jonas...
As an amateur keyboardist myself, I can't help but refer you to
the best resource available - the online version of Keyboard
Magazine:
http://www.keyboardmag.com/
Their product reviews are done, impartially, by professional
keyboardists who are very good at quickly finding the pros
and cons of a keyboard, along with exacting details of the
functionality of the units based on years of familiarity.
You can search any brand name for its presence on the site
using their search page:
http://www.keyboardmag.com/search.aspx
Inputting 'Yamaha' produces 27 articles.
'Roland' produced 23
'Kurzweil' produced 9
'Korg' produced 14
'Alesis' produced 6
'Casio' produced 4
'Akai' produced 10
...and so on.
You can also check the reviews available from the Yahoo
Directory of Synthesizers and Samplers, here:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Instruments/Electronic/Synthesizers_and_Samplers/Makes_and_Models/
Many of the links resolve to the Harmony Central site reviews:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/
You can use the search function on that site to turn up
reviews, as well. Just type in a manufacturer and hit Enter:
http://rhythm.harmony-central.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/search/?db=db&query=&submit=Submit
Kawai, for example, turns up 261 hits:
http://rhythm.harmony-central.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/search/?db=db&query=Kawai&submit=Submit
The reviews on Harmony Central are user-generated, but they
have the advantage of being written by a large proportion of
keyboard players, rather than the public-at-large, as are
the Epinion.com reviews.
I own a Kurzweil 2500X, and the reviews I found on this site
were right on target:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Kurzweil/K2500X-01.html
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
12 Nov 2003 22:55 PST
Oh!
You'll also want to check out the reviews available from
Sonicstate.com - they bill their site as "By musicians,
for musicians", and offer specifications, pictures, prices,
links and ratings:
http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
jonas-ga
on
17 Nov 2003 11:29 PST
Hello Sublime1,
Many thanks for your response to my question. As per your request, I'm
not rating it yet, because I simply haven't had time yet to read
through all the sites you suggested (I'm hoping that will happen this
week, though). Just wanted to let you know that I appreciated your
help and will get back to you if I have any follow-up questions that
your expertise suggests you could deal with easily.
Jonas
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
17 Nov 2003 12:20 PST
Jonas...
That's fine, just take your time and go through the links
I gave you. I'm posting this to clear the notification
which comes up for me whenever a clarification has been
posted by a customer, and remains until I respond.
Happy shopping!
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
jonas-ga
on
19 Nov 2003 19:29 PST
OK, so now I have had a chance to look at the sites you gave me. Loads
of information there indeed. What I need here is some filtering. I'm
trying to find some nontechnical, non-electro-techno-minded
_comparative_ review of "natural sound" quality and "natural touch"
quality of digital pianos from Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai, which are
the three producers represented by piano shops near my home: some
pianists discussing the relative advantages of each for an
apartment-bound, headphone-dependent traditional classical music
player, not of this or that link to the computer or umpteen whiz
channels or some other metric that I don't understand and don't care
about. You probably wonder why I don't just go to the stores and try
out what they've got. The answer is that they each have only a handful
of models at most, whereas your websites make it clear that there are
many dozen options from each manufacturer.
Have you come across anything directly helpful in this way?
Christine
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
19 Nov 2003 23:02 PST
Hi jonas...
If you're looking for side-by-side comparisons of *every* model
of keyboard made by Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai, with special
regard to "natural sound" quality and "natural touch" quality,
you may be asking for something that doesn't exist.
The in-depth reviews by professional keyboard players are more
likely to be found on sites like Keyboard Magazine, but in
order to see every review on Yamaha's models, for example,
you'd have to dig deep into their archives in the public
library, since the online archive doesn't go back as far as
the published magazine.
The best option I can recommend is to use the Harmony Central
site's listing of keyboards by manufacturer, and explore the
reviews of each model available from that page:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/#man
The Yamaha link from that page probably has every keyboard
that Yamaha has made:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Yamaha/
The Roland page is here:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Roland/
The Kawai page is here:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Kawai/
I would suggest that you at least familiarize yourself,
in person, with the selection of models from each manufacturer
at your local stores. If, for example, your exploration of
Yamaha models in person tells you that you like their PSR
series, you can then check the Yamaha site to see which
PSR models are in your price range and see which ones
are advertised as 'touch sensitive' (so the harder you
strike the key, the louder the sound) and, if you're
looking to duplicate the mechanical dynamics of a real
piano, look for those that advertise 'weighted keys',
which will have more of the natural feel of a real piano.
The more 'professional' versions from any manufacturer
will tend to have 'touch sensitivity' as standard.
The more expensive versions will have 'weighted keys'.
Also decide whether you need a full keyboard of 88 keys,
or whether you can live with 76 or less. A visit to the
store will also be informative as to whether you want
a keyboard that is focused on piano as the primary
instrument, or whether you want a slate of other
instruments available as presets, such as strings,
guitar, bass or drums.
Then check on the Harmony Central site for reviews of those
models with regard to 'natural sound' quality. As I noted
before, the reviews there have the advantage of being written
by a large proportion of keyboard players, rather than the
general public.
Also, if you want to talk to some experts who both play and
sell the more professional models of the various manufacturers,
I recommend Synthony Music. They happen to have a store just
down the street from me, and I've had very good advice from
them. They have a toll-free number on their homepage, and
a website which is an excellent resource. The homepage is:
http://www.synthony.com/
Their keyboard page is here:
http://www.synthony.com/Products/keyboards.html
Let me know how else I can help...
sublime1-ga
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