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.