What's new

Doepfer LMK4 overrated?

Greg

Senior Member
Mine finally completely died for no apparent reason and I'm glad to be forced into something else.

The feel is really clunky which makes it impossible to play softly with any accuracy. The black keys notoriously have to be tweaked -20 velocity cc to be even with the white keys. The case makes it very noisy and even playing as soft as you can it makes clunks when it contacts the bottom. And it's very over priced. IMO
 
Last edited:
Hows Verta's project coming along ?

Vax Midi seems to going very slow.

When my old Peavey DPM C8 tank finally crokes I'm probably looking at a NI 88
 
Last edited:
Hows Verta's project coming along ?

Vax Midi seems to going very slow.

When my old Peavey DPM C8 tank finally crokes I'm probably looking at a NI 88

Think Im gonna grab a Komplete Kontrol 88 too! Have you had a chance to play one? Going to hit up West LA guitar center to see if they have one out.
 
The Komplete Kontrol 88 is also using a Fatar keybed but just a cheaper version than the one in the Doepfers. Probably just as likely to die. I think the KK is much more overpriced than the Doepfers. Especially if you just get a PK88. The only cheaper options are the StudioLogic.

I personally really like the TP40/GH action. It's not like a real piano but I still really like it for what it is. The only action I prefer over it is the Yamaha Clavinova CVP ones but then you're talking about a $12,000 keyboard.

Having said that, I can't imagine the number of LMK4's that HZ has gone through over the years. There's probably someone at RCP who's an expert at taking apart the keybed to clean it out. I've had to do it a number of times and it's not fun.
 
I definitely prefer the cheaper fatar keybed. Hopefully it's the same as the SL990, was my favorite till it also died. My biggest gripe with the LMK4+ was the dynamic range seemed terrible. Tried various velocity tweaks but just couldn't get it to feel right.
 
I recommend really looking at the Yamaha CP series. CP300, CP1, CP5 (I think). Graded weighted action, some are actual wood keys. They are not small or light, but the action as a controller keyboard is great.
 
It's more of a synth action for sure, I think Westlake Pro should have one.

Think Im gonna grab a Komplete Kontrol 88 too! Have you had a chance to play one? Going to hit up West LA guitar center to see if they have one out.
 
My controller search ended with the Roland A88 (after Numa Nero, VPC1, NI S88, SL88Grand, SL88Studio). I have no idea why it’s not more common with media composers.
 
I can't use Roland keyboards because of the spring loaded mod/pitch lever combo. As soon as you take your hand off it springs back to center which makes them completely unusable for me. Too bad because I like them otherwise.
 
Right but don’t most of us use faders for CCs (CC1 especially) anyways?

I actually love the stick for synth stuff (I also have the two knobs above routed to cutoff and resonance) as I usually have CC1 routed to LFO depth modulating pitch for synth (especially mono) work.

I also find that pitch bend (which should always be spring loaded IMO, save the model D) is more ergonomic going horizontal rather than vertical when playing a larger range keyboard (like 73/88 keys).

I think most people psych themselves out of the Roland due to the joystick (as I did before it) but would be surprised how much it might actually suit their needs if they got one integrated into their studio.
 
Right but don’t most of us use faders for CCs (CC1 especially) anyways?
Yes, that is a good point. I have a NI S88 and although it's decent, I do use faders on another device for cc1 much of the time. Maybe I should revisit the Roland keyboards because I do like them overall.
 
huh

I must be a moron, because I have one and I like it. I did mess around with the velocity curves a fair amount.

Actually, I found it astonishing how much utter rubbish is being sold these days. Keyboards that made a loud "clack" sound, mod wheels or other controllers that send out random CC data -- complete, unredeemed trash.

By comparison, the Doepfer seemed pretty good. I've written a lot of music on it, so maybe I'm sentimental?
 
Last edited:
I also have a Doepfer (LMK2) and I really enjoy playing it.

While I was in the market to buy a keyboard, I did a lot of research and quickly realized that everyone had completely subjective ideas about which keyboard was better, and even which variables to take into consideration (even professional pianists had polar opposite likes). I ended up trying out everything I could get my hands on and went with the Doepfer. Not a single problem to date and it's been 5 years. I recommend you try a keyboard before you buy it, regardless of the opinions of others online.

In response to the OP, and for the purpose of representing both sides of the experience:
1) I can assure anyone here that you can play softly, as you should be able to, this has been a non-issue for me.
2) I have not needed to adjust the black key velocity, and I'm hyper sensitive to this issue as previous keyboards have had velocity issues on specific notes which drove me to buy a higher end keyboard in the first place.
3) While I personally never used the case, most people I know (including myself) preferred the Doepfer because of how easy it was to remove the case and install it into a desk/other mount.
4) The keyboard doesn't make any more noise than comparable keyboards. In fact, it has been the quietest of my fully-weighted keyboards.

The OP may have experienced all of these problems, I just wanted to make sure that people who were considering buying an LMK2/LMK4 knew both sides of possibilities.


huh

I must be a moron, because I have one and I like it. I did mess around with the velocity curves a fair amount.

Actually, I found it astonishing how much utter rubbish is being sold these days. Keyboards that made a loud "clack" sound, mod wheels or other controllers that send out random CC data -- complete, unredeemed trash.

By comparison, the Doepfer seemed pretty good. I've written a lot of music on it, so maybe I'm sentimental?
 
@EvilDragon +1 for RD2000. Keybed action great. But I may be being abit dense but have been unable to assign the faders to multiple CC values. Spoke to Roland UK and they couldnt help. Would love to hear how because it seems crazy to have those faders and only able to assign to all the same CC value. Hopefully it is just me.
 
Top Bottom