Need a piano-playable keybed at a good price

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Hi all,

I am still on a quest for a keyboard that is playable. I currently have a Roland VR-9 which I hate, mostly because it's 61 keys and I should have known better, and a new Studiologic SL88 (Controller). I've had Studiologic Fatar keybeds before and I don't remember them being as thick & clumsy as this one is. I was looking forward to playing it and within a day I was pretty disappointed.

Studiologic has a "Grand" SL88, which has a *graded* hammer action, which may do the trick. I just don't have three grand to drop on a keyboard now. I don't care about weight because it is more for recording and live streaming. I have some good plugins, so a controller is the way I've been leaning. The only non-negotiable is it must be 88 keys.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance,

Laura
 
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Is that a keyboard you have had experience with? Tell me more. It's all about the keybed for me, I can always get plugins for sounds. Thanks!
 
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The SL88 Grand has a completely different action from the SL88 Studio (TP40 vs. TP100)... gradedness is the least of it it. I haven't played that exact model, but from other keyboards I've played from the TP40 family, I think it will probably be the best feeling action you can get under about a grand. But there is a lot of subjectivity. Others that might be worth checking into would be the Korg D1 (the lowest cost Korg with their RH3 action), Casio PX5S, PX360, or PX560 (these three share the same action), Kawai ES110. As for the Roland DS88, with action being the only concern, you'd probably be better off spending a little more and getting their RD88 which I think most would say has a better action. All the boards I mentioned have standard 5-pin MIDI jacks so you can connect them directly to the VR-09 if you want to. But if you'll always be using a computer, then USB is sufficient, and you could look at some other possibilities. Roland has the FP10 and FP30 which I think has the same action as the RD88, Casio has the CDP-S100/S350 and PX-S1000/S3000 though those actions are not identical to the Casios I mentioned earlier. These two pairs all have the same basic mechanism as each other but the latter pair has some digital enhancements which may or may not carry over to its use as a controller (as opposed to playing its internal sounds). As a controller, something to keep in mind when looking at all these models is that some have pitch/mod wheels and some don't, some have expression pedal jacks and some don't, these things may or may not be things you care about. The RD88 also has specific integration with Mainstage.
 

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