From shrockrob@aol.com Mon Sep 13 11:54:40 2004
Subject:MKS-20 and sampled grands, OT big time

Hi,

If you're looking for AUTHENTIC-sounding acoustic piano and feel, then the
digital pianos are it.

I have a Yamaha P250. Great acoustic piano sounds (normal, rock, mellow,
honky-tonk variations); incredible graded hammer action feel; and it has a great
Wurlie and clav, some decent EPs, great Vibes, a decent harpsichord, a killer
upright bass sound, and a bunch of GM-level sounds. But it's the piano sound
for me.

It has built-in 30W speakers; so it is great for just turning on and playing
without having to fire up a computer rig. It also has a 1/4-inch stereo inputs
for running something else through the speakers that is passed to the
outputs.

To bring this slightly on-topic again...
At home I have my CX-3 outputs running into the P250's input. That way, when
just practicing, I can hear both instruments with no other amplification. The
CX-3 is mixed with piano at the P-250's output; so for simple gigs I can just
hand the sound guy a stereo pair and balance the instruments myself. Very
convenient. Even when running the keyboards separately, this has been a great
basic rock rig for the staples: acoustic piano, Wurlie, EPs, clavinet; and organ
from the CX-3.

The downside of the P250 is that it's heavy: 80 or 85 lbs., and big! There
are some other really good-sounding digital pianos out there, too, so it's
worth investigating; but I spent months researching this: digital pianos,
workstations, sample libraries, etc. I own pretty much all the piano sample
libraries, too; I still landed on the P250 for feel, playability and authenticity; and
I would (and have) use it on records, where most of the others I would not.
Sooo many of the other piano sounds don't cut through a band and/or sound real
onstage, either.

I have an MKS20. I only use it for the EP and only occasionally these days.
The piano sound is that mono, digital piano sound in the RD1000; it's the sound
Elton John used to use in his live show throughout the early 90s (yuck)
hidden inside a grand piano facåde. Very percussive, 2-dimensional and
fake-sounding to me. It does cut in a band, though, and that's why it was used so much.
Even Stevie Ray Vaughn's keyboardist used it on the records (the long piano solo
on "Riviera Paradise" is the RD1000/MKS20 piano. But it doesn't really sound
like a real piano...)

Anwyay, there's another opinion...

Rob Shrock

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