Topic: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

As in running a line out from the headphone jack of the computer or the outs of the computer soundcard to the audio inputs for the digital piano. (Edit: I see that a similar question was asked by dnv in his thread "New keyboard for PianoTeq?". Sorry for the partial duplication. In any case, dnv, I did find that both the Kawai ep-3 and the Casio have audio-in ports.)


I remember this thread, where Big says that he wasn't able to get a good sound through his Clavinova: http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=585.

But I'm curious, still, because several recent stage pianos have speakers and audio ins, such as the Kawai EP-3 and even the Casio PX-320. The Kawai ads seem to be saying that the 6 speakers in the EP-3 (three on each side of the keyboard's face) are adjusted so the crossover freqs are ideal for piano. Makes me think of the Clavinova pianos that have separate amps for the different sound elements.

So my general question is--can any digital piano's speakers do justice to PianoTeq? I wouldn't expect the sound to be as good as through a good sound system set up for just PianoTeq, but I can see it how it might be advantageous to be able to just listen through the decent or good speakers mounted in a keyboard with a good piano action.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (18-06-2009 01:12)

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

I have done it with my KR7 Roland.  Sounds better than the onboard sound, but my monitor speakers and headphones are quite a bit better.

Can DP speakers to do justice to the Pianoteq sound?  Perhaps not as I really don't believe they are that good even in a relatively pricey DP.  If any "regular" DP has good speakers, this one of mine should have:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc...jectId=434

But I've never been impressed - in fact the sound from the onboard speakers is why I bought my Yamaha bi-amp powered monitor speakers in the first place.

And when I try out a DP, I never listen to the onboard sound; I always take my own headphones.


Glenn

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Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

+1 to the headphones!

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Jake Johnson wrote:

The Kawai ads seem to be saying that the 6 speakers in the EP-3 (three on each side of the keyboard's face) are adjusted so the crossover freqs are ideal for piano.

I tried the EP-6 (also 3 speakers per side) and it's preety good, but its speakers didn't impress me at all (I compared it against high end AKG 270 headphones). It's got no low, and the mids seemed compressed. I'd go for something bi amped  and with an 8 or maybe 10 inches woofer in a bass reflex box. But it'll cost...

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Oh well...But wouldn't it be good if a company created a good digital piano with good speakers with large bass cones? I guess the weight would make it cumbersome.

What's the difference between the EP-3 and the EP-6, by the way? (Was it the ES6 that you played? I'm not sure I understand the differences between the EP-3 and the ES-6, in any case.) I was impressed playing the EP-3 for about ten minutes. Quite a bit of control, given the brilliance setting and the voicing button (which seems to set the velocity levels for the various samples.) A simplified mp8, more or less, but it had a convincing tone and the keyboard felt really good.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (18-06-2009 03:47)

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Jake Johnson wrote:

Oh well...But wouldn't it be good if a company created a good digital piano with good speakers with large bass cones? I guess the weight would make it cumbersome.

My monitor speakers are five inch, and they give pretty good bass response.  But they are HEAVY - according to the the specs, they are 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) each, but seem much heavier.

The big brothers (MSP10) weigh in at 44.1 lb each.  Put a pair of these into a DP, and it's getting a bit much.

They are also quite directional - ideally they should be set at the base of an isosceles triangle with the listener's head at the apex and the speakers pointing directly at the listener's head.

Nice sound though.

Glenn

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Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

I use pianoteq with my clavinova F01

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con...TID=600150

and I'm quite happy even if the C3 preset I posted in the file section is the one I use with headphones (k240); it needs little finetuning in hi freq anyway to be perfect.
It has 2 amps driving four speakers (two 16 cm for basses and two 5 cm for high frequencies placed on keyboard sides).

I really love it with its wood keyboard, dynamic pedals, design and a like and now, feeding in pianoteq's sound, is perfect but it's quite expensive too..

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

etto:
        How do you rate the F01's internal sounds vs. PTQ?

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Jake Johnson wrote:

What's the difference between the EP-3 and the EP-6, by the way?

They're very similar, but I think there's a difference in the number of samples (the ES6 has every key sampled).

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Hi romantic,
I like the internal F01's sound with all problems related to a sampled sound as discussed in various posts, especially for what concerning too short loops. In studio I have a clavinova PF p-100 and it's horrible IMO..
But the basic preset "piano 01" is a tiny bit too brilliant for classic so before pianoteq I always used its variation.
Now using it as reference I created a C3 preset that, when played at the right volume, gives me great satisfaction.
THe original C3 presets sound a little dull compared to internal F01's sound using clavinova's apmlification system.

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Glenn NK wrote:

My monitor speakers are five inch, and they give pretty good bass response.  But they are HEAVY - according to the the specs, they are 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) each, but seem much heavier.

I take it you have the MSP5s. Me too. I really love them, they're the best value for money piece of kit I ever bought (although they seem to have shot up in price recently!).

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Glenn NK wrote:

Can DP speakers to do justice to the Pianoteq sound?  Perhaps not as I really don't believe they are that good even in a relatively pricey DP.

. . . . the sound from the onboard speakers is why I bought my Yamaha bi-amp powered monitor speakers in the first place.

And when I try out a DP, I never listen to the onboard sound; I always take my own headphones.


Glenn

I will take the risk of irking a few users with the following comments:

There are many FXP files posted on this site, and I admittedly have tried more than a few myself, so I'm not pointing fingers as it were.

But I am starting to think that the reason we keep trying to achieve "the right sound" may be in part due to the weaknesses of our sound systems.

I know that my powered monitor speakers sound much better than the speakers in my DP (which is not the highest end DP, but well up there).

I also know that a good set of headphones will virtually always sound better than just about any DP's speakers.

So I'm coming to the conclusion that the standard presets are about as good as I'm going to get.

If I was listening to the piano's speakers, I'd still be fiddling with numerous FXP's trying to get something better.

With the DP's speakers, it's never going to be really good.

Now if I could just get a little more oomph in the bass.

Perhaps a set of 10" monitors . . . . .

Glenn

__________________________
Procrastination Week has been postponed.  Again.

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

I notice huge problems using the onboard speakers on my HP203.  Whether it's the room, carpet, or crossover frequency of the speakers, I get a very noticeable dead zone around E5-G5.  Sometimes it almost sounds like a "plunk" instead of a ring.  Also there are strange resonances in the upper octaves that make some notes ring abnormally loud.  This doesn't happen with headphones, so it must be the room or speakers.

But I still use the onboard speakers all the time except for recording.  I suppose it could affect how I play notes in that area, subconsciously compensating for the deadness and pedaling out the seemingly abnormal resonance, but if I record with headphones I usually have enough control to make it sound "right".

The reason I use the onboard speakers is mostly the vibrational feedback in the keys.  Real pianos vibrate the entire key bed, pedals, cabinet, etc, so playing with headphones can sometimes feel synthetic.

So if I were to upgrade to respectable monitors, would the sound from them be enough to get the same vibrational feedback in the keys?  Could I somehow attach them to the piano cabinet without adversely affecting the sound quality?

Last edited by JerryKnight (20-06-2009 17:32)

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Jerry:

Some insightful comments you made; even people that claim they don't play by ear do in fact play by ear - unless they are tone deaf.

It takes me a while to adapt to a different piano - I learn to play around the strengths and weakness.

If your speakers are weak on a frequency range, I would think it would affect your playing, but don't discount the possibility that your headphones are not completely accurate either.

In fact, what system is completely accurate?  On another forum I partake in, it's often recommended (when mastering a CD) to listen to the songs on several different systems - home stereo, car radio, etc. to get a better idea how it will sound on other people's listening devices.


Glenn

__________________________
Procrastination Week has been postponed.  Again.

Re: Anyone tried playing Pianoteq through a digital piano's speakers?

Jerry:I have my monitors on top of my digital piano, and yes they give me enough vibrational feedback, of course at a certain minimum volume...
Now, Glenn stated that no sound system is perfect , and of course he's right, but over the years I have relied a lot  on the AKG 270 headphones. They never let me down...

Last edited by romantic (21-06-2009 19:32)