Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Korg Krome, Roland FA-08 or Yamaha MOXF8?

Hey guys!

I am considering one of these as my next board and here are my initial thoughts. For the 88 key versions I believe Roland has the best key bed followed by Yamaha and lastly Korg. Roland has the most on board sounds and the easiest interface. It also has an SD card slot with card included. Yamaha has some nice piano sounds and the application to integrate with a DAW. You can also add a card for additional storage and upload sounds. Korg has some sweet synth sounds, SD card slot and is the least expensive of the three.

Overall each of three has sounds that I really like and others that aren't so impressive. So it's sort of a wash for me in that respect. One thing that I am having a hard time finding info on is their DAW compatibility and work flow. They are workstations after all but people seem to over look that aspect in reviews etc.

I know much of this is going to be subjective but if you have experience with any or all of these boards I would love to get your thoughts on them.

Cheers,
Greg

If you want a good keybed, look at Yamaha. I have played the MOX8 (not F8) and Krome, and I did not like the feel of Krome.

If you're talking sounds, it's my understanding that Yamaha is great for acoustic instrument sounds, Korg is good for more synth-type sounds. As for Roland, I haven't played the FA-08, but they usually sounds great too.

With regards to compatibility with DAWs, Yamaha is supposed to be well-integrated with Cubase, but it's not easy to get going, IMO. Of course, that could just be my lack of experience in using DAWs and MIDI in general. I don't know if the other boards are easier or if what I am experiencing is just due to my own lack of understanding.

Not sure if the SD card thing is really as useful as USB stick.

I can tell you that the DAW integration on the FA-08 is awesome. Your entire 16 tracks can be individually exported as WAV files to your DAW for mixing and mastering, after you lay them down in the built in sequencer. This process is very user friendly. The built in SP-404SX style sampler is also very useful.

Also make sure you check out the Axial website:

Here's a page dedicated to FREE sound expansions for the FA-06/08: http://axial.roland.com/category/fa-06_fa-08/

Jay

Jay,

I am very much leaning to the FA-06/08. One thing that I would love to have is escapement for the added abilities such as slides on guitars etc.. I know the FA-08 has it but does the FA-06 have escapement as well? I am really considering a light weight form factor that I can carry with me.

Cheers,
Greg

Escapement isn't designed to do slides. The slides on some of the tones on the FA-series are velocity based. So the FA-06 will do the slides as well as the 08.

Jay

Err oops! Don't know what I was thinking... That what happens after watching hours of keyboard reviews online...

thercman, perhaps you're thinking of Aftertouch on the keyboard?

This allows an extra degree of expression for playing synth or orchestral sounds, whereby you press a little harder after reaching the bottom of the key stroke, and this added pressure triggers an effect or different sound etc.

Cheers,
James
x

Yes James, that was absolutely what I was thinking! I am not sure if the FA-08/06 can do that or not.

Edit: From what I have found thus far this is not a feature. Maybe Jay can confirm this...

No aftertouch on any of the models you're comparing. The only 88 workstation in that price range with aftertouch is the Kurzweil PC3LE8. But it looks like that's being phased out and is getting harder to find. Also, unfortunately, it is not a lightweight board like the others you're looking at, it's a tubby 54 lbs.

However, if you're going to pair your lightweight 88 with a second board as many people do (if for no other reason than a fully weighted action is not ideal for many non-piano sounds, particularly organ), one possibility is to pick a second board with aftertouch, and use it to trigger sounds in your 88. Most boards that don't have aftertouch still recognize aftertouch over MIDI.

Thanks Scott!

I went to GC today and another local dealer to check out the boards. I probably should have taken my headphones but it was kind of an after thought to make the trip. The only boards I could sample were the MOXF8 and the Krome. I must say I wasn't impressed with either of them. I didn't like the action of either and sounds didn't seem all the great. Not having headphones was probably a big contributing factor. With that said I have no way of checking out the Roland since the GC here is limited on their inventory. So if I want to try it I have to buy it. *sigh* The good thing is that based on the many hours of research I have done, it seems like the Roland is the one I would buy and probably in the 61 key variety... This process has been a bit of an eye opener for me as well. While I like the ideas of having a portable 61 key, the synth/organ sounds and the price, I really seem to gravitate towards stage pianos. So I am undecided on what I want at this point. The RD 800 is calling my name though. lol

If you are considering the RD-800, then you should look at some other DPs that are in that category. The MOXFs are entry-level workstations, not digital pianos, so the action is not going to be very piano-like. Also, since the MOXF is entry-level, it has the sounds of the MOTIFs but the limitations of the MOXF means those sounds aren't going to be as great. Still, they're not terrible. I'm sure the sound system they were hooked up to didn't do them justice. However, it is their lowest end DP action. Same with Krome. These are intended to be more of a synth with 88 keys.

The RD-800 is a digital piano with some synth capabilities - lots of sounds, and some recording possibilities, but mostly intended for live performances rather than music production. Other DPs that are competitive with this line are the Yamaha CP4 and Kawai MP7. If action is of paramount importance to you and sounds are not (if you're using a DAW, many come with their own VSTs or you can get VSTs to get the sounds you want), then the Kawai MP11 is probably the best out there IMO.

So it all depends on what you want this DP for.

I disagree with that. I think the sound of the MOXF and Motif XF is virtually identical. You're right about the actions, though.

Somewhat related, one thing I like about MOXF is that it gives you the same sounds as their higher end. By contrast, the Krome doesn't give you anywhere near the sounds of a Kronos, and the FA does not give you nearly the sounds of an Integra.

Hey Morodiene,

I only threw the RD-800 out there as an option thinking that it will be cool to have the Roland's sounds and board (which I have wanted for a while). Also I would like to have a different action than the NP2 and then use VST's as you mentioned. Just thinking/typing out loud. :-)

That raises a question about action. Roland's action seems really good, second only to Kawai (for me). I am wondering about Roland's new "1000 times more sensitive" key bed and how it compares to Kawai's triple sensor technology. I glanced through the user manual for the RD but it only talks about adjusting it, not how it works or what it is per say.

Maybe I should worry less about the workstation aspect and concentrate on portability and VST's. That way I can get the best of both world's a decent/good portable keyboard (if that exists in 61 keys) and my choice of sounds.

Anyone know how the key bed is on the Nord Electro 4D? Is it "plasticky" or more like a Fatar bed?

I know this thread has morphed a bit from 88 keys to 61 and possibly abandoning a workstation all together. But isn't that how this works after all? We discover things about our needs, wants, equipment and make changes accordingly. :-)

I still haven't abandoned the FA-06 yet. :-)

I would love to hear you thoughts guys

Cheers,
Greg

Greg, regarding keyboard actions, the marketing materials can only tell you so much about what they do, or how great they play. However, at the end of the day, you need to get out there and play the instruments with your own hands to truly understand how they feel.



Both - it's a plastic Fatar action. Really, the action in the Electro offers a compromise for playing organ, EP, piano, clav, etc. but is not really ideal for any particular one.

Cheers,
James
x

OK, so portability is high, and a good piano action is high, you'd like 61 keys, but then you're compromising action because there's really nothing with a good piano action for something that is far less than a piano, for lack of a better way of saying it. Workstation is not really as important.

Let's work with that list and see what people can recommend. What's your max budget?

Thanks for the feedback James!

I would love to get my hands on various boards and try them. However, the local Guitar Center has a pretty poor selection and nothing high end. They have no Nord keyboards, no Kawai boards, no Kronos X, and no Roland's at all if I remember correctly. At least nothing over $500 anyway. In order to get my hands on these boards I would probably need to drive to Seattle, which is 4.5 hours away. Even the local Kawai dealer doesn't stock any of the stage pianos. They might have one MP7. I really think if they advertised them and added a decent set of studio monitors they could probably sell a ton of MP11's and VPC1's etc..

At this point I am trying to do as much research and get as many subjective yet unbiased opinions as possible. Once I narrow one down I'll order it from GC. That's how I purchased the NP2. If I don't like it then GC can have it back. It sucks having to do that but it's either that or take a road trip. (which I may do at some point) The quest continues.

Greg, checking 'Spokane WA' Kawai America's online dealer locator, it appears that 'Dan the Piano Man' (great name for a dealer!) is very close by. While the store does not stock the stage pianos, they may be willing to special order the instruments for you, and while there, you can play test the CA95/CA65 and CN34/CN24 models that utilise the same keyboard actions as the MP11 and MP7 respectively.

Cheers,
James
x

Morodiene,

I was thinking an absolute max of $2499... When I initially started this venture I was trying to stay around $1500 and not exceed 2k. So much for that. lol So I have been considering the Nord Electro 4d. I love their organ and synth sounds. Construction is robust, the keys seem to be one step above the normal plasticky variety. The best part is you can swap sounds in the library. The bad part for me and maybe a deal breaker, is the ridiculously small amount of memory in the thing. If I want a some piano sounds, I can only add 2 at the large file size. I cannot even add 1 XL sample as they are to large for the on board memory. That pretty much defeats the purpose of having the library in the first place. ("hey! here is our newest and best xxxxx sample, free to download" and then I can't use it) Nord fails miserably in this respect and considering they cost more than almost all the other boards out there, I am thinking the profit margin could be cut into a few dollars to add more memory or add a card slot... Sorry, rant.

I may start considering boards like the Hammond Sk1. It's a process.

Thanks for the help!

I have been there a few times. They have good customer service, very willing to help. Thanks for the info on the keyboard actions. I'll swing by. They are only a few minutes from the house. :-)

The 4D, with the drawbars and only 61 keys, is specifically targeted at people whose primary purpose is organ. If you want more piano memory, they offer the two 73 key models.

Related to that, in typical use, there is not much point to putting a Large piano sample into a 4D. I'm pretty sure that the Medium version will sound the same within the 61-key range of the board.

As for the value of the piano library if you don't have a lot of space to load samples into, it's still nice to be able to have your choice of different kinds of piano sounds, even if you need to ultimately settle on keeping just a few of them available. Most keyboards never have anything more than the piano sample they come with, and often, it's only a single sampled piano. Of course, if it's the sound you want, one may be all you need... that's all a real acoustic piano has!

But if you like the idea of a range of different piano sounds and being able to download new ones into the board, you can also do that with the Yamaha MOXF. It comes with samples of two different Yamaha grands, and if you buy the optional flash card, you can load in additional acoustic piano sounds from Yamaha (free) and from third parties (typically not free).


I also want to point out that the Nord is not really strong as a synth. Yes, it has some nice synth samples you can load into it... but it doesn't behave as a synth. The Nord samples are useful for "getting by" if synth isn't your main thing. But you are really into synth sounds, you would probably miss things like portamento (glide), pitch bend and modulation functions, filter and envelope controls, etc.

Getting back to the bigger picture, you've obviously been a little unfocussed in what your priorities are... so I'll toss out another suggestion... that with a budget of up to $2500, maybe you don't need to try to find one board that has it all. You might be better served by a pair of boards, that will give you the piano and organ/synth actions, and may make it easier for you to address more of your needs than if you focus on trying to find everything in one board. For example, you could pair a Casio PX-5S with a MOXF6, FA-06, Hammond XK1C, Roland VR09, or any of a number of other boards, and still be within budget.