Looking for an alternative to everybody’s plain-Jake MIDI controller? Try the Buchla Lunar Excursion Module (LEM 218v3).
Buchla Lunar Excursion Module 218v3
LEM218v3 is version 3 in the ancestral line with an improved, redesigned touch bed. The LEM has touch-capacitive “keys” including channel pressure. It has a host of I/O ports: USB-C, MIDI IN/OUT via 3.5mm jacks and four 3.5mm output jacks (1V/octave pitch, 0-8 Volts pressure, touch strip pressure and gate). MIDI output is polyphonic. The manual is here.
Save your pennies, though. The LEM218v3 is $1,299USD — a big commitment if you’re not made of money. 🙂
The slow NAMM 2023 roll-out continues. Today, it’s Korg, again.
Korg are introducing two new models in the 61-key Entertainer Keyboard line.
The EK-50 U focuses on musical genres with “American roots”, that is, jazz, country, alternative, dance and rock. Korg breaks down the main features:
New styles
New sounds: electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses, brass, and drum kits
Performance record mode
Built-in amplification and speakers: 2x10W, 2x120mm dual-cone
Add-on styles from the Korg library
Operation on eight AA batteries (optional)
Song playback: MP3, WAV, Standard MIDI File
USB TO DEVICE and USB TO HOST ports
Weight: 16.5 pounds (7.5kg)
Street price (MAP) is $500USD. The EK-50 U and its sister are positioned in the high entry-level niche (i.e., against the Yamaha PSR-E473 and PSR-EW425).
Korg EK-50 CSA Entertainer Keyboard (don’t say “arranger”)
The EK-50 CSA focuses on Central and South America (“CSA”). It, too, has new styles and new sounds. New sounds include trumpets, saxophones, brass, guitar, bass and regional instruments like sampoña, quena and charango.
Both instruments have new speaker grill colors so I guess you can tell them apart if you own more than one. 🙂 I’m not real fond of the blue, Korg.
Listening to the audio demos, I would give the edge to the EK-50 CSA. The USA styles sound like… Well, they sound like an arranger playing rock and roll. I’ll bet the CSA out-sells the U simply due to anti-arranger bias.
BTW, the term “American” encompasses North, Central and South America. A bit chauvinistic or at least geography challenged. 🙂 “CSA” sometimes has a whole ‘nother meaning in the USA.
The Harmonic Distortion kit was developed by Fumio Mieda. It consists of three different distortion circuits which can be combined “to create harmonic modulation that goes beyond the traditional concept of distortion.” So, there.
Korg Nu:tekt HD-S and TR-S distortion pedal kits
The Power Tube Reactor purports to “deliver the responsiveness, the feel, of a vacuum tube guitar amp.” The TR-S is Nutube-based and it simulates the sag of a vacuum tube power amp. This achieves a natural-sounding compression effect (or so claim Korg). I’d like to try this one with keys.
Don’t forget the Nu:Tekt OD-S Nutube Overdrive kit. All three pedals are housed in a sturdy chassis and expect to be under foot. Don’t do that with your NTS-1.
Like other Nu:Tekt kits, no soldering is required, just assembly. My NTS-1 synth was easy to assemble and is still going strong.
I haven’t found any USA price information as yet. The available OD-S sells for $300USD street ($420USD MSRP). I expect similar pricing for the HD-S and TR-S kits. UK sites are saying 200GBP.
The AG08 is an extension of the successful AG06MK2 and AG03MK2 streaming console mixers. I use a MK1 AG06 every day and appreciate the number of I/O and control options that it offers.
Yamaha AG08 Live Streaming Mixer
Yamaha are definitely chasing the live streaming and pod-casting hot trend. The AG08 has:
24-bit, 48 kHz Multi-channel audio recording and playback
External 12V power or USB C bus power (switchable)
Phantom power on channels 1 and 2
Dimensions: 11.5″W x 8.8″D x 3.5″H
Weight: 4.9 pounds (2.2kg)
It’s all controlled by the Yamaha AG08 Controller app for IOS. (Same is true for AG06 and AG03.) You can find all the specs and manuals on-line now.
The industrial design is quite clean and colorfully pretty. Don’t like white? Yamaha offer the AG08 in black, too. It’s a tad big for my desktop and a little too much functionality for me. However, it appears to be built like a tank. Hope it can survive the occasional coffee spill. 🙂
The AG08 comes with the usual Yamaha software bundle including Steinberg WaveLab Case. WaveLab Cast may be aimed at the pod-casting community, but I find that it does a lot of everyday audio chores without the expense of full WaveLab.
Clearly, digital piano is the main focus. The FP-E50 is targeted for the home market, but I can see where (semi-)pros might consider this keyboard for casual gigs. Power comes from an external adapter, however. There isn’t 5-pin MIDI either — another feature that pros might miss.
Roland FP-E50 digital piano (arranger, synth)
Flipping through the FP-E50 tone list, it has a slew of classic Roland sounds from XV/JV days. Additional sounds (EXZ Wave Expansions and SDZ Sound Packs) can be downloaded from the Roland Cloud. Roland plan to release new accompaniment styles as “Z-Style Packs”.
The asking price is a reasonable $999USD (MAP). A furniture-style stand is available for $100USD. Roland are going up against Yamaha DGX-670. Just on the basis of visual appearance and styling, I’d rather have the FP-E50 in my living room.
The $1,000 keyboard space is definitely interesting these days!
Buskers and coffee house players should take note of the new Yamaha STAGEPAS 200 portable PA system. The STAGEPAS 200 is a compact unit packing 2-way bi-amplification, 5 mixing channels (3 mono + 1 stereo), SPX digital reverb, a low frequency driver (8″ cone, 150W) and a 1″ high frequency driver. Dial in parameters with the STAGEPAS Controller iOS/Android app.
Yamaha STAGEPAS 200 portable PA
Yamaha have two models on offer: with battery (200BTR) and without (200). They weigh 27.6 pounds (12.5kg) and 26.5 pounds (12kg), respectively. Both models are essentially a cube measuring 12″ (310mm) per side.
Battery operating time is 8 hours (estimated) at 6% continuous use. I suspect that real-world will be less as 6% seems rather conservative sound-wise. I don’t think Yamaha are being disingenuous; it’s hard to rate operating time as expected use may vary from quiet background music to thundering blare. Accessorize with a spare battery pack, if you need a security blanket.
The STAGEPAS 200BTR should street around $650USD and the battery-less model at $550USD. Yamaha are going head-to-head with Bose S1 Pro ($700USD) and JBL ONE Compact ($630USD).
Yamaha have finally announced the P-S500 portable digital Smart Piano in North America. It’s being pitched more for home and studio than stage. The whole concept is to simplify the front panel while moving access to auto-accompaniment and such to the Smart Pianist tablet-based application.
These two announcements appear in the run-up to NAMM 2023 to be held April 13-15 in Anaheim. NAMM has along runway this year as the April show combines the former winter and summer trade-shows. Expect to see more product announcements in the next several weeks.
While we’re distracted with “CK”, “AN”, and whatnot, Yamaha sneaks out a new P-series digital piano in Europe: the Yamaha P-S500.
Natch, you can read all about the P-S500 at Yamaha’s European web site. Physically, it’s a minimalist slab that’s designed primarily for the home or small studio market segments. Cost is about 2,100 Euro and I would expect it to retail for about $2000 USD in the States.
Yamaha P-S500 digital piano
Basic features [courtesy of Yamaha] are:
Compatible with Smart Pianist app installed to a smart device
Stream Lights feature helps you perform even if you can’t read music notation
Enjoy playing along with the 403 preset Songs, covering a wide range of genres from pop music to classical music
Audio To Score function converts your favorite audio songs into piano accompaniment scores
Authentic Yamaha CFX & Bösendorfer Imperial concert grand piano Voices
Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM)
88-note weighted GHS keyboard
Huge variety of 660 high-quality instrument Voices, including Super Articulation Voices
Built-in Auto Accompaniment features with 370 Styles
Microphone input and automatic Vocal Harmony
Auto-accompaniment, styles, Super Articulation voices? We’ve seen these features in the DGX series, notably, the most recent DGX-670 model. The table below compares the P-S500 against the DGX-670. The DGX-670, by the way, goes for considerably less dough: $850 USD.
DGX-670 P-S500 ----------------- --------------------------------- Main piano: Yamaha CFX CFX, Bösendorfer Imperial VRM: Yes Yes Key-off sound: Yes Yes Action: GHS GHS Piano Room: Yes Yes PB wheel: Yes No Dual/layer: Yes Yes Split: Yes Yes USB audio: Play/record Play/record Bluetooth: Yes Not built-in (optional) Amplification: 2 x 6W 2 x (20W + 6W) Speakers: 2 x (12cm + 5cm) 2 x (12cm x 6cm oval+2.5cm dome) Display: 480x272 color 80x16 mono LCD Weight 47.2 pounds 48.1 pounds
Here’s the decoder ring for Yamaha acronyms: Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM), Graded Hammer Standard (GHS), Super Articulation (SA), Cool (velocity switched), Live (stereo), Organ Flute (drawbar organ).
The P-S500 looks to be the upscale, uptown sibling of the DGX-670. At 48 pounds, I don’t think you’ll want to schlep the P-S500 out of the house very often. In terms of styles and voices, the P-S500 is superior:
DGX-670 P-S500 ------- ------ Total voices 601 660 VRM voices 9 13 SA voices 49 111 Natural voices 11 25 Sweet voices 26 27 Cool voices 53 47 Live voices 68 58 Organ Flute voices 0 29 Total styles 263 370 Pro styles 215 328 Session styles 19 25 Free Play styles 0 3 Pianist styles 29 13 Drum Kits 29 29
The P-S500 factory voice set includes many of my favorites. If you’re looking for a more than decent, mid-level keyboard with auto-accompaniment and a graded hammer keyboard, the P-S500 is worth a look. Versus a mid-level arranger keyboard, you’re still giving up a pitch bend wheel, multi-pads, style control buttons, MIDI record/edit, etc. If you just want to play and have a good piano experience, I’d go with the P-S500 in a heartbeat. (The DGX-670 is no slouch, either.)
There are many other differences that I’ve glossed over. So, if you’re trying to decide between DGX-670, an arranger or the P-S500, be sure to dig into the manuals and data list files. Yamaha doesn’t always make it easy to compare, especially as to your specific musical goals and use cases.
One enormous difference needs to be emphasized, however. The P-S500 front panel is utterly minimalist. If you want to exploit the P-S500 to its fullest, you must use the P-S500 with the Yamaha Smart Pianist app on a tablet (Apple or Android). In this respect, the P-S500 is more like the CSP series of digital pianos for the home. It’s like a CSP without the furniture. The CSP models have enhanced GH3X or NWX keybeds which improve the piano playing experience. Given that the Smart Pianist is almost a necessity, it’s kind of weird (cheap) to omit built-in Bluetooth.
Yamaha are certainly giving us choices!
A final, electronics nerd comment. While studying the internal design of current arranger, synth and digital piano products, the designs often seem like a deconstructed tablet connected to a keybed, tone generator and MIDI/USB interface. The digital electronics are remarkably similar. With the P-S500 and the CSP series, it’s like Yamaha said “Aw, the heck with it” and moved functionality out of the piano (arranger, synth) chassis into a stock, commercial tablet like iPad or Google Pixel tablet. I don’t think we have seen the end of this approach to instrument design…
