If you're thinking about buying an arranger keyboard for the piano sounds, you would be better off just buying a good, electronic piano.

Gary

Congratratulations! Kurzwiel has some outstanding sound, especially for acoustic pianos. Let us know what you think.

The kurz pianos (mainly acoustic) are not all that brilliant stand-alone, bit in a mix? Almost the best ones out there. The EP's are very good, organs brilliant (but watch voice stealing) but sadly that is where the PC3 LE falls away imo. VERY weak guitars, so-so basses, brass is pathetic, strings a bit wishy washy but there are a couple of decent synths.

Oh and the drums are weird in mapping unless you set it to GM mapping for the drums, and 2/3's of the kits are unusable for anything other than dance/trance/ambient etc etc

Still a decent board, and a VERY nice action.

Dennis

My experience with Kurzweil (PC88, SP2 and MarkV digital console) tells me they have the most superb sound. You're definitely going to get a better sound with more money, but for $800 I think the Privia sounds pretty good. Yamaha has a good fake piano sound, but it's definitely not a true piano like a Kurzweil. I think Roland is woody sounding.

Strangely, I think that's what they make them out of...

comparing this to the Casio is probably apples and oranges, but based on the piano playing experience alone,

The Casio has 88 keys, the Kurzweil has 76.
The Casio keys are fully weighted with the lower keys slightly heavier feeling than the higher keys, the Kurzweil is semi weighted.
The Casio has 16,256 velocity values, the Kurzweil has 127.
The Casio has damper resonance, the Kurzweil doesn't.
The Casio has ivory textured keys, the Kurzweil doesn't.
The Casio has 128 polyphony, the Kurzweil 64.

Nevertheless, piano sounds are personal, and the Kurzweil probably has many advantages for a gigging musician. I wish Cdog46 many years of joy with his Kurzweil.

Thank you all for your help & kind words. I should have this board next week, and I certainly will let you know how I like it.

I want to couch my next observation carefully, and it is restatement of what has been said so many times.

It all comes down to exspectations of what the person wants. The only way for one to really explain what they are looking for in keyboard is by comparison. My key is like a _________ fill in the blank.

Turns out-it is the Worst way to do it! Differences are subtle or impossible because of the obvious reason-oranges vs apples.
Yet-comparison is the ONLY way I know of to convey one's thoughts to another person & that comparison is always going to be sujective.
Just my long winded of saying what we all know but still indulge in.

You can't even get two people to agree on what is the best REAL piano... the odds that any of us will agree on which sampled piano are slim to none!

For me, the thing is, before you make a decision about which sampled piano you want to play, go sit down at your favorite real piano you have access to, and play it for a few hours. Remind yourself about what a real piano sounds like. Remind yourself about how they aren't bright and tinny at low volumes (or even high ones!), remind yourself about at what force level they start to get brighter, what force level (or lack of it!) they become warm and intimate, remind yourself about the apparent volume change from ppp to fff.

THEN go play some sampled pianos.

Funny, when Diki mentioned the tinny sound of a piano I instantly recalled when I was about 12 years old and placed thumb tacks in the hammers of the piano we had at home so it would sound somewhat like a Nickelodeon Piano. Wow, was my father pissed!

Cheers,

Gary

I am not impressed with the Roland screens from the BK 9 but the piano sounds great. To be honest the best piano sound I have ever heard on any arranger.