I know this is not a Sonar post, but I'm looking at buying a controller keyboard and I like the look of the M-Audio Keystation 88, as well as, the Fatar Studiologic 880. Any opinions on the feel of these keyboards? Features are unimportant, i just want authentic (or as authentic as possible) piano feel to control soft synths...I looked into that Moog piano-MIDI controller, but unfortunately can't afford it...is there a realistic feeling controller out there for less than $800? Any opionions on other models are welcome...

The main reason I am posting here is that I know a lot of you are Keyboard/Piano players...thanx...

jinga8,

Have a look at this thread over in the Cakewalk "Gear" forum. Someone recently posted virtually the same question about the same controllers.

Also, Harmony-Central has some user-reviews of the Fatar controllers that you can look at online:

Fatar SL-880: http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Fatar/StudioLogic-SL-880-Controller-01.html

Fatar SL-990: http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Fatar/StudioLogic-SL-990-01.html

less than $800?

try to find a used Yamaha P80 .. a new one should cost around $750-$800 .

i know ur looking for just a controller ( and this one is a compact but full "digital piano" ) but
from what i've seen ( and played on ) the Fatar isn't as good as the Yamaha/Roland digital pianos .

some old Kurzweil's too ,maybe a PC-88 . these digital pianos have a good feel but u know , its never like the real thing of course ..
AND its a matter of taste too ..
most guys like the Yamaha P80 or S80 / S90 keyboards ...but some say they are a bit too mushy .

this FAQ - http://www.allaboutpianos.com/digitalfaq.html#six - says "reports of people chipping the plastic on the key, or losing a spring which helps the feel of a weighted action and have been playing gingerly ever since, but this seems to be in the minority " .. i think this is no minority , depends on what u play u might want a quality built keyboard.. the Fatar is hard/clicky sometimes..
Roland - have different keyboard models but most tend to break ( INSIDE the instrument... where some cheap plastics hold the weights... ) after a while .

Yamaha - so far so good , i'm happy with my S90 .

"The general consensus is that digital pianos can take as much pounding as a piano can." - not really .. you hear the keyboard itself more .. and if you are not using enough volume you might feel ur almost breaking some keys while u "pound" on them ;) needs a good surface/ keyboard Stand .

I use a Yamaha P-120- a little stiff, but so is a good grand. Try one out in a store. I personally got this model because I wanted something a little lighter for playing gigs (17.5 K). The P-80 I think it's called is it's predecessor and has basically the same feel-you can probably get for under $800.The only Fatars I have owned were the ZR/MR series of Ensoniq-they both wore out-I had to take them apart and shift the pads around twice.

I tried a bunch of controllers, and bought the Fatar SL-880 Pro.
It not only had the nicest action, it's also pretty much the least
expensive weighted 88-key controller you can buy, at least in Europe.

Caveats: The user interface is pretty awkward - I wouldn't want
to have to change the keyboard zone splits in a hurry on stage,
for example. It's only got basic controllers beyond the keys:
pitch bend, mod wheel, volume and sustain pedals, and
theres enough structural plastic where you'd want a really good
road case if you were going to gig with it. But I've been extremely
happy with mine. With a good velocity sensitive patch on a physical
modeling soft synth, and latencies set low enough (below 5ms),
I can really "feel" the virtual instrument through the keyboard.
Which, for me, is what it's all about.

That having been said, I really don't rememeber whether
the M-Audio Keystation was among the other controllers I tried.
It could be fabulous too. I've heard in a couple of places that
Fatar OEM's their keyboard actions to Kurtzweil and others.
Who knows, maybe the Keystation has a Fatar action!

"The general consensus is that digital pianos can take as much pounding as a piano can." - not really .. you hear the keyboard itself more .. and if you are not using enough volume you might feel ur almost breaking some keys while u "pound" on them ;) needs a good surface/ keyboard Stand .

Did anyone notice this ? ... or is it just my Yamaha S90 ?

I do feel that any acoustic modern piano ( in a good shape ) is much more sturdy .. sometimes u can really hear some rattling noise ..
nothing too serious and i guess i won't find anything really "moving" there if i'll open the box ..
happens when for example playing some loud octaves ( FF :) or some chords .

I still have my old Yamaha KX88.

The intro to my dog-eared manual reads, in part: "It is the first completely programmable and assignable midi keyboard."

I just can't bring myself to get rid of it. That's because it is too heavy to move.

I too own an SL-880 Pro, and am also quite happy with it. I agree with everything KevinK mentioned above. I would add however that on (relatively rare) occasion, mine will 'lock-up' and need to be powered on and off. It takes no more than 10 seconds to do this, so it's not really a big deal.

Originally I had planned on buying a digital piano and using it as a controller. But after listening to every model in all the local music stores, I decided to get just the controller (which was $520 US) because all the digital pianos sounded too 'synthy' to my ears. At this point I'm waiting for GigaStudio 3.0 to come out. I think the combination -- especially for the price -- will ultimately give me what I want.

Thanks!