My fender rhodes is too heavy.....switching to digital piano

[antispatula]

and I need to know which to get. I WISH they would make a good sounding digital piano that was portable, sounded good, had hammer action, and was JUST A PIANO. Why do they all have to be so complicated? The idea of a simplistic digital piano sounds like SUCH a good idea!

Anyways, seing I proabibly will never find a good super-simplistic digital stage piano, I might as well go with the simplest possible......How's the Casio Privia px-100? I want it to sound good, be as simple as posibble, and have hammer-action....and relatively small and portable. I don't want to spend a trillion dollars. Nine-hundred billion MAYBE.

Thank you.

[kojdogg]

Originally Posted by antispatula

and I need to know which to get. I WISH they would make a good sounding digital piano that was portable, sounded good, had hammer action, and was JUST A PIANO. Why do they all have to be so complicated? The idea of a simplistic digital piano sounds like SUCH a good idea!

Anyways, seing I proabibly will never find a good super-simplistic digital stage piano, I might as well go with the simplest possible......How's the Casio Privia px-100? I want it to sound good, be as simple as posibble, and have hammer-action....and relatively small and portable. I don't want to spend a trillion dollars. Nine-hundred billion MAYBE.

Thank you.

I have a PX-110, which is pretty similar. It has a good action (I think it's progressive so that it's slightly lighter in the higher end), which helped sway me to it over the M-Audio Prokeys. It's got decent sounds, but what sucks about it is that it has only headphone jacks out. It has internal speakers as well. Since I use it mostly only for recording (though I did use it for a show in a 1,000 seat theatre earlier this year), that's not a problem because I just record midi and use a soft synth (Akoustic Piano) to play it back. If you want to use something live, I'd look at one of the higher models (with better outputs) for the Privia*. I dunno if it was just the outputs, but I found the recorded sound of the model I have to be a little "boxy"

edit: * (or something else entirely)

[antispatula]

it only has a phones out?! What if I use a preamp after the heaphones out, then run that into my pa system, would that work ok?

anyone can answer this even if they don't have this keyboard. Would it work decently?

[altitude909]

I WISH they would make a good sounding digital piano that was portable, sounded good, had hammer action, and was JUST A PIANO

Check out the Nord stage. Everyone I know is ditching their rhodes for the Nord Electro engine and the stage is the 88 key full weighted version. It is also available as the Nord Electro Rack

[antispatula]

sorry, I'm on a budget.....

[bsr2002]

Get a cheap synth like the TR-61 or TR-88 from KORG. If you don't like the onboard sounds then tweek them.

[altitude909]

if your on a budget, the prokeys is definitely worth a look. SOS gave it high marks a couple of months ago

[antispatula]

yeah thanks, I've been looking at the prokeys....I've heard the action is a little mushy? But it does have at least decent action right? I love it's simplicity though, I'll have to take a look at it. I'm going to be using a keybaord for live shows, NOT recording. I have a grand piano in my livingroom

[CIRO]

A friend who plays with me has a NORD...

really fantastic

[notCardio]

" My fender rhodes is too heavy "

as a former Stage owner, all I can say is 'No sh*t!'

I never understood how people gigged with those. All I ever had to do was set it up in my little home studio, only moving it when I moved or decided to change rooms or layout. It always made me glad I wasn't a keyboard player, and it made me understand the value of a roadie. Even the biggest honkin' bass cabs or PA cabs weren't nearly the bitch that a Rhodes was. Glad I don't have to do that anymore.

Good luck.

[mikeh]

Not too long ago I bought a Privia 310 (only for studio use) and I did a lot of comparison shopping to the M-Audio, Yamaha, Korg, etc. etc.

For a performance keyboard - I would likely choose the M-Audio vs. the Casio. While I think the feel of the Privia is a little better than the M-Audio (yes I did find the M-Audio a little "mushy", the M-Audio was decent. I thought it was a little more solid (I would not feel real confident using the Privia for any extended stage work - it's fairly frail. The M-audio is a little heavier than the Privia - but much, much lighter than a Rhodes

I thought the sounds on each were decent (really a personal choice issue) so that is a tie.

However, the M-Audio is better set up for MIDI performace issues (it is more of a "controller" whereas the Privia is simply a "piano"

[Alexbt]

I haven't had too much experience with them, but I can't really consider anything Casio makes worthy of a real keyboardist.

My best advice to you is to go to a store that sells a large variety of keyboards, so that you can try them out, hear them, and see what you like best.

You'll probably only need a stage piano. All of the major manufacturers make them in varying degrees of options, expandability, and plain sound choices.

I've played with some of the more recent Yamaha and Roland choices. I haven't checked out a Korg digital piano or stage piano in a while. I have a mid 80s Korg digital piano that sounds fantastic considering its age... and may sound a bit more realistic than some of their current offerings.

However, I think the best have to be Kurzweil and Nord. They are also somewhat expensive. So visit your local music shops and check everything out!

[mikeh]

I don't know if I can completely agree that casio is not worthy of a "real keyboardist". I must admit I was both surprised and a little embarassed when I walked out of a store with a Casio rather than the Yamaha I intened to buy.

However, I thought the keyboard feel and the quality of the sounds held up very well against Yamaha, Rolan & Korg - for a significant amount less.

While I can understand how one would not norally think Casio = Pro, I don't know if suggesting "real keyboard players" and Casio don't belong together.

I do agree that I don't consider Casio as a ideal stage keyboard - but my Privia does m=well in the studio - it plays well and tracks well (although the MIDI options are waaaay too limited.

[TheBargains]

Get a Viscount Viva 88 key. Cheap, portable, 88 weighted keys, accurate piano sounds.

[lumbago]

Get any weighted action that suits your budget, and run it into a old Roland MKS-20 using its inbuilt Rhodes sounds (it has two, and programmable chorus and EQ also). Definitely one of the best replica Rhodes sounds ever.

[ido1957]

I have this one

http://music.yamaha.com/products/main.html?productId=44

[barefoot]

I recently bought the Yamaha P-90 for my daughter. Feels very nice and sounds quite good for the price.

[episg]

Roland RD170 is a lovely bit of kit. I want one!