Studiologic Numa X Piano 88

Als langjärig zufriedener User eines Kawai MP6 wollte ich ein neues Stage Piano, welches zumindest weniger wiegt als mein aktuelles. Das Numa X Piano (ohne GT) mit 14kg schien genau richtig zu sein.

Hier mein Eindruck:

Tastatur TP/110:
Die Tastatur ist wirklich sehr angenehm zu spielen. Es tritt keinerlei Müdigkeit auf. Die Gewichtung der Tasten ist nicht zu leicht und nicht zu schwer. Dass sie nicht gegraded ist (da war ich am Anfang etwas skeptisch), fällt beim Spielen überhaupt nicht auf. Ich spiele jedenfalls deutlich präziser als auf meinem Kawai MP6.

Sounds:
Die Pianosounds klingen warm und rund. Bei höheren Anschlagsstärken kommt die Brillianz jedoch schön durch. Man kann aber mit Hilfe der Modelling Einstellungen hier am Ton viel ändern.
Die Rhodes Sounds sind mein wichtigstes Einsatzgebiet. Hier kommen ja keinerlei Samples zum Einsatz, sondern es ist ein reiner Modelling Ansatz. Aber das Ergebnis ist wirklich überzeugend. Ich hatte innerhalb weniger Minuten "meinen" Rhodes Sound kreiert (ein sehr funky und dynamisches Mark 1).

Beim ganzen Rest gibt es bessere und schlechtere Sounds. Die Clavs sind noch recht gut. Alles andere ist im ersten Durchhören auf jeden Fall brauchbar.

Kritikpunkte:
- Es ist ein "Stage Piano", jedoch mit einem externene Netzteil, das sollte einem bewusst sein
- Der Ein- und Ausschaltknopf scheint mir etwas fragile zu sein
- Es ist kein Notenpult dabei

Am Schluss möchte ich noch den super Support von Studiologic erwähnen. Mein Fragen an den Support wurden (sogar am WE) innerhalb weniger Stunden immer beantwortet.

Definitiv eine Kaufempfehlung!

I've owned a lot of 88 notes and keyboards and this Numa X Piano has everything I need for production and live performance.

Keybed is amazing, I use to own the SL88 studio and based on that the Keybed for NXP8i is an improvement and they did a great work.

Audio interface! Second ill talk about the audio interface coz having one on board is a breeze and makes life easier. I like the idea that I can connect my iPad and have one of the four layers assigned to it opening up aendless possibilities of sound.

Audio inputs! You can also connect multiple keys via jack cable if you happen to have 2nd keys or more giving you total control of all the sound coming from your rig. You can just give FOH 1 cable or two and you're all set.

Internal sounds can be updated and I like the fact that they concentrated on Pianos and Rhodes coz this is what you gonna use this 88 keys anyway. Overall this keyboard is a dream!

I'm thinking of getting the GT version as well for the second studio

First off I really want to VERY strongly recommend that you do not judge the sound of the pianos until you have downloaded some of the additional sounds from their webpages. Particularly the new Stage D.

My first impressions out of the box, were overall very good - except I found the pianos to be a bit dull and uninspiring. Serviceable, but not great.
However, the new pianos change this completely. Stage D is so much more dynamic, responsive and fun to play. It's very easy to add with the Numa Manager, and I really feel this is so much more complete as an instrument now.

The keybed feels great, and it's overall a nicely built quality instrument. Solid metal chassis, controls, buttons and knobs feel reliable. Operation and the UI is very simple and intuitive.

Sound wise, this isn't like your typical digital piano where you just hit a preset and expect the best to come out, it's more something where I immediately start sculpting my own presets (which is a good thing in my book). It rewards a little time invested. And when you have your own sounds setup how you like, you always have immediate control over the parameters and master EQ and insert FX. Very nice.

I am still just enjoying the e-pianos and pianos from the onboard engine, but I will soon be having fun with connecting my iPad to use all kinds of different music apps I have there. This adds a whole other dimension to what you can play around with since you can bring in anything as a layer or audio in.

Of course, nothing is ever perfect, and I do have minor criticism, some of these may or may not be important to you.

One, on the physical design, is that you have a power supply with a thin little cable. Not the best for stage situations, and this is a stage piano.

Two, there are imperfections on the recording of some samples when playing piano keys (and this applies to several of them). Eg. some you can hear a tiny crackle of digital overdrive on certain keys/velocity levels when playing with headphones, where you hear every such detail. Which is a little distracting to me. However, on speakers or in a mix this isn't going to be very easy to notice, and it doesn't really bother me much when the instrument is so good overall. But it is something that could probably have been fixed with eg. Izotope RX, so while the sound is overall great, I will knock off a point here.

On the audio interface part the lack of ASIO may be relevant to some.
Not actually a concern for me, for studio/recording I'll use MIDI for a plugin, or record audio from line. But something to be aware of.

Overall, I quite love it, so I'm happy with my choice. It's great value for all it offers, and it has a lot interesting functionality to play around with. Also for 88keys, the weight is very manageable with a nice bag.