How would you compare the speakers to the Korg PA1000 you used to have?
Just from a piano-playing perspective, which feels better, the CT-S500 or the EW425? Do you think one gives you better control over dynamics than the other?
A little challenging to compare these inexpensive sound systems to the PA1000 because I no longer have one, and the absolute joy I got from the sound quality was the quality of the sounds themselves AND the speakers, which were the best of any keyboard speakers I’ve ever heard.
That said, the sound system of the S500 is remarkable for the size, weight, 10” depth. It’s a very useable quality of sound for personal playing, though there’s something about the audio that is just slightly off, but not really off-putting, just something I notice a little, not sure what it is.
The EW425 sounds really good to my ears, not in the same league as the PA1000, but as an all-rounder board for under $500 with that microphone in and 76 keys, it’s better for the money than I would have expected, very satisfied, it’ll be my go-to keyboard for jams/parties, esp once I stock up on 6 D cell rechargeable batteries. I’ve already got rechargeables for the S500, they last about 3-4 hours? Early days. Bought a 12 pack of AA’s so I can pop out one set and the next is ready to go.
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Piano playing: that is a much harder question. Like with the S500, I’ve been very pleased that it’s decent- I do feel the springiness quite a bit, esp on the up stroke, seems to give it an almost semi-weighted feel, it feels a little unnatural but hasn’t hampered my playing or enjoyment. So far it seems like it does well with energetic chording, not the subtler quiet stuff, but more research needed. Probably a B- letter grade, esp considering the price? After decades of shitty keybeds from my many budget boards, the S500 gets an A+ for being quiet, well-mannered and sure-footed, not loose.
The EW425 also feels a bit like an almost semi-weighted, but without the springiness of the S500. The best I’ve had was the Yamaha XS7 and the Korg M3, and this one is not in this class- giving it a letter grade in comparison to those 4-7 times more expensive boards, they’d be an A+, the EW425 gets a C or C+ Compared to the Casio CT-X5000, it’s got a bit of the same loose feel, but the X5000 would be a D or an F, a real turn off to play. I feel like I bottom out too easily, it could use a bit more resistance overall and padding for the landing. Compared to the PA1000, which gets a D+ to C- from me, it’s somewhat better, mostly acceptable.
Recently I was playing an EP on the S500 and it felt like I needed to achieve a MIDI velocity of 115 to trigger the sample that gives a bit of that satisfying blat that many EPs have in the lower end. It would have been much better if they’d programmed it to trigger that velocity layer at around 100-105 (these are all guesses to give a relative idea). I have to work way too hard to get to that final sample, frustrating.
Which made me realize that in order to set the Touch Velocity I need to find sounds like that and find if I can comfortably trigger that last sample without having to bang on the keyboard/make that much effort. With the S500 I have to set it to LIGHT! This seems counter-intuitive being that I’m used to a weighted action. For now I’ve set it there on the EW425 as well, but I may be able to set it at MEDIUM touch velocity, need more experience with the sounds. Very pleased that I figured this out, it’s a key component to having a comfortable touch setting and getting full expression.
But these are early days. This kind of question comes up a lot, I’m always wanting to know about keybed feel, and it occurred to me that I have the perfect setup now:
- my ES920 of course has an excellent feel for piano, though TBH I prefer my now-sold ES110! So the 920 can be my piano bench mark
- my CT-X5000 has a terrible keybed, noisy, and way too loose, no substance: another benchmark!
- I notice there are different kinds of playing, from loud/bombastic/passionate to soft/delicate/refined/low volume. AND there are different ways of playing: LHB along with a sprightly improv RH, longer held styles with pads, synth lines and organ etc.
So it seems like if I had a handful of songs played in ways that exemplify different kinds of playing, I could go from keyboard to keyboard with each of these songs and have a relative idea of what kinds of playing the S500 and EW425 are good at.
That would be quite the project! I’m surprised others haven’t come up with similar comparison tests, though I suppose in an informal way it’s part of most reviews as they play different songs which would bear this out. But esp for folks who do many reviews, having a set list of 5-10 songs using various sounds and styles, that that would be a consistent method of comparison from one keyboard to the next.
And yet another consideration: being in an apartment I’m constantly monitoring my volume to be thoughtful of my neighbors, and cause I much prefer the open sound of speakers than using headphones. What I realized over time is that I was working much harder than I needed to in order to achieve satisfaction at low’ish volume. This can be tricky, but I realized I need to turn the volume UP a bit and control the dynamics with my playing more. Overall a much more satisfying way of playing, and not nearly as much effort required when I simply use the volume slider.
I used to gig with a metallic red peavey dyna-bass (had active pickups- blew my mind in 1988) and a long but narrow neck - absolutely loved it
