|
|
M-Audio PROKEYS 88SX 88-Key Lightweight Stage Piano with Semi-Weighted Action
|
List Price: $449.99
Special Price: Too low to display
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 months
Manufacturer: M-Audio
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Electronics
Brand: M-Audio
EAN: 0612391760106
Feature: Premium stage piano loaded with 14 world-class instrument samples
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: M-Audio
Manufacturer: M-Audio
Model: 9900-41309-00
Publisher: M-Audio
Special Features: Its essential complement of instruments including grand piano, electric pianos, organ, and clav sound unbelievably good for an instrument in this price range. The piano?s semi-weighted action also delivers the best feel you can get without the added cost and weight of hammer action. While many digital stage pianos cram as many as 128 instruments into limited space, the ProKeys 88sx dedicates all of its memory to 7 high-quality sounds devoting extra attention to the multi-layer stereo samples of
Studio: M-Audio
|
|
|
Features
|
Premium stage piano loaded with 14 world-class instrument samples
Designed with split and layer capabilities
Doubles as a great master controller keyboard with a built-in USB interface
Connects to your PC or Mac, communicates with other MIDI gear, and more
Measures 13 x 5.9 x 57 inches (WxHxD)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
The ProKeys 88sx digital stage piano delivers excellent sound in a package so light that you can carry it under one arm, because this piano is only 17 pounds! Its must-have complement of instruments?grand piano, electric pianos, organ and clav?sound better than anything in its price range. The piano's semi-weighted action also delivers the best feel you can get without the added cost and weight of hammer action. This Piano has 2 stereo headphone jacks that could be used for private practice or teaching. The USB MIDI interface and pitch/mod wheels combine with other features to make it a great MIDI controller as well. If you want a pure sounding digital stage piano that feels great to both your fingers and your back, the ProKeys 88sx is for you. Stereo 1/4 audio outputs 2 stereo 1/4 headphone outputs on front General MIDI Minimum System Requirements for PC - Windows XP* / Pentium II 350MHz / 128MB RAM / Native USB 1.1 port *M-Audio recommends that you check your software application's minimum system requirements, as they may be greater than the above. *Home and Professional Edition only. Windows Media Center Edition is not currently supported. Minimum System Requirements for Mac - Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher / G3 450MHz / 128MB RAM / Native USB 1.1 port Size - 54(L) x 10(W) x 3.5(H) Weight - 17.32 lbs. Includes power supply, SP-1 sustain pedal
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: This keyboard is great
Comment: You don't need a pedal for this keyboard -- it's perfect for someone like me in an apartment -- now with my headphones on I can practice 24 hours a day and never disturb my neighbors. The sound is very realistic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Causes cancer and birth defects?!?!?
Comment: Purchased this keyboard wanting to learn how to play the piano. However, on the inside cover of the instruction manual there is a big sticker saying there are chemicals used to make this keyboard which cause cancer and birth defects "so please wash hands after using". Is this for real?!?!? I cannot believe Amazon would sell such a product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: nice keyboard!
Comment: playing this is close to real piano, and price is very reasonable. Sounds it has isn't that great but I should say it's fine unless you get some from other instrument.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Can't go wrong at this price even if it's essentially a "toy"
Comment: Anyone who purchases a $400 piano expecting it to perform with the touch and sound of a Steinway is terribly naive or bluffing. No electric is fit for playing Liszt, Chopin, or Rachmaninoff--even the fully weighted and graded (heavier touch on bottom, lighter on top) models at ten times the price of this M-Audio. A keyboard like this one is OK for use with computer programs, midi work, and learning something about the lay of the keyboard and how to "flesh out" a lead sheet. You don't require more than 76 keys for jazz and pop music, or 61 for computer programming (88 keys is to impress the consumer). By all means pass up the keyboards with built-in rhythm sections, several hundred instrument sounds, recording capability, pre-installed songs and styles, auto-accompaniment. They're counterproductive. (You may as well play your stereo.)
As for touch, if you're a jobbing musician, you'll soon be all too happy to sacrifice weighted action in favor of the lightest, most decent -sounding keyboard available. Unlike an actual piano, you learn how to let the electrical contacts of the keyboard do the work and to use "finger" technique (instead of deriving power from the weight of the arm and shoulders). Moreover, if you occasionally want to use an organ voice, weighted action will simply drag you down.
For those expressing disappointment: never buy a keyboard without trying it, and don't expect it to sound the same at home as in the store--or on the job as at home. (So much the better if the seller has a return policy.) A previous reviewer is partially right in insisting touch is all that matters--but only because 50% of an electric's tone quality is dependent upon the amp. I've been looking for many years for electric keyboards that come close to delivering what they promise (above all, a musician wants to have a sense of "control" of his instrument at all times), and I can't say we're closer to the goal (Kurzweil was almost there in 1988 with the K1000, but then the company was bought out by Korean giant Young Chang). Just be patient, stay with it, and don't let the "gear" become more important than the music. And bear in mind that electric keyboards are merely a "necessary evil" for us lowly, week-end jobbers. The real pros--from Oscar, Ahmad, and Bill Evans to Jarrett and Mehldau would quit music before playing a concert or even a 30-minute jazz set on an electric.
Warning: Amazon advertises this instrument as being capable of splits and layering. I frankly don't recall it having that capability (check with the manufacturer). Even so, a mere seven instrument sounds would make either feature pointless unless you were midi-ing the keyboard with a another keyboard or an external tone generator. Still, at Amazon's current price, this 20-pound instrument is a useful and affordable controller, computer accessory, and even occasional jobbing ax (e.g. big band dance jobs, where the pianist, at most, gets a couple of Basie fills or Peter Duchin arpeggios).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decent piano; good as a midi controller.
Comment: I'm using this piano for two purposes -- regular old playing and also as a midi controller for use with Propellerhead Reason 4.0.
As a piano, it's a good full-sized keyboard for the price. It's a light unit (17 lbs) which is good for convenience sake, but sometimes it's nice to have something a little more substantial. The action on the keys is fine -- it's not like a real piano but for 300 something dollars, it's not bad. The action on this piano is lighter (keys push down more easily) than on some of the other M-audio keyboards I've tried, btw.
As some reviewers have noted, in order to hear the piano, you'll need to buy either a pair of headphones with a 1/4" jack or external speakers.
I'm using this keyboard as a midi controller with Reason, and it's worked perfectly well. The software and drivers are easy to install, and it's really just plug & play. Very simple.
One last thing, this unit comes with a sustain pedal, so don't make the mistake I did and order a sustain pedal, b/c you'll just end up returning it. You should, however, probably buy a keyboard stand (I bought the World Tour Single X Keyboard Stand which is working great) and music stand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
