Disklavier

I've been up and down this road recently, but my expecatations may 
not be as great as yours.  I already have a quasi-recording studio at 
home with more advanced setups, so I use my DK purely for 
entertainment and rehearsal (I play an upright bass too).  Therefore, 
I use a ROLAND KC-150 Keyboard Amp.  It has 4 channels, 60 watts, and 
it sounds very good with the audio cds and tone gerator (MU50).  I 
even use this amplifier for my upright bass.  Its a good looking 
amplifier that fits well in my LR setup.

I have a an older DK MX100II without midi tone generator.  I found a 
used Yamaha MU50 external MIDI tone generator (EBAY)and an old 
(discontinued) Midiman QRS CD Keyboard Player - a magic black box 
that allows you pull the midi data off the Pianosoft Plus Audio cds. 

I use a simple portable CD player for audio CDs and a laptop for MIDI 
files.  

The downside is that is mono sound setup - which really doesn't 
matter when using the Pianosoft CDs.  


--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, wandamusic@... wrote:
>
> I would be very grateful if folks using an external sound setup (as 
opposed  
> to the grands that have built in speakers) can share how they are 
doing it.  
> ESPECIALLY if it sounds good while they are playing the instrument.
>  
> I have a DU1A, a professional upright. The store included one small 
speaker  
> (35 watts) just so I could hear that it would work. I have no idea 
why they  
> didn't either include 2, or none, but that is a different story.
>  
> I bought a mid priced surround system, based on the store's 
suggestion (the  
> did not offer any specific brands), which is 1000 watts (over 6 
speakers -  
> less than 200 each). I thought that would be plenty of power.
>  
> My main concern is that it does not sound too great, and at levels 
loud  
> enough to start to sound "full" I can hear noise, not static, like 
but more  
> humming like and not 60cps hum....just background noise that 
probably  originates 
> either in the system or the disklavier unit. I did raise the  
volume coming out 
> of the disklavier, so that is not the problem)
>  
> What I want to do is to compose music using this instrument, and 
that means  
> I want to hear clearly around me. When I pulled the front speakers 
out from  
> the wall and put on either side of me it was much better, but still 
not great. 
> I  cannot hear the back speakers as they are across the room, but I 
can 
> probably do  some sort of adjustment. (and it will not work to 
always keep the 
> speakers out  as they will block the path around the LR, which is 
not that large, 
> my hope is  to find the best affordable system, and mount some or 
all of the 
> speakers  on the wall)
>  
> AT this point, I feel this sound system is not powerful enough and  
have no 
> idea how much power I need to have great sound while playing the 
piano.  (Years 
> ago when I did MIDI composing using multi keyboards, everything 
came  through 
> 2 medium-large sized speakers mounted above me and it sounded 
absolutely  
> awesome whether I was composing at the keyboards or sitting across 
the room. It  
> was not a fancy sound system. I had hoped for a similar experience 
with this  
> instrument)
>  
> BTW, the new surround sound system did sound great when I played a 
CD and  
> sat in the middle of the room. It was louder and fuller, without 
background  
> noise. The problem is I want to hear great with the piano, which 
means  different 
> sound source, and sitting on one side of the room.
>  
> Any thoughts/experiences would be appreciated.
>  
> Blessings,
> Wanda
> 
> 
> 
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