asandel wrote:Hi Maestrosteve... yes the smaller keys do bother me too.. like you I come from the kurzweil side.... I was thinking of trading in my NE5HP for a NE5SW73 but went to a friends house to try it ( a NE5D).. when I did I found my fingers were tending to play in-between the black keys to fit my playing position... I didn't like it..I have a NE5HP, Kurzweil PC2X and a Kawai ... all have 4 inch and 5 1/2 inch keys.. but my K2661 has 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 and I thought that was small... So my question to all .. a little confused with all the measurements post.... "Does a NStage3 Compact 73 have the same key length as a NE5D/NE5 SW..
This key size thing has opened a can of worms for me personally. I work all the time, do LOTS of acoustic piano job, and as many synth jobs, and the difference in key lengths never really mattered to me. Sure, I knew it felt different, but once I tried a Stage 2 compact 73 note keyboard and the keys were even smaller, it brought the entire issue into my head and it now bothers me when I play my synths.
I can't jump from one keyboard to the other without it messing me up. I have a half dozen synths in my house and I'm measuring keys. I did a gig last night just on my PC361 synth and while I'm playing, I'm thinking about how those keys are slightly smaller. All the Kurz synths have the same size keys - 3 1/2" and 5 1/2" (my K2vx, PC361, your K2661). My Kurzweil Artis has 6" and 4" keys.
I wouldn't even mention the key size thing, but I was SO close to buying a 73 note Stage 2 ex. Before I buy anything (a car, a piece of equipment, etc..), I like to go join the forums, read up on what people like and don't like about certain things, and decided to get a Nord keyboard. The only issue for me was 73 or 76 notes. There are no dealers or anyone around for me to try the 76 note version, and since my friend bought the 73 note version, I had a chance to try it. I always loaded samples on my K2000 keyboards, didn't use the stock sounds, and envisioned I'd could do the same with this Nord. Once I tried his 73 note Stage ex, I realized that I probably would not be happy with it. Maybe I could get used to it, I don't know. I heard that the 76 note version has piano sized keys, and since keyboard feel is VERY subjective, I really need to try it before I would consider buying it.
Thanks for responding, I appreciate your insight.
Steve