Noah DC

This is what I use for my CP4. Works flawlessly even after years of hard gigging.

Damn, I just looked up that new Numa⦠and yeah, real interested to see and hear this 73-key option with audio interface and a new action ('TP-110') at 25 pounds⦠Somebody should start a thread.

In terms of iOS music apps, the price performance leader by the metric you lay out (can play any music app without issues) is probably the basic 6th or 7th gen model. When I looked into it, it turned out those do anything you need music-wise â and they"re only a couple hundred each on the refurb market. Anything newer is overkill if you only look at music capacity.

Harold Branch

For those looking into iPads for music, Apple has been dumping refurbished 6th gen iPads on its refurbished site (which is often out of stock). So, for example, for $230 you can buy a 32GB iPad direct from Apple in like-new condition that will hold and run well B3-X, Korg Module, and Ravenscroft. Contrast that with the going rate for modules that do the same thing - a good opportunity for folks who don't like the used market and want a music-only iPad! Apple Refurbished iPad

I mean, not too put too fine a point on it because it doesn"t matter, but plenty of precedent out there for citing the used market: How to buy a used PC What to know before you buy refurbished How to buy an office chair secondhand But Wirecutter aside, it seems strange that more 'roundup'-type instrument reviews don"t cite used prices - especially now that you can use eBay or reverb search functions to get a decent sample size for sales. I think it would help folks to have that information upfront!

Best Budget Digital Piano for Beginners Seems like a reasonable top pick with the Casio, but an odd set of options to choose from in the 'competition' section⦠why no Privias? Or a suggestion to try the used market? Bit arbitrary to limit beginners only to the absolute cheapest, under-$500 models. It"s like saying you need to buy a Squire and nothing better if you want to learn guitar.

My KP-612s sounds great with acoustic piano. Highly recommend those amps if you can find a good deal on a used or B stock. I"m no expert, but I would be very surprised if it did not sound much better than any variety of speaker tech from the '90s. I feel like the speaker options today are just way beyond so many of the older models folks often reference here - but again, I don"t have much direct experience outside of my Motion Sound and EV powered speaker.

This is true only if you strenuously object to connecting one additional cord for a USB hub like the Kingston Nucleum that I use. Just in the interest of getting accurate information out there, for anyone who doesn"t mind carrying this tiny, weightless usb hub with (or even attached to) literally any audio interface, you can connect your midi device and charge your iPad at the same time. The Nucleum has the same exact power charging capability as my old Korg Plugkey: you simply plug your wall charging cable into the side and the whole thing charges your iPad.

I just use my Komplete Audio 6 with the Kingston Nucleum usb-c hub (allows you to charge). But if you are interested in that Zoom U-24, looks like B&H has it down to $111 new. U-24 interface at B&H

What's an example of how a reverb pedal like that would be used in context for a keyboardist who doesn't do tape loops or heavy atmospherics? I'm ignorant but interested.

Oh, this is great - thanks for sharing it. I loved the record he put out last year called Songs from Home.

I've been using an iPad Air 4 for jams and rehearsals - easiest way to convert a crappy practice space keyboard into a useable-sounding rig. I looked into all these options you all have laid out, but honestly, the simplest route turned out to be just throwing my Komplete Audio 6 interface into a sack with a USB-C hub, MIDI cable, and interface cable. Unless I'm mistaken, using your Focusrite would require fewer total items than some of the options listed above (to each their own! just noting since the OP prioritized simplicity). This is the USB hub I use: Kington Nucleum USB-C Hub And this is the article that described to me why it is one of the better options for this purpose (again, may or not may not work for your preferred setup): Nucleum hub Again, just the option that works for me - maybe it isn't ideal for your setup, but figured I'd share since I just looked into all this with the iPad Air 4.

I use that Furman and it works as well as everyone says. But my best recommendation is this kind of obscure strip by U.S. General that has a magnetic back and sticks like glue to the leg of my K and M stand. The cord wraps around it so that whole kit is self-contained - plus it has a couple USBs. Cannot recommend this enough - I got the idea from this Dig My Rig thread. Harbor Freight - U.S. General Magnetic Power Strip

I"ve used that case with my CP4 for years now. Hauled it down city sidewalks and up bar gig stairs and it"s held up perfectly. Makes the CP4 feel a lot lighter and easier to handle.

I've loved the sound of the KP612s since I picked one up from a forum member last year. CP4 pianos sound great, as do Mojo 61 organs, and when I've played full band gigs with it, guys in the band notice the better sound in the mix. One thing that helped me settle on buying the amp without having a chance to sit down with it first was Al Quinn's high-end video recording (check back a page or just search google video results).

That 'swing' beat he is using sounds quirky and suspect to my ears⦠But yes, agree re: how useful tutorials like this one are.

Maybe I'm being too literal, but from the OP, I think he only needs to do piano and EP anyway. NP4 is borderline on the specs at 40.1 lbs, but if 73 keys is anough, the forthcoming NP5 in its 73-key version is 6 lbs lighter. Once the Nord Piano 5 comes out in a 73-key version, is it safe to say that is only 73-key on the market that does not use the TP-100 or similar keybed and instead uses the higher-end action? I feel like all the other 73-key rigs on offer use a lighter but also inferior grade action â unless I"m missing something.

After years of looking at crazy expensive wooden contraptions for this purpose, this is the only one I"ve ever seen that is priced fairly and at a level that would make sense relative to what a regular stand cost. Dig those slats, too, for keeping the weigh down. Rustar, what is the approximate weight? Just curious!

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that stand cost nearly twice as much as two Knox stands and a couple hockey pucks (160 vs. around 90), weighs more than twice as much, and takes longer to assemble (the accordion-style stands like the Knox or 18880 take literally 20-30 seconds). Yes, two stands is another way to go, which is worth mentioning. Even two X-stands could do it (if you must). A pair of those Knox stands is a good inexpensive, stable, and not-too-heavy solution, good call. I'd still generally prefer the K&M 18880/18881 because it moves in one piece instead of two, setup/breakdown is faster (though a pair of Knox would still be quite fast), and total weight is less (one piece of under 10 lbs vs. 2 pieces of I think about 10 lbs each), but the dual Knox approach should work well and is high value, no doubt. And even though the 18880/18881 in many cases will require no modification at all (just attach the stackers backwards), the dual Knox looks even less likely to need modification for a given setup, since you can set the two Knox closer to each other in height than you can normally get the 18880 and its second tier. (You also have total freedom in how far forward or back your second tier support is.) So yeah, if you don't mind moving your "stand" in two pieces instead of one, and dealing with just a bit more weight and setup time (not a lot), this could be the best solution! The only real limitation I see is that the height is adjustable in roughly 2" increments, so it's not impossible you might want to drill a hole at an in-between point if one of the holes is an inch too high for your particular needed height but the other is an inch too low. (And drilling holes can be a bit tricky when you want to make sure your left and right ones are at the exact same height.) And unlike the K&M with its square tier arms, the Knox supports are cylindrical, so you can't so easily just velcro small pieces of wood to get some more height out of one tier or the other to get the tiers at the exact height distance you want. You could lay an entire plank or wood (or pair of long strips) under a board, that would work, but that adds some more hassle... more total pieces (and weight) to bring, and again a bit more setup time, and could require some additional effort to not look goofy. Was your hockey puck "mod" needed because you needed an in-between height on the Knox? To be clear, I"ve got a KM18880/81 stacker combo. But I found I could not get the height adjusted right for the backward upper stackers without drilling holes and it seemed like such an expensive piece of gear to risk modifying. Might still do it, but for now, I"m satisfied with this Knox alternative. Yes, the hockey puck mod was because I couldn"t get the two levels to line up perfectly on the CP4"s back panel and I didn"t want to drill holes. I like the idea of adding a wood planks... I"m going to go back and mess with all this. It may even be the case that using hockey pucks or wood planks would allow me to use the backward-stacker KM18880/81 combo after all. This is the kind of over-the-top minutiae one has time for in quarantine...

Here"s one that doesn"t require any mods (may eventually add to the diy stand thread). I wanted a simple and inexpensive way to rest the front of my Mojo 61 on the back panel of my CP4. I combined two recommendations from AnotherScott: buying this Knox stand and finding a way to elevate the CP4 back panel higher (by buying two hockey pucks as a means of leveling the Mojo). Yeah, you"ve got to use two stands (in my case a KM18880 and the Knox), but the combined weight and folded size is way less than plenty of two-tiered options out there. The Knox cost 42 bucks open box and the hockey pucks cost 8 dollarsâ and there"s no reason you couldn"t do it with two Knox instead of the 18880, trimming the cost to about 100 dollars. Added bonus: there is six inches of extra room on the back rails that should allow me to attach risers of some kind and create a deep enough flat surface on the Mojo to put a third board on top.

Figured I'd pop in to say I found Brad's tip here while searching around for a good mobile organ rig. I picked up an iPad and a Reface CS recently, and this sliders trick works flawlessly and sounds great (read: good enough!) on VB3. Biking over to a jam tonight and will be tossing the CS in my bag along with an iPad Air 4 and a Komplete Audio 6 interface. Just thought I'd endorse this suggestion for anyone who already has a Reface and is looking for the smallest-possible organ rig.

For what it"s worth, after toying with going the cheaper route for a beater music-only ipad, I got a good deal on the newer USB-C IPad Air 4. And yes, I was surprised to find that what you are describing is in fact the case: I took my old NI Komplete Audio 6 interface, plugged it into a Nucleum USB-C hub, and it just ... worked â no latency whatsoever for Ravenscroft or any of my other plugins.

Speaking of expensive, Custom Piano Shell for U2's CP4

To each his own, of course, but this is kind of a funny take. It"s literally one additional cord to setup an iPhone/Korg Plugkey compared to a MacBook Air in that scenario. MIDI cable + audio out to hook up the iPhone vs. the 1/8 inch audio out on a Macbook. Think about it relative to the tangle of line mixers and racks a lot of guys on here schlep around and it"s almost nothing at all.