Alesis Nano Piano

[maestro_dmc]

I'm not a keyboard player, but I picked one up because I liked one that a friend loaned me. I wanted to have something for simple synth/piano sounds without breaking the bank.

Anyway, the unit works good most of the time, but every so often it will start freaking out. It sounds like a cacophany when you play, and I have to unplug it and plug it back in to make it work again.

My question is if this sounds familiar to anyone, and how did they deal with it? I don't think I will get anywhere with Alesis, or the Ebay party I bought it from. But I havn't tried yet.

Any work arounds, or am I just stuck with a bum unit?

Right now it is just barely useable for recording, sometimes it makes it through a whole song without glitching.

Using it for live performance is OUT.

[zuke]

Sounds to me like a psu problem. The nano piano is as budget as you get and if you paid anything more than $50 for it then you were robbed. It has limited if no editting and was built a number of years ago so repairing it or replacing parts will be more costly than the unit itself. Try getting another psu as these are usually the gremlins that cause nightmares on budget products. But try to borrow a psu first as the cost of a psu can be more thean the nanopiano. Alesis ahve a generic psu, one that is built specifically for their units.

[Krakit]

It's possible that you are delivering bad MIDI to the unit. Sounds like the sort of thing I hit a "panic button" for to stop.

I don't think that the nano piano is crap or worth only $50 At least $100.

Carl

[SonicAlbert]

It might be heat related. Does it get hot? If so, try putting a fan on it, blowing air across it and see if that helps. I've had gear freak out because it got too hot, so maybe that's it. Good luck.

[dafduc]

My main rig is a QS-8.1. Never used the nano stuff, but I have had a Q-Card freak out before - just went bad.

Alesis piano sounds are okay, not great - I'm thinking $50-100 also. I've got a Yam P-50 and a Roland P-55 --- both are comparable, and I'd be surprised if I could get more than $100 for either (think I paid $150 each - Roland was used, Yam was new)...

Daf

[maestro_dmc]

I'm thinking it is midi related. Now that I think about it, it seems to happen when I use a sustain pedal on the controller Keyboard.

Or when I try to change programs from the controller.

But in either case it's not right away that it freaks out, it takes a minute or two of playing or tweaking.

Alesis piano sounds are okay, not great

Definately beats the ones in the Casio I'm using to control it!

[SonicAlbert]

Have you used that Casio to control other modules before? If not, I think you need to make sure whether it's the Alesis freaking out or the Casio sending bad midi.

It's possible the Casio could play fine internally but have some weirdness in sending midi. Something you just need to determine if you haven't yet.

You also might want to try and switch to a different midi cable, just in case the one you are using is intermittent or something.

[maestro_dmc]

Actually this problem cropped up first when I was using a friends Roland E-piano? to control the Nano. I tried 3 different midi cables of varying quality then, and it still did it.

BTW, thanks for all the help!

[Shredder Cheese]

Although this post is a bit on the old side, I thought I'd throw my
2 bits in.

I have owned a nano-piano also for about 5 years. It has performed well for most of that time ( I got it to provide passible acoustic piano sounds, where my yamaha was stronger in the electric piano region), at around the 2 year mark, the module began to fritz out the same as the author of this post. I ended up sending it to Alesis. They changed some board out and it came back good as new.

I came to this post to find out if any one using the nano piano has experienced the host keyboard ( and its sound module) sounding a slightly higher or lower pitch than the nano?

Have a good day now.

[al_dave]

Hey, Shredder,

I've had the pitch problem with my NanoBass module and the Casio CTK-750 I was triggering it with. I haven't the first clue what that's all about, but the tracks cut with the sounds from the NanoBass were right on the money. No tweaking the pitch was necessary. So, yeah, I've seen the same thing, but damned if I know why it happens...

Dave

[Shredder Cheese]

Hey "al_dave", After talking with a tech rep at Alesis concerning the pitch anomoly I experienced, He informs me that the modules "connot" alter their pitch, they are solely dependent on whatever the controller keyboard sends them. All I know is that I heard what I heard. I don't claim to perfect pitch, but I do believe God has blessed me with pretty good ears. Oh well, play on!

Shredder.

[bgavin]

I just bought a used Nano Piano from eBay. The date of manufacture is 1997, same as my NanoBass.

I'm driving both with my Hammond XK-2 keyboard which will split into 1..4 MIDI zones.

My appraisal of both Nano units is: they are worth the used price. Several of the bass tones are very good, and one is exceptional.

The Nano Piano has one really nice acoustic piano mode that I find exceptional. Many of the others are nice, plus it has a very nice harpsichord tone. The synthy stuff is interesting, and can be used in specialty applications. My needs are entirely for live performance with a classic rock band.

Yes, I'd like to have a Kurzweil PC2R instead, but cost is an issue. In the mean time, the Nano Piano is really doing the job for me. I like it a lot.