The best piano sounds?

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fldrummer

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What keyboard has the realist sounding piano / organ sounds? I'm not really into synth stuff. I want it if you close your eyes you will think its an actual piano. It dosent really matter how much the price is if it sounds good.
 
You already know this, but your question is unanswerable. All I can tell you is this:

I live in a studio apartment, and wanted to have a "piano" with headphone jacks so I wouldn't disturb the neighbors. No computers, soft-synth format issues, etc., just an instrument I could sit down with and play.

The Yamaha P120 was my choice, and I've never looked back. It's got a few other playable sounds, and works as a midi controller, but the real deal with this thing is the piano sound and the hammer action. Is it as good as a Steinway Concert Grand? Of course not. But it's better than most of the spinets or uprights one finds in college music buildings. Ever since I got this it's like, yeah, I've got a piano now. Cool.

Just my 2 cents.

Michael
 
fldrummer said:
What keyboard has the realist sounding piano / organ sounds? I'm not really into synth stuff. I want it if you close your eyes you will think its an actual piano. It dosent really matter how much the price is if it sounds good.

The Yamaha P120. If you close your eyes, you are playing a real Acoustic Piano. It sounds and feels exactly like an Acoustic Piano. The organ sounds are also superb. So, I recommend the Yamaha P120.

P120Dude
 
Definitely check out the new roland fantom stuff.. I put the fantom x8 up against the motif and p120 and this one came out on top as far as my ears are concerned. GREAT feel in the keys too if you go with the weighted keys.
 
thispleasesme said:
Definitely check out the new roland fantom stuff.. I put the fantom x8 up against the motif and p120 and this one came out on top as far as my ears are concerned. GREAT feel in the keys too if you go with the weighted keys.

Yes, the Fantom X series does have a pretty good Acoustic Piano, nice feel too. The X8's Acoustic Piano is definatly an improvement from the Classic Fantom 8

P120Dude
 
Hi fldrummer,
I also like the p120, when I tried out keyboards.. I was looking for the same things that you mentioned.. and I felt the p120 was the best... I also have a studiologic weighted 88 key sl-990 controller which really feels great, but then you would need to get a module..roland modules are nice... and then you can get other modules, or racks for sounds. The p120 is also midi capable, so you could get other sounds for that too, and if you just want it to have the sounds there, I would think this would be the way to go. And, it also has a metronome built into it, reverb, and effects that are really easy to adjust and sound cool.
evt
 
Thanks everybody. I'll see about going to the local store and looking at the Fantom and p120 if they have it.

Do you think roland gear is good quality? They come off as a "lets make this thing super cool looking with flashy buttons so people will buy it because it looks hott" company. I think I would rather have the fantom over the p120 due to the other options and ease of stuffing it in a case and setting up at the gig.


I was looking here http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Roland/Fantom-X8-01.html and their seems to be a love / hate on the fantom.

Is the motif a better over all sounding machine then the roland?
 
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ULTIMATE KORG FAN HERE!!!

OK The stereo Grands by Yamaha, have at least made them worth something (sorry guys). I really like the Alesis QS pianos, and those on offer by General Music synths are pretty good too. But I have gone with Yamaha S08. Even those in the DGX and PSR series are good (If you can live without Hammer-Action).
 
Roland is, I believe, the largest manufacturer of electronic music equipment in the world.



That said, I've made a personal vow to never purchase another piece of their gear. I've never, and I mean NEVER been satisfied with anything Roland I've ever bought. Don't get me wrong, everything I've owned worked fine. But, there ALWAYS seems to be a "gotcha" with their equipment. Things are advertised as doing something, but when you get into it you find out that what they said, though true, is not the whole story. Case in point- I bought a JV1010. It's supposed to be programmable. True, in theory. But I could never get the editing software to work and you can't program it from the front panel. It's also supposed to be 16 part multi-timbral. True again. But, deciphering the manual and getting it to work is well nigh impossible. (I have heard people say they got it to work, however.) So, when it gets used, it's a simple one-part sound module. Years ago, I bought a little 4 track sequencer from them. I believe it was a JSQ60 or maybe an MSQ60. I don't remember. It was meant to hook up to a Juno 60 using their propietary D-bus interface (this was pre-MIDI). Well, true, it's a 4 track sequencer, what they neglected to mention was that each track was layered on top of the previous one. In other words, if you somehow managed to record three tracks of data and on the fourth pass made a mistake, you had to start all over again. The device didn't get a lot of use.

On top of that you have their usually incomprehensible manuals. Strange how there are never any typos or "Janglish" in their ads. They seem to have enough money to get those printed and proofread correctly. Admittedly, they're getting better, but they have a long running record of making little effort to produce good documentation.

I have bought a fair amount of gear over many years. I have had good experiences with every manufacturer except Roland. Not every piece of gear does everything, of course. I've wished for features on other things, but it always seems like Roland leaves out some simple feature that would make things a lot better and, to me anyway, seems obvious.

So, in answer to your question. I'd get the Motif! lol

Or the P120 if that's the direction you want to go.

Ted
 
Yo:

I have to agree with Tedluk. I've read about Roland's little buttons breaking off, and of course, their "gotcha." One of their recorders would only do CDs on a Roland Cd machine.

I've owned the Yam DX7 for a long time and, as my friend Blue Bear told me, the patches are getting kind of tired. So, I'm looking at the Motif ES6. I don't really need the sequencer and I've heard it has a large learning curve; I just need the new tech patches and crisp sounds.

I have a Korg Stage piano but it's several sounds, including the piano, are mediocre. Yamaha stuff costs more but I believe it sounds better. ES might be short for a misspelled ESPENSIVE? However, I believe the Yamaha sounds and reverb are better than most out there.

Just an opinion and I'm not a salesperson for Yam.

Green Hornet :D :D :cool: :D
 
I've never thought Yamaha's gear was priced any higher than Roland or Korg. The ES6 is around $2000.00. The Triton Extreme 61 is $1900.00 and the Roland Fantom X6 is also $2000.00.

BTW, I think the ES series sounds great! Very clean! I got the rack Motif which is very nice, but playing the ES synths in the store makes me wish the rack version could be upgraded!

I don't know about the learning curve. Just noodling around with it, I really enjoyed some of the patches. Of course, I didn't attempt to program it or get into any detail.

Ted
 
I'd like to have a PC2R for live performances with a classic rock band. Until that happens, I settled for an Alesis NanoPiano for a hunnert bux used from eBay.

I'm not really picky about it, considering it will mix with a live band. The NP has not arrived yet, but I will post observations here. I own the NanoBass, and it performs surprisingly well. Hopefully the NP will do the same.
 
What are general opinions of the Kurzweils like the PC2X versus other offerings from Yamaha, Roland, etc...? I've had experience with an older PC88, but nothing with anything newer. I've always liked the way Kurzweils work, but haven't really been able to compare the samples with other products.
 
There's a whole other topic in this forum about exactly this. I can't remember how I found it before, but the topic includes a link to a website which has comparisons with nearly all major keyboard/piano sounds on the market.
 
Roland XV-3080 or XV-5080 or XV-5050 or XV-2020 or Fantom series units with the SRX-02 Piano card installed.

The raw piano sounds are great, and the SRX sounds are better again.
 
:D Yo Tedluk:

Thanks for the info on the Yam ES61--I just ordered one at a great price & no shipping charges.

I really dig my DX7 but I have to go with the Bear's advice. My patches on the DX7 are old; the technology is old; and the capabilities for "doing things" is limited. The ES61, the patches are new, the technology is far superior, and it can do things I'll probably never do.

I noticed in the current issue of MF that Korg keyboards, Tritons, etc., were all much less than Yamaha. I have a Korg SP100 and its few patches are "fair." Not better than my DX7 but it has 88 keys. 61 keys are plenty for what I do. Price doesn't always mean better or bad; however, a few more pezzutos usually means better quality.

Will be plugging in the ES61 tomorrow and giving my faithful DX7 a rest. I still am using the "original" battery in the DX7--kind of amazing when you think of it as the board is more than 15 years old.

Green Hornet
 
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