Art-0252

Incredible playing as always @Reezekeys! In both examples I preferred Pianoteq before I knew which it was, and I think the reason for that is the same reason that I have gravitated towards Pianoteq when practicing in the studio over the last 6 months or so: The dynamics of playing are going to be naturally more expressive with modeling because you essentially have 127 velocity layers ( limited only by the midi resolution of your controller). I love the C7 in Keyscape, and I think to my ears it sounds slightly richer than the Yc5 model in Pianoteq, but when I play PT it feels alive under my fingers in a way that no digital piano ever has to me. The ability to dig in and hear the nuance of dynamics just makes it so enjoyable to play imo, but of course YMMV. Modartt hit it out of the park by bringing this to iOS. I hope their investment pays off for them because I know it is costly to enter the iOS ecosystem, and the pricing paradigm of iOS leads to challenges others on this thread have already talked about. Having this on my iPhone for no additional cost to the desktop license of PT8 I already had blows my mind and gets me thinking about the exciting new possibilities for a lightweight jam rig when i don't want to haul my heavier more expensive keyboards to something like a patio blues Jam or basement rehearsal. PT + B3x + a synth app like Tal-uno-lx + a lightweight keyboard with a usb audio interface (ie mx61 or modx6) would be a pretty sweet lightweight setup!

Coming back to this thread just to voice my appreciation for @SamuelBLupowitz and this thread because it introduced me to Theo's solo work! I have been obsessed with "Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe" the last few days and agree that Paradini's playing is like nothing I've ever heard before! The piano solo on 'The Death of Us' is so virtuosic and yet so tastefully right in the pocket, it blew my mind!

My travel keys for messing around in ableton or practicing short licks has always been either my reface CP or a keystep. Both fit nicely in my suitcase or the reface case and allow me to pack a small sustain pedal too. If I want something really compact just for note entry or playing with synths vsts, I also love my Keith McMillen K-board for it's flat and durable but surprisingly playable keys.

Love my sl mk2, as @uhoh7 said above, the Fatar Tp/9s is the same awesome synth keybed that's on high end synths like the OB-6 and MiniMoog re-issues I think.

PSA : Native Instruments is also doing a 25$ off coupon with the code HOLIDAYGIFT2022_USD , To my surprise they allowed this to apply to already discounted items like Isotope's NEOVERB which is discounted to $25 down from 100. tldr; You can use that code to get NEOVERB for free right now

Requires Kontakt 7 I think, but can be run in the free Kontakt Player 7

Yep, it's only of the only NI apps that is natively compatible on Apple Silicon.

This is something I've been thinking about as well. The price of gas in my state makes driving to a blues jam 30 minutes away a more costly endeavor than it used to be. Similarly, I've been known to drive up to a few hours to get a great deal on a piece of CL or FbMarketplace music gear , but if the drive costs $100+ in addition to my time going there and back...how much am I really saving? Yep, between this and the stage of life my family is in, I think I probably won't be buying any more big ticket items in the near future. Good thing I have some great instruments to gig and practice with because it might be approaching a time where a lot of folks have to financially hunker down to compensate for inflation and cost of living.

This is exactly the VST Macbook air I've been waiting for. Using Magsafe means there are now 2 usb ports free for Midi controllers/audio interfaces without using a hub, and I already love the performance of my m1 Mac mini.

That white 200a is so clean! 😗

Hey Joe, do you mind telling us what the final cost was? There's no price on their site...

Am I missing something about the price differences between Thomann and Sweetwater/GuitarCenter ? IF Nord would allow Thomann to ship to the USA , you could get a Nord Electro 6D almost $800 cheaper even after shipping and import duty! If Nord is increasing prices to compensate for material costs etc, why is that the case? Similarly, how is that I can get a Moog Matriarch ( made in Asheville, NC) delivered for hundreds cheaper from Germany than in the same country it’s made in??

I would have to agree about the extreme registers not sounding that nice. But for that matter, I don't really love the tone of the extreme registers of any acoustic piano I've ever played either.

FWIW I much prefer the tone of my 88 key mk1 Rhodes to the 73 key Mk1 in the local studio I frequent. I'm learning that so much of the Rhodes tone is determined by the EQ knobs on the preamp or amp you're using....

This is what turned me off the most! I thought it would at least have that incredible buttery smooth synth action the Jupiter X has!