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Best Hardware Rhodes/Wurly Emu?


Chummy

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Hey, which Piano/ Keyboard do you think has the best balance between great sound and great keyboard action (Rhodes/Wurly/CP80/Pianos.... and with bulit in efx)

 

Obviously buying a real rhodes is too expensive both in the short and long run, bulky and heavy.... so what do you guys think? Between the YAMAHA MX88/ YAMAHA CP/ Nord Electro 4-5/ Korg Sv-1 or Grandstage/ Kawai/ Kurtzwail (I actually heard a lot of bad things regarding build quality and keyboard action on the kurtzs) or.... Rolands? :o or... something else?

 

My dream is to play a real rhodes/wurly/CP80 - obviously impossible. What's the closest I can get?

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I have a Yamaha CP5 with wooden keys (great action and piano feel). It does a convincing acoustic piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer and CP80 and they all respond very well to keyboard dynamics.

 

The CP5 has been replaced by the more refined and much more portable CP4. I have played the CP4 and highly reccomend it. I don't know if it is the 'best' keyboard out there but it certainly does the job for me.

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Depending on the functions you want to use the keyboard for, you might look at the Yamaha Reface CP. A tiny 3 octave keyboard. I like the Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds. I has a nice dynamic range with some sort of velocity sensitivity in play. Not really good for playing gigs, although I think some folks may be connecting the Reface CP to a MIDI controller keyboard.

 

I bought the Reface CP mostly to have a keyboard to take along when traveling.

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My favorite Rhodes and Wurly sounds come from a plug-in called Velvet. Short of a nice Suitcase, or a 200A (IOW, a real hardware Rhodes or Wurli), that's the best I've heard.

 

I'm sorry - I know that's not really what you're looking for since you want a keyboard, but it's still my favorite source for those kinds of sounds. I'm such a fan of that VI that I couldn't resist mentioning it... :0 I use it with a Kurzweil SP2X as the controller, which also has very nice acoustic piano sounds of its own on board. I also like the feel of the keyboard.

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Velvet is great - is it still exclusive to Pro Tools? It was the first time I really heard the nuances of the Rhodes in that detail from a synth.

 

When I discovered the CP5, with its wieghted wooden keys and software adjustments such as hammer hardness and strike position, it took me back to the time when I destroyed the interior of a VW Beatle by hauling around a Rhodes and 100lbs of Twin Reverb/EVM12s.

 

(The CP5 is a bit of a brute to carry which is why I recommend the newer CP4 to the OP)

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