MANY KEYBOARDISTS don't need a high-end axe designed for
demanding professionals, and if you don't need pro features, you
probably don't want to pay big bucks for them. If all you require
is a modest selection of good sounds, a reasonably good weighted
action, and basic MIDI control, you might be better off with a
small, lightweight, easy-to-carry slim-line stage piano. These
instruments — meant for home users, weekend warriors, lounge
musicians, and those who play mostly low-key casuals — are
priced to sell at $1,000 to $1,500.
Kurzweil's newest entry in this market is the SP88X, an 88-key
stage piano with a fully weighted action. It's the top of the line
in Kurzweil's Stage Piano series, which includes two other models:
the unweighted 76-key SP76 and the semiweighted 88-key SP88. The
SP88X is stripped down compared with the company's higher-end
instruments, but it offers an array of MIDI control features not
often found in this price range.
As a professional keyboardist, I generally prefer higher-end
instruments, but I was eager to try out the SP88X because of the
company's reputation for making high-quality gear with great
samples. One of my big questions was whether this affordable
instrument was good enough to please a pro with modest expectations
(considering the unit's price) but an experienced ear and
touch.
PHYSICAL STUFF
One of the advantages of stage pianos is that they're easy to
carry around. At 52 pounds, the SP88X is not the lightest keyboard
in its class — the Korg SP100 weighs just under 42 pounds,
and the Yamaha P80 a mere 37 pounds — but it's still quite
portable. I could pick it up one-handed, making it a snap to load
in at the gig.
I have to admit the instrument's purple color put me off. It
might be fine for some types of stage acts, but it clearly would
not be appropriate for others. I would much prefer a simple black
or gray instrument that could fit in with any act.
The SP88X, like all the company's keyboard synths, uses a Fatar
TP10MD action — the same model used in the K2600XS and PC2X
— but somehow it didn't feel quite as firm as the one in the
K2600XS. I don't think I'm imagining the difference; I can only
speculate that Kurzweil might have mounted the action differently
in the K2600XS. I tend to like a firmer action, and I found the
SP88X's decent but light for my taste.
The front panel has a master volume slider, 16 patch selection
buttons, various red indicator lights, and a small LED for
parameter editing. Instead of modulation and pitch wheels, the unit
has two ribbon controllers. As much as I appreciate a good ribbon
controller, these don't qualify. To begin with, they feel cheap,
unlike the ribbons on the Kurzweil ExpressionMate and K2600-series
keyboards. Furthermore, their vertical orientation and location at
the far left end of the keyboard make them difficult to use
effectively. I would much prefer to have one or two control wheels
at the left end of the keyboard and one horizontally oriented
ribbon controller conveniently placed above the keyboard. That
would make it far simpler to produce, say, an effective finger
vibrato.
On the rear panel, you'll find connectors for headphones, stereo
output, and MIDI I/O. You get two pedal controller jacks: one for
the included piano-style sustain pedal and another for an optional
expression pedal that sends a variety of MIDI Control Change
messages to external modules. Unlike the ribbon controllers, which
offer control over a limited set of internal sound parameters, the
expression pedal has no effect on the internal sounds. That's too
bad, because you could control some parameters more effectively
with a pedal, especially if you want to change a parameter while
playing with both hands.
The back panel is also home to a power switch as well as an
input for the unit's wall-wart power supply. Because wall warts are
flimsy by nature, they're a disadvantage on an instrument that is
designed for stage use. However, they do serve to keep the cost
down.
BELLS AND WHISTLES
You access the SP88X's 32 internal sounds with the 16
aforementioned patch selection buttons, each of which controls two
patches. In Play mode, press a button once and it turns red,
indicating that you've selected the first patch. Press the button
again and it turns green, indicating that you've selected the
second patch.
In Internal Voices mode (the default), you can edit a large
number of performance-related parameters, including transposition,
ribbon controller action, Velocity curve, MIDI channel, and effects
levels, to name a few. However, the SP88X does not allow you to do
any deep synth-type editing of the sounds, such as selecting
waveforms and adjusting envelopes and filters. Furthermore, of the
eight Velocity curves that are offered, all but two are odd or
reverse curves. According to Kurzweil, these curves create
crossfades when used with other Kurzweil instruments, but I suspect
that most people who are buying this sort of keyboard will never
use them. I wish the company had omitted the oddball curves and
supplied more practical Velocity curves, perhaps with varying
offsets. For instance, the upper notes on the piano sounds barely
respond to Velocity; I would have liked some curves that gave me
more variety in top response.
You can also place the SP88X in MIDI Setups mode, which offers
two user-definable zones, each with its own patch and controller
assignments. You can use these to create key splits and layers with
external sound modules. You could, for example, create a split in
which half the keyboard controlled one of the SP88X's internal
sounds, and the other half controlled a sound from an external
module — or, alternatively, both zones could control external
sounds.
Unfortunately, you cannot set up a split that uses two internal
sounds, because the internal sound module is limited to playing one
patch at a time (although some patches consist of preprogrammed
layers, such as piano with strings). That presented a problem,
because for a lot of casual gigs I don't want to haul an external
sound module, and I sometimes need to create splits.
GETTING AROUND
The user interface was my least favorite part of the instrument.
If all you want to do is call up presets and play them as is,
things are simple enough — but making changes can be
cumbersome.
The names of all the editable parameters are printed above the
keys in three columns and six rows. Each row has a red LED
indicator light. In Edit mode, you navigate to the desired
parameter by pressing a Column Select button until the LED
indicator at the top of the first or second column lights up. (When
both indicators are off, it means the third column of Global
parameters is active.) You then press a Row Select button until the
indicator next to the parameter lights up. A steady glow means that
the first of two parameters in the row is selected; a flashing
light indicates that the second parameter is active.
The current value of the parameter is then shown in a small
three-letter LED. In Edit mode, the patch selection buttons serve
as input keys. You can change the value by entering the desired
number and pressing Enter or by holding down keys labeled Yes and
No, which increase and decrease the displayed value.
One of the first things I noticed was that the parameter
selection labels are incredibly hard to read, with tiny lettering
printed in azure blue. Against the purple background of the unit,
in fact, the labels are practically illegible, especially in the
low-light situations on many stages. The manual contains this
information, of course, but that doesn't make things any easier
when you're operating on the fly at rehearsals or gigs.
The patch labels are a bit easier to read — written in a
somewhat larger white font — but they cram a lot of info into
a small space. In contrast, four lines of advertisement (not a
decal) appear on the keyboard's top panel in easily visible white
letters: “Award Winning Sounds,” “Flexible MIDI
Controller,” and so on.
Navigating the parameter display required an especially
frustrating number of button pushes. Once you have the correct
column selected, the Row Select button runs through the parameters
only in sequential order. That means you have to push buttons over
and over to access parameters located farther down. There's no
function for backing up, so if you miss your mark the first time,
you have to cycle all the way through again. This tedious method of
changing parameters contrasts sharply with the procedures
incorporated into Kurzweil's other, higher-priced keyboards, most
of which offer big, bright displays and dedicated buttons. It also
contrasts with the friendlier interfaces found in some competing
instruments.
IN PLAY
Although you have a choice of 32 preset patches, they derive
from just five basic instruments: acoustic piano, electric piano,
FM electric piano, organ, and strings. The keyboard offers numerous
variations of these (including piano and string combinations), but
no vibes or clavinet, essential instruments for many gigs. You
don't get a bass sound, either, but because you cannot split the
internal sounds, you would have to use an external module to play
bass with another sound anyway.
The SP88X's piano sounds are the same as those in Kurzweil's
popular MicroPiano. Although these were once considered top of the
line, developers have raised the bar for piano sounds quite a bit
since the MicroPiano's introduction. Perhaps as a result of those
higher expectations, the SP88X's acoustic piano sounds disappointed
me. The attacks are fairly decent, but when you hold a note, it
decays much too fast. Though the pianos seem fairly realistic on
up-tempo numbers, on slow ballads the rapid decay makes sustained
chords sound thin and weak. The acoustic piano's timbre changes in
response to Velocity; however, the changes are hardly noticeable in
the top octave.
The keyboard offered a more satisfying variety of reasonably
convincing electric piano and organ sounds. However, the rotating
speaker effect is unimpressive, especially coming from a company
that has proven it can make an excellent Leslie-type effect. The
string sounds, which include ensemble patches with both fast and
slow attacks, are good enough for many purposes, if not
memorable.
The SP88X also has built-in effects, including a smooth-sounding
reverb and chorus. The default levels were a bit wetter than I'd
like, but you can modify and save your preferred effects parameters
and MIDI settings before the gig to avoid having to deal with the
multistep editing procedure onstage. Still, the lack of dedicated
buttons to control chorus and reverb is a distinct
disadvantage.
KEY THOUGHTS
Overall, the SP88X left me feeling lukewarm. On the upside, you
get a fully weighted, 88-key keyboard, good (not great) sounds, and
a bevy of MIDI controller options that give you flexibility when
using the instrument with external sound modules. Considering the
price, that's a good deal. On the other hand, the user interface is
unnecessarily clumsy, the ribbon controllers are not a great choice
for this application, and the selection of sounds could have been
slightly larger and better.
The SP88X seems best suited to predictable gig situations where
you can set everything in advance and where decent sounds are good
enough — or where you want to use an external sound module.
If you are performing your gig with just one instrument and no
module, you'll have to do without splits, bass, and other standard
sounds, as well as the ability to tweak on the fly.
Would this instrument suit serious professional keyboardists on
a budget? Maybe, but probably not. On the other hand, stage piano
buyers, who do not need pro features and who just want a good basic
instrument for casuals or to control an external module, will find
the SP88X an attractive and affordable choice.
PRODUCT SUMMARY
Kurzweil Music Systems
SP88X
stage piano
$1,395
Overall Rating (1 through 5): 3
PROS: Full-size keyboard with weighted action.
Plentiful MIDI controller functions. Good (not great) onboard
sounds. Moderate weight. Portable.
CONS: No vibe or clavinet sounds. Unreadable parameter
labels. Cumbersome user interface. No splits for onboard sounds.
Limited sound editing. Poorly implemented ribbon controllers.
Contact: Kurzweil Music Systems/Young Chang
tel. (800) 421-9846 or (253) 589-3200
Web www.kurzweilmusicsystems.com
SP88X SPECS
Audio Outputs (2) ¼", (1) ¼" TRS
headphone
Additional Ports MIDI I/O (transmits on 2 channels,
receives on 1 channel)
Zones 2
Setups 32
Patches 32 variations and combinations of acoustic piano,
electric piano, FM electric piano, organ, and strings
Keyboard 88-note fully weighted action
Controllers pitch and modulation ribbons; volume slider;
(2) ¼" pedal inputs
Polyphony 32 notes
Effects reverb, chorus
Dimensions 58.4" (W) × 4.8" (H) × 14" (D)
Weight 52 lbs.
