From jhewes@ix.netcom.com Thu Nov 24 06:53:27 2005
Subject:RE: Advice needed regarding "Stagepiano" issues.


Lol, I also just went to GC to check out the S90 ES because of the
recommendations here. I’ve owned a Kurzweil PC88mx for some years and would
like to step up. I loved the S90 ES piano sound. It’s very responsive. I can
get that intimate, well-rounded tone that the PC88 doesn’t have. Plus you
get a fully programmable synth. The only thing that’s lacking for me is a
good harpsichord sound, which the PC88 has and which I’ll miss if I sell it.
(I also wish that you could install RAM and upload samples, but I guess that
’s getting too close to being a Motif.) I’m a bit peeved that the mLAN
interface is $400.

Anyway, I played the piano through a Roland amp with 12” speaker (KC-300?).
It sounded a little boomy about 1 – 1.5 octaves below middle C. But I
suspect that might be the amp. It was a pretty nice-sounding boomy anyway.
As some people have said, the keyboard feel is a little on the light side,
slightly lighter than the PC88 I think. But I’ve never been crazy about the
relatively sharp edges on the PC88 keys and the S90 ES keys are better
there.

In a shallow attempt to be on-topic, I can also mention that a few feet away
was a Hammond XK-3 going through a Motion Sound. It sounded gorgeous, and I
had to separate myself from it after a few minutes or else succumb to its
spell, which would cost me a lot. (I don’t currently own a clone; I’ve just
been lurking here)

One more thing about the S90 ES in case you haven’t already read it. It has
a voice allocation algorithm that some people object to. You can read about
it in the forum at www.sninety.com. If you play a note hard once and then 4
times softly, you can hear it steal the first one away. I was able to
reproduce this easily in the store. But in normal playing it didn't seem to
be an issue and I don’t think it would bother me. But it’s something you
should be aware of.

I’d love to go out and pick up an S90 ES and a Hammond XK-3 with a leslie. I
’d be in heaven. That’s quite a total chunk of change though.

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