a practice or a cramped stage. The Reface is an example of one of those situations where I honestly don't think my bandmates recognize or care about the difference in tone, even if I know it's obviously not on par with my Mojo 61. If I ever did need to close that gap, I'd just MIDI in VB3 from my phone and map the drawbars.

Hey off topic, but what cart do you use? I’ve got no issues with my RockNRoller, but I dig this lean-back-and-park-it concept for my 612…

I barely have to lift my 612 at all, honestly. Except for getting it in or out of my trunk and/or onto the cart, I just roll it from place to place. The weight really isn’t an issue for an amp with wheels that can be easily loaded onto a cart. Sure, one powered speaker is half the weight, but to get all management consulty here, you’re doing twice as many lifting motions, possibly more when setting up the stage for gigs where you don’t have a cart since the speakers don’t have casters like the 612. Much prefer one or two quick lifts per gig then five or six minimum with stage setup. Just my take on this weight trade off question - to each their own.

Honestly, if you want bass covered, just use the CS. I see Larry Goldings using it for that purpose all the time on his social media.

One other thought that might somewhat primitive: by connecting a USB hub to your computer, you can attach another MIDI controller device that in my experience will control whatever you need it to. So for example, when I connect my USB-C hub to my iPad, connect my NanoKontrol via the hub’s USB-A port, and run VB3 on the iPad, I can work the drawbars via the NanoKontrol sliders, all run through the Numa’s internal audio interface. I don’t see why that (or a similar setup with a different MIDI device like a Mixface) wouldn’t work with Cantabile. But like I mentioned above, I’m fairly basic when it comes to MIDI and may be missing something obvious.

Hey welcome to the forum. I appreciate your Reddit post - I’ve been digging my Numa X 73 for many of the same reasons. Re: MIDI, I’m no expert so I wouldn’t offer advice except to suggest you email Studiologic directly. They’ve been shockingly responsive to a few questions I’ve posted. The English grammar in the reply is sometimes tricky to parse, but they’re very generous in letting you know if you can do a given thing with the board and if not, whether it might be addressed in future firmware updates. https://www.studiologic-music.com/support/contact/

This is a very helpful thread - some good ideas here that I’m going to try out.

Three new pianos released

Just want to mention that, because the Numa X Piano has an audio interface built in, you can simply plug in a controller that has faders without the need for any additional gear. This would create the perfect controller, based on your listed criteria. The Studiologic SL Mixface has magnets so it will just stick to the right side of a Numa X Piano 88, almost as if it were a built-in feature. NanoKontrol (mk1) will velcro or even magnetize with an adhesive strip. That said, if you are concerned about using the real estate on that side of the keybaord, Studiologic just released a shelf that adheres firmly to the Numa X Piano 88 through magnets and/or screws. https://www.studiologic-music.com/products/magnetic-computer-plate/

I have Acousticsamples' Wurlie that I bought around 2016. Is this one worth buying to supplement? I love the sound of Wurlie, but I wonder if there have been bigger developments in sampling in the years since it came out... I don't track these things particularly closely so interested in folks' thoughts.

One oddity specific to researching this keyboard has been the commitment to putting the Numa X PIano up against Yamahas and Nords that are significantly more expensive. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and I think it speaks in the Numa's favor! But comparing a Numa X Piano 73 to a Yamaha CP73 is almost literally the same in terms of price difference as weighing a Toyota Corolla against a BMW 3 Series. Very few people who own a Corolla are bummed they didn't decide to spend way more on a BMW - and every Corolla owner would be psyched that their twenty-something-thousand-dollar commuter car is being compared to a forty-something-thousand-dollar BMW sedan. Unfortunately, this is has led the a dearth of reviews that compare the Numa X Piano to its actual peers. The poster here is asking specifically about the models that - unlike the CPs and the Nords - are priced similarly to the Numa (Roland RD88, Kawai MP7SE, Yamaha P515, Kurzweil SP6, etc.) I, too, would love to hear these comparisons if anyone has that information! I thought I'd offer up a few thoughts on my Numa X 73 that haven't been covered earlier in this thread, which is very focused on action and sounds. As a gigging keyboardist, the real value of this board is not so much those areas, though in my opinion the action is great (much better than, say, a Nord Electro HP 73, which costs literally three times more), and the new sounds they’re adding are sometimes better than the original set (see: 1914 August Förster piano). The actual reason the Numa X 73 is ideal for gigging players is its usefulness as a Swiss Army knife type of tool. Crammed in the corner of a dingy bar stage with bandmates cranky about elbow room? The Numa X 73 is smaller (and lighter) than nearly any other 73-key model available. Need a specific sound for a one-off gig - or require a particularly good Wurly or grand piano for a certain solo performance? An iPad or tablet sheathed in a magnetic case sticks to the end of the Numa and, by simply plugging in one cable, adds that sound to the Numa X interface and makes it controllable to a much greater degree than the more costly CP73. Touring around with three stereo keyboards in a big funk and soul band (as I was this summer) to venues where the sound guy says, 'sorry, I've only got two mixer inputs for keys'? Just plug your two top boards into the Numa X 73, mix however you'd like through easy-to-access knobs - and send the sound guy your two stereo outputs. All of that is the real value of this board, which you can now often find B-stock for around $1,200ish. For a sense of how I’m using it, see the pictures below of the rig I put together underneath two lightweight stands, with the Mojo 61 resting on top of Numa X 73 and a Reface CS sitting on the Mojo (an even better option I’m considering is velcroing a Roland A-49 on top of the Mojo and MIDIing it to either the Numa for synths or the Mojo for a dual-manual Hammond arrangement). This is the cheapest, lightest, most compact package I could think of for playing weighted keys, Hammond organ, and synth with the manuals that close together. Here are a few questions that I don’t think have been answered on this thread – maybe some folks will find these thoughts helpful: Can the Numa X Piano be used as an interface connecting one MIDI sound source to another controller? For example, if I plug an iPad running Model D into the USB MIDI port, can I play it on a Roland A-49 controller connected to the Numa X Piano via the regular 5-pin MIDI while using the Numa keybed for piano? As far as I can tell, the answer is basically, yes, at the moment you can more or less finagle this. And in the near future, it will be an easy no-brainer. By assigning zones, I’m able to play Rhodes on the Numa keybed while playing its synth tones on another board MIDIed up on top – though I could only get overall effects to work, not zone-specific ones. I’m no MIDI wiz, and I could be doing it wrong – others can chime in if I’m missing an easier way to make it happen within the current architecture of the board. But Studiologic says it is planning an upgrade that will allow this to be done via “MIDI merge.” This is what they sent me when I emailed asking the question: “What you describe could be done by using a MIDI Merge function, to merge MIDI data from/to MIDI connections or USB. We have that feature on other products like our SL MIDI Controllers and the NUMA Compacts. Actually is not yet implemented in the NXP, but is already mentioned on our Lab's wish list for future.” What is the best gig bag for the Numa X Piano 73? The three best gig bags for the Numa X Piano 73 have not been mentioned yet: the Gator Pro-Go 61 Slim (what I use after finding a refurb deal); the Fusion Keyboard 06 (recently back in stock, fits perfectly with their adjustable foam blocks); or the Soundwear Stagebag 61 (best option for the money). For the record, the Pro-Go 61 Slim is listed as too short for the Numa X, but it does fit. After some initial grunt work, the case adapts a bit and then becomes the perfect size - see picture below. To me, any case that doesn’t have backpack straps isn’t taking advantage of how light this keyboard is. When I bungee cord my K&M 18880 stand to the Pro-Go, I can walk to a piano gig fully equipped, with two hands free for whatever else I need. For those who were considering the regular Gator 61 Slim (not Pro-Go), I would buy the Stagebag 61 instead, as it has a shoulder strap and the Gator 61 inexplicably does not. And for those looking into hardshell cases for touring, I bought the Pelican V730 Tactical Rifle Case. It fits the Numa perfectly length- and width-wise. The height makes it a tight fit, but I removed a layer or two of foam and had no trouble on a weeklong van tour in August. You can find these in the $150-180 range on ebay or browsing B-stock listings online. Are the updates really that big an improvement? In my opinion, yes. The “warm drive” effect can add a lot of tone to EPs and to synths. The 1914 August Förster they just added is my favorite choice for solo piano. And they’ve promised to add new upgrades like the MIDI merge function mentioned above. Hope some of that is helpful to folks who are considering this board or already have one! I've had a good run with it the last few months.

When I was shopping for this kind of thing, I really didn't see the appeal of the comparably priced Zoom models with just an 1/8" line in when I could spent $80-100 for the Tascam with multiple 1/4 inch stereo ins, two surprisingly good built-in mics, multiple tracking capabilities, and the ability to mix in realtime with actual knobs. The DP-006 is so small, it fits in a guitar case accessories compartment. But to each their own! Re: the screen not being backlit, no, it doesn't really bother me much because I'm generally using it inside.

Highly recommend the Tascam DP-006 for your exact purposes. Offers mixing capacity you won't find in the Zoom models that list for a comparable price. If you find the DP-006 to be too expensive, I'm not sure if you'll find a cheaper alternative - they regularly sell for just 70-80 dollars (reference here)

I’ve got a wedding gig on Saturday and had planned to play some solo piano via Ravenscroft for iPad. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to turn down - or preferably off - the crazy-loud sustain pedal noise! Am I an idiot? I’ve never seen a “slider” like this - and no matter which way I press it, the sound never seems to decrease or increase. IMG_8988.MOV Any advice would be lifesaving - and actually allow me to use the app for this gig. I searched but strangely couldn’t find an answer for this one…

This stand is the opposite of bulky. The fact that it folds up into an incredibly small package and weighs seven pounds allows for ultra-portable rigs that you could never pull off with an X stand (or an Apex, Invisible, etc.) For example, last night I played a gig downtown that required solo load-in and out of a Lyft. I bungee-corded the 18880 to the backpack case for my Numa X Piano 73 - an easy haul. And because (unlike X stands) the 18880 can adjust to any width, I could bring my four-pound, 20-inch-wide Reface YC, which sounded completely legit through the cheap Lester K I packed with it. All the gear shown here I carried in and out myself in one trip - that’s the real reason I swear by these stands.

Yes. Unlike many keyboard stands I’ve encountered (such as the Invisible), the 18880 can actually be played at real piano height. No, the stand doesn’t get in the way of any inputs. Honestly, I can see how folks are skeptical this stand would be sturdy enough, but there is really no reason for concern. I’ve put these things through the ringer on a van tour and during dozens of city gigs, and I’ve had no problems whatsoever. It just works. There was a great thread on here with everyone’s 18880 mods, but unfortunately it may have been lost in the mix somehow. FWIW, there are open box 18880s for sale right now at a discount on eBay, reverb, and Amazon.

Would love to hear some recs on a great patches for funk. I always hear folks talking about these classic sounds and of course I hear them on the records, but I've never quite been able to capture the right settings on my synths (Behringer Model D and Yamaha CS). Leads, basses, maybe patches for comping, etc.

There was a great thread on this topic that I used to build a particleboard/car carpeting setup for my pedals a few years ago (might have featured an earlier version of stoken6’s arrangement?), but it seems like it may have been dropped from the archives somewhere along the line.

Worth noting for folks who haven’t looked into it yet that the CP functionality in this area is way more limited than other boards like the Numa. Only control is an input gain knob in the back - or an expression pedal from a firmware update, if I’m recalling right. That turned me off the CP73 a bit. Numa has entire suite of mixer functionality laid out with knob control, including EQ, gain, effects for each channel and for the overall mix, etc.

Studiologic Magnetic Computer Place for SL73 SL88 I was hoping these would fit on the Numa X Piano 73, but the controls take up too much room. That said, since the Numa X chassis is made of sheet metal, my magnetic iPad case sticks on there solidly enough that I’ll likely gig with it that way.

There is a reverse polarity option in the VB3 settings.

If you are looking to spend less than the $1,800 a CP73 costs, then I think the Numa X is the only option that matches your requirements (minus internal power supply, I guess, although the Numa’s is hale and hearty). There is a B-stock Numa X 73 on Reverb at the moment for $1,200. If you don’t care about spending more (a very legit position!), then look at the options people are listing above, most of which generally cost somewhere between $1,800 and several thousand dollars.

I honestly love this amp. Got mine from another forumite after watching Al's video. To me, the acoustic pianos sound great - I am generally playing a CP4 into it, though I recently tried my new Numa X Piano 73 at a gig and it sounded excellent as well. My guess is that folks who haven't heard these Motion Sound amps don't realize the extent to which they sound and operate nearly identical to two powered speakers and a mixer.

I play in loud bands with a KP-612s, and while it's certainly possible that I lack the imagination, I honestly cannot foresee a situation where the amp is not loud enough. It is literally two 12" speakers, blasting out into the room just like a PA would. I just don't ever even come close to maxing out this amp.