names frank, new here, first post. primarily into film composing.
Question:
im looking for some feedback from owners of Doepfer LMK4+ and LMK2+ keyboards, ive already scoured every forum i could find. for a controller used by so many top composers, the internet is void of deep discussions on them. i bought one briefly a couple months ago but a key was damaged so i sent it back. During that time i noticed the keybed was one of the the noisier ones ive played. i understand this is because the fatar tp/40GH keybed is directly installed into the flight case, though i dont see why its any different than a normal case. it wasn't a deal breaker but a bother. anyone here experienced in removing the case? Regardless of velocity adjustment, the keys always seemed either too jumpy or fighting to get the velocity up, but i think that may be a varying factor from vst to vst and people should look into the vst's for farther velocity adjustment. velocity setting number 2(i think?) wasnt too bad. i just couldnt get it perfect. Have other owners experienced this? im considering buying it again but i need to be sure this time because the restocking fee is like $300. Maybe my last one was damaged on the way to me? i hear some people are really happy with them, usually LMK2+ owners, i wonder if there is some correlation there? i did love how the actual keys felt, very light and sturdy like an actual piano. the flight case frame looked awesome.
Overall im looking for a new masterkeyboard to fill the studio. i just want an excellent keybed, and a flat top to keep my fadars, qwerty keyboard, touch screens close. the gimmicky in board pads and stuff just get in my way, thats what drew me to the doepfer.
ive purchased and returned:
-Akai MPK88 *updated* the mpk88 was the first one i bought and i was immediately dissapointed. "weighted keys" . they didnt feel weighted at all, just very hard to push like they had really strong springs under them. its like you gotta shove the keys down, makes it so hard to play soft or just normal if your'e playing something like a piano patch etc. when the keys would hit they were pretty loud, sounded like little steel mallets haha. Literally every board i played after was more preferable. the drum pads were crap too. dont be mistaken, this is not part of the MPK2-- series of which they did not make an 88 for. i have an MPK249 that works nicely for what it is, drum pads work much better than the MPK88's did.
-Doepfer LMK4+ loved the frame, fit perfectly parallel to my desk so i could keep all my equipment right in front of me, keys had a very light feeling, like that of my real upright piano, but were (themself) pretty loud and could not seem to get the velocity adjustment right, not bad, just not perfect. maybe downloading the software editor will work better than the inboard settings?
-Kurzweil PC3K8 USED even though it uses the same tp/40gh keybed as doepfer it felt way harder, a stuck feeling like it has honey in the keybed, though it was used so maybe that was just my model. all the buttons just got in the way, and slanted surface was annoying for my mouse, additional tools, etc.
-YamahaMONTAGE8 USED *updated* Nicest uniform weighted keybed ive ever played. one of the keys were bent an inch upward on arrival, like i said, it was used. amazing peice of tech, but for the money it just wasn't ment to be used as only a midi controller. all the on board buttons and controls were just in the way of sitting my own equipment on it. plus the MONTAGE8 doesnt really support any DAW interaction. you can make it happen, its just not really designed for it. its better purposed for live usage of the tons of inboard sounds and awesome synth distorting controls which were a joy to just sit and play with.
-RolandA88 *updated* it was just very basic compared to other boards at its price. the keys felt odd, like a rubbery mushy cushioned feeling when you'd push down. almost like they put too much padding to quiet the keys. i also didnt like that you couldnt change the velocity curve (as far as i could tell), all my vsti's were playing really quiet, unless i reeeally hit the keys. also the d-beam worked horribly but that was just a gimmicky inclusion anyway, i dont think anyone was buying it for that hah. and ive just never been a fan of the spring lever mod/pitch joystick thing. the only thing i did like was it had a flat top with no controls on it, so i could align it with my desk and keep my other equipment right there in front of me. or tuck the keybaord right under the desk. but the doepfer can do that too, with much more pro's to it, so.
-Studiologic SL88 Grand *updated* fatar tp/woodGH keybed very quiet, had veeery slight sticking on black keys but not bad/ joice stick controls annoying because they were so small, but doable. nice easy computer interface software, very nice being able to draw my own custom velocity curves and set any cc control you could want to any stick or pedal. its also worth stating that you can adjust the black keys response RATIO to the white keys. this is different than just reducing the velocity on the black keys from 127 to say 117. both the white and black keys stay with their full 127 range, it just wanes how hard you need to push to reach it. midi signal would sometimes randomly shoot off too loud or quiet, sometimes very hard to get any velocity variance at all. i think it was a faulty model. if you buy one pay attention to the slight resistance the keys have when you go to push during softer playing. its very slight, but enough that you'll notice it in the black keys. it personally annoyed me, but it might have just been my model, because mine was also sending strange velocity volumes here and there. after contacting the company they told me it was not a common problem with these boards. so id try for yourself and see.
-tested a couple other workstations and digital pianos at local guitar center, though i cant comment on their computer DAW cooperativeness.
- NI Komplete Kontrol havent bothered trying it because it has the lesser quality fatar tp/100L keybed which ive heard negative things about, and though it is flat and thin, the knobs are right in the middle of the board where a damn qwerty keyboard should rest hah. plus the touch mod and pitch supposedly go bad, and according to many reviews the DAW communication is horrible with anything other than an NI or Komplete Kontrol integrated VST and the support team is terrible.
today i saw the Kawaii VPC1. would have been great if it didnt have that ridiculously giant back part attatched to it. its too tall to place parallel with a desk without the keys being way to low to play. id remove it from its case but i dont know how, or if itd make a difference. keybed quality looks perfect according to some reviews. though some people complained about uneven key spacing. wish it at least had a pitch wheel but its fine.
if youd like me to elaborate on any of these boards just ask.
so, where are my Doepfer people at?
Question:
im looking for some feedback from owners of Doepfer LMK4+ and LMK2+ keyboards, ive already scoured every forum i could find. for a controller used by so many top composers, the internet is void of deep discussions on them. i bought one briefly a couple months ago but a key was damaged so i sent it back. During that time i noticed the keybed was one of the the noisier ones ive played. i understand this is because the fatar tp/40GH keybed is directly installed into the flight case, though i dont see why its any different than a normal case. it wasn't a deal breaker but a bother. anyone here experienced in removing the case? Regardless of velocity adjustment, the keys always seemed either too jumpy or fighting to get the velocity up, but i think that may be a varying factor from vst to vst and people should look into the vst's for farther velocity adjustment. velocity setting number 2(i think?) wasnt too bad. i just couldnt get it perfect. Have other owners experienced this? im considering buying it again but i need to be sure this time because the restocking fee is like $300. Maybe my last one was damaged on the way to me? i hear some people are really happy with them, usually LMK2+ owners, i wonder if there is some correlation there? i did love how the actual keys felt, very light and sturdy like an actual piano. the flight case frame looked awesome.
Overall im looking for a new masterkeyboard to fill the studio. i just want an excellent keybed, and a flat top to keep my fadars, qwerty keyboard, touch screens close. the gimmicky in board pads and stuff just get in my way, thats what drew me to the doepfer.
ive purchased and returned:
-Akai MPK88 *updated* the mpk88 was the first one i bought and i was immediately dissapointed. "weighted keys" . they didnt feel weighted at all, just very hard to push like they had really strong springs under them. its like you gotta shove the keys down, makes it so hard to play soft or just normal if your'e playing something like a piano patch etc. when the keys would hit they were pretty loud, sounded like little steel mallets haha. Literally every board i played after was more preferable. the drum pads were crap too. dont be mistaken, this is not part of the MPK2-- series of which they did not make an 88 for. i have an MPK249 that works nicely for what it is, drum pads work much better than the MPK88's did.
-Doepfer LMK4+ loved the frame, fit perfectly parallel to my desk so i could keep all my equipment right in front of me, keys had a very light feeling, like that of my real upright piano, but were (themself) pretty loud and could not seem to get the velocity adjustment right, not bad, just not perfect. maybe downloading the software editor will work better than the inboard settings?
-Kurzweil PC3K8 USED even though it uses the same tp/40gh keybed as doepfer it felt way harder, a stuck feeling like it has honey in the keybed, though it was used so maybe that was just my model. all the buttons just got in the way, and slanted surface was annoying for my mouse, additional tools, etc.
-YamahaMONTAGE8 USED *updated* Nicest uniform weighted keybed ive ever played. one of the keys were bent an inch upward on arrival, like i said, it was used. amazing peice of tech, but for the money it just wasn't ment to be used as only a midi controller. all the on board buttons and controls were just in the way of sitting my own equipment on it. plus the MONTAGE8 doesnt really support any DAW interaction. you can make it happen, its just not really designed for it. its better purposed for live usage of the tons of inboard sounds and awesome synth distorting controls which were a joy to just sit and play with.
-RolandA88 *updated* it was just very basic compared to other boards at its price. the keys felt odd, like a rubbery mushy cushioned feeling when you'd push down. almost like they put too much padding to quiet the keys. i also didnt like that you couldnt change the velocity curve (as far as i could tell), all my vsti's were playing really quiet, unless i reeeally hit the keys. also the d-beam worked horribly but that was just a gimmicky inclusion anyway, i dont think anyone was buying it for that hah. and ive just never been a fan of the spring lever mod/pitch joystick thing. the only thing i did like was it had a flat top with no controls on it, so i could align it with my desk and keep my other equipment right there in front of me. or tuck the keybaord right under the desk. but the doepfer can do that too, with much more pro's to it, so.
-Studiologic SL88 Grand *updated* fatar tp/woodGH keybed very quiet, had veeery slight sticking on black keys but not bad/ joice stick controls annoying because they were so small, but doable. nice easy computer interface software, very nice being able to draw my own custom velocity curves and set any cc control you could want to any stick or pedal. its also worth stating that you can adjust the black keys response RATIO to the white keys. this is different than just reducing the velocity on the black keys from 127 to say 117. both the white and black keys stay with their full 127 range, it just wanes how hard you need to push to reach it. midi signal would sometimes randomly shoot off too loud or quiet, sometimes very hard to get any velocity variance at all. i think it was a faulty model. if you buy one pay attention to the slight resistance the keys have when you go to push during softer playing. its very slight, but enough that you'll notice it in the black keys. it personally annoyed me, but it might have just been my model, because mine was also sending strange velocity volumes here and there. after contacting the company they told me it was not a common problem with these boards. so id try for yourself and see.
-tested a couple other workstations and digital pianos at local guitar center, though i cant comment on their computer DAW cooperativeness.
- NI Komplete Kontrol havent bothered trying it because it has the lesser quality fatar tp/100L keybed which ive heard negative things about, and though it is flat and thin, the knobs are right in the middle of the board where a damn qwerty keyboard should rest hah. plus the touch mod and pitch supposedly go bad, and according to many reviews the DAW communication is horrible with anything other than an NI or Komplete Kontrol integrated VST and the support team is terrible.
today i saw the Kawaii VPC1. would have been great if it didnt have that ridiculously giant back part attatched to it. its too tall to place parallel with a desk without the keys being way to low to play. id remove it from its case but i dont know how, or if itd make a difference. keybed quality looks perfect according to some reviews. though some people complained about uneven key spacing. wish it at least had a pitch wheel but its fine.
if youd like me to elaborate on any of these boards just ask.
so, where are my Doepfer people at?
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