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#71606 - 03/30/00 05:18 PM
Piano sounds: P80 vs. S80 vs. S80 plugin
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Junior Member
Registered: 03/30/00
Posts: 3
Loc: Athens, Georgia
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Hello all!
I am strongly attracted to the S80, having played with it in store for some time. However, the store also has a P80, and I find the piano sounds a bit woodier and more 'natural' than the S80.
I know that I can get a plugin for the S80 that enhances the piano sound. My question: will the plugin give the S80 the same quality piano sound as the P80? From reading other posts, both here and elsewhere, I gather that the S80 piano plugin has a 'woodier' sound, although there's disagreement about the relative quality. I know I can hear a difference between the P80 and S80.
The difference is almost enough to move me to buy the P80, recognizing that it is not a synthesizer at all, and barely a capable MIDI driver. The S80 has so much more flexibility and expandability, as a . But (at least in part) I'll use the instrument for solo home performance, and can really tell the difference in sound (I've accepted that the keyboard action of the P80 is more subtly modulated than the S80).
So should I accept the (to my ear) lesser quality sound of the S80 (together with the less modulated keyboard) in favor of the P80; or go with the great synthesizer?
Any comparison of the plugin sounds with the P80 would be helpful; and any more general advice on the choice would help as well.
Thanks!
Alex
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#71608 - 03/31/00 03:14 AM
Re: Piano sounds: P80 vs. S80 vs. S80 plugin
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Junior Member
Registered: 03/30/00
Posts: 3
Loc: Athens, Georgia
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Hey LifeForceExplorer:
Thanks for your extended comments. They really help. In particular, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in recognizing the special touch of the P80 keyboard. Others whose comments I've read have been more equivocal, but side by side comparison even with the excellent weighting of the S80 tells the difference. I like the S80's feel; but as a long time acoustic user, I feel at home on the P80.
FWIW, I've posted similar messages on other boards, and listservs, including one devoted to the S80, and your conclusions on touch ring true with others. I get more ambiguous messages on sound. However, between those who feel I can get what I want with the native sounds of the S80, and those who value the plugin's additions, the consensus seems to be that sound is (or can be made) less of a dividing line from the P80.
If that's true, then the choice appears to lie between the performance capacity and kinesthetic pleasures of the P80, against the more cerebral, sound factory and compositional flexibility of the S80.
Your cautions about the (needless?) technical challenges of mastering the S80 are daunting . . . but only up to a point. I expect to have this machine for some time, and actually enjoy the challenge of deciphering the manual. A long time sim gamer, used to impenetrable technical explanations, I've accepted that at some profound level, life is a puzzle that unlocks itself with patient attentiveness.
I've compared the P80 and S80 PDF manuals and pretty much understand what I can do with the P80. The fact that I still don't really know all of what the S80 allows, even after slogging through the manual, actually appeals to me, in a bizarre, probably pretty disturbing way.
In any case, thanks again for your helpful thoughts.
Alex
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