Digital Piano vs. Piano Module
Ignacio Lopez
Could anybody tell me if the sound quality from a piano module like
the Yamaha P50-M or the Kurzweil micropiano is better or not compared
with that of a cheap digital piano like the Roland HP-135,FP-1,
Clavinovas,etc. I'm thinking on buying a digital piano, but I am not
decided yet between these two options (Fatar controller+module or
all-in-one).
Thanks for your help
Ignacio Lopez
nlo...@cesga.es
Philip Delaquess
Ignacio Lopez <nlo...@cesga.es> writes:
The MicroPiano is an excellent unit. I can't say how it compares to
the latest self-contained digitals, but here's why you should go that
route anyway: Sampling technology will inevitably improve. The
MicroPiano will be surpassed someday by an even better unit. When that
happens, you can replace the sound module without also having to
replace the keyboard.
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WORK: Philip Delaquess | PLAY: Author of Mondfarilo,
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Eric Sandrich
Philip Delaquess <dela...@bangs.gcg.com> wrote:
::Ignacio Lopez <nlo...@cesga.es> writes:
::
::> Could anybody tell me if the sound quality from a piano module like
::> the Yamaha P50-M or the Kurzweil micropiano is better or not compared
::> with that of a cheap digital piano like the Roland HP-135,FP-1,
::> Clavinovas,etc. I'm thinking on buying a digital piano, but I am not
::> decided yet between these two options (Fatar controller+module or
::> all-in-one).
::> Thanks for your help
You are much less limited for the future by getting a high quality
controller and a piano module. You may decide to add another kind of
module in the future and would not have to buy a whole new keyboard.
For what it's worth, I found the piano sounds on the Yamaha unit
preferable to those on the Micro Piano.
Eric Sandrich
es...@azstarnet.com
Almida
My advice is if you find an instrument that inspires you, go for it.
Unfortunately you might like the sound of a piano module but may never get
a controller to work perfectly with that module. These things are very
subltle. If you are not sensitive to how the action controls the sound,
no problem but if this is important to you then it could be a massive
search to get the controller to activate the sound properly. Each module
has velocity and timberal curves set by the manufacturer. Then each
controller has it's curves set by it's manufacturer. Even with complete
control over the shape of the velocity curves, it can be a very
frustrating task to set the curves correctly. Did you ever have a piano
technician set your piano action perfectly? Do you think a different tech
will do the exact same job?
So my point is if you find an instrument that inspires you that as good as
it gets! Especially with digital piano's. I would give the same advice
to buying an acoustic instrument.
Good luck
Mitchell Rivers
-Chen,J.L.
In article <rsg1uvd...@bangs.gcg.com>,
Philip Delaquess <dela...@bangs.gcg.com> wrote:
>Ignacio Lopez <nlo...@cesga.es> writes:
>
>> Could anybody tell me if the sound quality from a piano module like
>> the Yamaha P50-M or the Kurzweil micropiano is better or not compared
>> with that of a cheap digital piano like the Roland HP-135,FP-1,
>> Clavinovas,etc. I'm thinking on buying a digital piano, but I am not
>> decided yet between these two options (Fatar controller+module or
>> all-in-one).
>> Thanks for your help
>
>the latest self-contained digitals, but here's why you should go that
>route anyway: Sampling technology will inevitably improve. The
>MicroPiano will be surpassed someday by an even better unit. When that
>happens, you can replace the sound module without also having to
>replace the keyboard.
You can add the new sound module to an existing self-contained digitals
too. BTW, in my opinion the latest digitals (Roland HP-330/530, Yamaha
CLP 511/611/811) have a noticable better piano sound than the Micropiano.
The Micropiano is still pretty good, just the technogy is advancing so
quickly it comes no surprise since Micropiano is already quite a few
year old.
Julian
-Chen,J.L.
Also, one big plus for the latest digitals is they offer multi-level
pedal. I don't know any keyboard controler offer anything better than
a on/off type pedal. It is a big deal if you play classical music.
Julian
xbj
Ignacio Lopez (nlo...@cesga.es) wrote:
: Could anybody tell me if the sound quality from a piano module like
: the Yamaha P50-M or the Kurzweil micropiano is better or not compared
: with that of a cheap digital piano like the Roland HP-135,FP-1,
: Clavinovas,etc. I'm thinking on buying a digital piano, but I am not
: decided yet between these two options (Fatar controller+module or
: all-in-one).
: Thanks for your help
: Ignacio Lopez
: nlo...@cesga.es
Hi-
In Keyboard magazine last year they reviewed the three major
piano modules at the time... the EMU Proformance, the
Roland P-55 and the Kurzweil... the Roland got the best
marks overall for piano sound and dynamics...
I got a Fatar studo 90 off the net for $500, and a P-55
for $250 (it was discontinued for WHATEVER stupid reason
from Roland AFTER getting the highest marks from Keyboard)
and now I'm ALSO getting another P-55 from my local
musis store also for $250 to have a few more notes to
sound when I do glisses and stuff...
I'm really happy with the sound... think that the P8 and
P9 piano sounds are absolutely the best and most natural
sounds I've ever heard out of any module... also
the harpsichord, celesta, clavinet are outstanding.
My only beef with the unit is you can't turn off the
velocity for the harpsichord, but that's REALLY
nitpcking on my part...
You can get a P-55 unbelievably cheap now that they're
discontinued... and it's the MOST dynamic of all the
modules... (the sound gets really soft at a light
touch and MUCH brighter when you hit it hard... no more
really bright sounds at pp playing like the EMU and
the Kurzweil
Just my two cents... good luck
P.S. One of the digital pianos I looked at (I can't
remember which one) had a really weird feature that
made it seem VERY real although I didn't care for
the dynamics (once again the bugaboo of all digital
sampled pianos)... when you kicked down the damper
pedal (without playing any keys) it made a sound
just like that from an acoustic piano... the sound
of all the strings vibrating slighly from the
release of the dampers... kind of a low roar...
also the pedaling could clearly be heard when
playing it... something that most recording
engineers go CRAZY trying to NOT get on a quality
recording... go figure why they'd want to stick
it on a digital module... it really did make it seem
like there was a set of strings in there though...
(The P-55 doesn't do this, and thus records a lot
better)
Jeff Adams
On 18 Jun 1997 07:20:10 GMT, x...@mclv.net (xbj) wrote:
>Ignacio Lopez (nlo...@cesga.es) wrote:
>: Could anybody tell me if the sound quality from a piano module like
>: the Yamaha P50-M or the Kurzweil micropiano is better or not compared
>: with that of a cheap digital piano like the Roland HP-135,FP-1,
>: Clavinovas,etc.
> [snip stuff about how much they like the P55]
>I'm really happy with the sound... think that the P8 and
>P9 piano sounds are absolutely the best and most natural
>sounds I've ever heard out of any module... also
>the harpsichord, celesta, clavinet are outstanding.
Boy, this just goes to show how subjective piano sounds can be. When
the P55 was first announced, I was really excited. When I went and
played it, I thought it sounded pretty mediocre. Better than most
piano sounds on synths, but, not that great in my opinion. To me it's
way too bright (but maybe if I kept the midi velocity lower, it would
be better). Also, the thing is only 28 note polyphonic, and, most of
the better sounding programs use two layers, meaning only 14 note
poly, and some even use three.
Anyway, the price is right, and it's more versatile than the
micropiano I suspect, but, I bought the micropiano. The micropiano, to
me, sounds MUCH more like real piano. It doesn't have enough sustain
(that is, when you hold notes, they fade away too quickly compared to
a real grand piano), and it's quite lame from a midi standpoint, but,
it sounds great.
I would check out the Yamaha offering (don't remember the model #,
maybe p50m???). If it sounds anything like their better clavinovas, it
should be pretty good. Just as a reference, I really liked the sound
of the stereo grand on the original PF-P100 (yamaha unit). If they've
bottled that (but increased the polyphony), or better, then the Yamaha
unit would be the best bet in my opinion.
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