Dexibell- what do you know about them?

[piano39]

I was at a Sam Ash yesterday and played a Dexibell keyboard for about a minute. I have to tell you I was very impressed. Good looking, easy to use. Even though it had a velocity keybed, the organ sounded great- it responded exactly how you would want it to.

 

Anyway- I'm not in the market, but I was curious. I never heard of this company until a few months ago, and they seem to have a very nice line. Does anybody know anything about them?

[piano39]

I guess that all I had to do was Google them to answer my own question. This is from a Keyboard mag review last year:

"Theres a new player in the digital piano market. Dexibell is a newly-minted subsidiary of the Italian music equipment manufacturer Proel, staffed by many former employees of Roland Europe R&D. The Vivo is the new companys first line of digital pianos for the stage."

[wd8dky]

You saved yourself from the wrath of Sven! Well played.

[elsongs]

"Dexibell" sounds like a preset in a 4-operator FM synth from the '80s.

[Zalman Stern]

"Dexibell" sounds like a preset in a 4-operator FM synth from the '80s.

 

Or a Mississippi riverboat.

 

-Z-

 

[Delaware Dave]

On a recent business trip to austin tx I drove to San Antonio one night to audition the J7 combo. It prompted me to write this review:

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2957585/Dexibell_Combo_J7_demo#Post2957585

[KorgyPorky]

On a recent business trip to austin tx I drove to San Antonio one night to audition the J7 combo. It prompted me to write this review:

 

https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2957585/Dexibell_Combo_J7_demo#Post2957585

 

Seems sound quallity is pretty close to kurzweil?

This means a lot comming from you...

 

The new S9 has the same engines as the J7...

But comes with the latest fatar 400 W hybrid keybed with real wooden keys..

It also has lots of masterkeyboard functionality..

 

Dexibell is a young brand, and they seem to be slowly building their Vivo line towards a nord stage competitor.. i am expecting a huge update for the Xmure app, the editor and the T2L engine for Namm or musikmesse next year..

[Delaware Dave]

What I didn't like about the J7 was:

 

1) something not right with the leslie horn sound. In fast mode it sounds off, like a tick sound rather than a horn sound. listen to the fast spinning horn at the 25 to 29 second mark and again at the 37 to 39 second mark:

when he glissando's up the keyboard it sounds wierd. Part of it is the speed of the leslie, when i corrected the speeds it helped but did not cure the sound. It's almost as the horn is mic'd to close to the horn. I could not correct the sound.

 

2) I thought that I could always pan the organ left and everything else right and just attach a vent and be done with it; however when I panned the organ left or right it actually would not pan at all. The organ volume did not change on either output despite panning the organ. Non-organ volumes did pan but not fully pan, about 85% of the sound panned, the other 15% still remained, so that ruled out a Vent as a cure (unless I were to run the vent in by-pass mode which I don't want to have to remember to do).

 

They are getting there but the functionality of the J7 fell a little short. If the leslie could be improved where there is no need for a Vent then working around some of their issues is probably possible.

[AnotherScott]

thought that I could always pan the organ left and everything else right and just attach a vent and be done with it; however when I panned the organ left or right it actually would not pan at all. The organ volume did not change on either output despite panning the organ.

That's screwy, and unfortunate.

 

Non-organ volumes did pan but not fully pan, about 85% of the sound panned, the other 15% still remained

Ditto... but this might not be what it seems. Sometimes a stereo effect (i.e. reverb) will give you leakage to one side even when your sound is completely panned to the other, so this might be fixable if you were willing to take off that effect. Won't solve the organ problem, but could be helpful, for example, if you were panning for LH bass. But yeah, if that's not what's happening, that messes it up for some LH bass applications, too.

[Delaware Dave]

thought that I could always pan the organ left and everything else right and just attach a vent and be done with it; however when I panned the organ left or right it actually would not pan at all. The organ volume did not change on either output despite panning the organ.

That's screwy, and unfortunate.

 

Non-organ volumes did pan but not fully pan, about 85% of the sound panned, the other 15% still remained

Ditto... but this might not be what it seems. Sometimes a stereo effect (i.e. reverb) will give you leakage to one side even when your sound is completely panned to the other, so this might be fixable if you were willing to take off that effect. Won't solve the organ problem, but could be helpful, for example, if you were panning for LH bass. But yeah, if that's not what's happening, that messes it up for some LH bass applications, too.

I do the same thing with the Gemini module when I run the Vent, pan the organ one way and all other instruments the other way. 98% of the sound is panned (both organ and non-organ). GSI told me in an email that because of the stereo effects even full panning is not 100% but it is so faint out of the other output that you would not know it is happening. I don't have to engage the bypass for non-organ bleed through the other output because it is just too faint and almost inaudible (definitely inaudible with the band playing). That was my going in position with the J7, figuring the same thing would happen. The organ would not pan at all and the non-organ was just bleeding too much (I was probably generous when I said 85%, it was probably more like 75%). The leslie horn with the upper drawbars pulled is not right at all. If you set the speeds correctly for drum and horn and removed that horrible ticking sound from the horn it would be a nice little setup. The C/V is surprisingly good (C2 sounding the best, C3 just slightly too strong but certainly ok). If they could fix the leslie where the upper drawbars coming out of the horn sounded "correct" I would probably pull the trigger. The raw organ tone sounds correct, so the leslie effect is definitely the issue.

 

I had written to them about a year ago because they had no panning function at all. I explained what I was trying to do. Low and behold in one of their releases they introduced panning, so they actually listened to the consumer. Unfortunately the implementation of the panning is sub-par. Also, as I recall, the depth of the drum spin was shallow; in fact it was so shallow that it was difficult to distinguish fast from slow because it was difficult hearing the low rotor spin with depth, this also needs correcting. It would be interesting to see if they will spend any more money in this area cleaning these things up or whether it is what it is.....

[Steve in VA]

The S9 has been out for a few months and I have yet to see a hands-on review from a real owner. I guess $4k is a lot to spend on something new and unproven.

[Sven Golly]

The S9 has been out for a few months and I have yet to see a hands-on review from a real owner. I guess $4k is a lot to spend on something new and unproven.

 

Might want to check your facts; the S9 has NOT been out for that long; in fact, here in Canada we're still waiting for the first ones to land at retail.... so there are no "real owners" yet. At least not around these parts.

[Steve in VA]

Not sure about Canada, but Sweetwater has indeed had them in stock for a couple of months in the US. They have them right now in fact.

 

 

[ProfD]

i have laid hands on the S9. It feels great and has a really nice acoustic piano sound. Otherwise, I didn't find too much else inspiring about it.

[Sven Golly]

Not sure about Canada, but Sweetwater has indeed had them in stock for a couple of months in the US. They have them right now in fact.

 

 

Have you actually seen one at Sweetwater? Websites often say lots of things...

[KorgyPorky]

i have laid hands on the S9. It feels great and has a really nice acoustic piano sound. Otherwise, I didn't find too much else inspiring about it.

 

Well it has the best fatar action available, the triple sensor, 400 wood hybrid.. with aftertouch and ebony and ivory feel... got my hands on it to, and yes i think its on par or better with everything except kawais top end actions.

 

And the motorized faders are a huge step forward..

Also loved the workflow.. and masterkeyboard features..

[AnotherScott]

Have you actually seen one at Sweetwater? Websites often say lots of things...

It lets you add it to the cart, it says it's in stock... in fact, they even have a discounted demo unit available.

[Delaware Dave]

I received a note back from Dexibell this morning. I had written to them re. the leslie sim issues on the J7. They told me that a recent OS upgrade (4.07) upgraded the leslie sim. The note confirmed several complaints about the previous leslie sim.

Unfortunately there is not a Dexibell keyboard close to me to try. I demoed mine on a one-time business trip to Texas. I won't be returning there so I'm hoping for an updated youtube video.

[Dlrshort]

My experience with customer service is that they are very good and responsive. I think if we talk about the shortcomings of the boards, they will hopefully help us address these issues.

[Delaware Dave]

Dexibell just sent me an MP4 of the new leslie effect. MUCH BETTER. They slowed down the speed and the ramp and also removed the annoying tick sound with the upper drawbars. I may have found my new keyboard....