Battery Powered Stage Pianos

[The Piano Man]

Considering a battery powered stage piano for quick setup at weddings, if and when these gigs return.

 

Drawing up a shortlist of all options, minus any Casios, as I have tried these but really do not like them. I known any others disagree with me on this though! I really have tried as the feature set and price is good. I just cannot get on board with the sounds or keyboard actions.

 

Have I missed any out?

 

Roland Go 88

Roland Juno DS88

Roland Juno DS76

Roland VR730

Korg Kross 88

Korg Kross 2 88

Yamaha NP32

 

Would love to see the following models with an inbuilt battery solution:

 

Yamaha P35/45/121/125

Roland FP10/30

Korg B2/B2n/D1

 

Thanks

[Biggles]

As some on your list does not have a hammer action keybed I will suggest:-

 

Yamaha PSR EW410 76 keys and battery powered

 

Maybe an Arranger like a Korg PA700 or Yamaha SX700 will suffice, 2x25W onboard amp and speakers, 61 keys and battery powered.

 

You could always buy whatever DP you want and get a portable power supply to operate it.

 

BTW

In your list Roland Go Piano, any Casio has a better keybed.

Yamaha NP32 has a soft touch keybed that feels weird

The Korg B2 / B2N have even worst keybeds thab the NP

Just my opinion of course.

[MuzikTeechur]

Don't forget the Casio PX-5s. Incredibly versatile keyboard, good weighted action, light weight.

 

Question: With any of these keyboards, which don't have on-board speakers, you'll need an amp or P.A. system, which will have to be plugged in. I don't see the advantage of a battery-powered keyboard. It's one more cable, and you're going to need power anyway for your amp. So.. what's the advantage?

 

I've only used the batteries on my Casio once on a gig - somehow left my power cord at home, and sent my friend out to the store for batteries.

[Rodan88]

OP could always use a battery-powered speaker!

 

Great rig in a blackout, of course. ;-D

[AnotherScott]

Drawing up a shortlist of all options, minus any Casios, as I have tried these but really do not like them. I known any others disagree with me on this though! I really have tried as the feature set and price is good. I just cannot get on board with the sounds or keyboard actions.

Have you tried all the Casio possibilities? The PX5S that Lonnie mentioned uses a different action than the PX-S1000, which are both different from the WK-7600

 

Have I missed any out?

Dexibell S1

 

Question: With any of these keyboards, which don't have on-board speakers, you'll need an amp or P.A. system, which will have to be plugged in. I don't see the advantage of a battery-powered keyboard. It's one more cable, and you're going to need power anyway for your amp.

Battery powered keyboard is an advantage if you play it through a battery powered amp (e.g. a Bose S1 Pro).

 

The very fastest wedding setup would be a battery powered keyboard with built-in speakers, though the speakers have to be pretty decent. If this were my goal, I'd check out the Yamaha PSR EW410 that Biggles mentioned... I've never played one. maybe someone else could chime in with whether the speakers would be adequate for a wedding scenario.

 

If you weren't happy with the built in sounds, you could connect to an iOS device to expand that pallette... you're adding some cabling but at least everything is still battery operated and you don't need to worry about being near power. From the specs, it looks like the PSR EW410 even does audio over USB, in which case the cabling could just be the one USB cable (with a Lightning adapter or a C-connection at the end, depening on which iOS device you have).

 

There are also some rechargeable battery packs that can supply power to many boards that use wall warts (depending on their votage/amperage requiremements, and having the right sized connectors), that can turn some non-battery powered keyboards into battery powered keyboards. Since you still have to plug something in to the back of the keyboard, you're only saving one connection (the wall end of the keyboard to wall connection), but if you're playing far from an electric outlet it could also save you from having to deal with an extension cord and/or worrying about making sure nobody could trip over a cable.

 

One more thought about fast wedding setups... total weight and number of pieces makes a difference. You want it to be one trip, nothing too heavy, nothing with wheels. The keyboard stand will probably occupy one hand, so a self-powered keyboard with built-in speakers (and maybe an iOS device in the same carry bag) sounds pretty ideal. But if you have to add a speaker, something that you can put in a shoulder bag wouldn't be too bad.

[Reezekeys]

In my experience I would probably not trust a keyboard with built-in speakers to be adequate for every ceremony or cocktail hour. Maybe the move is to keep a small amp in the car, then assess when you get to the gig. Ironically, cocktail hours would probably be fine with built-ins, since nobody is listening to you anyway!

 

Years ago when I used to do weddings, I was considering a Yamaha NP11. 10 lbs, battery operated, small, and a serviceable piano. Then I realized that the cocktail hour was the opportunity for me to actually enjoy playing what I wanted, so I shlepped my full rig. However, for those outdoor ceremonies â an NP11 would have been great to have.

[AnotherScott]

In my experience I would probably not trust a keyboard with built-in speakers to be adequate for every ceremony or cocktail hour. Maybe the move is to keep a small amp in the car, then assess when you get to the gig.

Right, there's no way to be sure built-in speakers will always be sufficient (though it's easy to conclude that the wimpy speakers built into many boards will more often NOT be sufficient). So what you explain is essentially what I've done, except there's no need to have the extra amp in the car, I could grab my monitor that I would normally have setup for the full-band reception if I find that the internal speakers won't be adequate.

 

Ironically, cocktail hours would probably be fine with built-ins, since nobody is listening to you anyway!

Different problems, though. You could also make the argument that ceremonies can be easier for built-ins because usually everyone is silent when you're playing!

[Reezekeys]

...there's no need to have the extra amp in the car, I could grab my monitor that I would normally have setup for the full-band reception if I find that the internal speakers won't be adequate.

 

Agreed, that's a better solution â and what I did (except I had to do it everytime!). One of my two K8s became my "extra amp."

 

Ironically, cocktail hours would probably be fine with built-ins, since nobody is listening to you anyway!

Different problems, though. You could also make the argument that ceremonies can be easier for built-ins because usually everyone is silent when you're playing!

 

Yes, that's true too! Especially indoors. Outdoors, even with everyone silent I don't think built-in speakers are gonna carry too far.

 

I think the takeaway here is â better to have it and not need it than the other way around!

[PianoManChuck]

I don't even bother with whether its battery powered or not anymore. Now I use a DieHard 1150 which supplies many hours worth of AC power at 400 Watts, so you can power any gear you have... you could practically power a band with this!

I did a video review of it powering a Nord Piano 4, QSC CP12 and a floor fan:

 

[video:youtube]

[AnotherScott]

I don't even bother with whether its battery powered or not anymore. Now I use a DieHard 1150 which supplies many hours worth of AC power at 400 Watts, so you can power any gear you have...

Cool, but for the task at hand (quick wedding setup), I was thinking of something much smaller and lighter, like the one this guy suggested, if it's got enough juice to power whatever board in question...

 

[video:youtube]

[PianoManChuck]

Cool, but for the task at hand (quick wedding setup), I was thinking of something much smaller and lighter, like the one this guy suggested, if it's got enough power whatever board in question...

Funny.... "like the one this guy suggested".... that guy was actually me! And that video was referring to an excellent DC power supply made by RavPower. The only problem is, RavPower has stopped making those a while back and they're almost impossible to find now. That's why I did a 180 on DC power supplies and went with portable AC power supplies instead. Sure its bigger and heavier, but it will power anything, and pretty much all day, so to me its worth schlepping it to whatever outdoor gig I have.

[AnotherScott]

Yes, I knew that guy was you. ;-)

 

If there's no replacement model from RavPower, maybe someone else makes something like that? I guess the market for those kinds of things has gotten smaller, since so many portable devices power through USB now.

 

Checking the ravpower site, this looks interesting, it gives you a standard 3 prong outlet so it will work with any device (up to 100 watts), no more worrying about having the right sized connector to use in place of a wall wart. It would be interesting to see a chart of how long it can power a device based on its power specs. I did see a review on Amazon where someone said they plugged in a 45w guitar amp (which presumably uses more power than most keyboards), and after 2 hours, they'd only used 20% of the charge.

 

https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-pb055-upgraded-ac-power-bank-30000mah

[PianoManChuck]

If that works for you, then your search is over! It seems like you're in search of something ultra-light in weight and, if this device does what you need then you've reached your goal.

I guess I'm more functionally oriented and if the DieHard will provide AC power of 400 Watts all day long, powering not one, but all of my gear simultaneously, then the extra weight is a welcome compromise.

Both of these items are approximately the same price.

If you do end up getting the RavPower device, I would be extremely curious in learning of your experience with it!

[Baldwin Funster]

I totally forgot my Roland DS is battery powerable.

No matter. I would never rely on battery power for anything on a gig. Unless it was for a 15 minute set at a festival.

[AnotherScott]

I totally forgot my Roland DS is battery powerable.

No matter. I would never rely on battery power for anything on a gig. Unless it was for a 15 minute set at a festival.

You defeinitley need some spare batteries with you, at least. ;-)

[AnotherScott]

If that works for you, then your search is over! It seems like you're in search of something ultra-light in weight and, if this device does what you need then you've reached your goal.

I guess I'm more functionally oriented and if the DieHard will provide AC power of 400 Watts all day long, powering not one, but all of my gear simultaneously, then the extra weight is a welcome compromise.

Both of these items are approximately the same price.

If you do end up getting the RavPower device, I would be extremely curious in learning of your experience with it!

It's not something I need at the moment... I was just answering the OP, who was looking for a battery powered piano for quick wedding setups, and I thought a device like this was worth mentioning because it makes most keyboards battery operated! But as I said in another post, for a quick setup for ceremony and/or cocktail hour, I'd also look to keep the total schleppage down to as much as I can easily carry in my arms in one trip. That's why I'd be interested in something substantially lighter than the Diehard, if I didn't necessaily need something with that much capacity.