Topic: Key dip

A few days ago, looking at this thread on pianoworld.com, i measured the key dip on my Oxygen 88 with a caliper and it was quite deep compared to the measures provided on that page, at just under 13mm around the tip of the keys!! No wonder my hands always felt "buried" in the keys compared to playing on an acoustic piano!

So, i took it apart, removed all the keys, and added two extra strips of felt (bought on ebay) where the white keys and the black keys rest when pressed down, reducing the key dip by about 1.3mm (see this post for my first dablling with this idea, using a length of speaker wire, didn't work that great) .... Amazing how such a small distance makes a HUGE difference in the feel of the keyboard, it's like a whole different instrument! Feels much more similar to a real piano, and much less "sluggish"!! It also helps a bit with quick single-note repetition. (this keyboard has 2 sensors per key)

Because of how the sensors are made, this is pretty much the maximum i could go without having to add extra shim to the sensors on all the keys and redo the entire calibration, like i did several months ago. I already had to add extra shim (and re-caliabrate) just a few notes that were hard to sound "ppp" witout pressing a bit stronger into the felt, but now it just plays awesome. It's the Oxygen 88 on steroids

...anyway, just wanted to share this what's the key dip on your keyboard? acoustic piano if you have one? Where is this measured exactly along the length of the key?

http://soundcloud.com/delt01
Pianoteq 5 STD+blüthner, Renoise 3 • Roland FP-4F + M-Audio Keystation 88es
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Re: Key dip

Actually, this is a VERY important feature of a keyboard. It completely changes the way you are playing. Some pianoforte's depth were very, very small (much less than 1 centimeter) compared to contemporary grands, for example. My own (german made) piano has 2 mm more depth than the (french made) piano of a friend and we don't like each other's piano !
I know that some piano makers are working on an adjustable keyboard depth, but it doesn't seem to be available right now. I'll let you, know, promised !

Re: Key dip

Hi,

delt wrote:

...anyway, just wanted to share this what's the key dip on your keyboard? acoustic piano if you have one? Where is this measured exactly along the length of the key?

on my a few years old Kawai ES3 the key dip is 11 mm, measured with a caliper on the front at every c-key.

Re: Key dip

delt wrote:

...anyway, just wanted to share this what's the key dip on your keyboard? acoustic piano if you have one? Where is this measured exactly along the length of the key?

On Doepfer PK88 GH key dip is 11.3mm. In comparison, key dip of Fatar TP/10MDS keybed in an 17 years old Korg EC510 is 10mm.

Last edited by DorinD (31-07-2014 11:48)