Yamaha DGX230AD 76 Key Portable Grand with power Review

Aside from it now being affordable (I bought it when it first came out at around $900), this is a high quality digital piano.The sound is utterly incredible, clear cut and crisp.Basic operation is simple, the weighted keys match those of actual piano keys...the feel is all there.This is perfect for those fluid in their craft, going from in studio to performing in shows.It is fairly heavy, requires 2 people to transport.It is well made, can take serious rough wear and tear from moving and constant use.

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Product Description:
The Yamaha DGX-630 offers an affordable, feature-packed portable keyboard that boasts an authentic grand piano-like touch: heavy in the low end, feathery light in the highs, and amazingly responsive throughout. It also includes USB MIDI and USB to Device for removable storage, along with a high resolution Live! Grand stereo sample, song recorder, score and lyric display. The USB facilitates easy transfer with a PC or Macintosh computer for use with many optional software packages that can score, arrange, and sequence your music. Can't play a keyboard instrument? Yamaha Education Suite helps you get started. With nearly 500 voices and built-in stereo speakers, the Yamaha DGX-230/AD is truly a grand keyboard music instrument that you and your family will enjoy.Pitch bend wheel to add smooth pitch variations to notes playedVoices - 116 panel voices + 12 drum/SFX kits + 361 XGlite voices, Polyphony -32, DUAL and SPLIT modesStyles - 160 Preset Styles + External files, Style Control -ACMP ON/OFF, SYNC STOP, SYNC START, START/STOP, INTRO/ENDING/rit., MAIN/AUTO FILL, Fingering -Multi Finger, Full Keyboard, Style VolumeMusic Database -300 + External filesEducation Feature -Dictionary, Lesson 1-3, Repeat & LearnRegistration Memory -8 banks x 2 typesEffects - Reverb -9 types, Chorus -4 types, Harmony -26 types30 Preset Songs + 5 User Songs + Accessory CD-ROM with 70 moreAuxiliary jacks -PHONES/OUTPUT, DC IN 12V, USB, SUSTAINAmplifier -6 Watts per channel to two 2-way on-board speakers -12cm x 2 + 3cm x 2Power Supply - Adaptor -PA-150 (included) or an equivalent recommended by Yamaha, Batteries -SixDsize, R20P (LR20) or equivalent batteries (optional) Unit Dimensions (W x D x H) -1,178 x 412 x 137 mm (46-3/8 x 16-1/4 x 5-3/8); Weight -8.3kg (18 lbs. 5 oz.) (not including batteries)Supplied Accessories - Music Rest, Accessory CD-ROM, Owner's Manu

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Casio PX200 Privia Digital Piano with Hammer Action Review

I'm a semi-pro jazz pianist. I own an old Balwin baby grand and a top end Roland rd700sx keyboard. I bought the Casio as a practice keyboard at my summer home. I couldn't be more pleased with it. The action is very heavy (a good quality) - heavier that either of my other pianos, but not as much as your average Steinway grand. But the action is also very responsive and quite a pleasure to play. The primary piano sound is balanced and nice to listen to (the others not so).
The tone is no where as beautiful or as expressive (wide dynamic range) as my Roland, but the Roland cost 4 times as much!.

It is very useful for practicing and the built-in speakers are loud enough to play in a party setting. I've used it for gigs with a stereo amp and it's very adequate - and weighs 27 lbs. I've seen it selling for less at other online musical instrument sites so check around.

All in all a very nice keyboard and well worth the cost.

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Product Description:
The PX-200 takes digital piano sound quality to a new level. This Privia model truly raises the sound bar. Grand piano sound and feel in a portable keyboard that easily moves from the home to the stage or the studio.

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Nord Electro 3, 73-Key Electronic Stage Piano and Organ (AMS-NE373) Review

I sold my Electro 2 so I could partially buy the latest model. After using it a few weeks it's clear how much better it could have been. Here are the good and bad:

Good:
- New sounds including Vox Continental, Farfisa, harpsichords and samples.
- Better Hammond organ sound.
- Better piano sounds but they take up a lot of memory and do not have keyboard resonance features of the Nord Stage EX.
- Sample software allows you to create your own sounds, organize your patches and is easy to use.
- More built-in effects including reverb, compression and 3 different amplifier distortions.
- USB MIDI interface.

Bad:
- Limiting up/down buttons plus A/B patch selector makes it difficult to get to the sounds you want quickly. The Electro 2 had 8 buttons plus bank up/down which is more useable.
- Unergonomic button layout makes navigation difficult. For example, the shift button is too far from the organ presets making it impossible to play and switch presets at the same time.
- Lack of effect amount knobs as on the Electro 2. You are stuck with toggling through only 3 preset amount settings.
- Ring modulation should not be an oscillator like tremelo. The Electro 2 is correct.
- New Vox and Farfisa sounds aren't that accurate.
- Only 64 MB of onboard sample library memory means you'll be limited to how many sounds you can use at a time.
- Sample software is limiting and doesn't allow for more than one sample per key, assigning polyphony, glide (portamento) or other patch functions.
- No pitch wheel. Nord provides many synthesizer samples but, there's no way to control them. The Electro 3 cannot receive pitch bend MIDI commands from another keyboard either.
- No modulation wheel. Why bother having any synthesizer sounds without modulation.
- Same non-weighted keyboard feels junky.
- Expensive.

[DW]

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Product Description:
How do you improve on a classic performance keyboard like the original Electro? You could take it gently, or you just do what Nord did with the Electro 3; push it as far as you can, and then a bit further. The demands from a performing keyboard player haven't really changed all that much, good quality never goes out of style. They just want to offer you some of the best stuff they have, in a affordable and easy-to-use instrument. They hope that you will have as much fun owning and using the Electro 3, as they have had developing it. The Nord Electro 3 is compatible with the new Nord Piano library. It takes full advantage of the Library's multitude of velocity layers, pedal-down samples and extremely high quality samples providing you with an unprecedented expressiveness. Any current or future piano that is available for the Stage family will also automatically be available to the Nord Electro 3.

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Clavia Nord Electro 2 61-Key Stage Piano/Organ Review

For the gigging keyboardist, the Electro 61 falls somewhere between a Godsend and a no-brainer.It's hard to avoid hyperbole when discussing this instrument, but anyone who has toted a Hammond rig and a Wurlie and a controller and peripherals and every other blasted thing will get my drift.For 29 years, I've been condemned to driving a cargo van full of vintage keys which weren't designed to leave the living room in the first place.I've herniated myself in the process, and was almost killed in a rear-end collision that flipped my 'B' upside down.I have made every effort to 'scale down' -- Korg CX3, Micro B, Roland VK7, Oberheim, Hammond XM3, and oddball stuff.All of the aforementioned fell woefully short of Hammond heaven, and of course, didn't offer any EP features or anything else.

The buzz about the Nord was intriguing, so I checked one out at a local store.Typically, the young, cooler-than-thou clerk could barely get the thing to power up, and I was pretty much left to navigate on my own.But five minutes on the Electro made me a believer (of COURSE I ordered one online -- any dope on the floor of a music store who can't get a keyboard that produces five sounds to work doesn't get his commission from me).

Here goes (note -- run this guy stereo, even if ya have to buy a little PA to do so): the Hammond end of things is simply exquisite.I did a little EQ stuff (the Electro features EQ and presence knobs on the dashboard.What a concept!You know, you can actually tweak your sound during performance...), rolled back the key click, and entered my own registrations.Fat, juicy, and soulful.Big, even in the high harmonics.Not a trace of cheese.Outlandish chorus.Completely persuasive percussion.The best Leslie ever, and I don't mean 'pretty good.'It sounds like the real deal.I personally don't have an issue with the 'draw-buttons' and I like controlling the Leslie speed via footswitch.The last thing I want is another broken bakelite switch hanging pitifully on my 'board.

Rhodes: ya want Richard Tee?Yassah."Just the Way You Are?" (you'll actually want to play the old warhorse) -- roger roger.Steely Dan ala Victor Feldman and/or "Nightfly" stuff?Yes jones.Through the Electro, younger players might actually discover what a Rhodes really sounds like.Twenty years of screaching over-cranked synth knockoffs did the Rhodes sound no favors.

Wurlie: intitially, I couldn't find one quite 'mean' enough, but five minutes with 'presence' did the trick.Early Ray, in a big way.A little tremolo and it's Mussel Sholes central.Just like my 200.Plays like it too.Light, but CONFIDENT feeling.

Clavs: good grief.Perfect.

CP80:Back in the day, I wanted one desperately.But, of course, like every thing else back in the day, I coudn't afford one.Now I OWN one.I LOVE it.Newbies probably won't 'get' the CP80, but us old timers will have our fun.

Piano: contrary to most opinions, I think the piano is very good.I don't like it as well as my Kurweil 1200 Pro I, but it's entirely usable.I re-EQed it, rolling off some of the not-so-pleasant highs.Prior to a gig recently, I played some standards using the piano sound.I was testing the waters to see if the relatively short keyboard and on-board piano would work for jobbing.Absolutely.It won't cut stride, but an Evans-esque approach is A-OK.

Conclusion: the Electro 61 is hands-down the most impressive and exciting 'keyboard' I've ever owned, and I have had a ton of stuff.Unlike a synth, it is designed for the player to make music on it.In that sense, it is a bonafide musical instrument.

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Product Description:
The Nord Electro 2 is the next big step in the development of the Nord Electro series of stage keyboards. Among the features of the Electro 2 you'll find the new Mega Clavinet sound which offers all the filter and pick-up variations of the original Clavinet D6! This means that you'll be able to access no less than 60 + 4 different Clavinet D6 sounds in the Electro 2!Thanks to the remade piano sample playback engine, the polyphony for the piano sounds is now greatly enhanced. The new piano sample playback engine also made it possible for Nord to digitally model the sounds you get when you release keys on a piano instrument. For example, the Clavinet and the Wurlitzer have very characteristic key release sounds. In Nord Electro 2 this is very faithfully modeled. The new sample playback engine also allows for playback of stereo pianos. In the new factory sound library Clavia has included a great new Acoustic Grand piano - in stereo. The Electro 2 also features great new vintage-style effects in the Effects section. Nord has also beefed up the Overdrive distortion to sound more like an overdriven tube amplifier.Nord Electro 2 fully supports USB download of Nord Electro piano samples. Now you will be able to download new piano instrument samples using Nord's specially developed Electro Tool sample dump program for Mac and PC! Additional piano sounds are available on the CD-R that comes with the Nord Electro 2 and also for download at www.clavia.se - free of charge! More...

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Kurzweil SP-76 Stage Piano Review

[Since posting this review, I see that Kurzweil has come out with the SP2 and SP3.Both pianos now allow for splits and layering, the SP2 with 64 (double those of the SP76) and the SP3 with 512 voices.The only problem is that it's now difficult for an average consumer to distinguish between the SP and PC series.In fact, the SP2 and SP3 look rather gaudy to me compared to the cleaner lines of the PC1, 2, or 3.All the same, the SP2 is still comparatively light and easy to program and hence can be recommended as a player's (as opposed to programmer's) axe.Sill one complaint: you have to wonder if these designers have ever heard a jazz trio--Nat Cole, Monty Alexander, Oscar Peterson, the 3 Sounds--for whom the walking bass plus ride cymbal sound are the very essence of "swing"(what's that?).A performance instrument should have those areas covered before the toys and whistles, the effects, the drum machines, the Take 6 examples, the reverb, the RMI electric piano, and every other clever device that, basically, has nothing to do with jazz, with swing, with music is thrown into the electronic circuitry.]

I've gone through twenty different keyboards and ten brands and am currently on my third SP-76 (one was stolen).It's a trifle inflated right now (it's gone down as low as $500, but that's when the American dollar still had some value).It's the most practical solution for the modern keyboard player (and pianist), the least expensive electric piano that still carries some respectability (don't bring a Casio or low-end Yamaha on a gig).Best of all, I can play a downtown job, walk a block to the hotel with keyboard gig bag over one shoulder (lightweight stand inside) and a small but powerful cube amp in one hand in a single trip (by comparison, I see other guys rolling coffins with Roland RD700s and making 2-3 trips), then repeating the whole process at the end of the night.The SP76 is a life-saver.

I'm more of a "pianist" than a "keyboard" player, but you soon force yourself to get used to unweighted keys in exchange for the lightness, and you rarely miss the 12 subtracted notes. The SP76 piano sounds as good as any but falls considerably short of the long-gone Kurzweil K-1000.

Don't be confused by the descriptions of any pianos in the SP series.You can't split and layer sounds without an external module, the keyboard requires time and patience to MIDI, and the 32 onboard sounds are not always adequate (why no vibes?).Still if I lost another keyboard, I'd have to replace it instantly with this one or stop accepting any more one-nighters.

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Yamaha P140 88-Key Digital Piano (Black) Review

I recently did an exhaustive review of the digital piano world as I am trying to teach my children to play the piano.Accoustic pianos are not a choice due to the size, weight, cost, and tuning requirements.I love the idea of a piano that is always in tune (and can move if we move), but I wanted to be sure I was teaching my kids in a way that they could easily play a grand piano if presented with one.The biggest concern is muscle memory, and making sure their fingers are used to the feel of a real key.

Roland makes some of the top-of-the-line pianos, but they also come with a high cost.I am sure the sound might be a bit better, but I could not justify the expense.I tried out some of the higher-end Yamaha pianos, and while I was impressed, still was shocked at the cost.The P85 was the lowest cost Yamaha piano I tried that seemed it could be good for teaching.It sounded nice, feature the weighted keys with "graded hammer standard" (GHS), and was reasonably portable.However, I felt the P85 keys were a little hard to push with a little too much return.I had a higher-end Yamaha nearby (non-portable) and found the keys much better.The store also had a grand piano, and the higher-end Yamaha was much closer than the P85.

With a little research, I discovered that the high-end Yamaha pianos (the ones that cost $2k and up) use "graded hammer effect" (GHE), a step up from GHS.The P-140 was the least expensive piano to support GHE.It also has 64 note polyphony, 14 voices with 3 tonal varieties, and support for a sustain pedal (you only need 1 pedal for most playing).

What are the downsides to the P-140?Some other digital pianos have far more voices, more recording capability, and louder speakers.I think the built-in speakers on the P-140 are rather pathetic.But they are good enough for practice.

When I bought the P-140, the P-155 was being introduced.It has essentially replaced the P-140.Better speakers, 128 note polyphony, and more features, but essentially the same piano.I found a seller who was looking to liquidate his P-140's for a good price (with a free stand as well), and I decided the P-155 was not worth the extra cost.If my kids really start playing seriously, I may invest in a Roland, but for now, the P-140 makes sure they don't learn bad habits.My number one criteria was realistic action, and the least expensive way to get into the higher end GHE is the P-140.

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Product Description:
The Ideal Fusion of Rich, Expressive Sound and Exceptional Style As the newest member of Yamaha's P series line, the P-140 delivers incredible sound performance at an incredibly sound price. Featuring Yamaha's highly acclaimed Graded Hammer Effect keyboard as well as realistic piano and instrumental voices, the P-140 offers both the authentic feel of an acoustic piano and the advanced features of today's digitals. Whether you are an accomplished or aspiring musician, the P-140 has the simple operation and superior style you need to showcase your abilities.

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Kurzweil SP2XS 88-Key Stage Piano With Speakers and Stand Review

Now that all Kurzweil's can be layered and split, their glaring weakness is all the more conspicuous.The company, in my opinion, makes the best digital pianos--in terms of sound, versatility, and keyboard "feel"--but with the most convoluted, incoherent, least helpful instructions.Guaranteed to lead to many all-nighters for musicians just trying to "set up" the keyboard for the next day's gig, which may not have a bass player or drummer.

If you have q friend, or a knowledgeable techie/gear-head who works cheap, by all means hire him.The manual, as usual, looks like it's been written by a committee.After talking about the most "powerful" dimension of the keyboard as its adaptiveness to set-ups, it fails to explain or illustrate how to construct sounds in the favored "set-up," or "500," mode rather than the more limiting "performance" mode.It gives no directions or helpful illustrations on how the user might be able to use one of the factory set-ups (all of them unusable) as a "template" to help the user with the creation of his own more practical set-ups.It doesn't explain how to transpose a good acoustic bass sound up an octave into a playable range without having all of the notes in the treble, or right hand, also transposed, except into an unplayable range.It provides a paragraph on doing a "hard reset," so that the player can get rid of all the monstrosities he's created and start afresh--unfortunately the manual fails to provide the vital information that before the "reset" button will activate the instructions permitting a hard reset, the user must first depress the "Global" button.(By accident, and several hours later, I finally stumbled upon it.)

Whether the reader finds it merely curious or confounding, the manual will introduce and begin to discuss some of the specifics of splitting, layering, set-up programs, etc.Then in a late section of the book, the reader finds a paragraph stating that the instrument is capable of "layering and splitting, which means adding on another sound or dividing the keyboard into two or more zones so that different sounds can be played, a feature that can often be convenient for a musician, especially one who is playing in a show" (!!!).In other words, the paragraph sounds as though the authors are unaware that anything preceded it.Instead of specific instructions, we're given a reductive introduction that sounds like it belongs in the ad sheet!I's in details like this where Kurzweil seems determined to cut the corners, in the process cutting the frustrated user to shreds.

I could say that this latest Kurzweil gives me more problems when, during the middle of a fast-moving passage in the middle of a tune, I attempt to go from one program to another.Often the button doesn't register my quick press, the light blinks back at me when it should have changed--but for all I know I've programmed it wrong.The same goes for the sustain pedal.It's the slipperiest pedal I have yet to encounter on an electric keyboard.At one time, Roland marketed a pedal with a heel flap, which made eminent sense and was quite effective (enough reason to get rid of it in this inscrutable market).The bottom surface of this Kurzweil pedal is less abrasive than Kurzweil pedals I've had with my K1000, PC2, or PC1se, squirting across a linoleum floor like a hocky puck repeatedly over the course of a 4-hour job (might as well have been 40).Maybe that's the way they like them in Minnesota.

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Product Description:
The Best...The SP2X delivers the legendary Kurzweil sound, with all of its detail and refinement, in a digital stage piano which is both professional and easy to use. Using the next generation of Kurzweil technology, the SP2X provides some of the be...

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Casio CS-65 Privia Keyboard Stand for Casio PX-110, PX-120, PX-310 and PX-320 Review

I picked up a Casio PX-200 a few months ago but found myself not using it as much because I did not have a stand which was secure enough to hold the piano in place.The original plan was to use a small table but that idea went out the window once I received my Casio PX-200 and realized how wide the piano was.So I decided I should purchase a stand.I first decided I would purchase an X style stand but my wife and I have an infant who likes to touch everything in the house and knock things over so I was worried this would not be safe for my child.I did not want to pay so much money for a stand but in the end, I decided better safe than sorry so I saved up money and finally picked up the Casio CS-65 stand.Boy and I sure glad I did.

My Casio PX-200 has two covers on each side which comes off easily by simply removing a couple of screws on each side and pull off the covers.Once you do this, you simply then mount it the each side of the stand and put the screws back on so that it secure.The instructions were easy to follow.After I finished putting the stand together, I brought my son into the office and we let him go at it.He could not knock it down.It was pretty secure, even with him leaning against it.He enjoys playing the piano all the time now.My digital piano looks great with this stand and I am not worried about my son getting hurt.

Pros:
-Secure
-Makes the digital keyboard look fancyCons:
-Since the piano is screwed to each side of the stands, this means your digital piano is no longer portable.If you plan on travling with your digital piano, this is not the stand for you.
-Much more expensive than an X stand

Overall, I would highly recommend this if you have a compatible digital piano from Casio.I wish Casio did not charge so much for this stand but I don't regret my purchase at call.

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Product Description:
The Casio CS65 Privia Digital Piano Stand has a high quality dark wood appearance and matches your PX110, PX120, PX310, or PX320 perfectly. The sturdy CS65 ensures a genuinely stylish appearance.

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