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Doepfer PK88
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«  Well, but ... »

Published on 07/02/12 at 17:26
Master keyboard touch 88 "heavy" oriented piano. Self-powered via USB. Dual input soft-pedal sustain, volume pedal input. Midi output, copied to the USB. No adjustments, just an output on channel 1. AC adapter with XLR, well, if not using the USB (connecting to an expander for example).

UTILIZATION

Touching very good, but after a rave review posted right here, I am revising my judgment. The keys are quite noisy mechanically and velocity response seems irregular.
For a given keyboard when not even they could provide a connection for a half-foot (or rather progressive pedal) failing to provide it.
The foam parts (back and buttons under the cover) are not high quality, I know, I had the previous model for a long time and the foam in question turned into a powder infamous, as old carpets.
I use it to play the piano, this is what it is made. For the acoustic piano's response seems rather vague and it is quite unacceptable, even if Pianoteq partially overcomes this defect.
For the electric piano it goes much better (AAS Lounge Lizard, excellent) and then touch even looks like that of Rhodes. In fact one can enjoy a quality keyboard without her, but when it produces a physical sensation in your fingertips is drastically altered (yes, really).

OVERALL OPINION

I but holds for a month. It replaces my old Lmk3. I know quite well the high-end keyboards (Yamaha CP and other Kawai MP). The PK88 is the same level of quality of touch, if not better, but I find it hard to get a good result when it comes to producing a sound, especially acoustic piano, which is still the goal, not ? The keyboard itself is a Fatar TP40GH and it's really good, but I find it a bit rickety in its flight case (keys give the impression of knocking somewhere, especially to the rise). One may wonder if Doepfer, leading expert of analog modular synth, is as comfortable with this kind of instrument. As for the electronic Doepfer, it translates well to touch MIDI messages, but how accurately and how homogeneity? Should have a complete test with Midiox (Windows) or MIDI Monitor (Mac).

To conclude, pretty average for the piano sound, even with Pianoteq yet allowing users to create their own velocity curves, but excellent for the Fender Rhodes (my setup: PK88 + + MacBookPro + sustain pedal Lounge Lizard + USB cable + mono jack (3.5 Neutrik angled made by myself, no need for external sound card), AER Alpha amp, A outlet if the battery was charged, under 30 pounds the whole). Uh, a foot and a stool to be more comfortable. I added an Axiom on top 61 to do a bit of Minimoog (always the second Mac and a USB cable) on the days I played with Mahavishnu.

Does this choice I would do? Yes but I would really like Dieter Doepfer, I greatly admire also read my mind ...