Recommended Stage Piano ~£500 ($900)

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Bandido

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Hey folks...

I'm in the process of upgrading old equipment and have got rid of my old Roland JV-1000 workstation as I've entered the world of PC recording..

Anyway, leaves me with a hole as I need a good keyboard for live gigs. DOnt need anything fancy, just a good piano sound. Tried out a Yamaha P60 this afternoon which is about £550 and pretty good... just wondering if theres anything else in the price range I should contemplate?.. (cant justify the extra money for a P120 as its only for a few songs in my set...)

Thought about trying a Korg SP200, but wasnt that impressed with the mp3's off the Korg site (but then that might have been the music rather than the quality of the Piano.. ;) )

Thanks in advance

Mark
(p.s. I would have searched the forum but cant at the moment ;).....)
 
:D Yo Bandido Magnifico:

Make sure you listen to some of the Yamaha keyboards. I have Korg SP100 and it's just a fair keyboard.

Personally, I think Yamaha has good patches. I just retired my DX7 for a Motiff ES61. However, it is a workstation. I just bought it for the patches as I record on a 2816 and will never understand the manual for using the sequencer. Oh, it will come in time but learning curves are a drag.

But, back to Yamaha--listen to some of their boards before you decide.

Green Hornet :cool: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D
 
Hi Bandido,

Check out the Yamaha P90 instead of the 60.
I have the predecessor, the P80, and its piano sounds and action are very good; the 90 is supposed to have even better samples.

CC
 
Hi Guys, ta for the help.

In the end plumped for a Korg sp-200. Tried various things back to back in the shop and the korg just pipped the P60 IMO:

Very similar sample sounds (P60 slightly brighter / harsher than the Korg) but the big difference has to be the feel. THe SP-200 has real weighted keys where the P60 only has 'hammer' action keys.... so the Korg feels much more real than the Yamaha.

Also you cant seems you cant layer 2 samples together on the Yamaha (eg Piano and Strings) where you can on the Korg..

Finally the korg cost me about £80 less than the Yamaha...

Winner....

;)

Nick
 
THe SP-200 has real weighted keys where the P60 only has 'hammer' action keys.... so the Korg feels much more real than the Yamaha.

I am sorry, but that is incorrect.

The Yamaha P60 has Weighted Graded hammer action keys, so they are lighter at the top, heavier at the bottom, just like a real piano.They are not just hammer, but they are weighted and graded.

The korg Sp-200 does not have graded keys, they are hammer action but they are the same weight throughout the Piano, not graded.

No Prob, though, it all comes down to preference. :D

P120Dude
 
Last edited:
I stand corrected.... ;)

Point is though, In my opinion the SP-200 had a more realistic 'weighted' feeling than the P60 - just felt closer to a Steinway grand than the P60... the P60 still felt a little 'keyboardy'....

Probably comes down to personal choice, hence the back to back test...

;)

Nick
 
Bandido said:
I stand corrected.... ;)

Point is though, In my opinion the SP-200 had a more realistic 'weighted' feeling than the P60 - just felt closer to a Steinway grand than the P60... the P60 still felt a little 'keyboardy'....

Probably comes down to personal choice, hence the back to back test...

;)

Nick
Click to expand...

No Problem.

Yes, it is absolutely personal preference. No matter what, your opinion is always the right one.

Enjoy your new Piano! :D

P120Dude
 
I was choosing a new digi piano in the midst of this year.
During that I personally played Korg SP200, 300, Casio Privia PX100 and Yamaha P60 and these are my conclusions:

1. Korg - I like bright sounds which are typical for Korg. It is a solo instrument. After hearing it on a good headphones I could hear that sound is not perfect but it is close to real piano. The keyboard seemed to be comfortable for me. Polyphony is 60 voices for most of the samples which is an important when you use layers, effects and sustain because it reduces polypohony dramatically. I would not go under 60 voices polyphony. It does not have LCD, speakers, sequencer and also pedal is only the basic one.

2. Casio - Very surprised how good this was. I expected st. terrible from this company but this instrument is really usuable. Many functions but it seemed that the quality of samples and keyboard is lower in comparison with Korg. I am also afraid they keyboard from Casio will be destroyed after longer intensive using. But it is just estimation. It has only 32 voices polyphony which disqualified this instrument for me.

3. Yamaha - Good keyboard but I personally do not like its sound. Yamaha sounds are soft and not bright enough. They are good to band but not as a solo instrument. I know that MANY people will not agree with me but it is just my opinion. My friend has Yamaha P120 and he supposes that his P120 is much better in sound than Korg. Yamaha P60 has only 32 voices polyphony so maybe it is better to choose P90 with 64 voices but then the price is much higher in comparison with other instruments I mentioned.

4. There are some other possibilities like Kurzweil and Roland but they are quite expensive and in this low cost area they do not offer you the same equipment like above mentioned ones. For example you will not get a hammer keyb.
One instrument that is worthy to look is Gem prp7 or 8 but I read several reviews of the people who have prp7 and they are disappointed with a quality of its piano sound. So if you prefer rhode sounds and jazz maybe it can be your choice. prp7 has only 32 voices polyphony but has a good pedal.

Finally I choose Korg SP200 and I would not change it. It is used for stage performance and I would not use it for mastering to PC since good sampler and masterkeyboard will give you a better sound result. What is very important is also to have a good sounding speakers if you want to play it at home.
 
Yamaha P120 and Yamaha CLP-123 are the only electric pianos I've ever played that have felt good substitutions for a decent real piano. That said, most of the time I'm not playing Rachmaninov on stage so the action is less important than the sound!
 
2 noisedude: You are probably right with P120 etc. suggestions but Bandido was looking for st. below 900 bucks which is far below price of P120.
 
I suspect in my tired little mind I had pounds and dollars all screwed up again. Sorry!
 
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