AKX10 first review!

[3dc]

For those interested here is first proper English review of Medeli "unicorn keyboard" AKX10. It looks like Medeli managed to build a very solid arranger-workstation hybrid for 700 EUR. AKX10 is expected in EU after March 15.

I think that with this model Medeli actually cleared with ease all arrangers up to Korg Pa1000 and Yamaha PSR-SX900 keyboards. Its a direct hit to Korg and Yamaha arranger monopoly. No more sleeping on minor upgrades every 5 years or so for this two brands. Competition is always good for us end customers.

P.S. Medeli is OEM manufacturer for many respectable brands including Kurzweil and Yamaha so I suspect that AKX10 is actually a demo for upcoming products for those brands.

 

[Biggles]

Well that is a pretty impressive demo, thanks for posting it.

Just checked and here in the UK it is still priced at £545 which is what it was when you posted about it last year.

The demo probably changes my mind on it compared to the likes of a Korg Pa700 which is currently c£950, the Yamaha PSR SX700 which is c£999 and its more limited SX600 version which is £650.

Downsides of the Korg Pa700 that I had were:-
Memory, very limited, in fact I filled it without really trying.
Keybed, I could not find a setting that suited me.
Touchscreen, required a good stab to action plus the resolution is lacking

The Medeli seems to have none of these downsides with nearly twice the memory, more keybed settings and a much larger and responsive screen.

Sound wise the demo did not seem as rich and balanced as a Korg Pa or a Yamaha SX in most of those that he used in the demo but for its price point then it is probably OK for most users.

Polophony at 256 is at the same level as a DP and twice that of the Korg and Yamaha arrangers, quite possibly the probable limited sample size of the Medeli tones is a factor in how they can achieve what they have.

I do like his comments about the OS being very quick and easy to navigate, in fact he comments that it is far easier than a Yamaha SX, which goes along with my own experience of Yamaha’s overly complex menu systems.

As it is there is only one outlet here in the UK currently selling it and I have never bought from them as they seem to be just box shifters. Buying from the EU is a definite no, no.

 

[3dc]

Sound wise the demo did not seem as rich and balanced as a Korg Pa or a Yamaha SX in most of those that he used in the demo but for its price point then it is probably OK for most users.

Yeah I noticed that too but with tons of FX and editing options I suspect all sounds in AKX10 are probably unedited or raw for lack of better word. Its like portable DAW or "workstation" system but in very practical arranger keyboard. I think the warranty is 3 years so the build quality must be good. This gives you additional peace of mind and really excellent value for money.

Yamaha and Korg will definitely have to change something for their upcoming keyboards. Will see soon with PSR-E467 and new entry models of Korg Pa.

 

[jacobmanathoose]

Should I get it in India

 

[mikebarron]

I've just received my Medeli AKX10 today and I must admit I am ............ disappointed!!!!!
Why? Having read Jeremy See's report about it I was expecting something approaching Yamaha SX700 quality but .....NO!
The sounds are fine but it is what is missing that really irks me. For example, when trying to play midi files I get the notice 'file error' on screen for most of them,especially the 'professional' expensive to buy ones. Those that actually play are close to disasterous. I play them on my SX900 and they sound great and the lyrics are easy to read. Playing the same files on the AKX10 I get the wrong sounds for instruments - for example a piano instead of drums on one song, the odd whistle, different song parts either too loud or too soft. I could go on! BUT THE WORST THING IS ..... NO ON SCREEN LYRICS!!! None on any midi files. Is the keyboard capable displaying them? I believe not!!!!
I am a very unhappy Mike Barron.

 

[happyrat1]

Were you buying a keyboard or a Karaoke machine?

A bum MIDI player is no reason to trash the entire board.

Most people sequence from a computer or tablet these days anyway.

Now that your tantrum is over, how about a REAL review of objective pros and cons?

Gary

 

[Biggles]

You put an expensive MIDI file in the Medeli and expect it to play without issue, why?

A MIDI file is not an analogue music file, it is a series of commands to tell your keyboard to select this ibstrument, and to play these notes, how long to play them, how hard to play them, meanwhile it selects another instrument and plays another set of notes etc, etc..

Now what happens if the keyboard does not have the sounds onboard that the MIDI file asks for?

Your SX will have a good range of MIDI compatible onboard sounds hence has a better chance of a reasonable sound pallette.

 

[mikebarron]

Hi Gary and Biggles. I've been playing keyboards for many, many years from the old farfisa range in the '60's to the Tyros range more recently. My advice to would be purchasers of the Medeli AKX10 is basically - DON'T - put a few more pennies in the pot and buy a decent keyboard. I have never, ever, played a midi file in any of the 20+ (at least) keyboards I have owned over the years and been confronted by a lack of GM or GS sounds within the keyboard which the Medeli AKX10 appears to have!

Biggles - even the cheaper keyboards I have used have been able to play both high end and low end midi files. Even the PSR SX600 which is usually cheaper than the Medeli AKX10 is able to play midi files correctly and display the lyrics.

Happyrat1 -
Quote -'A bum MIDI player is certainly no reason to trash the entire board' !
Are you really stating that the midi file player is , quote 'bum'? - I couldn't agree more.

Quote - 'Most people sequence from a computer or tablet these days' (really!!!!) BUT not if you are on stage with a decent keyboard.

I look forward to you replies and also anyone else would like to join in this conversation.

I personally still feel let down by this keyboard as a I feel it does not live up to the reviews and expectations.

Best regards

Mike

 

[happyrat1]

Well Mike. Since Kurzweil seems to have gone into partnership with Medeli these days and are selling a few of their rebranded arrangers, it would be fair to point out that Kurzweil has dropped the GM soundbank from their PC4 workstations as well.

The workaround has been to remap the MIDI files' instruments on a computer to a collection of similar sounding instruments, I can tell you that with a little elbow grease it CAN be done.

If this has you in a tizzy I would advise you to avoid all analogue gear Ever play a MID file thru a Behringer Neutron? Sounds like a cat being declawed

Gary

 

[Xenomorph]

Downsides of the Korg Pa700 that I had were:-
Memory, very limited, in fact I filled it without really trying.
Keybed, I could not find a setting that suited me.
Touchscreen, required a good stab to action plus the resolution is lacking

Hate to ask a question almost a year later, but how did the pa700 run out of memory so fast? Are you talking about saving styles etc? why not just save to a usb stick?

I was going to wait until late march/early april when the pa700 is due to be back in stock at most places, but now I'm thinking about this Medeli, and maybe getting a Krome EX(Both for the price of a single PA700). I've been a Korg guy since the M1 launch. Have had a Trinity, Karma, Triton Extreme, TR61, X50 & M50. It's the eco system I know and love, so at some point i'll get another. I'm ready to pull the trigger this weekend, but I already feel dirty playing a non Korg keyboard lol.

I could use it for a few months, pop it on craigslist and get the pa700 or 1000. This will be my 1st arranger so either way, its a cheap way to dip my toes in.

 

[Biggles]

Hate to ask a question almost a year later, but how did the pa700 run out of memory so fast? Are you talking about saving styles etc? why not just save to a usb stick?

I was going to wait until late march/early april when the pa700 is due to be back in stock at most places, but now I'm thinking about this Medeli, and maybe getting a Krome EX(Both for the price of a single PA700). I've been a Korg guy since the M1 launch. Have had a Trinity, Karma, Triton Extreme, TR61, X50 & M50. It's the eco system I know and love, so at some point i'll get another. I'm ready to pull the trigger this weekend, but I already feel dirty playing a non Korg keyboard lol.

I could use it for a few months, pop it on craigslist and get the pa700 or 1000. This will be my 1st arranger so either way, its a cheap way to dip my toes in.

Load a few sound samples and the memory of the 700 is full, that is it, no way around it other than smaller sample sizes. As it is I freed up some memory by deleting Reuban’s piano sample and loading his smaller sized sample, I then loaded other samples and was again faced with no memory.

Sound samples cannot be off loaded onto USB memory.

The 700 keybed is not the best, the 1000 is better with having aftertouch.

 

[Xenomorph]

Load a few sound samples and the memory of the 700 is full, that is it, no way around it other than smaller sample sizes. As it is I freed up some memory by deleting Reuban’s piano sample and loading his smaller sized sample, I then loaded other samples and was again faced with no memory.

Sound samples cannot be off loaded onto USB memory.

The 700 keybed is not the best, the 1000 is better with having aftertouch.

Well that really sucks. Now I don't know what to do long term. I didn't want to step up to the higher priced pa1000, but the 700 sounds like I'd regret it very shortly after. I may get the Medeli and a Krome now instead of just the pa700. Thanks for replying, you saved me $1,800 after tax. Much appreciated

 

[Gino]

I've just received my Medeli AKX10 today and I must admit I am ............ disappointed!!!!!
Why? Having read Jeremy See's report about it I was expecting something approaching Yamaha SX700 quality but .....NO!
The sounds are fine but it is what is missing that really irks me. For example, when trying to play midi files I get the notice 'file error' on screen for most of them,especially the 'professional' expensive to buy ones. Those that actually play are close to disasterous. I play them on my SX900 and they sound great and the lyrics are easy to read. Playing the same files on the AKX10 I get the wrong sounds for instruments - for example a piano instead of drums on one song, the odd whistle, different song parts either too loud or too soft. I could go on! BUT THE WORST THING IS ..... NO ON SCREEN LYRICS!!! None on any midi files. Is the keyboard capable displaying them? I believe not!!!!
I am a very unhappy Mike Barron.

I AGREE!
I miss the score and lyrics display which I have on my Yamaha PSR-S950. Even more so because the large and high quality screen would make it easy and fun -as well as a teaching tool- to follow the songs as they are being played.
In addition, it contradicts the specifications shown on Medeli (HK) website when I purchased the keyboard, which clearly indicated that score display was one of the features "SCORE DISPLAY with APP" of the AKX10.
This spec is still visible on the European Medeli website (https://medeli.eu/products/keyboards/akx10/digital-workstation.html).

I wrote about it to Medeli as soon as I received the keyboard but they did not bother to answer. I hope that many other users will push for the advertised (missing!) feature to be implemented as soon as possible.
In the meantime we can only keep asking and hope that Medeli will include it in a next update!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I haven't read the specs, but to my thinking the wording you quoted suggests that you can view scores IF you're using the app alluded to-- "score display through the use of an app." The only other possible interpretation of "with" in that phrase would be "including," or something like "score display that includes an app," which wouldn't make sense. So I'd chalk it up as an extremely poor decision to reference any sort of score display at all, since it could potentially be misconstrued as meaning that the keyboard itself has a built-in score display, even if I personally don't think the wording actually implies that.

 

[Biggles]

+1 with Michael’s comments.

The term ….. use of App

suggests to me just that, it is not an onboard feature, and to compound the error Medeli currently have no Apps on the iPad platform.

Hence if this feature is of importance to you then you need a Tablet and an App like OnSong.

If Medeli cannot get their website clear what hope is there for the Manual.

 

[BobF.]

I'm possibly the only keyboard player left that uses a Manhasset music stand & real paper sheet music

 

[Scott Murrell]

Love my AKX10!

 

[ktnwin2022]

I've just received my Medeli AKX10 today and I must admit I am ............ disappointed!!!!!
Why? Having read Jeremy See's report about it I was expecting something approaching Yamaha SX700 quality but .....NO!
The sounds are fine but it is what is missing that really irks me. For example, when trying to play midi files I get the notice 'file error' on screen for most of them,especially the 'professional' expensive to buy ones. Those that actually play are close to disasterous. I play them on my SX900 and they sound great and the lyrics are easy to read. Playing the same files on the AKX10 I get the wrong sounds for instruments - for example a piano instead of drums on one song, the odd whistle, different song parts either too loud or too soft. I could go on! BUT THE WORST THING IS ..... NO ON SCREEN LYRICS!!! None on any midi files. Is the keyboard capable displaying them? I believe not!!!!
I am a very unhappy Mike Barron.

You may have to remap the voice for the MIDI file to sound correct.

 

[Biggles]

I have been wanting an arranger for a while now and sadly Korg have released sweet FA in over two years that I would be remotely interested in buying.

Hence I have been following and keeping my eye out on the progress of Medeli and specifically their AKX10 which is about £650 and on the surface and going by the reviews it compares very favourably with arrangers costing twice the price.

Watch rave reviews by the likes of Jeremy See and it has to be good right, well no. Does anyone actually take his reviews seriously, I do not, in fact I have avoided them for the last year with the exception of his AKX10 review. It just does not stack up that a £650 arranger is as good as one costing way more.

So now the guy here that raved about his is sending it back. Well that is not surprising for who really wants a keyboard with no history of quality products within their brand and with no infrastructure?

I kept thinking, shall I take a risk and order one. Then good sense prevailed, spend £650, not like it and advertise it and sell it on for £100 or buy something with more quality for £1000 and if I had to sell it on I’d still get £800 back.

Its a no brainer, its just a case of what!

 

[RedEyeC]

I have been wanting an arranger for a while now and sadly Korg have released sweet FA in over two years that I would be remotely interested in buying.

Hence I have been following and keeping my eye out on the progress of Medeli and specifically their AKX10 which is about £650 and on the surface and going by the reviews it compares very favourably with arrangers costing twice the price.

Watch rave reviews by the likes of Jeremy See and it has to be good right, well no. Does anyone actually take his reviews seriously, I do not, in fact I have avoided them for the last year with the exception of his AKX10 review. It just does not stack up that a £650 arranger is as good as one costing way more.

So now the guy here that raved about his is sending it back. Well that is not surprising for who really wants a keyboard with no history of quality products within their brand and with no infrastructure?

I kept thinking, shall I take a risk and order one. Then good sense prevailed, spend £650, not like it and advertise it and sell it on for £100 or buy something with more quality for £1000 and if I had to sell it on I’d still get £800 back.

Its a no brainer, its just a case of what!

Do you mean Roland FA? (I don't know a Korg FA). The big hoopla about the Medeli AKX10 (and Thomann clone) can't be warranted - good or bad. Jeremy See claims he isn't affiliated with any keyboard manufacturer, but c'mon... What really keeps me from pulling the trigger and buying this "oasis" of a keyboard is there is nowhere to have it serviced or repaired - unlike the big 3 makers who have many repair shops around the world.