So I finally got my portable piano and thought it was about time I did a review on it!
I've broken this review down into main parts to make it easier to find aspects of the NP-31 you are interested in.
Keys
The Yamaha NP-31 has 76 touch sensitive keys. A lot of people said that the keys were somewhat noisy, however I have not found this to be much of a problem although as I have not been able to play it in headphones yet I can not comment on this aspect much more.
The keys are not weighted which I thought was going to be an issue. I do not often play keyboard and am used to my grand piano but after a few minutes you adjust to the keys and some pieces are easier to play with unweighted keys. Plus this also makes the piano lighter which brings me onto my next topic.
Weight
When the box came through the door I was somewhat shocked by the heaviness of it. I had imagined it to be lighter and more 'portable'. I was also quite surprised by the length of the piano. Having ordered online I did not have a clear idea on how large the piano would be. Because of the length I will have to move my room around some but that is not an issue as I do need all the octaves so I can play the pieces that I want to.
Portability
As I said before the NP-31 is quite heavy and also quite long, this reduces its portability. I would not say this is a piano you could take back and forth on a train on a day to day basis. However, I think for taking to gigs using a car would be fine for this, that is if it will fit in your boot! (A test I have yet to carry out)
You can get a gig bag for this piano but at around £60, so until then my NP-31 will just have to wait.
Sound
A quality you can not deny the Piagerro is its crystal Grand Piano sound. The high keys and middle range especially match the sound of that of the real deal. I was very happy when I played out my own songs at how it mimicked a real piano. The last four or five bass notes on the piano sound a little bit 'keyboardy' but for the amount they will be used I can not complain.
The speakers on the NP-31 are of decent quality. Being positioned at either end of the piano means you sit within the middle of your sound and can clearly hear everything in balance. There is a dial to control the volume which gives you more control than volume buttons. The only issue was when you have the speakers on a very high volume it can fuzz slightly in small rooms. A note I'd like to add is these speakers will not be loud enough for gigs etc. you will need an amplifier.
Useful Links
Gig Bag - http://www.rimmersmusic.co.uk/bckkb47syamaha.html
NP-31 on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-NP31-Portable-Keyboard-Black/dp/B004RTHGHU
Wednesday 26 December 2012
Saturday 1 December 2012
Home Studio - Equipment
Right so here it is! The gadgets I'm considering getting for my home studio.
First things first - a mix desk. Now having little to no knowledge on what was good or what brands were well thought of I decided to go with something I would already know how to use.
I have recorded a few times with an Alesis
MultiMix desk and have found it very easy to use and set-up.
Because of budget I will only be getting a two or four channel desk, but this is all I will need for guitar/piano and a microphone.
For my midi keyboard I needed a lot of keys as opposed to a lot of sounds. I also needed the sound of the grand piano to be as authentic as possible. Ideally I wanted to find a portable piano that could be used on stage and off stage. The Yamaha NP31 Piaggero ticked all the right boxes when it came to these. It has 76 touch sensitive keys so it can mimic a piano quite well. I was a little disapointed when I read these keys were not weighted but I don't think that will be a major issue once I get used to playing on a keyboard again.
I also decided on this keyboard as it has built in speakers, these may not be enough for a gig but will create a nice sound at home when I don't want headphones.
The last point is it has that all vital Midi in-out connection. I also found a MIDI to USB converter cable, which would come in handy if my desk was full.
Finally I've saved the most important yet most difficult thing to look for online for last; the condenser microphone. Now I was not at all familiar with these microphones, I knew well enough what they are designed to do but what model/make did that best for the budget I was on was a mystery.
In the end I decided to go for the Behringer C1 Microphone. I didn't go for the USB version of this microphone as I heard it was not as good quality.
I also chose this mic as for a reasonable price I could get my pop filter and stand without going over my budget.
I will give some reviews on my equipment once I get it through the post!
I hope this helped anyone like me who may feel lost looking through tonnes of equipment for their studio!
First things first - a mix desk. Now having little to no knowledge on what was good or what brands were well thought of I decided to go with something I would already know how to use.
I have recorded a few times with an Alesis
MultiMix desk and have found it very easy to use and set-up.
Because of budget I will only be getting a two or four channel desk, but this is all I will need for guitar/piano and a microphone.
For my midi keyboard I needed a lot of keys as opposed to a lot of sounds. I also needed the sound of the grand piano to be as authentic as possible. Ideally I wanted to find a portable piano that could be used on stage and off stage. The Yamaha NP31 Piaggero ticked all the right boxes when it came to these. It has 76 touch sensitive keys so it can mimic a piano quite well. I was a little disapointed when I read these keys were not weighted but I don't think that will be a major issue once I get used to playing on a keyboard again.
I also decided on this keyboard as it has built in speakers, these may not be enough for a gig but will create a nice sound at home when I don't want headphones.
The last point is it has that all vital Midi in-out connection. I also found a MIDI to USB converter cable, which would come in handy if my desk was full.
Finally I've saved the most important yet most difficult thing to look for online for last; the condenser microphone. Now I was not at all familiar with these microphones, I knew well enough what they are designed to do but what model/make did that best for the budget I was on was a mystery.
In the end I decided to go for the Behringer C1 Microphone. I didn't go for the USB version of this microphone as I heard it was not as good quality.
I also chose this mic as for a reasonable price I could get my pop filter and stand without going over my budget.
I will give some reviews on my equipment once I get it through the post!
I hope this helped anyone like me who may feel lost looking through tonnes of equipment for their studio!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)