my own digital piano shoot-out

[zephonic]

On tweaking...yeah it is good that it exists, and again, when I buy a synth/workstation that does become a factor. But there's a lot of things in my life that need tweaking (...) so when it comes to a DP I wouldn't mind paying for something that is just right.

When my dad bought his $50,000 Bechstein grand he had a techie tweak the hammers to smoothen the sound, but my dad is retired :-)

 

[Sven Golly]

Sure thing, Sven, but they lined up the PC 1SE as a digital piano in the digital piano department and the SP2 was nowhere to be seen.

 

Well, I guess it's a good thing they didn't have a Moog Voyager in there, or you'd have slammed it as a digital piano too...

 

[zephonic]

Sure thing, Sven, but they lined up the PC 1SE as a digital piano in the digital piano department and the SP2 was nowhere to be seen.

 

Well, I guess it's a good thing they didn't have a Moog Voyager in there, or you'd have slammed it as a digital piano too...

...what, you mean it's not?

[zephonic]

worth buying over a Roland or Yamaha, though?

 

[niacin]

I've found that Kurzweil's "triple strike piano" as found in the PC1 and 2 series boards sits great in a mix, cuts through nicely when needed, but, like the P90 example above, is useless for exposed (say jazz trio) work because of the tack sound at the beginning of each note. I'm pretty sure that you can tweak the envelope though and reduce the attack. (I haven't bothered trying because I have a much better piano sample loaded into my FantomXr). It seems to me that most digital pianos do a fine ff, but the pp through mp samples are generally rubbish. Agree with most of the original poster's remarks, and I'd add that the heavier action Kawais are like the Casios in that they make great controllers but the piano sound is nothing to write home about.

[WWW]

But for the Kurzweil, I have owned or played them all. I think the CP33 is way too shrill and not prperly responsive to velocity. Oddly, I love the CP300. Rolands FP7 just always plays and sounds good. BUT, I have fallen in love with the quirky authenticity of the Nord Stage. It just feeld like a real instrument!

[Jazz+]

I've found that Kurzweil's "triple strike piano" as found in the PC1 and 2 series boards sits great in a mix, cuts through nicely when needed, but, like the P90 example above, is useless for exposed (say jazz trio) work because of the tack sound at the beginning of each note. I'm pretty sure that you can tweak the envelope though and reduce the attack. (I haven't bothered trying because I have a much better piano sample loaded into my FantomXr). It seems to me that most digital pianos do a fine ff, but the pp through mp samples are generally rubbish. Agree with most of the original poster's remarks, and I'd add that the heavier action Kawais are like the Casios in that they make great controllers but the piano sound is nothing to write home about.

 

+1

[zephonic]

Well, I take it that niacin and Jazz+ are jazz guys then...:-)

[Legatoboy]

WDL,

 

yep on all points!

 

 

 

But for the Kurzweil, I have owned or played them all. I think the CP33 is way too shrill and not prperly responsive to velocity. Oddly, I love the CP300. Rolands FP7 just always plays and sounds good. BUT, I have fallen in love with the quirky authenticity of the Nord Stage. It just feeld like a real instrument!

[Mark Schmieder]

Technics is history? Maybe that's why I can't find any info on them. I keep reading articles in Sound-On-Sound that highly recommend their digital pianos (vs. synth-action Casio-wannabes).

 

Another one to try is Valdesta (sp?). It has a different brand name in other countries. In the physical modeling shootout, it compares favourably with GEM, and they are now on their fourth generation of PM technology (the first generation beat out the original GEM RealPiano on most scores).

 

I gave up on finding one to try a long time ago. My heart is set on the GEM PRP700 for best feel, most responsive action, and most organic sound. The price is alsom quite competitive. Unfortunately, you are unlikely to find one to try in a store, but Dave M. would probably be glad to help you find your nearest dealer :-).

 

I agree with all of the paraphrased summaries of the various digital pianos in the list, but am not familiar with Roland's FP series. The RD series felt plasticky to me, with the earlier revisions ironically feeling more solid. It sounds like the FP series is based on an entirely different technology.