Why Aren't there more 73 or 76 key midi controllers?

[Nunstummy]

It took me a while to find one, but I got a used Roland A33 76 key controller and it's just what I was after. 88 is too big and heavy, and 61 keys just isn't enough for live performance. I'm surprised more vendors don't make 73 or 76 key devices!

 

[happyrat1]

Any 76 key stage piano can fill the bill as a controller.

There are loads of them out there for about the same price as a 76 or 73 controller.

Gary

 

[anotherscott]

Any 76 key stage piano can fill the bill as a controller.

There are loads of them out there for about the same price as a 76 or 73 controller.

Gary

Not really. The vast majority of soundless MIDI controllers are no more than about $1200 (mostly far less), and I think the only 7x-key boards you might call stage pianos in that price range are Yamaha P-121 and NP-23, and they don't make for great controllers, unless maybe ALL you need is a set of keys, a USB connection, and a sustain pedal. There's no MIDI zoning, no pitch/mod wheels, no 5-pin MIDI connectors, no expression pedal jack, no sliders/knobs. But if you stretch a little in price, you can look at Studiologic Numa X Piano 73 and Kurzweil SP6-7. For any other possibilities, I think you'd have to top $2k. At any rate, there's not loads of them, and especially not in the typical "controller" price range.

Though if we leave the world of "stage piano", there are also a couple of synth/workstation style boards in that price range that could make for decent MIDI controllers: Roland Juno DS76 and Korg Krome EX 73. Or for something lower priced, Yamaha and Casio both make 76-key home-oriented arrangers in the $250-$500 range, which could double as basic MIDI controllers as well, despite, again, lacking a lot of the things that people often want when looking to buy a MIDI controller.

 

[happyrat1]

Kurzweil and Roland and even Korg and Studiologic have a few models that qualify and some of them can be bought used for about the same as the Roland controller.

 

[anotherscott]

I thought the OP was bemoaning that nobody makes them today, which is why he had to look for something used, so I was only talking about what's available new. Though I don't think the used situation is really much better. That is, if you're looking for something used that would go for about the same as that A33, I'm not sure how many 7x-key MIDI controller options you could find, even if you expand your search to stage pianos, as you suggest. Though again, if you look at workstations, you'll get more MIDI functionality, so that could open up some more 7x'ers, but I'm not sure you'd even get one of those for the, what, $200 or so you'd probably be able to pick up an A33 for.

 

[happyrat1]

Easy enough to find a used Casio WK-6600 for that price. I used one as a master controller 10 years or so ago.

Likewise a used Kurzweil SP-4-7 should go cheap enough.

Kurzweil's been building them for over a decade.

 

[happyrat1]

And the OP has split the scene....

 

[anotherscott]

I guess he made his point and moved on. ;-)