Topic by karoloydi

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  • karoloydi
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Topic: Looking to buy new controller

I am using my controller to make electronic and classical music.I currently have Nektar Impact LX88.
It is quite good, but I am playing piano quite a lot and I am looking for something with better keybed. Midi controls would be prefered, but I can buy seperate midi controller like Korg nanocontrol. I have small space, so I can't buy anything like a Kawai VPC1. I am not really interested in built in sounds.

I have narrowed it down to the following:

Roland A-88 (too slow action for me)
NI Komplete Kontrol S88 (Did not manage to test yet)
Korg D1 (My choice so far, but worried about velocity curve)
Studiologic Grand (squeaky keys issue)

I went to the music store today and those where my opinions:

I tried Studiologic Grand and it has the best action for me. I even preferred it to the RD-2000 that I tried for comparison. My only worry is all the youtube videos about noisy keys. This was verified at the store as one of the keys was noisy and was really annoying. Not really a squeak, but more of a dong. Some of my Nektar LX88 keys are squeaking and it is not annoying. But that noise is super annoying.

I tried Roland RD-64 which has some keybed as A-88 and I found the action really slow. (takes too long for key to return back to original position after being pressed)

I tried Korg D1 and I was surprised it has almost as good action as Studiologic Grand. I've heard that it has problem with very high and very low velocities. not sure if that's true. If not, that would be my choice.

Did not manage to test Komplete Kontrol. I have a feeling I will end up buying that after I try.

Reply by davidizquierdo82

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

Hi,

Other slabs you may want to consider as a controller are:

Roland FP90 (same action like in RD2000 but smaller and cheaper).
Yamaha P515

Both keyboards are claimed to have nice velocity curves, and very responsive key touch for trained pianists.

My two cents.

Regards,
David

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Reply by sigasa

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

davidizquierdo82 wrote:

Hi,

Other slabs you may want to consider as a controller are:

Roland FP90 (same action like in RD2000 but smaller and cheaper).
Yamaha P515

Both keyboards are claimed to have nice velocity curves, and very responsive key touch for trained pianists.

My two cents.

Regards,
David

Yes, both these boards are excellent. I have a P515 and it's beautifully made. I also like the FP90

Warmest regards,

Chris

Reply by aWc

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

karoloydi wrote:

I have narrowed it down to the following:

Roland A-88 (too slow action for me)
NI Komplete Kontrol S88 (Did not manage to test yet)
Korg D1 (My choice so far, but worried about velocity curve)
Studiologic Grand (squeaky keys issue)

I went to the music store today and those where my opinions:

I tried Studiologic Grand and it has the best action for me. I even preferred it to the RD-2000 that I tried for comparison. My only worry is all the youtube videos about noisy keys. This was verified at the store as one of the keys was noisy and was really annoying. Not really a squeak, but more of a dong. Some of my Nektar LX88 keys are squeaking and it is not annoying. But that noise is super annoying.

I tried Roland RD-64 which has some keybed as A-88 and I found the action really slow. (takes too long for key to return back to original position after being pressed)

I tried Korg D1 and I was surprised it has almost as good action as Studiologic Grand. I've heard that it has problem with very high and very low velocities. not sure if that's true. If not, that would be my choice.

Did not manage to test Komplete Kontrol. I have a feeling I will end up buying that after I try.

Does the Roland A-88 have the same action as RD-2000 and FP-90?
FWIW I don't like the FP-90 action at all. It feels spongy and slow. At the time it came out, I was on the market to replace my FP-7. After comparing the FP-90 with a second-hand FP-80 side-by-side, I picked the older FP-80! I still like it and have been using it to control Pianoteq ever since. Of course, this is very personal, but just to say that newer is not necessarily better for everybody.

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Reply by sigasa

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

aWc wrote:
karoloydi wrote:

I have narrowed it down to the following:

Roland A-88 (too slow action for me)
NI Komplete Kontrol S88 (Did not manage to test yet)
Korg D1 (My choice so far, but worried about velocity curve)
Studiologic Grand (squeaky keys issue)

I went to the music store today and those where my opinions:

I tried Studiologic Grand and it has the best action for me. I even preferred it to the RD-2000 that I tried for comparison. My only worry is all the youtube videos about noisy keys. This was verified at the store as one of the keys was noisy and was really annoying. Not really a squeak, but more of a dong. Some of my Nektar LX88 keys are squeaking and it is not annoying. But that noise is super annoying.

I tried Roland RD-64 which has some keybed as A-88 and I found the action really slow. (takes too long for key to return back to original position after being pressed)

I tried Korg D1 and I was surprised it has almost as good action as Studiologic Grand. I've heard that it has problem with very high and very low velocities. not sure if that's true. If not, that would be my choice.

Did not manage to test Komplete Kontrol. I have a feeling I will end up buying that after I try.

Does the Roland A-88 have the same action as RD-2000 and FP-90?
FWIW I don't like the FP-90 action at all. It feels spongy and slow. At the time it came out, I was on the market to replace my FP-7. After comparing the FP-90 with a second-hand FP-80 side-by-side, I picked the older FP-80! I still like it and have been using it to control Pianoteq ever since. Of course, this is very personal, but just to say that newer is not necessarily better for everybody.

To be honest, I loved the FP80 action /keybed. More so then the FP90.
I love the definite feel as the key bottoms out on the FP80.

With regards to the Studiologic and Native Instruments controllers, beware of quality control issues. Well documented on the .net

Warmest regards,

Chris

Reply by xooorx

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

karoloydi wrote:

I tried Roland RD-64 which has some keybed as A-88 and I found the action really slow. (takes too long for key to return back to original position after being pressed)

It's worth noting that a triple-sensor action doesn't need to return back to original position before you can trigger another note: It just needs to get back above the middle sensor. So if you're using "return back to original position" as a proxy for how fast it plays then no, it will play faster than that.

(And a Sound on Sound review describes your current LX88 as "quite tightly sprung" -- it's pretty much the first thing they say about it -- so you may have got used to playing something that boings back to the top a little on the fast side).

Reply by Fleer

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Re: Looking to buy new controller

xooorx wrote:
karoloydi wrote:

I tried Roland RD-64 which has some keybed as A-88 and I found the action really slow. (takes too long for key to return back to original position after being pressed)

It's worth noting that a triple-sensor action doesn't need to return back to original position before you can trigger another note: It just needs to get back above the middle sensor. So if you're using "return back to original position" as a proxy for how fast it plays then no, it will play faster than that.

(And a Sound on Sound review describes your current LX88 as "quite tightly sprung" -- it's pretty much the first thing they say about it -- so you may have got used to playing something that boings back to the top a little on the fast side).

Good points.
I would suggest the OP tries Roland’s RD-88 as well. Remarkable price for a great keyboard (and 3000 sounds).

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