Which stage piano ?

[J-Fly]

Shortlist :
- Yamaha CP88, love the action, very good piano sounds but not the best (price around 2100 euro)
- Nord Piano 5 : wonderful piano samples, haven't been able to try one ; tried the Piano 4 a long time ago, found the action 'okay but not great', but apparently the action is supposed to have been improved for the 5 (price around 2800 euro)
- Dexibell S7 Pro : piano samples to rival Nord and all the features you could wish for ; Fatar TP40 keybed, afaik, haven't found any Dexibell boards in a store near me, only online so can't try it out (price around 1800 euro)

Runners up : Kawai MP7SE and Nord Grand, sound-wise both very good, and a very solid action, but not really all that portable.

I'm intrigued by both the Piano 5 and S7 Pro. Piano 5 because, well, it's a Nord, and there's so much hype around the brand that I might finally get one myself to see what it's all about, and the Dexibell because it has some very obvious qualities, and a bit 'mysterious' because there aren't many of them about...
Studiologic Numa X GT might be interesting as well, but brand new so very little information about it.

Is there anyone who has already played the Piano 5 or S7 Pro ?

I have the Yamaha CP88. It’s amazing and although the price is high, it’s cheaper than a Nord with better action. Whichever keyboard you choose, be aware that if it’s not in stock it will take longer for you to receive it due to the chip shortage. CP88 is currently out of stock with an estimated availability of February 2022.

 

[89keys]

Shortlist :
- Yamaha CP88, love the action, very good piano sounds but not the best (price around 2100 euro)
- Nord Piano 5 : wonderful piano samples, haven't been able to try one ; tried the Piano 4 a long time ago, found the action 'okay but not great', but apparently the action is supposed to have been improved for the 5 (price around 2800 euro)
- Dexibell S7 Pro : piano samples to rival Nord and all the features you could wish for ; Fatar TP40 keybed, afaik, haven't found any Dexibell boards in a store near me, only online so can't try it out (price around 1800 euro)

Runners up : Kawai MP7SE and Nord Grand, sound-wise both very good, and a very solid action, but not really all that portable.

I'm intrigued by both the Piano 5 and S7 Pro. Piano 5 because, well, it's a Nord, and there's so much hype around the brand that I might finally get one myself to see what it's all about, and the Dexibell because it has some very obvious qualities, and a bit 'mysterious' because there aren't many of them about...
Studiologic Numa X GT might be interesting as well, but brand new so very little information about it.

Is there anyone who has already played the Piano 5 or S7 Pro ?

Kaneda, your question about keyboard action haunted me too when I considered moving from Roland to Nord several years ago. I decided to "go to the dark side" and bought a Stage 3 because of the sampled piano qualities. What I learned from my transition to Nord is that we as pianists and keyboardists adapt to the subtle differences in keyboards in short time. No stage piano will feel like a 9' Bosendorfer, but it will feel natural to you after a few hours of playing. My opinion: I'd give more importance to the sound, and trust that you'll learn to appreciate and adapt to the action of any high-quality weighted keyboard, be it Nord, or Dexibell, or Yamaha. I have no regrets with going the direction I did.

 

[betovn]

Oh man! Korg has missed the boat once again. First they Kronos with no onboard accessible ADSR etc etc (replaced with Montage), and now this. Bloody shame! Grew up on piano and love this board.

 

[Kaneda]

In the end, I've decided not to spend that kind of money since, if I'm honest, I'll maybe be using about 25% of all the features on those boards.
So I'm going for a cheap portable alternative, in this case a Kawai ES110 (considered the Korg D1 briefly but decided against it) and I'm going to hook it up to a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface.
I'm going for the 4i4 3rd gen, since that also has 5-pin midi connectors, as the ES110 doesn't have USB midi (saves me an extra midi to usb adapter and 'cable spaghetti' at the back of the keyboard).
Anyone have any experience with Focusrite Scarlet interfaces ?
I'll have to connect the line-out from the ES110 to the Line in on the Focusrite, so that should be two TS cables out of the ES110 and the other ends into the Focusrite.
However, the back of the Focusrite 4i4 has two line inputs, supporting both standard and balanced. Can I connect just the standard TS cables, meaning I'll be using both line inputs (separating left and right channel), or are they really two separate line inputs, in which case I'll be needing a cable with two TS plugs on one side and one TRS plug on the other.

Could someone clarify ?

 

[anotherscott]

the back of the Focusrite 4i4 has two line inputs, supporting both standard and balanced. Can I connect just the standard TS cables, meaning I'll be using both line inputs (separating left and right channel), or are they really two separate line inputs, in which case I'll be needing a cable with two TS plugs on one side and one TRS plug on the other.

There is no "either/or" to your premise, because yes, they really are two separate line inputs, but that doesn't mean you'd use a cable with two TS on one side and one TRS on the other.

It sounds like you're conflating two different things... "balanced vs. unbalanced" and "mono vs. stereo". Although a single 3-conductor cable (e.g. TRS) can be used for either a mono balanced connection or a stereo unbalanced connection, the interface as described supports the former. So you'll use a pair of 1/4" cables (TS ones for unbalanced, TRS ones for balanced).

In case further clarification helps, in total, the interface has a total of 4 inputs (2 on front, 2 on back). All inputs are mono (and can be balanced or unbalanced). You'll be using two of the mono inputs in order to connect to the left and right signals of your stereo source.

 

[Kaneda]

Ok, thanks. You see that all that advanced stuff is not my cup of tea, I just want to play the piano

I will also be using the line outputs on the focusrite to connect my iLoud Micromonitors (so two 1/4 TS cables from the line outputs on the focusrite to the RCA on the iLoud), the ES110 has built-in speakers but they can be deactivated and I will mostly be using the monitors (or perhaps both, will have to see if it's possible to strike a nice balance between the built-in speakers and the monitors).

 

[Biggles]

I’ll be interested in your opinion of the keybed on the ES110.

It was an ES110 that I tried in a music store that had a very noisy keybed whereas the adjacent MP (or it may have been another model up in the ES lineup, it‘s price was £1200) had a very good action and vastly quieter keybed.

 

[Kaneda]

I'll let you know !

 

[Kaneda]

About the action on the ES110 : yes, it is a bit noisier than the alternatives from other brands, but is not as bad as it's said to be. It's more of a dull 'clunky' noise, rather than clacky, which would annoy me, to be honest.

So, @Biggles , I assume that the one you played must have been faulty because you were really negative about it.
As for the touch, in this price range, there is simply nothing better than this for a piano player (in my humble opinion)...

 

[Biggles]

Thanks for the report, yes I was very disappointed in the noise the ES110 that I tried produced.

Had it been quieter more akin to the Roland and Yamaha equivalents then I probably would have bought it over the Yamaha. It was in the same shop where I purchased the Yamaha.


About 10% of the keyboard display

The shop has the best view out of any music shop window, The English Lake District.

 

[DaveL]

The Dexibell, does it have crude or tacky wooden endpieces?

Yes... I have a Combo J7. I'm not sure what they were aiming for with the end caps. Wonderful organ board though. Its concept is a little different that main stream boards. I use it over a Roland RD 88. I use the J7 for organ only.

 

[J-Fly]

I should add that before I purchased a Yamaha CP88, I had a Roland RD-88 for a year. The keybed feel was amazing and slightly better than the Yamaha but the action is heavy. The deal-breaker for me was the menu diving for the simplest tasks. The CP88 easy to operate with every menu function and instrument sounds right at your fingertips. I love this keyboard.

 

[anotherscott]

Yes... I have a Combo J7. I'm not sure what they were aiming for with the end caps. Wonderful organ board though.

The actual Hammond tonewheel organs (e.g. B3) had wood cabinets, So I'm guessing the wood end panels are an homage to that.

 

[pianist4Him]

here's a great channel on Nord Piano lineup that you will find informative.

 

[pianist4Him]

and another good one on the same channel