Weighted or semi weighted Controller

[raffkey]

Hey all,

 

Thinking of using a controller with my Kurz PC 361 to play only the piano voices.

 

Semi weighted would be OK, and I'd prefer 88 keys over 76. Would only be used in church - no hauling it around, so weight is really not a issue. Something simple, inexpensive, but responsive.

 

Any suggestions?

[AnotherScott]

Staying at the low end of the price range, there's a board that is nearly (or maybe completely?) identical from a variety of manufacturers... Kurzweil KA90, Alesis Coda Pro, M-Audio Accent, and maybe some others... unlike many other low-end offerings these days, these still have MIDI jacks instead of USB, and that's what you'll need to trigger the PC361. They also have audio inputs and pretty decent speakers, so if there's ever a need, you could actually play the PC361's sounds through it. Action is okay.

 

Most companies have taken MIDI jacks off their low end models, but if you can also look at used gear, there are plenty of older low-cost models that had MIDI, from Yamaha, Casio, Korg at least.

[ElmerJFudd]

Inexpensive weighted controllers for triggering piano sounds...

 

Kawai VPC-1 would be a nice pick at the top of your price range $1849

At the low end, you can get a half-way decent digital piano action (with sounds on board, not just a controller) in the Yamaha P45 ($449), P115 ($599).

The same is true for a Casio PX-160 ($499). Alesis has the Coda at $399 or the Coda Pro at $499. Not sure where they are getting the action - could be Fatar as well, not sure.

 

Or back in straight up controller-land there's the Studio Logic SL88 Studio with a Fatar TP-100 @ $499. Or if you prefer the TP-40 Wood the SL88 Grand is $899.

 

These all have a MIDI out at least, but also USB.

[AnotherScott]

At the low end, you can get a half-way decent digital piano action (with sounds on board, not just a controller) in the Yamaha P45 ($449), P115 ($599).

The same is true for a Casio PX-160 ($499).

...

These all have a MIDI out at least, but also USB.

AFAIK, none of those have MIDI jacks, and so will not work for directly driving a PC361.

 

I've never played their new entry level Alesis Coda at $399 or the Coda Pro at $499. Not sure where they are getting the action - could be Fatar as well, not sure.

Presumably it is a Medeli action, since in other parts of the world, the board is available as a Medeli (i.e. SP4000). Medeli and Kurzweil have worked together before, they make the action in the SP4-7 at least.

[ElmerJFudd]

AFAIK, none of those have MIDI jacks, and so will not work for directly driving a PC361.

 

Ah, that's a bitch, you're right of course. Wasn't paying attention that they'd started doing this. But I guess that's one of the corners they've cut to get these prices down so low. So you need to go up a level. Casio PX-360 is $699.99 - you might find the 350 for a little less. Yamaha P255 is unfortunately $1299.99, I guess it competes with the identically priced Roland 300NX.

 

If you like Roland digital piano actions there is the DS88 which has the Ivory Feel G keyboard and is a pretty cool synth at $999.

KA90 $549

M-Audio Accent - no one seems to carry at the moment. even Amazon says not available.

 

[SteveVasil]

The Fatar/Studiologic keyboards work well; I see folks letting go of these for not much $ fairly often. On my Studio 900, there's no display, but I've gotten used to the simple channel select command and use this keyboard for the occasional gig.

[joegerardi]

IIRC, the only unweighted 88 out there is the Roland RS-9 synth. They can be found used quite cheaply on eBay, but they don't come up very often.

 

For 76, I'd look at an Alesis QS7 or QS7.1- they are also quite inexpensive and have nice keybeds. Great pipe organs as well.

 

..Joe

[AnotherScott]

IIRC, the only unweighted 88 out there is the Roland RS-9 synth. They can be found used quite cheaply on eBay, but they don't come up very often.

There have been a number of unweighted 88s, particularly in cheap controllers. In current boards, I actually really like the Numa Compact. But it still wouldn't be my ideal choice for a piano action in a board where travel weight is no issue.

 

For 76, I'd look at an Alesis QS7 or QS7.1- they are also quite inexpensive and have nice keybeds.

I did like that old Alesis action quite a bit, but IIRC, it was not good for piano (even as unweighted actions go). In fact, I think it may have been the same or similar to the Fatar action that's in the PC361 he wants to control. (And while the Numa Compact is also a Fatar and possibly even from the same "family" of actions, it seems to be better for piano than most unweighteds.)

[Marillo]

I've always been surprised that the Numa Compact didn't get much love...am about to pull the trigger on one myself.

 

Looks like a very good lightweight bread-and-butter bottom board.