Rudolph R-N R Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Hi all, already asked this once in the thread "Eerily similar.." but no responses. How do like the keybed? What have you played and can compare it to? I have a Casio wk7600, and like many lower priced boards the action sucks. It actually got worse over time (I've played it a lot), have noticed brand new ones aren't too bad. But the point is I prefer weighted action, but if I am going to play semi weighted it needs to be halfway decent. I find a poor action makes my playing sloppy (don't know why, but I've noticed it on many boards), and with the 7600 it doesn't feel like I've got full dynamic control, takes much out the joy of playing. My reference boards have been the Yamaha xs7 and Korg m3, both of which had top notch semi weighted action. i know there was some heated discussions btw squeak d and Bacchus over at synth zone, and there's no appetite for being super critical or being perceived as such, but this board is not at my local guitar center and I need honest evaluation and personal preferences! If I end up buying this board unplayed, I want at least a fighting chance I won't have to return it! Thanks, Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cass Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Ok, I have Roland FA-06, Casio PX-5S, Casio LK270, Korg Microstation and EMU Xboard-61. Overall MZ-X500 beats in terms of easy quick access/fun/possibilities/touch control/sounds/speakers all above. MZX have the Best (semi?)-weighted keybed, is solid/feel almost as weighted piano keys, it beats PX5S weighted keys, as MZX ones are very fast/responsiver, you can trigger small velocity sound with small pressure, its like fast synth action with weighted piano keys feel without the noise/bad small pressure respons as PX5S hammered keys. Roland FA-06 keybey is cheap noisier plastic standard, totally unweighted feel organ/synth action, it feels the same as the Xboard. If I hadn't a lemon MZX, the all-in-one MZX beats above for quick music fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The keyboards of the WK models, the CTK models, the XW models and I presume because of comments I have read the MZ-X models, are not actually semi-weighted. See http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/semi-weighted-action/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 2 hours ago, Cass said: Ok, I have Roland FA-06, Casio PX-5S, Casio LK270, Korg Microstation and EMU Xboard-61. Overall MZ-X500 beats in terms of easy quick access/fun/possibilities/touch control/sounds/speakers all above. MZX have the Best (semi?)-weighted keybed, is solid/feel almost as weighted piano keys, it beats PX5S weighted keys, as MZX ones are very fast/responsiver, you can trigger small velocity sound with small pressure, its like fast synth action with weighted piano keys feel without the noise/bad small pressure respons as PX5S hammered keys. Roland FA-06 keybey is cheap noisier plastic standard, totally unweighted feel organ/synth action, it feels the same as the Xboard. If I hadn't a lemon MZX, the all-in-one MZX beats above for quick music fun. Thanks! Totally agree, hv bn looking at fa06 as well, but the keybed is awful, very little resistance and very shallow travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 54 minutes ago, AlenK said: The keyboards of the WK models, the CTK models, the XW models and I presume because of comments I have read the MZ-X models, are not actually semi-weighted. See http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/semi-weighted-action/ Good point, I don't see any thing on Casio site one way or the other. Semi weighted is what I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 The MZX will feel the same as a WK, CTK or XW series. I find the action very playable and a nice compliment to the weighted action in their digital pianos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 2 older keyboards I owned years ago-the Korg DW6000 nd DW8000 had "semi-weighted" keys with actual pieces of metal-steel or lead or something, glued to the underside of the key. The drawback to this is that the weights fell off, and it did tend to slow the response of the keys (especially if the weight jammed itself into the keybed!) having played Hammonds, grand pianos, Wurlitzers, Rhodes etc. and the XW-P1 and PX350, PX575 (latter 2 piano-action) I like the way the XW keys tend to feel like there is a longer "throw" to the action-like a piano-but the piano shape is hard on organ riffs, but easier than a piano-action. Gigging, I need both. Just be aware-these spring-action instruments over time will wear if you are a heavy-handed player. Years back I mashed my poor SY-77 to pieces playing all the piano riffs on it (50s-60s covers) since I was unwilling to lug a (back then) 50-70 pound piano-action instrument to a gig. and that had one of the more substantial keybed frames-all steel. Why I love the Casio PX's but keep spring-action instruments for organ stuff. Again, if you are doing alot of "pads" strings, horns etc. to me the piano action sometimes feels more secure if the piece doesn't involve rapid horn "stabs' or woodwind trills. Back to work.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 Quote The MZX will feel the same as a WK, CTK or XW series. I find the action very playable and a nice compliment to the weighted action in their digital pianos. Brad, sorry to hear that. I expect you have a fair knowledge of how they feel. Was just back in guitar center today, played the ctks, wks, and most of them didn't feel much different than the fa06. Not only does the WK I've played for the last couple of years feel like the expressiveness is 2d and shallow, making my playing noticeably sloppy, it also has a fault where the higher up on the key you play it gets really hard to play, which the better key beds don't do (something to do with them fulcrum point?). Part of this is this keybed might have gotten worse over time, I've only had this reaction in the last 6 months or so. I appreciate your great experience and knowledge that you're so willing to share, and can only imagine that like many things, keybed feel is very personal. I also noticed today at GC that the keybed feel on the ctk and wk models weren't consistent, some had the slack feel and others were pretty acceptable. I have no idea what's going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 5 hours ago, Jokeyman123 said: 2 older keyboards I owned years ago-the Korg DW6000 nd DW8000 had "semi-weighted" keys with actual pieces of metal-steel or lead or something, glued to the underside of the key. The drawback to this is that the weights fell off, and it did tend to slow the response of the keys (especially if the weight jammed itself into the keybed!) having played Hammonds, grand pianos, Wurlitzers, Rhodes etc. and the XW-P1 and PX350, PX575 (latter 2 piano-action) I like the way the XW keys tend to feel like there is a longer "throw" to the action-like a piano-but the piano shape is hard on organ riffs, but easier than a piano-action. Gigging, I need both. Just be aware-these spring-action instruments over time will wear if you are a heavy-handed player. Years back I mashed my poor SY-77 to pieces playing all the piano riffs on it (50s-60s covers) since I was unwilling to lug a (back then) 50-70 pound piano-action instrument to a gig. and that had one of the more substantial keybed frames-all steel. Why I love the Casio PX's but keep spring-action instruments for organ stuff. Again, if you are doing alot of "pads" strings, horns etc. to me the piano action sometimes feels more secure if the piece doesn't involve rapid horn "stabs' or woodwind trills. Back to work.... Maybe that's it, I've worn down the spring mechanism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I beefed up the felt strips on my XW-P1 as well as the PX's-both of them-because I quickly realized the lightweight keyframes in all of these-all plastic (no disrespect to Casio-this is partially how to keep the weight down) I thought would not hold up well over time to heavy playing, and I decided much of this punishment would be caused by hard slamming of the key bottom against a rather thin felt strip. It did not solve the problem of repetitive stress injury completely for me (I tend towards piano technique) but it does make it a little less punishing and takes the shock off the keys. The best semi-weighted "spring action" keyboard I ever played was in an old Generalmusic S3T 76-key instrument-it had a very unusual metal keybed frame and almost fulcrum-like action inside. Very fast but very sturdy, no slop. And polyphonic after-touch. Mine was beat to heck, but the keys were still perfect. I sold it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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