Hi,
tend to think it's a matter of taste and what you get used to.
Had to swap my yammi baby grand for a digital piano years ago. At the time the clavinova's sounded the best to my ears.

Over the years I've gotten used to the Yamaha piano sound.
Piano wise, I prefer my current YamahaCLP170 to my ex Technics piano. There again I preffered the piano sound on kn7000 to the 9000pro & Va7 . Never overly fond of Korg piano sounds, but there again the last korg arranger I had (i2) dated back to the mid 90's.
Must admit I haven't heard casio keyboards,
so I can't comment, but moneywise they seem a real bargain.

best wishes
Rikki

Piano presets on arranger keyboards are a joke. They do an ok job when camouflaged within backing tracks, but play it bare and they fall apart. Play a real acoustic piano and then play the sampled version - the difference is readily audible.

I have compared the piano preset on these three top arrangers:

Yamaha Tyros 2
Korg Pa1Xpro
Roland G70

None have a satisfactory piano sound. Of these three arrangers, the best piano preset is the Grand Piano X (without reverb) - the first preset on the Roland G70. The next preset, the Stereo Grand is washed in reverb - very unnatural. So, if all you care is the best natural grand piano sound on an arranger, go pay $3,500 and get yourself a Roland G70.

The Yamaha Tyros 2 takes a distant 2nd place followed very closely by the Korg Pa1Xpro in 3rd place. I have not heard the SD1 or the ProMEGA and cannot comment on them.

For better quality piano sounds you would have to move up to the Roland KR series or the Yamaha Clavinova series. For a really good piano sound, try the new Yamaha CLP-280 or the CVP-309GP ($14,000). They both have the natural wood keyboard mechanism with interlocking levers and weights. Good action with a great sound. Still not the real thing. To get that you would have to move up to a Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV ($35,000 plus).

The Grand Piano sound on the Yamaha CVP-309GP was my reference for arranger pianos till I heard the Korg OASYS. You must reboot the OASYS to load in the half gig piano sample. This is the finest piano sample I have heard on a keyboard that comes closest to a Steinway. The 88 key Korg OASYS ($8,000) is my new reference. I hope I could buy that some day!

Having said that, nothing compares to actually playing a real acoustic grand. Even between acoustic grands there are characteristic tonal differences amongst a Steinway Model D, a Yamaha C7 or a Mason Hamlin. You can tell a Yamaha C7 by its brash and brilliance. The Mason Hamlin will have that extra deep and rich set of overtones. These are trademark sounds that one immediately picks up. Both sound different than the unmistakable sound of a Steinway.

After all, it boils down to simple user preference. It is a personal thing.

The Bosendorfer & Steinway D pianos on my flr2006 software based arranger system sound very close to the real deal and the cost is somewhere between.....$200 & $300.

My computer and samplers are sunk costs and should not be included in the decision making process....Economics 101.

I hope it always works out for me!!!

I'm toying with getting an Alesis Nanopiano or Kurzweil MicroPiano for piano sounds - thoughts please!

Let the truth be known.....I love honest accessments....Thanx for the copmparisons.

The Kurzweil Micropiano is a permanent part of my gear and if you can find one then I would recommend it. It has many useful sounds and the acoustic piano is warm and pretty much spot-on. There have been times that I would be stuck playing someone's digital piano so I would always take the Micropiano with me and usually wound up using it. I can't compare the Micropiano to the Nanopiano but the legendary Kurzweil piano sound will always be a personal fav.

Micro Piano





[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-08-2005).]

Thanks folks. I figured the Kurzweil might be the more accomplished unit due to their general reputation for pianos. There are very few around here in the UK however so I might end up with a nanopiano anyway!

I have found a UK magazine review of the nano which is pretty upbeat but I haven't tracked down anything similar for the Kurzweil. I have found user reviews of both of these units but as ever they veer from adulation to desparation.

I suppose like all other audio it's a very subjective matter but if I go for the piano module option then I may well have to buy without audition via mail.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Esh:
... a MidJay in my carry-on would make renting a piano at the site more feasable. I'm going to hold out a bit longer and see if my laptop can cover the same territory, but I'm not adverse to buying a MidJay someday.

QUOTE]

I hope you will share how you 'cover ... the (Midjay) territory' with your laptop. Sounds very interesting if it's not too technical an ordeal.
Ciao,
Jerry

By the way,
Squeak, how is it gong with the new house? Studio ready?