Studiologic SL88 Studio Lightweight Midi Controller with 88-Key Hammer Action Keyboard

First, I grew up playing heavy action grand piano (which I am still playing 60 years later). The key bed has an action on the heavy side and I like it. This should not be confused with sensitivity, however. The keyboard has a great sensitivity and the heavier action makes it easier to more consistently play soft and quiet passages. In another perspective, playing fast passages is actually quite easy and here the heavier action facilitates my finger control, allowing me to be more expressive and not overplaying my phrasing (in this case I was playing Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart passages when I first set the keyboard up).If you are used to playing a real acoustic piano, you will probably be comfortable with the key bed on this rig. On a side note, this keyboard has a solid metal casing and should be set on a solid mounting or table. The good news is that, when set up this way, you can play as aggressively as you want, or as gently, as well.Moving past the key action, which is the first thing you encounter with any keyboard, the controller aspect of this rig is simple, clean, but highly functional. The center color TFT/LED display is controlled with an encoder knob that has push down selection action, plus three menu level control buttons. With this, you can set several keyboard options and projects such as dividing the keyboard in up to 4 zones of play. This can interface with your DAW (Logic Pro here). Through the USB interface into your computer, you can also modify keyboard parameters such as velocity, sensitivity, et al, using the StudioLogic SL Editor.I like the simple yet effective control interface. It is easy to use and with a little practice you can have a tremendous range of presets and control capabilities that you can access quickly with a couple of knob twists and button pushes. I can see this utility for live performance, but it also makes sense for studio production if you are wanting to move efficiently between standard presets. I like these controls.I am honestly ambivalent about the joysticks compared to jog wheels (the SL88 Studio uses joysticks) for expressions, gliss, etc. I like either one and the SL88 joysticks are just fine and easy to use.If you are wanting a good 88 key controller with a solid piano action and efficient menu control, this is a very good proposition. The price is even more attractive given its quality and it definitely punches above its weight.

FANTASTIC PRODUCT ALL AS EXPECTED....was delivered 4 days early then the given expected delivery date which was good and bad,good that i got it early but bad that it came at a unexpected time and as a result was delivered in rain and wind storm.... and for some reason was left out up against house long ways in rain storm and wind storm no signature no knock on the door or anything... ... THANK YOU UPS... i have a covered front porch and it was left out in rain upright on the side of house :( thank god it was not only well packaged but i happend to leave the house at 8pm and found that it had been delivered adter 7pm......lol anyway, sorry i extremely digress... other than that BS I ADORE the keyboard... it feels great and i couldn't be happier with its weight, build, rugged feel and highly accurate response to my performance... im am very happy i went with the SL88, GET YOU ONE TOO but just wait outside until it shows up so it makes it into the house safe!!

Great key action. Really easy to connect to my laptop. (Reminder)This is just a midi controller and needs a computer to make sounds. This is the best midi keyboard I have owned and it is really inexpensive. I use mine for live shows and worship on sundays. I even gutted an old, rundown real piano and used it to put this midi keyboard in. Looks really great on stage.

nicely build and surprised of how light it is for a controller this size. key feels awesome. the software is meh, and the display may have this stain that appears a then disappears put affects nothing in the display functionality. may be tricky for chancing the "zones" on live performance put it depends on your needs. the stick controllers feel great and are on a position easy to reach but for live performances may feel a little small for some "precise expressions/felling" but ok when used to it. excellent port selection, if you care of statics, it looks so simple and nice. Gigs had been greats so far

This keyboard is pretty good for the price. I'm not doing much with the controller beyond just connecting it to my daw so I can't say much there except the interface and menus are kind of clunky. I've been able to find what I need, though. The keyboard feel is the reason I bought it but I'm a little luke-warm about it. It's totally playable but the keys are annoyingly sluggish. They just feel heavy and weird and nothing at all like my actual piano. The action on my Yamaha upright is 10 times lighter than on this keyboard. And no grand piano that I've ever played has a really heavy sluggish action like that. That being said, it plays pretty well once you get used to it. But I wanted a basic controller to record small piano parts on - not to spend hours and hours playing . .so this meets my needs pretty well the price is great.

I really wanted to love this product. It has a great slick and simplistic look and great metal build and the keybed was said to be one of the best(biggest reason for buying it) however this product did not deliver. The feel was okay at best. Not Bad by any means but it just wasn’t that good. The Contacts are Horrible. Unless you are playing a very soft genre of music this board won’t last. I’ve had this board for not even 4 months and there’s already 3 keys that are completely out and I’m not the only one that has had this problem. In closing I would stay away from this unless your someone either playing a soft genre of music or someone willing to replace contacts.

after shopping around for about a month it was time to finally get a big boy piano. I use the keyboard to make beats in logic pro x. these keys are the real deal if the real feel is import to you this will be a good choice for you. Very excited to have it and would recommend to someone who is looking for minimalisic piano with real feel and high quality.