Phil O'Keefe Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hi folks. I have an old Fatar Studio 90 in the studio that has seen better days, and it's time to replace it with something else. Here's my criteria: 88 key, weighted hammer action. Aftertouch would be nice, but not required. Onboard sounds would be nice - especially a GOOD acoustic piano sound. Budget in the $1K to 1.2K range. I bought my wife a Kurzweil SP88x a couple of years ago, and we both really like it. Looks like Kurzweil has discontinued it and replaced it with the SP2X, which I have not tried, but based on the previous stage piano and the Kurzweil triple-strike piano samples, it's definitely under consideration... but I'm open to other suggestions, and would appreciate everyone's comments. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members H-BOMB!!! Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hi folks. I have an old Fatar Studio 90 in the studio that has seen better days, and it's time to replace it with something else. Here's my criteria: 88 key, weighted hammer action. Aftertouch would be nice, but not required. Onboard sounds would be nice - especially a GOOD acoustic piano sound. Budget in the $1K to 1.2K range. I bought my wife a Kurzweil SP88x a couple of years ago, and we both really like it. Looks like Kurzweil has discontinued it and replaced it with the SP2X, which I have not tried, but based on the previous stage piano and the Kurzweil triple-strike piano samples, it's definitely under consideration... but I'm open to other suggestions, and would appreciate everyone's comments. Thanks! I played with the SP2X briefly at NAMM. It's nice. I also like the Yamaha CP-33. Are you looking at new only, or used too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diametro Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 88 key Fusion is something to think about ... You can find them for about $600 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 I played with the SP2X briefly at NAMM. It's nice. I also like the Yamaha CP-33. Are you looking at new only, or used too? I'd prefer new, but if it was a good deal on a CLEAN used unit, I'd probably consider it. A good piano tone is really important to me. I have various piano patches in various things, but that Kurzweil triple strike seems to work well and I know how to make it sound like I used a real piano on recordings... and since I do a reasonable amount of jazz combo type projects, that's pretty important to me. I could use a rack Kurzweil or get some good Gigastudio samples and pair them with a different brand of controller, but then the costs go up beyond what I'd like to pay... unless I go used. Like I said, I'm open to all suggestions - thanks for the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Birdienumnum Posted March 12, 2008 Members Share Posted March 12, 2008 88 key Fusion is something to think about ... You can find them for about $600 ... The Sweetwater edition has a specially tweaked version of the Holy Grail piano. But it still might not be up to your standards. Still, for $999 new for the 88 weighted keys version you get that tweaked piano and you can just add a piano module later . . . the GEM being the best one around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Paolo Di Nicolantonio Posted March 12, 2008 Members Share Posted March 12, 2008 If you could stretch it up to 1.6k and look at a Fantom X8... now that the G-series is coming out, probably the prices will go down - or you can get a clean, used unit on eBay - the "completed listings" have several units at $1,600 - great sounds, and it's expandable with expansion boards. Other options you could consider: Roland XV-88 Roland Fantom-S88 Yamaha Motif 8 Yamaha Motif ES8 Yamaha S80 Yamaha S90ES M-Audio ProKeys 88 Kurzweil K2500 88 keys version Kurzweil K2600 88 keys version and probably lots more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members H-BOMB!!! Posted March 12, 2008 Members Share Posted March 12, 2008 If you could stretch it up to 1.6k and look at a Fantom X8...now that the G-series is coming out, probably the prices will go down - or you can get a clean, used unit on eBay - the "completed listings" have several units at $1,600 - great sounds, and it's expandable with expansion boards.Other options you could consider:Roland XV-88Roland Fantom-S88Yamaha Motif 8Yamaha Motif ES8Yamaha S80Yamaha S90ESM-Audio ProKeys 88Kurzweil K2500 88 keys versionKurzweil K2600 88 keys versionand probably lots more... I play an XV-88 at church and I didn't like the piano sounds *that* much. It's possible that someone edited them to make them sound like crap (ha ha), but I didn't think the sustain was very long. It's not a *bad* piano, mind you... I just prefer something like my S90ES. The M-Audio ProKeys 88... I think the midrange of the piano is decent but I didn't really like it across the board. But, it's a decent feel and decent sound for a decent price. And I'm with you Phil... I prefer buying new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Son of HuHefner Posted March 12, 2008 Members Share Posted March 12, 2008 Any XV would be a poor choice for acoustic piano If you don't need on that workstation stuff, maybe a digital piano is best, like the Roland Rd700SX And what a coincidink, I am selling mine very soon. But you would have to up your budget a couple C notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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