1ManGarageBand Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi-- I'm looking for one or two acoustic piano sounds that are better than my Roland 1080/Proteus FX. I'm looking at the Kurzweil MicroPiano which got good reviews but 16 years old? Any advice or guidance will be appreciated (me guitar player). Thanks --David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawback Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I still have both the MicroPiano and a Kurzweil ME-1 module which rendered the older one obsolete for me as it has all the pianos plus a couple hundred other samples. They both have acceptable piano sounds although in general, Kurzweil pianos are dynamically too flat for my taste. I bought and subsequently sold a GEM RPX which was all the rage on the Forum when it came out. I'd recommend this module for acoustic piano sounds, which are better out of the box IMO than the Kurzweils, and can be tweaked on unit itself, or modified using the software editor on a pc. ____________________________________ Rod Here for the gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ManGarageBand Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Thanks drawback! I've read about the lack of dynamics on the Kurzweil-- Are the Ac. pianos on the ME-1 different/better than the MicroPiano? The RPX is too expensive for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Any advice or guidance will be appreciated (me guitar player). Thanks --David David since you probably don't follow keyboards too closely here's some info. For some reason, there are practically no dedicated piano modules made anymore. I'm not sure why this is, but all the majors have bowed out. And digital pianos have really improved in the last few years. You might want to think about picking up a recent used digital piano (the whole thing) instead. I've seen Yamaha P80s and P90s locally on CL for under $500 and P120s for not much more. And that's asking price. These are all great pianos at this level. New Yamaha P85s and Casio PX320s aren't much more than that. Casios in particular can be had for way below MAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ManGarageBand Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Bill H.-- Since my 8 y/o daughter is now taking piano lessons that might be the best idea for me. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Casio Privia PX120 $499 is best in that price class. Find 675 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richwhite9 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 The Micropiano is just plain bad by today's standards IMHO. Released in 92 it's really more like 1989 technology. The early 90s were not a good era for piano emulations by anybody. The Roland SRJV Session Card had a better piano if you have a 1080. The ME-1 is like the previous Kurzweils from this century (the PC2) and are respectable--released early this decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reidmc Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I worked on this same question for a couple of months. Best acoustic piano sound I found for a module is on the Roland SRX-11 expansion card "Complete Piano." The sounds are a significant step up from anything mentioned above. Plug it into a Roland XV-2020 (64-voice module under $300 used) or a 128-voice module (XV-3080 or XV-5080 $350-500 used). SRX-11 card should be $125-175 used or $200-225 on-sale, though prices have been on the high side for this board of late. Good luck. "The Doomer allows the player to do things beyond which are possible without the accessory." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 +1 on the RP-X, but get 'em while you can....... "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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