Hello,

I would like to play more in live, and for this I need to invest quite a lot of money in a practical stage piano that would allow me to play everywhere.

The requirements:
* good, regular piano sound (not too bright/pop nor too mellow)
* good Rhodes sound, with great, solid bass, as I often play the bass part like Hammond organ players do
* decent action, but I really don't need the same as an acoustic piano even if it was possible
* less than 20kg

Today I tried some pianos in a shop, and the only one that satisfied the requirements was the Nord Piano 88. It has a Fatar action, which is really not the best, and my VST pianos sound better (I think, because I only had headphones), but it looked like a good compromise. Also, the Rhodes were pretty good, which is difficult to find.

I liked the Roland RD-700NX quite a lot for acoustic piano: it has a very nice action and the "studio" piano sound is good (though again I think I prefer my VST pianos). But the weight (25kg) and the Rhodes sound were not that satisfying. If I had strictly nothing and needed only an all-in-one acoustic piano replacement I would have chosen this one.

The RD-300NX also had a good action (even if I preferred the 700 by far) but I was not a big fan of the sounds. I would say quite the same for the FP4F though it was overally worse than the RD300.

Then Yamaha: the CP33 brings nothing more than my current P-250 besides being less heavy; the CP-5 had a rather synthetic and thin-sounding acoustic piano (through headphones), and a pretty good Rhodes sound, unfortunately its low register is so barky that you cannot use it as an "electric bass". Likewise, I found the Korg SV-1 Rhodes not adapted when you also play the bass part.

I could not try any others, so only the Nord seems to fit my requirements. Did I miss any?


As I have some good VST acoustic pianos, I could buy a great master keyboard (or a portable stage piano with a good action), unfortunately I did not find any satisfying software solution for the Rhodes sound.

Regards
-j

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