88-key weighted controller quest... I chose the Yamaha P70.

dtobocman · Post by **dtobocman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:44 am

I played them all and chose a Yamaha P70 ($525) and I also bought a Novation Remote 25 LE ($120) to give me pitch bend, Mod, and 18 MIDI switches and knobs.

I actually had brought home a CME UF8 and installed it but realized immediately that the knobs and sliders were basically useless to me because there are no memory slots to store different setups for those sliders' and knobs' assignments and no readout to identify what these sliders and knobs are doing... the Novation solves this problem in a big way (32-character readout displays functions and values of the controllers when they are moved, plus there are 15 slots for different setups... and there's included software for configuring the controllers!).

Also, the default assignment for the UF8's sliders is MIDI volume control over 16 channels -- completely useless for we who use it in a sequencing environment... plus the UF8 has NO BUTTONS (which I use as momentary switches to mute Stylus channels as I audition loops... a very important part of my programming routine).

I actually found the UF8 action to be very similar to the Yamaha's, but its velocity curve variations were totally useless. On the other hand, the P70 actually sports 4 different velocity curves and one of them (soft) is a very useful alternative to the default (medium).

Another advantage to the P70 is that it's extremely lightweight for an 88-key weighted controller and can be used to gig with as a stage piano (something I rarely do, but nonetheless...). It's also a few inches shorter overall than the UF8, which actually matters to me because of how my studio is configured. On the matter of the P70's polyphony, I sat and played it for awhile and didn't hear any voice stealing as I played. Others may have different results.

The only 2 drawbacks now are (1) a total lack of aftertouch between my two controllers (although I can route any of the Novation's controller to output aftertouch, which is sufficient for me, plus I have a controller pedal that I can use too) and (2) I have to find a place for the small Novation keyboard in my setup, which is not an easy thing to overcome, but I have some ideas.

I'm really happy with the action of the Yamaha. I mean -- considering all MIDI controllers suck, which is apparent when I walk into the living room and play my acoustic piano, an entry =level upright Kawai. Nonetheless, it's a big improvement over my last controller (a Fatar 76-key "semi-weighted", which is a complete misnomer -- it's a synth action). Now I can actually get a piano performance out of Ivory.

I hope this post helps someone out there.

buzzsmith · Post by **buzzsmith** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:17 am

Glad you found something you like...

Last year I picked up an M-Audio ProKeys 88 and I'm not very happy with it. Action is acceptable, but velocity control seems to be an issue even though it has 4 velocity modes.

Maybe I'll look into the P70.

=buzz=

dtobocman · Post by **dtobocman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:21 am

I also liked the Fatar SL-990... check that one out too. The M-Audio was a mess for me.

richardein · Post by **richardein** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:19 am

Thanks, I've been looking carefully at the UF8 and it is good to have this opinion. I'm gonna check out of the Yamaha.

richardein · Post by **richardein** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:26 am

From what I can tell, the P70 only has a headphone output for audio? Is that so? Are you using the internal sounds?

dtobocman · Post by **dtobocman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:07 am

richardein wrote:From what I can tell, the P70 only has a headphone output for audio? Is that so? Are you using the internal sounds?

I'm not, but it's doable. The headphone out sounds fine as an audio out and the keyboard has local on/off control. Polyphony is limited but I've heard no voice stealing while playing. This thing's a real winner, IMO.

dtobocman · Post by **dtobocman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:30 pm

On choosing a stage piano as a controller...

I just burned a bunch of CDs as submissions for a TV show... I played the piano for the entire 15 minutes that would have otherwise been spent watching TV... through the P70s speakers. I'm LOVING my choice.

The "cheapo" 6W speakers sound just fine within the confines of my quiet studio. I was into it. Productivity boosts are good!

The action on this keyboard is the simply best I've ever experienced and through the 15 minutes I didn't hear one voice-stealing incident. I win.

Spikey Horse · Post by **Spikey Horse** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:31 am

Hey! another P-70 user here

I upgraded last year from a totally synth action korg and I agree with all that you say - top value keyboard, extremely 'musical' action and having the on board sounds is a real bonus for practicing while 'waiting for the mac to do stuff' or just being able to play without loading up a piano VI (or change the buffer if you're in the middle of mixing).

In fact last night I was playing for 1/2 hour or so -totally improvising- and I thought, 'who is this playing the piano? Who's hands are these? - they can't be mine... I'm not this good!'

It seems all that practice (some of it 'formal practice' but most of it not!) I do everyday (now that I have a decent keyboard) is starting to have an effect....