Best Full-size (88 key) Piano Action Keyboard/Synth to buy ?

[happyrat1]

Bosendorfer Grand Piano.

Seriously though, in the last three years Kaneda has bought and returned about 30 piano action keyboards. He knows that of which he speaks.



Gary

 

[Biggles]

I've been in a very time-consuming struggle to find the best board/piano for me and in the end opted for the MP11SE.

I wouldn't trade it for anything...

And that given Kaneda’s flip flopping keyboard history is the highest praise possible.

Good to know that you are at one with your Kawai.

 

[b3maniac]

If you had to choose between a Krome EX88 and MOXF8 which one would you choose

I had the chance to compare a used MOXF8 with all the display boards at a big box store. I was considering possible a Yamaha MX board, but the MOXF8 audio quality was better than all the comparable (new) boards. The MOXF8 is comparable in sound to the Motif XF8. I'm not fond of Yamaha interfaces, but I can live with them. I also ended up with a deal on a MOXF6 and bought it to replace my top board. I'd recommend trying one out if you get the chance, and listen to it in stereo.
Don aka B3maniac

 

[funkyman]

I had the chance to compare a used MOXF8 with all the display boards at a big box store. I was considering possible a Yamaha MX board, but the MOXF8 audio quality was better than all the comparable (new) boards. The MOXF8 is comparable in sound to the Motif XF8. I'm not fond of Yamaha interfaces, but I can live with them. I also ended up with a deal on a MOXF6 and bought it to replace my top board. I'd recommend trying one out if you get the chance, and listen to it in stereo.
Don aka B3maniac

Thanks so you're saying the 7-year-old m o x f 8 would be better than a 20 20 Krome ex88 because the sounds are better I would have to agree with you there because I can't listen to or find sounds like the ones on Yamaha on any other manufacturer.Even Roland ds88 and RD88 don't have as nice genuine sounds as moxf8

 

[anotherscott]

Thanks so you're saying the 7-year-old m o x f 8 would be better than a 20 20 Krome ex88 because the sounds are better I would have to agree with you there because I can't listen to or find sounds like the ones on Yamaha on any other manufacturer.Even Roland ds88 and RD88 don't have as nice genuine sounds as moxf8

Sound comparisons can be tricky because there's some subjectivity and also different people can care most about different sounds. But you're not really comparing a 2020 Korg to a 7-year older Yamaha. The Krome EX (2019 release, actually) is sonically largely same as the 2012 Krome (with 2 banks of newly added sounds mostly in the EDM, ethnic, and cinematic effects categories, though also an additional piano and an additional EP, I believe); while the 2013 MOXF has the same sound set as the 2010 Motif XF (which, itself, also includes previous Yamaha sounds as well). So you're not really comparing 2020 to 2013, it's more like (mostly) 2012 to 2010. ;-)

The Juno DS also has mostly older sounds as well... it consists of the sounds of the Juno DI + the updated (much smaller) DS-specific bank... and the 2009 Juno DI was itself comprised of sounds from the even older Fantom models.

But within reason, age doesn't tell you so much anyway, as you've discovered. The companies use different sounding sets of underlying samples and have some different capabilities in their architectures (and in the ears of their programmers), which contribute more to their differences than their age, the sizes of their sample sets, or much else you can readily determine from paper specs.

 

[Biggles]

Thanks so you're saying the 7-year-old m o x f 8 would be better than a 20 20 Krome ex88 because the sounds are better I would have to agree with you there because I can't listen to or find sounds like the ones on Yamaha on any other manufacturer.Even Roland ds88 and RD88 don't have as nice genuine sounds as moxf8

I a, a bit confused about this thread, are you discussing the OP’s requirements or a thread highjacker?

And if we are talking old models a Roland FA08 would be better imo than both.

Yes it is an old model but the non piano sounds are subjectively more realistic and with a better tone and the Roland Menu system leaves the archaic Yamaha Menu system for dead.

 

[Kaneda]

Well the YAMAHA P515 has the latest wood nx action

CP88 and P515 both have hybrid wood/plastic actions, same with Roland RD2000 and FP90...
That’s not to say they’re not good actions, on the contrary. In fact, they’re the next best thing if the weight of the fully wooden action of the MP11SE is a deal-breaker for you.
Having said this, I’d still choose a hybrid action over any plastic action, even over the Kawai RHIII...

There’s only one plastic action that I do like for some reason, though, and that’s Korg’s RH3 (not to be confused with the aforementioned RHIII from Kawai) : it doesn’t seem to be as noisy as other plastic actions and it has a really good feel to it.

In fact, you might even take a look at Korg’s Grandstage 88, or still, the new SV288 (or SV2S88, if you want built-in speakers). The key actions are less suited for advanced piano pieces, but IMHO more or less perfect for anything else.

it’s all subjective, and it’s taken me a long time to finally decide on my Kawai. I’m not a gigging musician (maybe very rarely, in normal covid-free times) so the weight doesn’t bother me. If I did need to move my instrument frequenly, though, I’d buy the CP88 in a heartbeat.

 

[anotherscott]

I a, a bit confused about this thread, are you discussing the OP’s requirements or a thread highjacker?

And if we are talking old models a Roland FA08 would be better imo than both.

Yes it is an old model but the non piano sounds are subjectively more realistic and with a better tone and the Roland Menu system leaves the archaic Yamaha Menu system for dead.

Yes, the thread has shifted a bit.

I would likely give the FA the edge over MODX/Krome, or Juno DS for VA synth... but for "realistic" sounds the only non-piano FA sounds that employ their more recent SuperNATURAL tech are EPs, clav, organ, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings. All the rest are from the XV-5080... and while, as I said "within reason, age doesn't tell you so much" I think you are getting to the edge of within reason as that 64 mb soundset is a full 20 years old. Not that there aren't tons of pleasing and useful sounds in it, but for most acoustic instrument emulations, I would be surprised if you could not generally find more realistic sounds in competitors with newer/ larger sound sets. Even the Juno DS, being based on later Fantoms, is probably a step up in realism from the 5080 set (though the Juno DS and FA share the same SRX-based Expansions, 2 of them in the FA, 1 of them in the DS).

 

[Biggles]

Yes, the thread has shifted a bit.

I would likely give the FA the edge over MODX/Krome, or Juno DS for VA synth... but for "realistic" sounds the only non-piano FA sounds that employ their more recent SuperNATURAL tech are EPs, clav, organ, basses, acoustic guitar, and ensemble strings. All the rest are from the XV-5080... and while, as I said "within reason, age doesn't tell you so much" I think you are getting to the edge of within reason as that 64 mb soundset is a full 20 years old. Not that there aren't tons of pleasing and useful sounds in it, but for most acoustic instrument emulations, I would be surprised if you could not generally find more realistic sounds in competitors with newer/ larger sound sets. Even the Juno DS, being based on later Fantoms, is probably a step up in realism from the 5080 set (though the Juno DS and FA share the same SRX-based Expansions, 2 of them in the FA, 1 of them in the DS).

Given that it is only two months off NAMM (in whatever format that will be) anyone considering an oldish model would very likely be best advised to hold off buying.

Or if you must buy then buy one where its return period finishes after NAMM ends just in case a replacement model us announced.

Last thing I would want is to buy a keyboard only to find it very heavily discounted a few weeks later because a new model has been released.

 

[BrainExhaust]

Thanks so you're saying the 7-year-old m o x f 8 would be better than a 20 20 Krome ex88 because the sounds are better I would have to agree with you there because I can't listen to or find sounds like the ones on Yamaha on any other manufacturer.Even Roland ds88 and RD88 don't have as nice genuine sounds as moxf8

I have a MOXF8, and for the most part like it. Horns, strings, orchestral stuff is all great, and the pianos and electric piano sounds, even the organs aren't bad either. I'm just not crazy about the action. It's a heavy action IMO, not the fastest. I have it midi'd to a Triton classic on the upper tier when I need to play organ or synth sounds.

 

[anotherscott]

I have a MOXF8, and for the most part like it...I'm just not crazy about the action. It's a heavy action IMO, not the fastest. I have it midi'd to a Triton classic on the upper tier when I need to play organ or synth sounds.

Yes, it's the nature of the beast... Any board with a hammer action is better for piano than organ, any board without is better for organ than piano. There is no kind of action that is ideal for both, it's physics. So it's not a matter of one kind of action being better or worse than the other, it's about choosing the kind of action that is most appropriate for your use.