Today I looked at a Kurzweil Mark 10 (nice black color). I play some piano but I'm not technical regarding the digital world. What I want is a nice piano sound and this one sounded really nice. I liked more than the Roland HP-2 and Yamaha 233 that they had in the store. What confused me is that this piano was being offered for $2695 (NEW), which sounded pretty cheap. I believe in the good reputation of this dealer because they appear among the dealers in the Kurzweil web page, so I don't think they are offering me a used or reconsitioned item. The other thing that confused me was that they did have another Kurzweil in the $3000s, I asked why that was more expensive, and the sales person said somethink with the memory that I didn't quite understand. Maybe that the other piano has more memory. I just have a few questions I would appreciate if somebody had the time to amswer: 1) Does this price make sense? The piano looks very impresive for that price and all the options the sales person showed makes this piano looks pretty intimidating. I wonder if I'm going to use all this. 2) Are there different flavours of Mark 10s? 3) How does this compare with the Clavinova CLP-150 and Kawai CA-1000 (the other optons I'm considering). 4) Are there still the problems with the midi file format not supported by this piano? Thank you, Pablo
I work at a music store where we handle several brands of instruments, including Kurzweil. 1) The Mark 10's are way less money than they used to be, because Kurzweil has "reissued" them. As I understand it, the Mark 10 was Kurzweil's most popular digital piano, and then they discontinued it. But "due to popular demand", it's back. And by now (this is just my guess) the engineering and development costs are long since paid for, and they truly can build them for less money. But that's just a guess. My other (related) guess is the other Kurzweil you saw is a Mark 12 -- more voices, 16-track sequencer instead of 8, better General MIDI compatibility. It may not matter if you're going to use all that stuff right out of the box -- when you turn it on, it comes up with a piano voice (as do most digitals). You can add the other stuff in as you figure out uses for it. 2) There are different "flavors" (if you mean colors) but not very many -- perhaps just one: Polished Mahogany. (I think it's a little more money -- can't remember for sure, and I'm not at work right this minute.) 3) Can't speak to the Clavinova for sure, but I don't think either of the alternates you mentioned has rhythms or a sequencer or a disk drive. The sounds of all three are going to vary widely, however. Your taste should be your guide here. 4) Whether the file format issue is a "problem" depends on how you're going to use it. You're right, the Mark 10's are not really GM compatible in the usual sense of the word, but if what you're really after is the ability to record and play back sequences you've built, it can do that just fine (using its own file format). And, if the other two pianos you're looking at don't have a sequencer/disk drive at all, this is still better than nothing. However, it's not GM. If that's a deal-killer for you, look at the Kawai CP-115 (which I like a lot although there's limited availability right now -- more en route) or some other model of Yamaha that supports GM. Hope that helps. On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:13:02 -0400, "Pablo" <> wrote: >Today I looked at a Kurzweil Mark 10 (nice black color). I play some piano >but I'm not technical regarding the digital world. What I want is a nice >piano sound and this one sounded really nice. I liked more than the Roland >HP-2 and Yamaha 233 that they had in the store. > >What confused me is that this piano was being offered for $2695 (NEW), which >sounded pretty cheap. I believe in the good reputation of this dealer >because they appear among the dealers in the Kurzweil web page, so I don't >think they are offering me a used or reconsitioned item. The other thing >that confused me was that they did have another Kurzweil in the $3000s, I >asked why that was more expensive, and the sales person said somethink with >the memory that I didn't quite understand. Maybe that the other piano has >more memory. > >I just have a few questions I would appreciate if somebody had the time to >amswer: > >1) Does this price make sense? The piano looks very impresive for that price >and all the options the sales person showed makes this piano looks pretty >intimidating. I wonder if I'm going to use all this. > >2) Are there different flavours of Mark 10s? > >3) How does this compare with the Clavinova CLP-150 and Kawai CA-1000 (the >other optons I'm considering). > >4) Are there still the problems with the midi file format not supported by >this piano? > >Thank you, >Pablo > > Michael Houston musicianmike at cox dott net (you know what to do)
Thank you Michael for your reply. I also posted these questions in rec.music.makers.piano but didn't get a great answer. Anyway, we decided for the Clavinova CLP-150. I'm happy but now the pedal makes a funny noice. I think that's because this piano was on display at the store. Finally, we agreed they will deliver a new one. This piano has most of what I want, I like to play the demo songs at the same time as the demo plays the music. About the Kurzweil, I just couldn't find any good review about it so we decided not to take the risk. Thank you, Pablo "Michael Houston" <> wrote in message news:... > I work at a music store where we handle several brands of instruments, > including Kurzweil. > > 1) The Mark 10's are way less money than they used to be, because > Kurzweil has "reissued" them. As I understand it, the Mark 10 was > Kurzweil's most popular digital piano, and then they discontinued it. > But "due to popular demand", it's back. And by now (this is just my > guess) the engineering and development costs are long since paid for, > and they truly can build them for less money. But that's just a > guess. > > My other (related) guess is the other Kurzweil you saw is a Mark 12 -- > more voices, 16-track sequencer instead of 8, better General MIDI > compatibility. > > It may not matter if you're going to use all that stuff right out of > the box -- when you turn it on, it comes up with a piano voice (as do > most digitals). You can add the other stuff in as you figure out uses > for it. > > 2) There are different "flavors" (if you mean colors) but not very > many -- perhaps just one: Polished Mahogany. (I think it's a little > more money -- can't remember for sure, and I'm not at work right this > minute.) > > 3) Can't speak to the Clavinova for sure, but I don't think either of > the alternates you mentioned has rhythms or a sequencer or a disk > drive. The sounds of all three are going to vary widely, however. > Your taste should be your guide here. > > 4) Whether the file format issue is a "problem" depends on how you're > going to use it. You're right, the Mark 10's are not really GM > compatible in the usual sense of the word, but if what you're really > after is the ability to record and play back sequences you've built, > it can do that just fine (using its own file format). And, if the > other two pianos you're looking at don't have a sequencer/disk drive > at all, this is still better than nothing. However, it's not GM. > > If that's a deal-killer for you, look at the Kawai CP-115 (which I > like a lot although there's limited availability right now -- more en > route) or some other model of Yamaha that supports GM. > > Hope that helps. > > On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 00:13:02 -0400, "Pablo" <> wrote: > > >Today I looked at a Kurzweil Mark 10 (nice black color). I play some piano > >but I'm not technical regarding the digital world. What I want is a nice > >piano sound and this one sounded really nice. I liked more than the Roland > >HP-2 and Yamaha 233 that they had in the store. > > > >What confused me is that this piano was being offered for $2695 (NEW), which > >sounded pretty cheap. I believe in the good reputation of this dealer > >because they appear among the dealers in the Kurzweil web page, so I don't > >think they are offering me a used or reconsitioned item. The other thing > >that confused me was that they did have another Kurzweil in the $3000s, I > >asked why that was more expensive, and the sales person said somethink with > >the memory that I didn't quite understand. Maybe that the other piano has > >more memory. > > > >I just have a few questions I would appreciate if somebody had the time to > >amswer: > > > >1) Does this price make sense? The piano looks very impresive for that price > >and all the options the sales person showed makes this piano looks pretty > >intimidating. I wonder if I'm going to use all this. > > > >2) Are there different flavours of Mark 10s? > > > >3) How does this compare with the Clavinova CLP-150 and Kawai CA-1000 (the > >other optons I'm considering). > > > >4) Are there still the problems with the midi file format not supported by > >this piano? > > > >Thank you, > >Pablo > > > > > > Michael Houston > musicianmike at cox dott net (you know what to do)
Hey, I have a Mark 10 mint for sale. If you live around the LA area or can get it shipped, I can save you a grand. I'm selling mine for 2000.00 and it is mint. It's a great keyboard but I'm moving to a smaller place and can't bring it with me. Let me know or if you have further questions. It has no problems with midi as far as I know and works well in my studio. Matt
Hey, I have a Mark 10 mint for sale. If you live around the LA area or can get it shipped, I can save you a grand. I'm selling mine for 2000.00 and it is mint. It's a great keyboard but I'm moving to a smaller place and can't bring it with me. Let me know or if you have further questions. It has no problems with midi as far as I know and works well in my studio. Matt
