Korg unveiled its most portable and affordable digital piano it has ever developed at the recent Winter NAMM Show 2010, the Korg SP-170 Digital Piano. The SP-170 compact, simple, yet elegant designed piano focuses on what is most important in a piano - authentic grand piano feel and vibrant sounds. The SP-170 features a full 88 notes Natural Weighted Hammer Action (NH) Keyboard, a duo sampled concert grand piano sounds and 8 additional sounds; Electric Piano (x2), Harpsichord, Clav, Vibraphone, Pipe Organ, Electric Organ and Strings, 60 notes (stereo) Polyphony.
Additionally, the newly developed Natural Weighted Hammer Action (NH) faithfully reproduces the touch and graduated weight of acoustic piano keys. Though the SP-170 never requires tuning but it offers adjustable tuning that can be matched to other instruments, and it can also be transposed into any musical key. The self-contained SP-170 houses a robust built-in sound system which ultimately delivers robust sound. Whereas, the Reverb and Chorus effects add warmth and spaciousness to the sound. The Korg SP-170 can be used as the master keyboard for computer music software via the MIDI output. This lightweight and easy to carry keyboard instrument also makes it ideal for live performances.
The Korg SP-170 is also perfect for music beginners and is able to satisfy the most discerning pianists. The portable keyboard weight 26 lbs.
Yamaha introduced a redesigned lineup of CP Series Professional Stage Pianos at Winter NAMM 2010, which let keyboard players fully express their passion for playing. Among the new CP Series is the Yamaha CP50, a portable and flexible digital piano which is perfect for professionals on the go. The Yamaha CP50 features 88-key Weighted Graded Hammer Action Keyboard. The CP50 incorporates 128-note Polyphony, a unique new core sounds of Spectral Component Modeling (SCM) tone generation technology, Virtual Circuit Modeling Effects, Motif XS Synthesizers Effects, wide range of sounds like clavs, organs, strings and many more.
The Yamaha CP50 new SCM technology recreates the sounds and nuances of 12 selected Yamaha acoustic and vintage electronic piano sounds. Additionally, the Yamaha CP50 has 215 additional sounds and various effect to make them ideal for wide musical applications. The Yamaha CP50 can also record keyboard performances as MIDI data for playback whenever required and a range of professionally arranged rhythms for added live performance options. The new Spectral Component Modeling technology allows players to adjust the instrument physical components, including the hardness of the hammers, resonance of the sound board and the striking position of the hammers. It also relies on granular parametric data that translates every nuance of the player touch into an expressive tone.
The Yamaha CP50 also allows players to freely build own acoustic and electric pianos by selecting different components of piano types, amplifiers, and effects and customized original piano sounds to an even more diverse range of exciting piano sounds. This easy to carry, compact design and light-weight portable keyboard weight 21 kg.
Novation introduced the critically acclaimed SL MKII ranges of DAW Controller at Winter NAMM 2010 in Anaheim, California. The Novation 49 SL MKII MIDI Controller Keyboard features 49-key velocity sensitive, Fatar semi-weighted action keyboard with after-touch. The Novation 49SL MKII incorporates giant 144-character ultra bright LCD screen, Automap 3 PRO Control software, Assignable Controls; 16 knobs and 8 faders with touch sensitive and 32 buttons with integrated LEDs, Octave buttons with LED indicator.
The Novation SL MK II most obvious enhanced feature as compared to the SL MKI is that now all the sliders and knobs are touch-sensitive. Another enhanced feature is each of the eight parameter positions in the display can be controlled by the rotary encoder for rapid adjustment. Similarly, you can just touch the encoders to navigate the menu layers and it is as fast as the wind for users. The Automap 3 PRO Control software biggest asset is Keystroke Assignment, this enables almost any QWERTY or ASCII keyboard shortcut to be instantly assigned to the SL Mk II controls, providing unprecedented DAW control. The Automap 3.0 also introduces ‘Autoview’, where the ‘heads up GUI’ can be programmed to automatically appear displaying the present status of all controls whenever a controller is touched and then disappear upon release.
Overall, the Novation 49 SL MKII features are very professionally enhanced. Quick and easy usability for the masses and affordable for the budget conscious musicians. The Portable keyboard weight 5.2 kg.
The Edirol PCR-500 MIDI Keyboard Controller by Roland features 49-keys velocity sensitive Keyboard, with after-touch. The Edirol PCR-500 was designed for both live performance and music production. The Edirol PCR-500 incorporates 50 fully assignable controllers, 18 velocity sensitive pads which can be use interchangeably as velocity pads or buttons, unique Crossfader, Dynamic Mapping, Rear Panel Connections.
The built-in velocity sensitive trigger pads in the Edirol PCR-500 are for controlling drum sounds and soft synths. The trigger pads can also be program to accept their own individual midi channel number and midi control change data. With 9 faders, each fader can have its own midi channel number and each fader can set up its own control data. The Dynamic Mapping feature was designed for ease of use and it is a very powerful feature. With just a press of a button, the Dynamic Mapping will be able to grab all the functions of the soft synths and map them across the knobs, buttons and the faders for instant access to the parameters of the soft synths. Also included in the Edirol PCR-500 are complimentary software like SONAR LE, Project 5 LE, and Dimension LE.
Having connections on the rear panel is great because you can use the keyboard right in front of your monitor and have no worries about cable problems. The Edirol PCR-500 is a great piece of instrument. The built-in software are sufficient for ones to get started and more. The Edirol PCR-500 portable keyboard weight 3.8 kg.
The Roland E-50 Music Workstation is a 61-key Keyboard, with velocity sensitive. The Roland E-50 incorporates maximum 64-note Polyphony, advanced features including, 512MB Wave ROM on-board each, incredible and world class sounds on board like new studio sampled guitars and accordions sound and many more, fresh musical content with 100 plus fresh styles, a wide variety of Effects; Reverb - 8 types , Chorus - 8 types and Multi-FX - 41 types , 16 track Sequencer, 16 grey-scale graphic LCD display touch screen.
In addition, the E-50 keyboard powerful built-in audio system delivers amazing robust sound. The LCD display touch screen and dedicated buttons located on the front panel of E-50 enables users ease of use. The Roland E-50 features an attractive and lightweight design. The portable keyboard weight merely 8.8 kg and at an amazing low price.
