Need Suggestions for an 88 Key Controller

[Stephen Davis]

I need an 88 key controller for my Pro Tools rig. But, it needs to double as a good practice piano. I am planning on going back to get my masters next year and I need to get my piano chops back together. I would like to keep this as inexpensive as possible. Also, it MUST have weighted keys.

Thanks

[jdier]

I am not a pro, but my father just bought a Casio PX-100 Privia keyboard and it has a nice weighted feel and decent sounds for practice and it doubles as a midi controler.

[LSchefman]

I'm a piano player. I have used several excellent controllers over the years. I prefer the Kurzweil and Yamaha 88 key synths for their feel, and have owned several, but I don't use hardware synths any more, I'm now software based simply because I can work on lots of projects at once, and not have to reload anything but the computer file.

The good news is that some of the better piano software samplers sound much better to my ear than any of my old hardware synths or samplers, such as my Kurzweils (at one time I ran three at once).

So I'm using an M Audio Keystation Pro 88, which has a good feel, but the key travel is longer than a real piano, so it takes a little getting used to. However, it's the best I've found for software control. And the bonus is, it's cheap. I see it in a lot of studios owned by fellow pros, so it's not that its low price has put people off.

Yamaha is coming out with a new controller in a few weeks, the KX8. That might be worth checking.

Finally, a newer company in the market, CME, has a controller with fewer features than the M-Audio, but I've heard it feels pretty good. So there's that.

I also use an Akai controller with percussion pads in front of my monitor, the MPK 49, which has some nice programming for soft synths, and lots of controls. I find the M-Audio is simply too large to sit in front of my monitor comfortably, that's simply a personal thing, it's relatively tall. So it's over to the side.

[nosignal]

ive been looking at digi pianos as well ive come across a few that might strike your fancy

a couple that i have found with usb ports built in for easy computer connection are
m-audio prokeys88
casio privia px-320
yamaha ypg625

another one that i've been looking into is the new yamaha p-85, it doesn't have a usb port but it has midi inputs which you can use to connect to your computer via midi interface.
hope i helped