Piano hammer action keyboard

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mack1525

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I have the CS2X controller 51 keys. It comes with a few built in piano sounds that i use through my surround sound system. I'm looking into getting hammer weighted keys that have the feeling of grand piano. But some questions first please.

1. What controller would you recommend for a price range of $400?
2. Is the feel of the controller that only thing I should factor?
3. Are there any built in sounds (I bleive there are not) like a synth, and if not How do I get the piano sounds?
4. If the sound card is the answer the question four are there any other options?

Thanks so much for your time,
 
Dont think you're going to find any hammer action keyboards at that price unless you find something very used. Search ebay.

The feel and MIDI is all you basically need.

Using MIDI you can replace or use any sound using a soundfont sampler like rgcaudio.com "sfz" or a high-end VSTi like Kontact, Halion, GigaStudio, etc.. For example there are tons of free sampled instruments at www.hammersound.net

Do a google search on "soundfonts" or "sampler vsti". You can replace any sound with real sampled instruments in the computer. Also go the bookstore, Computer Music magazine and Music Tech magazine have tons of info and software...
 
M-Audio has the new Keystation 88 Pro which is selling for $499.00 everywhere. 88 keys, weighted, hammer action and a slew of MIDI controllers! I doubt you're going to find any of them used at this point since it's brand new.

Feel is probably the most important factor. Next, for me at least, would be the number and programmability of controllers (knobs and faders, etc.). Other factors that might be of concern could be portability, size, weight, reliability.

Where the sounds come from could have a lot of answers. You could use softsynths a softsampler or soundfonts (if your soundcard or software supports them), you could use dedicated hardware modules. You could still use the piano sounds in your CS2X if you're happy with them.

There are dozens of answers to the soundcard question. The one universal agreement would be that you should stay away from the Soundblaster line if you want to do anything serious with your music. (Ok, I'm sure I'll get disagreement to my "universal" claim!)

A lot depends on what you are trying to do and what your budget is. Give us some idea of where you want to go and we can probably point you in the irght direction.

Ted
 
You should be able to get a used Fatar controller in that price range.
Look for an SSL990 or a Studio 90.
The Studio 90 is better than the SSL 990, but it was discontinued years ago.
But, if you come across one it has the feel you're after, they're both 88 key, weighted keybords.
They are CONTROLLERS, so there's no built in sounds, you'll need a separate sound module to run it.
 
Try looking for a used Kawai MP9000. They have replaced the model with the 9500 however I do not think the 9500 ever took off. In any event, despite its lack of popularity, it has one of the best piano feels on the market.

In fact, there was an article in Keyboard some time ago, or possibly one of those featured rig type things about a guy who had a seriously complete keyboard set up numbering over 80 keyboards from vintage to modern and everything in between. This particular person had purchased the Kawai as a controller simply because it had the best feel. To me this speaks volumes since the guy had at his fingertips whatever he wanted.

I say this because the original price of the 9000 was about $1,500.00. I would not be surprised it you could pick one up at a price not far from your budget and, as a bonus, you would get a couple of pretty dran good piano, Rhodes and a decent Wurly as well. The midi control is pretty good also unless you happen to need fifteen continous controllers at one time.
 
I was recently in your position, and looked into quite a few options. If you are looking only for a controller, the Fatars come very well-recommended by a number of sources, and are an incredible value. TimObrien gives good advice, as there are a number of excellent websites with quality free soundfonts, and VST instruments, if you don't mind doing some digging, and getting your computer to agree qith everything.

While I use a lot of these, the thing is, if you're looking for a weighted action keyboard, then you are probably (like me) going to be playing mostly piano sounds. I wanted a keyboard that I could use as a controller, but also that had some built in sounds, so that I could just fire it up and go when I wanted to practice, rather than turn on the computer, wait for it to boot up, load my DAW, etc... Unfortunately, I found nothing worthwhile in the price range you specified (which was also mine when I started looking). I ended up getting the Yamaha P60 for $750 at a local dealer. It's got decent onboard sounds, and acts as a controller (one MIDI dhannel only), perfect for what I do. Check out the specs on the website. The only other model I can think of that I came across that was cheaper and not a total piece of crap was the Casio Previa series, but once I tried out the Yamaha, it was no contest for me.

As a side note, I would recommend trying out as many as you can at any dealers you might have access to before you make your decision, and purchase from a local dealer if possible, or a reputable online dealer (e.g. Zzounds). I first tried to save some money by going through eBay, and the keyboard arrived BADLY damaged. These things are very heavy, and difficult to ship. Luckily, I got my money back, and I paid the money at a local dealer. In the end, it wasn't worth the hassle.
 
Yamaha P90 has great piano sounds, really great!!
I own a P80 which sounds superb too.
Cons: it doesn't have aftertouch or pitch/mod wheels for use as a masterkeyboard..

Greets,
Stan
 
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