I've been using the Keylab 88 by Arturia for over a year and a half for both at home and live performance.
The keybed by Fatar gives great action and feel, although it is a bit noisy. You can also assign Pianoteq's parameters to the numerous knobs and sliders to make adjustiments easy.
I was introduced to Pianoteq as a free download with my Keylab purchase and love the pairing.

I also use the Keylab 88 and love it. I had already decided to use Pianoteq but was looking for the right controller before buying the license. I saw the Keylab and thought that it looked great with its wooden panels, and on top of that it came with Pianoteq license, so cherry on the cake!

At the beginning it had some issues of some louder keys and random key strokes, but after a firmware upgrade and I believe the keys settling in, it does not give me any trouble. Granted, this is just a hobby for me (play few hour a week only at home) so it does not see lots of action/gigging.

Cheers!

Anyway, a difference in width is standard. I just wanted to clarify that the Roland DP isn't an anomaly, but I didn't want to discount your reason for rejecting it.

Now if the Kawai is uniform or close to uniform, either the length across the 88 keys is wider than the Roland or the width between C# and D# is slightly smaller than the Roland.

My problem with the Roland RD-2000 is that my fingers are thick, and I barely can put my fingers between the black keys.

I have this problem with some acoustic pianos, mostly with older acoustic pianos.
Never had this problem with any digital piano I've tried, including all Roland models with another action than PHA-50.

I couldn't believe that in 2017 a big name like Roland will manufacture a digital piano with that small gaps between the black keys.

The difference is 1mm which is standard on a lot of pianos. Other pianos might have 0.5mm of difference.
I've read all kinds of reviews of Roland's keyboards with the PHA-50 action. The LX-17 has been out for several years. This is the first I heard about this 1mm problem. And I believe that it might present a problem for you, but I think that for most people, they won't notice 1mm vs. 0.5mm.

I have this problem with some acoustic pianos, mostly with older acoustic pianos.
Never had this problem with any digital piano I've tried, including all Roland models with another action than PHA-50.

I couldn't believe that in 2017 a big name like Roland will manufacture a digital piano with that small gaps between the black keys.

slobajudge wrote:

(...) My candidate overall as a DP and midi controller is Kawai MP11. Strictly as a midi controller Kawai VPC1 which I have in my home.

I'm sorry but the VPC1 keyboard is the same as the MP10, not a MP11 who is a little bit best.

Sorry, I dont think you understand what I am talking about. I said that overall I like MP11 the best. MP11 is digital piano and can also be use as midi controller like all digital pianos. VPC is only midi controller and as a midi controller only I like VPC the best. I hope I clear things now

IMO, the Roland PHA-50 pairs with Pianoteq like a dream. I'm never selling my FP-90.

I have the fp-90 here, ordered and got it last week, I agree that it has a nice action for Pianoteq. Unfortunately it's black keys are quite narrow (specially f#,g# and a#) compared to other keyboards (like my current VPC1) which makes it quite unpleasant for me to play deeper between the black keys. I have not giant, but still big hands. It is only a question of a millimeter, but in this case it is exactly the difference between "quite ok" and "too much friction, uncomfortable". It will go back tomorrow.

Otherwise I would have kept it, although the price is high for a piano you only buy for the key action: Neither the loudspeakers nor the in- built piano sounds impressed me very much. Not bad, but I like Pianoteq better.

Casio GP-500 You may like, this is a real classical piano keyboard

As I've stated in the other thread, the Casio GP is not an acoustic action adapted for digital use. It's a digital action all the way, the same as Kawai GF(2) and Roland PHA50, and it's not even better than these as far as my preference goes. It's a good action, but not superior to rivals, and it's not acoustic, nor hybrid. It's just a digital unfolded action with wooden keys, but that doesn't make it acoustic.

As for the PHA4 premium/concert (RD800) vs PHA50 (RD2000), this is a topic that really interests me, since I was recently able to sell my piano and for an extra 400 euros I could've gotten the PHA50, but I felt the difference was too small and it wasn't worth throwing that sum down the drain. I find it interesting that the opinions are so strong about the two actions.

I tested them both side by side, but with the internal sound engines, so I don't know how they compare when plugged into Pianoteq. Personally, I found the PHA50 has a slightly smoother travel and firmer feel when hitting the bottom, but the difference was very discrete. I couldn't bring myself to pay 400 euros for that.

And I wonder if the velocity curves are significantly different between the two actions. Anyone has any idea?
Other opinions concerning the two actions?

(...) My candidate overall as a DP and midi controller is Kawai MP11. Strictly as a midi controller Kawai VPC1 which I have in my home.

I'm sorry but the VPC1 keyboard is the same as the MP10, not a MP11 who is a little bit best.

[But for gigging, you can't beat the light weight of Casio keyboards, and for me, that and the low price means almost everything.  -  my Casio Privia p3, goes with me everywhere.

They are light indeed... have a lil lunch gig tomorrow in Phoenix with my Privia 560 into a Bose T1 and then into a Bose Compact... nice easy set up. I usually bring a Carbon Fiber acoustic guitar (Emerald X-20 or RainSong CH OM) or an eKoa (a Savoy made by Blackbird Guitars) to break it up a little ... for me anyway. Just background music improvised.

Probably not the same league... but I was using a couple Casio Privia 350s and liked them well enough... just got the  560 and really like the action and feel and it is pretty light so moving it around is nice and I gig with it. I still  use a 350 fitted in my Baby Grand shell.

But for gigging, you can't beat the light weight of Casio keyboards, and for me, that and the low price means almost everything. My Roland RD 800 stays at home in one spot, my Casio Privia p3, goes with me everywhere.

Probably not the same league... but I was using a couple Casio Privia 350s and liked them well enough... just got the  560 and really like the action and feel and it is pretty light so moving it around is nice and I gig with it. I still  use a 350 fitted in my Baby Grand shell.

The Casio has a pretty good feel, no doubt about it. I practice in an open space with my daughter's bedroom pretty close. With the Casio, I was getting a lot of complaints about noisy keys, especially as the keyboard got close to the one year mark, and it started to get even noisier.

In the low price range, the Kawai ES-110 and the Roland FP-30 are options. Some of these cheaper keyboards have a pretty good feel and are really light weight, and would be more suitable for gigging than the VPC-1 and some of these wooden-key stage pianos.

IMO, the Roland PHA-50 pairs with Pianoteq like a dream. I'm never selling my FP-90.