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Studiologic Acuna 73


stoken6

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This keyboard has been mentioned a few times now, and the PX5/VR09/"uninspiring rigs" threads reminded me of something I posted back in September .

"What do we want?" "A 76-key weighted action with aftertouch and internal PSU, sustain and expression inputs, 5-pin MIDI out, weighs less than 30lb"

"When do we want it?" "Winter NAMM, shipping March 2013!"

Well it's March 2013, and the Acuna 73 has:

  • A 73-note weighted action (Fatar TP/100, like the Electro HP, not played it but seen several mixed opinions)
  • Aftertouch and two wheels
  • Four controller knobs/buttons
  • Expression input (for a Studiologic pedal, don't know if my FC7 would work)
  • 5-pin MIDI, with MIDI merge! I was very excited to find this hiding in the manual
  • 12.5kg as posted by Marino, which comes to 27.5lb in old money.

As ever, nothing's perfect in life: the thing needs an external PSU. However the price looks good, and I may have missed out on the PX3 deals, so it may be of interest. That MIDI merge may be the killer feature for me.

 

I'm watching this space...

 

Cheers, Mike

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Not in the shops yet, even here in Italy. The people at the Big Music Store tells me that it will be available "soon". I'm thinking of replacing my Studiologic VMK176plus with the new Acuna 73, but I'm not sure if maybe I'll end up with something with onboard sounds like the new Casio.

 

Byw I've played the Acuna 88, and found the action pretty decent.

 

 

 

 

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Byw I've played the Acuna 88, and found the action pretty decent.

 

Thanks Marino. I know you've been positive about the action, and I know others have found it worse than e.g. the Casio tri-sensor action. I'm keen to try it for myself.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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If you do a google image search for this piece Marino's avatar comes up. :-)

 

Mike - please, a 76-note keyboard with your tri-sensor action, PX3-or-better controller capabilities, and a similar price point to the Acuna, and we have a deal (you, me and possibly Marino!)

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

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Mike - please, a 76-note keyboard with your tri-sensor action, PX3-or-better controller capabilities, and a similar price point to the Acuna, and we have a deal (you, me and possibly Marino!)

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Throw nine drawbar-ish sliders on it as well please.

Favorite Gear:Vintage Vibe 73 w/MIDI, Microkorg, ipad2 with lotsa apps, VB3, Rhodes 88, Roland VK8, Fantom XR, Brainspawn Forte
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If you do a google image search for this piece Marino's avatar comes up. :-)

Ha ha, right. :D

Also many pictures of this young lady:

 

http://media.santabanta.com/medium1/global%20celebrities(f)/laura%20acuna/laura-acuna-5a.jpg

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

It's interesting... for a while now, the Nord Stage 2 has cost exactly the same for the 76 and 88 key versions ($4199 at sweetwater, zzounds, musician's friend). It seems that the cost difference between a 76 and 88 key Fatar may be insignificant, so it's just a matter of whether you want the full 88 or prefer something a bit smaller/lighter.

 

Some people have posted about hoping for a 76-key PX-5S. Based on the size of the control surface, it looks like it would be an easy derivative design, at least if they dropped the battery compartment. But there's a significant upfront cost in generating a new plastic enclosure (unlike Nord's sheet metal), and they might also be concerned about how much of the incremental sales of a 76 would be at the expense of the 88. So it's not surprising that Mike hasn't indicated that Casio has any interest in that. But if they did, all these things considered, I could imagine it costing the same as the 88. Which is actually an interesting way to see, cost aside, what percentage of people really prefer each size.

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As ever, nothing's perfect in life: the thing needs an external PSU.

If you plan to use it with a laptop or Receptor, the Acuna can be USB bus-powered (despite what the manual states).

 

If it can be USB buss powered, can you use one of those USB wall plug power supplies with a USB lead to the keyboard? Or is that just silly..

Keyboards - Kurzweil PC3X, Korg Triton Extreme + Moss, Roland JX8P, Roland V-Synth. www.xyzband.info
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If it can be USB buss powered, can you use one of those USB wall plug power supplies with a USB lead to the keyboard? Or is that just silly..

Sounds like a great idea to me, but it would have to be engineered around running on 5v. The Roland A300 can run via a USB wall plug (or from a laptop), it comes in really handy sometimes for me.

Favorite Gear:Vintage Vibe 73 w/MIDI, Microkorg, ipad2 with lotsa apps, VB3, Rhodes 88, Roland VK8, Fantom XR, Brainspawn Forte
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