As the title says. Any recommendations, what to buy? or what not to buy?
I don't need sounds, lcd screen, fader, knobs,...preferably compact.

I play the piano, but I do not consider myself a pianist. I'm not a composer either.

My budget around 600 €.

 

Last edited: Mar 17, 2018

Whichever one you get, try and get both MIDI and USB ports.
If it is not USB 3 minimum, the latency is still better on the 5pin DIN MIDI. It's really noticeable at 96KHz sampling rates and higher.
If you are not going for sounds and just a keyboard, any of the weighted 88note controllers are fine. Just make sure they have all the adjustable MIDI features that are in your DAW.

 

My Vote for a Yamaha S90 or similar keyboard. You can not beat the feel of it.

 

Last edited: Mar 16, 2018

Only keyboard, no sounds.

 

Budget?

 

MIDI latency shouldn't be related to your DAWs sampling rate. And if USB2 is good enough for multitrack audio, why would you need USB3 for simple MIDI data? Sounds more like a configuration/compatibility/driver problem to me. Anyway, it's good advice to go with a keyboard with both kind of interfaces.

 

Get a fartar they have a great feel also. I have a mpk261 I like it but Fartar, Roland and Yamaha make some real good ones also.
AKAI makes a 88 weighted key model also.
You still need to specify your budget.

 

Akai MPK 88. I own one since 4 years and I recommand it. It has both MIDI and USB.
http://www.akaipro.com/products/legacy/mpk-88

 

Almost every is about money.
Then about the needs..
Pricey workstations have the best keyboard action and some cheap pianos have but sometimes no aftertouch, no pitch bend, knobs or sliders.
Put Casio pianos in the list that have some amazing products that no one talk.
Korg have a new cheap piano with same keybed of kronos.
The main competidor of mpk88 (legacy product now) are Arturia keylab88 and Nektar LX88 (no aftertouch).
Its important to know where you live, each market is different.

 

weighted or hammer action?
If hammer action, arturia keylab 88, or Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88. Both feature a Fatar action, and it doesn't get better than Fatar.

 

If you want a midi keyboard without sounds and want the action as close to a real piano as possible, there is only one. Kawai VPC1. Nothing else comes even close.

 

Komplete Kontrol S88, but wait to see if they update it to Mk2 first.

 

Thanks for all replies, i don't need sounds, lcd screen, fader, knobs,...
what do you think about studiologic sl73? (I know, it has lcd,...)

 

You should give us some more info.. ok, no sound, lcd, faders, knobs

Do you play real piano? You want hammer action, consider an 88-key board (SL88?) - that brings some of the realism to the table. About Studiologic - cheap, but some complain about the quality (in general) and the led-control functionality. (I was considering it, but want to know more..)

Do you need pitch-bend, modulation? (I know, no knobs - but these are "performance tools"). SL have (small) joysticks - I like Roland-like controller, but some prefer wheels ..or nothing (personal pref).

Do you have space for full-sized keyboard?

Budget?

Agree with @ovalf, Casio is a bit overlooked.. What about relatively new M-audio Hammer 88. Cheap. Really like the "minimal" design, but TBH don't know much about it.

 

Studiologic = Fatar, afaik. Fatar keyboards are high quality generally. I heard that they have improved from generation to generation, so newer models might be better. Can't really comment on that, since my only hammer action Fatar keyboard is from an old TS12 from the 1990s, still working, though. Studiologic provides several keyboards, heavier and lighter ones, if that matters. Stop, I just checked: actually they seem to offer only the SL series now. The SL88 is provided in two versions, "Studio" and "Grand" the second being heavier and supposedly more piano-like.
If I had to buy a weighted action keyboard today without being able to try it before I probably would go for the 88 Grand. Or - here in Europe - an used "Doepfer" branded Fatar. But if you have the opportunity to go to a shop and compare, better go there and find out what fits your taste. (For example personally I prefer quality synth keyboards to the hammer action kind.)

 

MIDI protocol's speed is about 3.8 Kb/sec. USB in real world usage is: USB1 about 1.2 mb/sec, USB2 about 30mb/sec. Needless to say there haven't been any USB3 keyb. controllers on the market because for MIDI control, the extra bandwidth is useless USB2 is adequate enough for many discrete, realtime host to device midi connections.
Also MIDI latency over a 5pin DIN connector is typically 2ms . USB 2's latency (before any driver) is 0.125 ms. So even after the driver and whatever negotiation/handshake etc., USB2 is fast enough to carry the protocol.

@ZUK
If portability and weighted action is what you are after you need something like this :
https://studiologic-music.com/products/numa_stage/
It's 13 kg, 88 weighted hammer action keys. You can think of the onboard sounds as an extra addition, or just forget about them lol, they 're not that many anyway. Goes for about 900 euros.

If top weighted action is more worth than portability then you may consider this:
https://www.studiologic-music.com/products/sl-grand/
88 keys weighted hammer action. The keybed is supposedly a little better on this one. It's a little less than 21kg but this one has wooden keys (same as the Numa Concert model which goes for 1500 euros). Goes for about 850 euros.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Mar 17, 2018

Get something with a PHA4 or PHA50 keybed. If you want compact Go for the Roland FP30

 

Komplete Kontrol S88.

 

you never answered the question about your budget.

if cost is not important, then farao is correct - the kawai vpc1 is the best available. $1849 at sweetwater. wish i could afford that one.

but if you don't want to spend that much, the studiologic sl88 grand comes very close. $899 at sweetwater. best bang for the buck if the keybed is your most important criteria.

if your budget is less than that, then the studiologic sl88 (non-grand) or sl73 - which are both exactly the same price at sweetwater - is probably the best you are going to be able to find. $499.95

 

I play the piano, but I do not consider myself a pianist. I'm not a composer either. My budget around 600 €.
Thanks again for all the comments.