Best 'real piano' feel and sound?

[snowman800]

Hey everyone,
I'm a long time piano player (just for fun, non-pro) and looking for a keyboard to setup in a new home. I occasionally like to play with cool sounds but honestly just love a solid grand piano sound. Trying to find the best board that has:

Grand Piano feel (weighted keys)
Full 88 keys
Touch sensitive for expression
Best Piano sound
Board has to LOOK cool, too. ;)

Lots of great posts here and I've been doing my reading. It seems like the K-series, Motif ES8, Korg Trintons, etc. are great for professionals who record tracks, want customizable sound, recording tracks, memory storage, etc. Whereas, Roland RD170 or 700, Fantom S88, Yamaha S90, EP9, etc. are more for non-pro but don't lack in sound reproduction quality.

Am I on the right track here? Per "Jordan's Rules", I'll never invest in a new board without playing it, but I'm trying to focus my search before getting bombarded by a Salesperson with a quota. You guys are more expert than me on this, so I thought I'd ask the best for experienced advice.

Recommendations?
Many thanks in advance.

[Over The Edge]

Sound AND feel? Yamaha Motif ES8!

Check out the latest issue of Keyboard.
There's an extensive review of the Roland Fantom X7 in there.

Above all...use YOUR ears to decide!




FL
www.franklucas.net

[snowman800]

I checked out the Roland Fantom S88 and X88, both very nice. YOu canget lost in all the options of samples and patches, recording, etc. Too much fun, people will wonder where I disappeared. And the insta-piano, stero sampling for each note, doesn't seem like you can beat it. Just doesn't seem to have weighted keys. Hmmm....

[Drusillus]

The 88 key versions of the Fantom-S and X both have weighted hammer action keyboards. The 76 key X7 is semi-weighted and the 61 key X6 and S61 are synth-weighted.

I've always liked Roland's hammer action weighting, I used to find Yamaha's too "mushy" but I haven't tried the newer models.

[Haagi]

The Kurzweil SP88x has the great piano sound, 88 weighted keys plus some neat sounds.. It should be what you wish for...

(PS! I have'nt tried it out myself, but I hear it's great)

And it looks kinda cool too... :wink:

Good luck

[Lyngs]

Best FEEL on the market:

Kawai MP9500. Without a doubt. For Christ's sake - it's got 88 keys made of real WOOD!
It's not a synthesizer, but if you want to play classical solo concertos on a stage piano, this is it.

http://www.kawaius.com/mp9500.htm

It looks a bit silly, though. :roll:

[Georges]

Best FEEL on the market:

Kawai MP9500. Without a doubt. For Christ's sake - it's got 88 keys made of real WOOD!
It's not a synthesizer, but if you want to play classical solo concertos on a stage piano, this is it.

http://www.kawaius.com/mp9500.htm

It looks a bit silly, though. :roll:

That's what I wanted to suggest. :wink:

Real wood, hammer mechanics emulation, sound is not the best on the market (however, together with the keys it simply feels perfectly natural)

[maJ estY]

I can't tell you anything about feel as a synth-action keyboard user, but you can say what you want - noone has beaten the Kurzweil Grand Piano Sound!!!

Actually, it doesn't sound like a real grand piano, but the warmth is unbelievable!

[Lyngs]

Best FEEL on the market:

Kawai MP9500. Without a doubt. For Christ's sake - it's got 88 keys made of real WOOD!
It's not a synthesizer, but if you want to play classical solo concertos on a stage piano, this is it.

http://www.kawaius.com/mp9500.htm

It looks a bit silly, though. :roll:

That's what I wanted to suggest. :wink:


Ha! Beat you to it! :lol:

:wink:

[ChrisMcCoy]

Sound AND feel? Yamaha Motif ES8!

Check out the latest issue of Keyboard.
There's an extensive review of the Roland Fantom X7 in there.

Above all...use YOUR ears to decide!




FL
www.franklucas.net

Have to agree. I tried that board at lunch today over at guitar center and I was really blown away by 2 things:
1. The action and feel of the keys
2. The beautiful piano sounds.
Now if I only had some extra cash lying around !
Cheers !
Chris
http://www.chrismccoymusic.biz

[St0rMl0rD]

what about GEM Pro2? I heard it's sounds...pretty stunning... :roll:

[Mike Martin]

If you're talking strickly piano and nothing else then get a P250. If you're looking for more than just piano then get the Motif ES 8.

[Georges]

If you're talking strickly piano and nothing else then get a P250. If you're looking for more than just piano then get the Motif ES 8.

May I get more precise by saying "if you're talking strictly piano [sound AND NOT key feel] ...".

GEM 2Pro (or whatever it is named) and Kawai MPC are currently the only two boards to provide authentic piano feel. If you want more sounds and playabilty, then any synthesizer (workstation) will do just fine for you.

[merijn]

If you're talking strickly piano and nothing else then get a P250. If you're looking for more than just piano then get the Motif ES 8.

He Mike! You're from the Yamaha Corp in the US. I have heard of you! ON another forum, I lost it's name argh....

[Hobbes]

Yamaha P250 has the best piano feel I've ever tried. (except for when I play the real Bosendörfer 290 ;-) ) Friend of mine has it. But it's incredibly heavy and i has inbuilt speakers which I don't like

[Mike Martin]

He Mike! You're from the Yamaha Corp in the US. I have heard of you! ON another forum, I lost it's name argh....

I spend the majority of my time over at http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

[Over The Edge]

I spend the majority of my time over at http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi


Mike....ummm....don't you have work to do? :P



FL
www.franklucas.net

[Mike Martin]

Nope...nothing to do all day but sit at these forums hitting the refresh button. :roll:

No, I'm just in a habbit of checking them once a day or so. :D

[merijn]

Nope...nothing to do all day but sit at these forums hitting the refresh button. :roll:

No, I'm just in a habbit of checking them once a day or so. :D

Hahaha, the F5 button must be barely seeable, and havely used! But I'll try to find out which forum it was. ANyway, I think a kurzweil SP88X, it's still my taste though, like Frank. L. said, your ears. And I don't think the board looks cool, kurzweil don't look cool.

[merijn]

Nope...nothing to do all day but sit at these forums hitting the refresh button. :roll:

No, I'm just in a habbit of checking them once a day or so. :D

Hahaha, the F5 button must be barely seeable, and havely used! But I'll try to find out which forum it was. ANyway, I think a kurzweil SP88X, it's still my taste though, like Frank. L. said, your ears. And I don't think the board looks cool, kurzweil don't look cool.

[stealth]

I don't know about the best feel, but the best piano sound out there would be a controller hooked up to a PC with Steinberg's "The Grand" running.. simply the most amazing piano sound I've ever heard.. they basically rented out the best concert piano they could find and sampled every possible sound it could make; I've never heard anything more realistic..

[axlhog]

Well, I'm starting to repeat myself a tad, but as it is appropriate to indicate it on this thread, I say the Motif ES [88 key] will pass the test with flying colors. I am a purist in both sound authenticity AND feel, and I was very skeptical several months back, when I was doing what you are doing, jumping in to all of this investigation of synths on the market today. I'm in my early 20's but I'm still a stubborn bastard about sound replication! Like the others are saying, if you want just the perfect sound, by all means look into the Kawai, the Steinberg samples, and of course the Kurzweil line, but I'd be sure that when you are testing your ears out to all of this, the Motif is a top contender and consideration. And the support!!! Motifator.com is heaven on earth for a musician with a questioning mind....

[LiQuId TeNsIoN]

http://www.jordanrudess.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13