Thought this could stand a separate thread. It seems Tim's thoughts are pretty much universal. And I know some don't think it sounds that great either.

So if you think it over a little and you have the PA588 coming in at 67 lbs, add even a soft case with wheels will be an additional 20 - 25 pounds and you have an 87 - 92 pound package to wrestle around with. Let's not even think about flight cases. You get all that for $2599 plus case cost.

I am so surprised that those who talk about wanting 76 or 88 note keyboards have not gone with a decent feeling, lightweight, low cost digital piano and add that to the dream keyboard(s) of your choice.

Here are a few examples some might want to consider for a piano keyboard:

Yamaha NP30, 12 lbs, $299
Yamaha P85, 25 lbs, $629
Casio PX120, 25 lbs, $499
Casio PX320, 26 lbs, $699
Casio PX330, 24 lbs, $699

If I were to do it, I'd want to get a PX320 or the new PX330. I see a lot of people getting these. The piano sounds pretty reasonable. You can get instant left hand bass just by pressing split. You've got a decent selection of the more used rhythms AND you get a reasonable arranger rhythm section so you could play this alone if wanted in many cases or hook it up to your, PSR-S900/910, Tyros', PA500/800, etc.

This seems like such a simple solution to me.

For those that like playing bass pedals, think what a rig this would be

I'd love to hear some ideas on this. This is something you just really hardly hear of anyone doing. I don't get it.

Best

Scott

Just did a little math. Here's a few examples:

PA500, 21 lbs, $1500
PX120, 25 lbs, $500
----------------------
46 lbs, $2000

PA500, 21 lbs, $1500
PX320, 26 lbs, $700
---------------------
47 lbs, $2200

PSR-S900, 25 lbs, $1700
PX120, 25 lbs, $500
------------------------
50 lbs, $2200

PSR-S900, 25 lbs, $1700
PX320, 26 lbs, $700
------------------------
51 lbs, $2400

Of course, that's if you actually are willing to pay MAP price.

I may be talking myself into this anyway

And pedals now, let's see...........

Tims issues sounds like a very common one. It's not the key action. 9 times out of 10 it's because the player hasn't built up the finger strength needed for fully weighted keys. I see players pull off amzazingly fast runs.., and triggering multiple velocity switches on fully weighted key with no problems. I see keyboard drummers playing very intense drums on fully weighted keys. It can be done..., you just have to build up the finger strength to do it.

It took me a while to adjust to my MO8 when I had it. I'd been playing synth action for so long my fingers were pretty weak on a weighted keybed. Didn't take too long to adjust though.

To be honest, I HATE those velocity controlled slides. A guitarist can play a hammer-on VERY quietly, and play a straight note very loudly, but these patches force you to ONLY play hammer-ons at their loudest. A poor compromise, IMO... I would much rather they be triggered by a footswitch (just before the note). Then they remain independent of the velocity.

But, until then... for those of you having trouble triggering them from 88's, try looking for an 88 controller that you can customize the velocity response on a per-setup basis. Some of them allow you to tailor the response very specifically. OTOH, if you are dealing with Korg's (don't know about 500's, but 800's can do this), those trigger points for alternate samples are editable, and you could tailor the voice to suit the 88...

Your choice.

My old rig before the Pa588:


I sat in with a group last week and the keyboard player had one of those lower priced digital pianos. The action was OK, not as good as the upper end DP's but OK, the sound, well let's just say it was fine for the price. I had the idea to combine a low priced 88 note with an arranger module but I couldn't bring myself to buy one of them because I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with the sound.

While the Pa588 is on the heavier side of things, the plus of having everything built into a single piece of gear outweighs the extra weight. Not to mention the sound of the Pa588; everything from the very good acoustic piano, to the electro-acoustic pianos, solo and ensemble brass and woodwinds, the orchestral sounds, basses and drums, they are all good as are the styles. And the flexibility of sound editing is really beyond belief for a so-called arranger keyboard. As an example and since guitar sounds were mentioned in a post above, I was able to program a 2nd string unison bend effect by having one oscillator bend down by a half-step when pulling down on the lever. Starting with the lever down (toward you) then when you play a key, you hear two strings being played out of tune and by slowly releasing the lever, the lower pitched string bends into unison. At the same time moving the lever left or right applies pitch bend as it is normally programmed. This is an effect that can't even be pulled off on some of the true workstations available today. The only reason I bring this up is to point out the versatility and flexibility of the Pa588 and 500, 800 and Pa2X Pro.

Regarding velocity controlled sound aspects; Besides the master velocity curve in the Pa588, each individual oscillator, filter cut-off and resonance, amplitude and envelope generators that go along with them have adjustable velocity levels. You can customize each patch to your liking. The Pa588 is a fantastic instrument.

So all in all, price being pretty much the same, what is more important? Two lower end keyboards to carry along with a two tier stand, or one single keyboard that can do everything needed and sound better doing it?

Finally, a disclaimer. I can't stand it when someone thinks their instrument of choice is the only choice and everyone else are complete idiots for not agreeing. So as to not fall into that trap, my comments above are based on the comparison in the OP. Everyone has different tastes and needs, and like I always say; "It's great that there are so many choices out there so everyone can be happy".

Best Regards,

Dave

------------------
Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band
The Modulators

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 08-30-2009).]

IMHO,
If you are OK with 2 keyboards, use a great quality 88 note graded hammer action MIDI controller on the lower (under an arranger of your choice). There are some lighter ones out there. A while ago I had a Kurzweil K2600X under my T2 (then the PA2). But currently I don't Gig out so I didn't have to move all that around.

It's nice because you then have a upper that's synth action and a full 88 piano keyboard on the bottem (at the correct height also)My setup was so close that it was exactly like having a 2 manual organ.

Diki, yep I agree...I would rather use a footswich (or one of the 2 DNC switches on my PA2) to do the slide. Not velocity.
PA500 or PA588 doesn't currently support DNC, Not having one however there may be another way to do the slide besides velocity.

Lee S.