For what it's worth, I've tried all the 88 key weighted stage pianos I can get my hands on recently and to my ears
the Roland Fantom X8 has the best piano sounds, champagne clear I would say. For most keyboards, piano sounds tend to either be too dark and muddy (e.g Roland 700sx, bought and quicky returned) or too bright and thin. But the Fantom (to my ears) is perfectly balanced in the middle and crystal clear. But the X8 is a huge workstation and not practical for gigging, so I bought the Fantom XR rack unit. Unfortunately though I can't get the crystal sound using
my Roland A90 controller. I've matched the XR settings to the X8 in the shop, and surprisingly the compression 'effect' employed on the X8 was vital to get close. Changing the velocity curve on the A90 has helped as well, but it's still not the sound I fell in love with! But that's my problem I guess...
So now I'm looking for a new weighted controller, Yamaha keyboards (P120,
CP33) are too spongy for my liking and not enough finger room for my style of playing! (feels like I have to play with clenched fists) and I've enough Roland gear already, so I'm drawn to the
Kawai MP4 ... nice action , good controller functions, not too heavy to carry and some surprisingly acceptable piano sounds... (did I need to buy that expensive Fantom sound module
) yet, it just looks a little plastic and naff to my eyes for a stage piano...
I've come to the conclusion there isn't the piano I want out there