Topic: Yet another keyboard query
For years I've got a great deal of pleasure playing a Danemann upright that I bought at a piano auction. Now I've moved to a warehouse with thin walls, and I just don't feel able to practice while people are trying to work or sleep, and so, having inherited a small amount, have decided to move down the digital route. Although I play all sorts of classical, I particularly enjoy playing Scriabin, and so the pedalling is very important to me. I spent ages reading posts on various keyboards (my budget is £2000 tops) and then came across Pianoteq. I'm 99% certain that this is the answer for me; I've downloaded the trial software, and by playing various midi files through it and playing with the settings have fallen in love with the idea, if not quite head over heels with the sound! But I'm sure you will all understand that that the subtlety of response, particularly in the area of string resonance, is more important to me than the timbre of the note. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in Chappell's (a music shop in London) playing the full range of Yamaha gear and hated it as much as I remember from practicing on rehearsal room clavinovas.
So now I'm trying to choose a keyboard, and although there is a huge amount of very helpful discussion on here and I could make a good list of keyboards that I could then audition, there are some basic facts that I would love to know about the keyboards which would help me shorten the list.
Obviously I'm looking for a fully weighted action; but how do I know if a touch responsive keyboard gives a full resolution 0-126 and doesn't split it into levels? Likewise, I would like a keyboard with at least 3 pedals, and how do I know that the touch sensitive pedals likewise give a full resolution? It seems to me that a list of keyboards that, in theory at least, use pianoteq to the full would very helpful to anyone trying to start from scratch.
If I find a keyboard action that I like which has only 2 pedal inputs, or pedals that I don't like, can I connect the pedals separately to pianoteq with some kind of midi junction box?
My budget has to cover the keyboard, pianoteq, and any gubbins I might need to connect the two together (I'll be running on a MacBook 1.83 Intel Core 2 Duo).
Any thoughts?
Looking forward to posting results of my auditioning/shopping!
Ben