Topic: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Just thought I would spark some interest in people....

Anybody had any experience with the Lachnit MK22 Studio? How it compares to the Roland RD 2000 and the Kawai MP11... I am only talking about the expressiveness of the keys and not sound wise.

I own a Kawai VPC-1 and am interested in the Lachnit. I do love the RD2000, I felt it was very smooth and more expressive than the VPC-1 to be honest.

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Lachnit uses Fatar keybeds... they do their own key scanning, but the feel of the keys is that of a Fatar.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Deyvidpetro wrote:

Just thought I would spark some interest in people....

Anybody had any experience with the Lachnit MK22 Studio? How it compares to the Roland RD 2000 and the Kawai MP11... I am only talking about the expressiveness of the keys and not sound wise.

I own a Kawai VPC-1 and am interested in the Lachnit. I do love the RD2000, I felt it was very smooth and more expressive than the VPC-1 to be honest.

My friend play Lachnit in Vienna, the touch is too light for pianist almost like semi weight for synth. They told him that for 1k more they will put a harder action. The price is already too much, on top of that 1k more seems ridiculous.

Last edited by slobajudge (14-12-2017 08:14)

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

That is shocking considering it cost 3K anyway.

RD 2000 then and the MP11. I have tried the RD2000 and I did really like it. I was actually surprised at how it felt and at how much I could really dig in.
Still cannot find anywhere to try the MP11 as of yet....

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

slobajudge wrote:
Deyvidpetro wrote:

Just thought I would spark some interest in people....

Anybody had any experience with the Lachnit MK22 Studio? How it compares to the Roland RD 2000 and the Kawai MP11... I am only talking about the expressiveness of the keys and not sound wise.

I own a Kawai VPC-1 and am interested in the Lachnit. I do love the RD2000, I felt it was very smooth and more expressive than the VPC-1 to be honest.

My friend play Lachnit in Vienna, the touch is too light for pianist almost like semi weight for synth. They told him that for 1k more they will put a harder action. The price is already too much, on top of that 1k more seems ridiculous.

The Lachnit incorporates the Fatar TP40Wood keybed, which is mechanically similar to the Fatar TP400 action, definitely not a semi-weighted synth action.

I urge anyone to compare keyboards with your own hands before reaching a conclusion based on a friend's opinion or a forum discussion. I've played most of the keyboard actions available in the US (Yamaha, Roland, Kawaii, etc), and while they all have models that feel good when coming from a real acoustic piano action, I prefer the Lachnit. I have played acoustic pianos for 50 years (classical and jazz) and would not describe Lachnit as too light for a pianist. We all have our preferences, and in my case, I would not want a heavier action. The Lachnit has hardware controls to adjust dynamics (velocity map) in real time as you play. This makes a bigger difference than you can imagine for adjusting to Pianoteq or other virtual pianos, and when playing in live environments with other players. You can bias the velocity mapping to make it feel very heavy and sluggish for a normal playing volume if you wish.

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Nice to hear you own one.

It has been an interest of mine for ages and one thing once I do purchase will become the last keyboard I buy for many, many years, that is the plan anyway.

How is it when you really try to dig in? I find a lot of keyboards bottom out, inclusive of the Kawai VPC-1 also as great as it is.

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Deyvidpetro wrote:

Nice to hear you own one.

It has been an interest of mine for ages and one thing once I do purchase will become the last keyboard I buy for many, many years, that is the plan anyway.

How is it when you really try to dig in? I find a lot of keyboards bottom out, inclusive of the Kawai VPC-1 also as great as it is.

I'm not sure what you mean about bottoming out.  The keys of acoustic actions hit felt limits at the end of their travel, but the escapement disengages the hammer action from the key at about 2/3 travel. Lachnit adjusts their (light) sensors to approximate this feel, so the velocity that matters is at 2/3 key travel.  The keys still bottom out on felt. If you mean how long is the key travel before it stops, it seems the same as on my acoustic piano, not any shorter travel. I use mine mostly for live jazz performances, and as I said previously, the dynamics (velocity map) knobs are good for dialing in the feel in that context.  For me, what works for playing privately at home, perhaps on headphones, always needs some mapping adjustment for playing live through speakers, with a band. I find that I often adjust the map while playing, to dial in the right timbre range from Pianoteq for the musical context.  I'll suggest this again, though: you have to try these things for yourself, once you've collected the opinions of others.

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

TimN wrote:
slobajudge wrote:
Deyvidpetro wrote:

Just thought I would spark some interest in people....

Anybody had any experience with the Lachnit MK22 Studio? How it compares to the Roland RD 2000 and the Kawai MP11... I am only talking about the expressiveness of the keys and not sound wise.

I own a Kawai VPC-1 and am interested in the Lachnit. I do love the RD2000, I felt it was very smooth and more expressive than the VPC-1 to be honest.

My friend play Lachnit in Vienna, the touch is too light for pianist almost like semi weight for synth. They told him that for 1k more they will put a harder action. The price is already too much, on top of that 1k more seems ridiculous.

The Lachnit incorporates the Fatar TP40Wood keybed, which is mechanically similar to the Fatar TP400 action, definitely not a semi-weighted synth action.

I urge anyone to compare keyboards with your own hands before reaching a conclusion based on a friend's opinion or a forum discussion. I've played most of the keyboard actions available in the US (Yamaha, Roland, Kawaii, etc), and while they all have models that feel good when coming from a real acoustic piano action, I prefer the Lachnit. I have played acoustic pianos for 50 years (classical and jazz) and would not describe Lachnit as too light for a pianist. We all have our preferences, and in my case, I would not want a heavier action. The Lachnit has hardware controls to adjust dynamics (velocity map) in real time as you play. This makes a bigger difference than you can imagine for adjusting to Pianoteq or other virtual pianos, and when playing in live environments with other players. You can bias the velocity mapping to make it feel very heavy and sluggish for a normal playing volume if you wish.

Generaly you are right, but my friend is a man who was the best classical student in Vienna, man who spent all of his day with instruments, who have two music production studios, who knows very good what is talking about. So, when I ask him to test that instrument, he said that its not for classical pianist and its not recommended for practicing for classical stage. Other opinions include man on You tube who said exactly the same. You can find it and watch if you want. For me and my needs enough and also as general information if someone ask. For people who wants to pay for that and like it I really will be happy if they are.

Last edited by slobajudge (14-12-2017 19:21)

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

Did not tried the Lachnit. But to me the basic rule of mechanics is lighter = faster = better. Be it in sports, cars or MIDI keyboards. The situation when "heavy" is better is if you need to regularly switch back and forth to the real ones and/or if you need to perform in acoustically dull spaces at some point and you are afraid that your muscles become too used to a lighter touch.

Last edited by AKM (15-12-2017 00:03)

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

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

Re: Lachnit MK22 Studio/Roland RD2000/Kawai MP11

tly001 wrote:

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

It is not real, they tout it as hybrid, but that's marketing. It's still very digital, with wooden keys, but definitely not a real mechanic. And there are other better digital actions out there - Kawai GF / GF2 (MP11, MP11SE, CA67, CA78 etc) comes to mind, although personally I believe the Roland PHA50 in the FP90/RD2000 HP601 etc competes just as well with Casio "hybrid".
The casio is a hybrid just as much as the roland action.