Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Is Alicia's Keys worth $49

just got the native instruments 4 pianos today- will write a review this month after a work trip.

I actually like the source of the AK; an approx. 6' Yamaha- I find the 9' too bright for my liking

No,actually, since you ask. Mail boxes here are choked with offers for trips by coach to Fatima or Lourdes or destinations with unique, native herbal teas which will cure all physical and mental ills.

It's amazing really. When they are gone (and these brochures already have the smell of a bygone age) I shall miss them.

Nevertheless, they go straight to the bin unread, of course. The lot of the mailshot is not a happy one.

spot on comment. there is something to be said for making your own mistakes and learning the hard way. i think i paid 69 or 79 for it a couple years ago at a guitar center. thought i was getting a deal. played with it for about a month and it hasn't been used since. just think there are several better options out there for not that much more money. and i've never been very good with the idea that i will need to possess a battery of pianos that i can go to for various tonal qualities or moods. if i find one that i like, i pretty much stick to it. AK isn't it. But if you are a composer and you want certain timbres- well at this price it won't hurt you too much.

Yes, AK (at $49) is well priced for something you can buy and then never use once you play it and find out how bad it is. It is nearly unplayable in my opinion because of the deadness (lack of sustain) on the C note one octave above middle C (and one or two other notes). I discussed this problem with its creator when it was first released and he acknowledged the issue but refused to fix it.

So the question is: Why buy it in the first place?

The Vintage D is about $125 (or you can pay $175 to also get a copy of AK at $49 that you will then never use). The Ivory II American D is $180. These are by far the two most highly recommended pianos discussed here and have met the test of time.

If you absolutely must have a Yamaha piano (rather than a Steinway), I would recommend the Ivory II Grand Piano collection which includes a playable (but rather hot and zingy) Yamaha C7 and a decent Steinway D (but not the American D). Unfortunately I don't know of another good Yamaha alternative. On the other hand, the Vintage D can easily be voiced to work very well for musical genre's that I would normally choose to use a Yamaha piano. I would not recommend the American D for those applications.

OK, I just received Alicia's Keys yesterday, so am comparing it to Pianoteq which I already have, using a Kawai VPC1.
I had a hard time getting AK to work at all, because it wouldn't play nice with my ASIO drivers (a Maya44 card). I installed my Emu 1010 and it's working great with them. A-B'ing Pianoteq and AK (both running at the same time) and so far AK is a clear winner for me. Maybe I'm just used to the sound, since my piano is a Yamaha C3.
Admittedly this is just a preliminary judgement, but so far I can't seem to tweak Pianoteq to where I'm pleased with the sound. I'm not giving up on it, though. I'm itching to try Ivory, but it might be a while before I can get ahold of it. There just doesn't seem to be any way to really tell until you run them in your setup.

Update - now that I've had a couple of days to check it out and work some more with Pianoteq, I mostly prefer Pianoteq at this point. Note that I'm simply using the software for real-time playing, not for sequencing. There are so many options in Pianoteq it's really a matter of learning how to get the sound you want, and the real-time response, dynamics, half-pedalling, etc., are just better. AK might be better for sequencing, but I haven't tried that yet.

sounds like your AK is heading for the Island of Misfit Toys.

If only it were the only $ I'd spent on something I don't use.
Ah well, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained, or something like that.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll use it some, I always do if only out of stubborn-ness.

i wouldn't sweat it. it costs about as much as two large pizzas and a pitcher of beer.

Yes, plus it's a learning experience and didn't add to my waistline.
Plus, it finally got me to pull the Maya44 out of my system (it's been problematic from the get-go) and plug in the EMU 1010, which is a better card, at least in my Gateway-without-any-PCI-slots. (That's another story, but it was a rather nasty surprise that the computer came with only PCIe slots so none of my old cards would work).

I have decided for the next few weeks to hold off- maybe it would go lower for black friday.

I am finding addictive keys well worth the $29, for the variety and editing available.
Soon I will open up the other native pianos- which at $12.50 each are a good deal, I like how they sound.

I still need to hook up my Ik total workstation sounds and see what else I might want.