Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Serious Pianist's opinions on Yamaha KX88 Wanted

I have about 24 hours to decide if the Yamaha KX88 will meet my needs. I basically need to know, from an advanced classical pianist's viewpoint, if this keyboard in any way feels 'just like' a grand piano. Some say since this thing is 20 years old, digital keyboard actions have come a long way and there is better out there, but I can't find any such product that is a midi-controller only that has action comparable to what people say the KX88 has.

This thing has wooden keys right? And is pretty heavy, no? (both are good things for me). Also, are the keys progressively weighted (i.e. heavier at the bottom and lighter at the top)?

And finally, does this employ a true hammer action, where real hammers counter-balance the keys and actually strike upwards as the keys move down? Or is it simply a very fancy metal spring mechanism designed to feel like grand piano hammers?

Thanks,
-C.

Sorry but I don't think any serious pianists would use that:)

What would they use, then? Besides obviously using a real grand piano, which I can't atm.

The KX88 was THE controller of choice for many years among pro keyboard players. I used to own one, as did almost every other keyboard player I know. That said, compared to today's keyboards, they feel absolutely horrible. And no - it's not a graded hammer action. Don't get me wrong... in it's day (which would have been early 1990's), it was state-of-the-art. Unfortunately it's obsolete compared to today's technology.

There isn't much of a market for MIDI controllers these days. But if you're looking for a better option, you might be able to find a Roland A90 used, which is significantly better than the KX88. M-Audio recently released a very inexpensive 88-key MIDI controller. I haven't played it, but I'm skeptical because of it's price. But it's worth a try...

Allright, I think you may be right. So far I've heard people describe the action from 'horrible' to 'world's best simulation of a grand piano action.' Damn you conflicting reviews!

I've now come to the conclusing that whatever MIDI piano I buy would by defenition need to have hammers in it, like this: AWA Pro Action

This basically narrows the field down to the Kawai MP9500, or the Yamaha P120 or P90. If anyone knows of any other keyboards (under $2500) which use actual hammers let me know. Keep in mind I really mean _real hammers_, as in the first picture in the above link. I don't think anything with simulated hammers, i.e. with the contact mechanism under the key, would even come close to my requirements.

By the way, anyone know of any dealers in the Midwest (Minnesota) who would carry a new or used MP9500?

Thanks,
-C.

Only digital I know of with a real piano action is the Grantouch. Definatly not under $2500. I'm not sure about the used market though. Most of the top manufacturers use some form of hammer action though. Yamaha has the graded hammer action, Roland has the progressive hammer action. In general Roland usually has a lighter touch to its keyboards while Yamaha has a heavier one. They're both great, just comes down to a matter of personal taste IMO. No serious digital piano maker nowadays that I know of uses springs to simulate acoustic action. Oh and btw, if you're not gonna go for the Yamaha GH3 keyboard on the high end Clavinova's then you might as well go for something like the P60 as everything in the P-series shares the same keyboard action. However, connectivity is the best on the P250(out of the P-series).

Since you are an experienced pianst, I suggest you'd know better most what feels right. Just go out and try them I guess.

I personally thought that aside from the gran-touch (which i thought was by far and away the best), the model with the touch closest to an accoustic grand was the CLP 175. I found the CA5 (same action as MP9500) slightly sluggish.

But i reckon you really REALLY should try them out before buying if at all possible.

The problem with the GranTouch is the MIDI implementation is not the greatest.

Re: the KX88, I'm sure someone in 1990 thought it was the best action ever -- it was at the time. But even a P120 (which I'm not fond of) plays much better than a KX88.

Don't forget the A90, which can be had for far less than $2500 and has the Roland hammer action.

Well I recently purchased a Yamaha P60 ($749) and I like it more than the Samick console piano we have. OK, I like the action better, not the sound. It has the same graded hammer action as the P90 and P120 and that alone has inspired me to practice more (that and not annoying my wife further with every note I play). Obviously you're getting conflicting information. I would suggest you go try out a few and buy the one that feels best and sounds good. For me the feel of the action is what's most important as I can take the midi output and get much better piano sounds from my recording equipment (GigaStudio).

Cheers,

I don't think there is any midi controler out there will make you feel satisfied regarding their action... You should get a digital piano. Which one? You have to find out this. Kawai MP9000-9500, Roland RD700-700sx, Yamaha P60-120-250 are all perfect gears. Just you have to find out which one is the best for you...

(edit)

How does that solve the problem?

I think he's saying that you won't find true grand piano action on any midi keyboard controller. But, perhaps convincing grand piano action exists on digital pianos, which are essentially midi keyboard controllers built into some sort of high quality cabinet and hooked up to a sophisticated hardware sound module.

For example, Yamaha\'s Gran Touch
and GH3 actions, Roland\'s Progressive Hammer action with Escapement, and Kawai\'s AWA Pro action are basically the only way to go when simulating a grand piano. But, none of these are available in a dedicated midi-controller. You have to also buy the cabinets, and disk drives, and the inadequate built-in sound module. So, it looks like if you want those high quality actions, you have to buy a $5000 keyboard and only use $2000 worth of features. Every feature on those keyboards (except fot the action mechanisms, obviously) is obsolete when hooked up to a PC.
-C.

Them are the breaks when it comes to digital pianos I'm afraid. Personally, I think the $5k models usually sound pretty decent.

I own a Roland F100 and a Kawai MP9500, and I have tried some Yamahas. I would echo the comments of Xenon. The standard Roland action is lighter than the Yamaha GH3. (Note: I demoed a CVP309, which has the "Natural Nood" keyboard, and it felt lighter to me than CLP170 which uses GH3. But it is very expensive.) Also, I agree with Moonbat, the MP9500 feels slightly sluggish. However, these are all good digital pianos/keyboards, all in the ballpark of an acoustic upright in terms of how they feel. It just depends on whether you like a light, medium, or heavy action.

As an intermediate classical pianist with a fondness for Debussy, I prefer the slightly lighter action of the Roland. But if you are an advanced pianist, able to take advantage of the double escapement of an acoustic grand, and if an acoustic upright would not meet your expectations, then the above would not either.

As has been mentioned, Roland has an action with escapement. It's on models such as the HP107. You might try to demo one of these.