Gear advice, please!

[CEB]

I think you get what you pay for. The Best Buy across the street from my office has those NP keyboards. I think they feel like ****.

[MarKeys]

So not close to a Hammond feel, I take it? Sometimes I see reviews complain of keys being only semi weighted, which makes me think that could actually work better for organ...

[AnotherScott]

Key feel is very subjective. I find the Yamaha NP30 action to feel better than the semi-weighted Nords. For piano, it's not as good as any weighted action, but it's better than average in unweighted and semiweighted actions (which, admittedly, could be seen as damning with faint praise... but if you don't want to gig with two boards and your main sound is organ, this is the kind of compromise you're looking at). And while it may not be the best organ action, it's certainly not bad, and better than any weighted action would be. (It's a better organ action than piano action, actually.)

[CEB]

Key feel is but a stable platform isn't. You need a certain amount of heft to have a substanial enough platform to install the action. If you use an X-stand don't turn your fan up too high or your controller will blow off your keyboard stand. Be careful on glissandos and palm smears. LOL

 

This weight weenie stuff is bad trend that is starting to bleed over into real proline keyboards. At least 20 pounds + I think you are generally OK.

[AnotherScott]

Yes, lightweight has its downside, but sometimes, it's a real benefit, too. And I don't know that a 12 lb NP30 is going to be a whole lot less stable than a 15.3 lb Nord. But regardless, yeah, I wouldn't suggest an X-stand. I'd also prefer a board with square supports rather than round ones, and consider putting velcro on the supports and the bottom of the board.

[Fusker]

BestBuy

 

BestBuy2

 

I'm not here to defend BestBuy, but insinuating that any board offered by them is **** isn't accurate. :-)

[CEB]

I'm not insuating anything. I am stating that I have played these things and where. FWIW the Lucina keytars they have at Best Buy are kind of cool. If I did already carry too much **** I would get one and use it on Frankenstein.

 

I didn't like the Privias that much but I also hated the S90XS for piano when I got it but felt it was a good compromise to obtain the Motif engine. After 3 days I was totally good with the S90 action. I figured those Prvias were probably pretty good but something I would have to dial into and get accustomed to. But NP just felt really cheap. ... well they are cheap around $200-$300 I think.

[MarKeys]

Thanks everyone -- really helpful to hear your thoughts. I'm damn indecisive, but my heart is leaning toward the Vent idea since it seems like it's such a good little design. And I know just adding that will be an improvement. Then I can figure out the rest later. (wish I wasn't so lazy, though, because the one board notion still tempts me)

[AnotherScott]

(wish I wasn't so lazy, though, because the one board notion still tempts me)

Having two boards is usually preferable anyway.

 

Just how bad is the "old crappy keyboard" you're using? What kind of board is it? If it's okay for triggering the Voce and just really crappy for piano, then as someone else suggested, replacing your heavy 88 with a much lighter piano board could be another approach. I only suggested the NP30 because of the one-board scenario (and playing more organ than piano). If you're going to maintain an organ-action board anyway, then I'd get something fully weighted for the piano.

 

There are really many ways to address your concerns, with either one board or two... All the things that people have mentioned (Nords, Rolands, Casios, Yamahas, etc.) are viable ways to go, with different trade-offs. If you can determine your priorities, how heavy a board you're willing to travel with, and how much you'd be willing to spend to get as close to your ideal as possible, that would narrow the options a bit.

[MarKeys]

Well, the crappy keyboard I got strictly as a controller for the Voce module. I needed something quickly, so I got it for 20 bucks off Craigslist because it was the closest organ-feel I could find in the moment. Old Yamaha something-- P 225 or something or other? Really it's just for the light keys and midi connection.

But now, even if I could justify the expense of an electro 3, I'm feeling like I'll keep wondering "what would that Vent sound like?" I guess all the rave reviews have gotten to me!

 

 

[Tom Fiala]

+1: Voce v5 -> Vent -> K10's.

 

Saving up for a Mojo!

 

 

[Jaime Chimuelo]

Just wanted to thank whoever steered me towards the cheap POS Privia 3XS keyboard.

The sounds I disable and use this like I once did with a 4 zone D70.

The action is great, it's lightweight and I beat it to death 6 nights a week.'

Bank LSB and MSB transmissions, and transpositions are very helpful, it's controllers are OK but I added a BCF 2000 for extra pedals and MIDI CC's, couldn't be happier for 500 bucks.

I can even take if off of the stand and throw it at some drunk if I need to since it weighs like 15lbs. or something.

Perhaps I will buy a spare as I plan on using this with the XITE-1 and Analog Racked synths for some time to come.

The real test is how many months of 6 nighters this thing will take, plus I constantly play during the day since I love my trade.

FWIW I play lots of Prog Rock and Classic so the really pretty white sounding 88's don't really work well. THe PianoTeq Pro 4s newest D4 out of tune is a great axe for cutting through the mix w/o any EQ.

As usual the Reverb is as bad as any Native plug so I still use a splash of the PCM70.

As for action and controller features, storage.

It's a great piece of shit....