thanks for the info...i actually looked into this model and want to try it out, looks like it has nice keys...i'm a bit weary of some bad reviews i've read concerning reliability, and considering i'm going through that problem right now with my radium, i'm a bit nervous investing money into a potentially unreliable piece of gear...do you remember how long the warrenty is? or if you can get an extended warrenty?

I have the Fatar SL-990, missing some knobs too. I think its worth the price I paid for it. I noticed it's not possible to create true 127 velocities with it. Some velocities are more frequent and others don't appear at all. It doesn't matter a lot to me though.

I have a Fatar Studio Logic SL-1100, an out-of-date model. It has weighted keys and aftertouch, but it feels nothing like a real piano to me. I have a Steinway-designed Boston GP-178 at home, and I record that when I need a real piano sound. When I want a fast good sound I use Ivory, which I recommend highly.

I wish my keyboard had an input for a soft pedal, since Ivory has special samples for it (I can draw in the control after the fact). The newest Studiologic VMK-188 has three pedal inputs and some knobs, too.

The ideal solution would be the Gulbransen optical key-scanning midi strip, which reads notes and velocities of an accoustic piano without interfering with any of the action. I would do this if my piano and studio were in the same place. A Disklavier would be another, more expensive method.

JD

I switched from a Roland D-70 to a VMK-88 about a year ago. The Fatar is obviously of a lower quality but offers a lot of programmable buttons and sliders. I thought 88 keys would be important but growing up with synths and varying keyboard sizes has made this almost a none issue. Thus far into things, 88 or 61 or whatever makes no difference. I'd say trust your instincts and go with what you're comfortable with.

thanks for the helpful replies...last thing, does anyone know what keyboard is used in the video demos for VSL?

muzik, it is a doepfer lmk4 II, you can find details here

This one looks promising... not available quite yet i don't think.
http://www.arbitermt.co.uk/cme/images/uf8.jpg">http://www.arbitermt.co.uk/cme/images/uf8.jpg

IMO, keyboard without knobs is better solution. You can put nothing on KB with knobs (in most cases the design is awful). You can always add some additional controllers (like UC33) and have a lot of space on masterKBoard left for computer keyboard, mouse, coffee, ashtray and whiskey [:)]

@Tommo said:

This one looks promising... not available quite yet i don't think.
http://www.arbitermt.co.uk/cme/images/uf8.jpg">http://www.arbitermt.co.uk/cme/images/uf8.jpg

i was just looking at this one...it looks very promising, so many high end features in a midi controller for a very reasonable price.

my buying factor would come from how the keys feel. anyone have a chance to play it yet?

Yes interesting, also Dietz mentioned this one was some time ago on the board here:
http://community.vsl.co.at/viewtopic.php?t=4671