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Dear friends,

I have almost 20 years of keyboard-playing experience (at least 10 of them on piano) - not as a professional, rather as a hobby. I have owned in the past a Yamaha P80, which I sold last year for financial reasons.
Since then, I have been 'on the hunt' for a replacement high-end stage piano that will be mostly situated inhouse but could be also used if we meet with friends at other sites (around 3-4 times a year). Roland RD-700NX is the most prominent candidate for my case, even though I had a look at Kurzweil PC3X (not PC3K8 since I am not interested in the sampler). I know PC3X is considered a workstation whereas RD700NX is labelled as a stage piano, but I have read in different reviews that many professionals use it (PC3X) for its piano sound and touch.
What would you comment on this?

Furthermore, I have been looking for a stand on which I will put the stage piano. K&M 18953 has been suggested by many friends in this forum, as the most appropriate one for this use. However, I have found a competitor which much cheaper (approx. half price in Europe) and seems quite similar; Ultimate Jamstand JS-MPS1 (http://www.ultimatesupport.com/product/JS-MPS1).
Please comment on this.

The RD700NX is a great choice for the uses you describe. I don't think you can do better. The stand looks good too, though I don't have personal experience with it. That style of stand is among the best. I also really like the Z-style stands, like the On-Stage KS7350. Very solid, simple, and portable.

Looks to me like you did your research and found a good solution.

Unfortunately I don't know about the Kurzweil. It's not discussed much here and I've never seen one IRL.

Hello Verbo

Yamaha CP33, P155
Kawai MP6,MP10
Roland FP7 etc

Cheers!

/z

I used to have one of their "Apex" style stands. It was the mono-colum type. It was sturdy and could hold two keyboards. I didn't need it, so I sold it a few years ago. It you are going to be moving gear those stands are nice because the hollow column stores all the parts so the stand serves as it's own shipping case. When it is set up there are no legs to trip over. Stability is a slight issue on carpet but i used it 100% are hard floors.

So I did not have the table-like stand you linked to but I can say that the company does make first rate stuff. Good fit and finish and quality.

Thank you gvfarns for your comments. It is true I have done quite a lot of net reading before posting. I have read actually some negative comments on z-type stands in terms of stability when it comes to stage pianos. Do you personal experience on this?

I could jump up and down on top of mine without it shaking. It's amazingly solid. But there's variety in the strength, weight, and sturdiness between models. Mine is On-Stage, but I'm not actually sure of the model number. I never move mine so I got the heaviest duty one I could find (I hate it when pianos shake as you play them). I expected it to be this solid. What I didn't expect was how light and portable it is. The top and bottom surfaces flip around and it collapses down pretty small and easy to carry around. I am pretty impressed with it.

On the other hand, the table-style stand that you linked to is the most commonly recommended design, so as far a general designs go, it's a winner.

The main thing about stands is not to get an X stand unless it's a really heavy duty one and you don't mind it getting in the way of your legs as you sit.

I bought the stand that verbo gave the link to and brought it back to the store the next day. In this specific case the lowest setting for the stand was still a tad too high for my then P250 which is a very thick piano.

I could have chopped the legs and made them shorter but I also wasn't thrilled with the look of that stand. For me it looked like a 1950's dinette set. I know it is a very stable table and if the looks don't bother you, go for it.

I wound up buying the QuikLok Monolith though I still had to have that stand chopped. I took it to a metal shop.

http://www.quiklok.com/catalog/?p=productsMore&iProduct=70&sName=M-91

ChrisA, I am familiar with Apex and Deltex series of Ultimate, but I do not think they are suitable for my case, since I won't be gigging that often, nor travelling around.

gvfarns, I agree about X-stands and their sort of 'negative' fame for stage (heavy duty) pianos. To be honest, I own one but I use it for much lighter keyboards, such as Roland XP30. I think I am going to do another round of research on z-type stands then, as you recommended and come back for further feedback from you guys!

Thanks a lot for your to-the-point input! I really appreciate your comments.
It is impressive how the internet has become an invaluable ally in this rapidly changing world, as the one of keyboards and digital pianos market.

I use a "V-Stand", made for Roland by Ultimate Support, which I swear by. Don't know why they ever discontinued it, because the design is ingenious. And it is stable as a rock (I'm a big guy and play hard), sets up in seconds, looks good (unobtrusive) and solves the wandering-pedal problem (pedal nestles in the "V").

X-type stands I have found unstable, and Z-type and Apex-type stands too time-consuming and bothersome to set up and tear down.

Hi Verbo

Can't go wrong with the RD700NX, a beautiful stage piano, as good as you will get at this point in time.

Roland put out a Z styled stand KS18. Heavy duty but not too heavy and very portable. I believe the US price is only around $65.00. I have my NX on this stand and it's a very good fit.

Some other boards worth looking at that haven't been mentioned but are still within the RD-700NX price range... Yamaha CP5, Nord Piano.

anotherscott, thank you for your recommendations. Do you have personal experience with Nord Piano? Personnally I like the touch and feel of RD700NX, and since piano (or other) sounds/samples can be 'found' through commercial software nowadays, I have been thinking of following the advice that one should pay special attention to the keybed since this is something that cannot be changed.
Of course, I have read pretty good reviews online for Nord Piano. Perhaps I will have to check its keybed before making my final decision!

RD has a superior action to the Nord - it's not just personal taste, it is just plain better. But the Nord is ok in this respect. The Nord's sounds are technically inferior but have very much more character than the RD's (and everyone else's) and there is much more variety on offer with the Nord too (again, unique in the market). Vintage EPs on the Nord eat everything else alive, there is absolutely no competition short of Korg Kronos (which I don't regard as a stage piano anyway).

If you like the Roland piano sound and are not really into vintage EP sounds the RD is the one to have out of the two of them.

Don't disregard the CP5 until you've tried it. Despite owning lots of Yamaha stuff I have fallen into the trap of dismissing Yamahas in the past but when you get into those Yamaha pianos I think they are fantastic. I think Yamaha understands the needs of musicians, I really do.

Finally have you considered the Kawai MP10? I got mine a couple of weeks back and am ecstatic with the action in terms of playability and the sounds connect well.

Good luck,

Steve

Yes, it is personal taste. While most people would probably agree that the RD-700NX action is better, there are some people who feel that it bottoms too hard, and they might prefer playing the Nord.

As it happens, I would prefer the Roland to the Nord (albeit based only a short evaluation of the supposedly similar feeling FP-7F), but I would take the Nord's over any current Korg or Yamaha portable action, except for the CP1/CP5.


This is also opinion, albeit again, commonly held. (I know, this time, you didn't say otherwise. ;-) ) Personally, besides the Kronos, I like the Kurzweil EPs better than the Nord. There are also, believe it or not, some Casio PX and CDP models that I feel have had a better EP than anything in the Nord.

You're joking surely? Sometimes with these things whilst there is a lot of room for personal preference there are times when the case is very clear-cut. Notwithstanding the whims of a few oddballs I think when the gulf is wide enough it is possible to express these things as fact because it is accepted by the vast, overwhelming majority. The world is spherical; fact. There are still a few nutters that think it's flat though.

A Mercedes Benz is a better car than a Fiat. That doesn't meant the odd person here and there wouldn't prefer the Fiat for some limited uses (like parking it in a busy town for instance) but in every objective assessment the MB is the better car. The Roland has a better action than the Nord and the Nord has better EPs than the Kurzweil (and everything else).

Come on guys, let's not argue about it. Regardless of whether you prefer the touch of the Roland or the Kurzweil's, I think one thing we can all agree on is that the Williams Allegro wipes the floor with both of them.

James
x

Sorry James. I'll go and sit on the naughty step for the rest of the day.

OK I think I have got a pretty good idea of how things go with these keyboards.
EssBrace, I have not thought of Kawai so far, because in the area where I live there is limited support for these pianos and I am really reluctant to allocate such an amount of money for something that may not have sufficient after sales service.
Thanks again for your comments!

I'll grant you that the Roland action is technologically generally superior to the Nord's... but feel is so subjective... there are people who simply don't like the feel of the Rolands. But I admit, I don't know for a fact whether or not anyone actually prefers the feel of the Nord Piano.

However, you will not convince me about the Nord EPs. Sure, lots of people love them, but I know I am far from the only person who finds them disappointing.

I hope you guys don't mind if I gatecrash this party.

I tend to go for lightweight stage pianos since I'm getting past wanting to carry 55lb boards to awkward venues, so I have no direct experience of the RD-700NX, although I have the FP-7F at home.

What I can say about the Roland SN and PHAIII combination is that there is currently little other than perhaps the Kawai MP10 and Yamaha CP1 (neither of which I have played) that can offer a pianistic experience that is as satisfying. I agree with those that say that the basic Roland piano sound has a certain dullness of character, and that the SN aspects seem overlaid rather than integral, but I find that I can sit and play the FP-7F more "immersively" than any of my other boards or those that I have tried: in other words, I am able to suspend disbelief for longer when playing the Roland, being less aware of irritating artifacts.

That said, the Kawai MP6 has a clearer, perhaps more realistic piano tone, but is a little less well integrated with its action, and can be a touch harsh.

The Nord Piano (which I owned for some months) is full of character, as most people agree. However, it lacks dynamic range, has a less sophisticated action than either Roland or Kawai, and seems to exhibit its technical flaws too readily for me, when playing solo. Also, I have to agree with anotherscott: it's EPs, while comprehensively spanning the Rhodes model spectrum, seem "truncated," in that one only gets a portion of the original's depth and range of tone. Same for the Wurlitzer. Having played modeled EPs, I think that they are often more able to capture the essence of the original in a way that satisfies the player (as opposed to convincing the audience). In the end, though, I prefer Nord's EPs to Roland's, any day.

Still with EPs, the new Kawai MPs are the dark horse in this race. My MP6 offers a surprisingly good Rhodes emulation, (one only) that is at least on a par with Nord's, and may (subjectively) be better. Kurzweil's EPs are very good, too, and, to me, provide more to dig into than Nord, but you tend to have to accept the whole package of preset effects, etc. unless you're prepared to go into edit mode.


Anyway, to the OP, good luck with your search!