Keyboard Recommendation

[bobble14988]

Hi all.

I have joined this forum in my search for a birthday present for my girlfriend. I am not a pianist, nor a musician so please forgive my lack of knowledge in these matters.

My girlfriend is a high (can't remember which) grade pianist and has been playing for most of her life. However, after going to university, she hasn't played much at all, mainly due to the fact that she can't get her huge piano to our student accommodation. Even though I am not a musician, I see it as an excellent skill to have and I really don't want her to lose her talent. It is for this reason that I want to buy her an electronic keyboard and, as I know no musicians, I am turning to your guys for help.

She has what I think is called a mini or baby-grand piano. Its a pretty impressive thing and I'd like her new keyboard to have a similar feel to that when she's playing.

What I mostly want to know is...

• What is the best manufacturer of keyboards for an acoustic pianist?
• What specifications should I take into consideration mostly?
• My budget is about £300 but I could push to £400 (~$600/400€) any specific recommendations?
• Am I overlooking anything that I haven't mentioned?
• As a secondary requirement, I'd like it to look nice if possible. No tacky plastics. Can you get keyboards with a wood-like finish?

Thanks for any and all replies.

Best wishes,

Bobble.

 

[Jonnyfavorite9]

NORD are the best I've ever used. Great feel and great updates via USB.

 

[Ralphmalf9]

go the distance. get a nord. scandinavian made. top quality.

 

[Teenspirit]

Friend of my is a pianist - rather than a 'keyboard player', he lived in a small apartment for a time and he loved his Nord too. So looks like the vote is going that way ;-)

 

[Anon_LL]

From my research these NORD keyboards seem to start around the 1K mark so not exactly relevant to the £300/£400 budget.

From what I've researched and played in shops etc. is that you will want a 'fully weighted hammer action' or 'graded weight hammer action'. This gives the closest representation of a piano. Unfortunately from my experience testing these keyboards you can't get one which feels satisfying for under £700.

I tried an SP 5100 (either Fame or Thomann, they're the same) which has a 'light hammer action' and can be purchased for around £300. This did feel kind of piano like but it was also very spongey and slow. Also the built in sounds are poor.

In the end I decided for my purposes I'd rather spend £100 on a keyboard style keyboard of better quality to keep me going until circumstances allow for a real piano or a bigger investment in a more expensive keyboard.
To my advantage I already own an iMac with Logic Pro 8 which has some excellent samples allowing me better quality sounds than most keyboards under 1K.

I don't know if it's supposed to be a surprise but really I'd talk to her about it and see what she would prefer. Respect for supporting her music!

 

[Princelysum9]

Go higher if possible and ge a nord. sounds and feels amazing!!

 

[AFCA1900]

How are you people even recommending him a NORD when he clearly stated his budget doesnt reach that far by a long shot. What is this a NORD nuthugging convention or something?

If your girl is used to an acoustic piano you'll want to get her a hammer action keyboard but those seem to be out of your budget. Within your budget I'd look at some Casio or Yamaha keyboards. But then I don't even know which one to get myself so thats as far as I can take you.

 

[Anon_LL]

The NORD posts are just spam. New users created just to get the name out - albeit with terrible PR.

Notice that the user names always follow a set formula, for example always ending in 9 and only ever have 1 post?

What I noticed is that the feel of different keyboards varies drastically even between two models by the same brand with the same technology.
I personally found most of the keyboards felt much too light weight and bouncy albeit also with a soft, spongy feedback. Playing the more expensive keyboards the keys were significantly more 'solid' and had a proper 'thud' when depressed like a piano.

In the end at this price point as I said before I went for a cheap keyboard without the 'piano feel' as it was just not possible to get anything satisfying. Casio and Yamaha are very well recognised brands and do provide very good quality at the lower price ranges. You'll probably want to factor in the cost of a sustain pedal if not included too. But if you take her to a shop to try some out and you ask nicely they'll probably throw you one in for free

 

[Teenspirit]

Don't forget the pre-owned market though. you can get good deals, whatever you decide to buy.
Years ago, it was always said that Yamaha had the best Piano sound, and Technics the best String sound. (I'm an old bird- and NOT affiliated with NORD!!!;-( )
With the phenomenal advances in technology this may no longer be the case.

 

[JDeluxe73]

Hey, bob, welcome to the forum - although I'm new to it as well, I think you definitely came to the right place!

If you're on a budget do a search for the M-Audio ProKeys 88sx. By far the best keyboard I've found for the price.

I am both a pianist and keyboardist in a band and use this board as my main gigging board. One thing, though - you'll need to buy your girlfriend a small amplifier as well, as this keyboard does not have built in speakers.

The 88sx has since been discontinued, but M-Audio still supports it and I'm sure you can find it on the web.

Here is everything that you would need to purchase:

http://www.musicgoround.com/detail.aspx?id=1065830

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-KT1...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1314807757&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Rotosound-Hig...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1314807787&sr=1-3

 

[JDeluxe73]

Below are some other suggestions. Don't hesitate to look around local music stores and ask the pro-audio guys about these brands and performance. Sometimes the cheapest board can really surprise you.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboards-midi/williams-allegro-88-key-digital-piano/h14022000000000

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyb...-88-note-weighted-hammer-action-digital-piano

 

[andreas1974]

No one mentions the number of keys

No one mentions the number of keys. If your girl friend is a piano player she is used to a certain number of keys, and might be disappointed if there are only 61 keys (5 octaves) opposed to about 7 octaves (88 keys) on a piano.
I'm in a similar position, looking for a good keyboard as a birthday present for my father who has been playing the piano for all his life. We have been looking at the Casio WK-7500 (76 keys).
Personally I liked the sound from the Yamaha machines better, when we listened to them in the store, but it might be hard to tell from such short demonstrations. This Casio in the same price class (or really somewhat cheaper) seemed to have so much more function, such as mic in, and audio recording... and stuff I don't even know what it is exactly, such as sequencer).
I'd love to hear an opinion from a Casio WK-7500 (or WK-6500 which seems similar), also I'd like to find some opinions about the "narrow" keyboards with just 5 octaves, how piano players handle them... being used to more keys.
Thanks,
Andreas