I posted this review over at The Keyboard Corner; however, given the dearth of information/reviews about the Acuna on the interwebs, I thought I'd cross-post here:

A few weeks ago, I was able to get a great deal on the Acuna 88 from The MIDI Store. I am reworking my home studio, and no longer need two 88-key controllers (one for gigs and one to leave at home), so I decided to order the Acuna and compare it to my Studiologic Numa Nero and Numa Nano.

In short, the action on the Acuna is excellent, and its fit and finish is far beyond the Numas, due to its all-metal casing.

While the Acuna lacks the wooden action of the Nero, its key travel and weight feel much more similar to my vintage Baldwin R5 grand than the Nero, and I no longer need to be concerned with the effects of temp and humidity changes on the wood action of the Nero. Also, the Nero never felt right for Rhodes and Wurly, but the Acuna feels great for both. I don't thimk the Acuna would work for Clavinet, but I'm not aware of a fully weighted action that would.

While on paper the Acuna and Nano share the same action, they feel very different, with the Acuna feeling much more refined and solid, with less mush when it bottoms out.

Lastly, the Acuna offers a few physical controllers which both the Numas lack. These will come in handy in controlling a small number of parameters in Cantabile sessions.

I cannot comment on the iPad integration, as I am not an Apple person.

I just bought the Baldwin R5 a few months ago, and it really has opened my eyes as to how a weighted action should feel. It made me realize that the deep key travel and early trigger point of the Nero are not as realistic as I once thought.

If you are looking for a great 88-key controller with an action that works for acoustic and electric piano sounds, you should really consider the Acuna 88.

Is the Acuna action Good for fast repetitions and classical music? What would you say about that? And about the velocity curves?
Thank You.

Thanks for the review.

Am I correct in assuming that the Acuna uses a Fatar keyboard action?

Cheers,
James
x

I believe it is the Fatar TP40. As far as the curves go, I think that Studiologic programs them to be artificially stiff to give the keyboard the illusion of feeling heavier (since the TP40 is a lightweight action). I usually choose a medium to heavy curve, as I am somewhat heavy-handed. On the Acuna, I use the lightest curve.

As far as suitability for classical repetitions, I don't really feel qualified to answer, as I am a jazz/rock/soul/country/funk guy. All the repetitions I play come through fine.

Edit:

The action is not the TP40, but is the TP/100 Premium.

Interesting, thanks for the extra info.

Does the Acuna allow touch curves to be adjusted/created by the user?

Cheers,
James
x

No - there are 4 curves - Light, Medium, Hard, and Fixed. I believe the YouPlay feature is unique to the Numas, although I never noticed much of a difference when I used it, and I always went back to the stock curves.

I edited my post above where I incorrectly identified the Acuna's action as the TP40. It is actually the TP/100 Premium.