Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Studiologic Numa Piano

I'm back on that nauseating merry-go-round where I really can't decide. Tom really likes his Numa Piano, but will I? It's really down to the Numa and the Kawai MP6. The Numa is lightweight, but the Kawai has, by all accounts, a really accomplished action.

I've crossed the Roland RD-300NX and FP-4F off the list - I'm really not that taken with Roland's EPs. The Yamaha CP50 is going to give me conniptions with that interface during a show. The Korg SV-1's APs were lackluster IMO (although I've not tried Soundpack 2). Maybe I could just add a GEM RP-X to one of my Rolands, but I'm not a fan of MIDI-linked devices.

I've been through so many DPs in the last couple of years, and in some ways, for live use, I found the humble (and outdated) Casio PX-310 and the Korg SP250 as good as much, much more expensive boards. Go figure!

OK, I decided to take a gamble on the NUMA. I'm a little bit fearful, given Studiologic's not-so-good reputation for reliability - and the rather condensed action - but the NUMA organ has been fine so far, apart from a couple of minor software bugs. I would very much like to have tried the MP6, but I really need to focus on keeping the weight down.

I listened quite a few times to the various Italian demos, and the AP samples seem quite nice. It's not so easy to tell with the EPs (people keep playing FM pianos in demos, which I dislike with a vengeance!), but EP1 seems quite expressive. If, in total, it proves to be better than my FP-4, I'll be happy.

I heard a Latin jazz guy about a year ago at an outdoor festival I was on using that Korg 250 and it sounded great, he was a burning player.

Like I said earlier in the thread I thought the Numa was cool but from past experience, playing something at NAMM never means it will work for me or not. Plus it was so long ago...I actually forgot how it played or sounded.

I'd get too much grief from the guys around town with a white piano-so till they come up with a different color scheme of black or grey unfortunately it's off my radar--which is a drag because it might be the perfect thing for me.



vp-I hear ya on the Nord Piano. You do a better job of putting it into words then I do. There's something about the sound of that thing through speakers live that just doesn't do it for me. I'd be taking a leap of faith with the new samples and to be honest, I'd have lower expectations going in. Basically I just want something lightweight.

On the other hand $1900 is a lot of dough and if you can find something that works or sounds better to you then the Nord like the SV1 or Numa Piano, for even less $$$, why not go with it.

You know, I thought the same until I got my white FP4. At the time it was a really good deal, so I swallowed my pride and went for it. Much to my amazement the guys in the band thought it looked cool! Now I have two white Rolands, plus the Numa organ in white, so I've got used to it.




Yes, having dropped a few hundred on the NP resale, I really wanted to keep the cost down. If the SV-1 had been a 76 instead of a 73, I might have gone for it, but the 73 was just that little bit short for me, and the 88 was getting into the same weight category as the MP6. I really had GAS for the SV a year or so ago (loved the Rhodes), but in the end I've been swayed towards the NUMA piano by its ultra-simplicity, coupled with its weight and the fact that the AP sounds very good. The big bonus is that it should work well as a controller for VSTs etc. when I give up on trying to find the perfect hardware solution - and that day is now VERY near for me!

Definitely let me know how that Numa P is working for you when get it vp.
Maybe I'll hold off here on getting either the NP or SV1.

What the heck, maybe with a white piano I would appear less hostile, unfriendly and more approachable to the audience.

I was listening to some demos Keyboard Mag put up on Soundcloud and it sounded kinda digital harsh and not a real high end sound in general.
http://soundcloud.com/keyboardmag/sets/03-2011-studiologic-numa-piano


Then listening to Joey D. play it on a live gig, it sounds pretty cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN9CJNV4WE

As usual though, the player and context have a lot to with it...

Thanks for your insight, Tom. I really like the simplicity of the Numa and it could very well take the spot from my Roland RD300NX. The only sound that I hang on to in that board is the 'Mellow Piano' which is very organic and has great decay. Sure would be nice to have a shorter, lightweight board. But no stores carries it around here, so I would have to take a chance and buy online.

Looking forward to hear your review, Voxpops!

"I would appear less hostile, unfriendly and more approachable to the audience." Unfortunately, that hasn't worked in my case.
I am going to be painting the endblocks and the 1" strip along the bottom to kind of make it look a little sleaker and match the organ better. I think I'm going to like the looks of it a LOT better with that done.
For those who are considering buying one, I hope you like it as much as I like mine. Next to music, I don't think there's anything more subjective than instruments. It's all about finding something that works for you. It's really a shame that it's so hard to "audition" these things ... maybe someday it will be easier. If anyone is in the Detroit area you're welcome to check mine out.

I found that link yesterday (before I pulled the trigger) and couldn't get the tracks to play. Now I've played them this morning and I remember having listened a few months ago - deciding then that the Numa wasn't for me. They do sound pretty low end, I have to admit, and not something worth giving up the NP for. However, I will reserve judgment until the box arrives. If necessary, that Numa will go straight back on eBay and I will finally succumb to a Kawai.

I shall report back in a few days...

I think it both the Grand Piano 1 and Bright Grand sound good until you really attack it, then that ugly DP sound rears its head. But, it sounds better to me than a lot of boards out there. Who does the sampling for the Numa Piano, and what pianos do they use?

Side note, but the guy who is 'narrating' us through the sample demos is killing me with that northern accent!

Just downloaded the Soundpack 1 update for the NUMA. It's 120Mb so there must be some substantial changes. It would be interesting to know whether any of the DPs leave the factory with the new soundpack. Tom, have you upgraded? I'm doubting whether the Keyboard Mag review unit had the upgrade as I think it's a fairly recent revision.

"Grand Piano 1 and Bright Grand sound good until you really attack it, then that ugly DP sound rears its head." The Numa piano has an amazing dynamic range available depending on how you strike the keys and which velocity sensitivity level you use. I found that the "harshness" comes into play when you really hit the keys hard because you are actually overdriving it and redlining the input downstream. I solved this problem by using a Radial JDI after the keyboard. I used the Radial JDI previously to "sum" my Nords to mono (without phase distortion) and send a balanced signal. With the Numa/JDI combination the harshness disappears and a nice, smooth, quiet, balanced, mic level signal is produced. If you don't have a JDI, you will need to pay close attention to your velocity settings to make sure you're not overdriving the input(s) of your mixer/preamp/recorder.

Useful info, Tom. Thanks!

Did you see my question about the soundpack revision? Have you upgraded?

No, I heard there was an upgrade available with some substantial improvements, but I'm in the middle of doing a bunch of festivals and some recordings and I didn't want to risk any unforseen issues during my busy season. I got bit a few years back doing an OS upgrade on a Kurzweil module that locked up and crashed during the upgrade, so these days I either have a backup instrument available, or at least some extra time available just in case. Where is the download available? I've got some slack time coming up in a few weeks and I'd like to get on that.
That is one really nice thing about the Nords ... easy upgrades and nice loader.

Oh, I hear you! It scares the pants off me doing these firmware updates - particularly when they're as large as this one:
Numa Piano Pack 1 Update
You can find the piano loader software in the same part of the website.

What doesn't fill me with confidence is the fact that Studiologic appears to have three or four unconnected websites, and it's extremely difficult to find your way to the downloads section.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to compare before and after.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted when I do it. I did an upgrade on my Numa organ last winter and it wasn't too difficult. I still haven't downloaded any of the "new" models though (for the same reason I mentioned). Now you've got me all excited about doing the upgrade. I'm going to have to force myself not to mess with it for a few weeks, and it isn't going to be easy.
PS: I just pulled up the website for Guitar Center and saw both the Numa Organ & Numa Piano listed for sale on it. Maybe they will eventually stock these things so that people can check them out.

OK, this is looking interesting!

The Numa Piano arrived a few hours ago. It was nice that they included a user manual - it would have been even nicer if it had been the correct one! I set it up, turned on and ran through the sounds: generally favorable. Action: rather like some of the Privias I've owned; quite heavy and will take a bit of practice to overcome the tendency for softer notes to register a lower velocity than expected, but generally quite playable. (I haven't tried the auto velocity curve function yet.)

I then took the bull by the horns and upgraded the firmware and software. I nearly screwed that up as I wasn't sure when the main file had finished loading. But in the end I think I got it all loaded. What a difference! The first piano sound is big, sparkling and just sounds great. The second piano (labeled bright) now seems more like the original #1 piano with more mellow pianissimo sounds, and is also very usable. The Rhodes (unchanged) growls and barks nicely with higher velocities and has a more bell-like tine sound when played softer. The Wurli (also unchanged) is a pretty good likeness. The Clav spits with a nice fast attack (quite a lot more playable than the pre-update original). The pads organs and basses are so-so, but at least there is a basic rotary speaker sim that can be controlled by the mod wheel. That wheel is also used to control tremolo and phaser speed etc., along with a dedicated depth-control knob.

It seems like there's lots of midi functionality built in, and easy to access from the front panel. I haven't really looked into the additional controls, but at first glance it looks like there's most of what you need right there in front of you.

I had one little scare. After inadvertently interrupting the update process I thought I may have screwed things up. But after I rebooted and reset the factory programs, the piano seemed to play and operate fine (apart from the Bright Piano being more mellow!). However, when I changed from program 12 to program 1, the sound cut out. I rebooted and everything was fine. I'll keep an eye out for other little anomalies or hiccups.

But, with just a few minutes (and I stress this) playing time on this board, it's looking very promising. There is, as Tom says, a huge dynamic range available (much more than the NP) - and it sounds pretty darn good! The action will take a little bit of time to adjust to, but I expected that given the very low weight of this keyboard. Right now, I really am pleasantly surprised. I'll try to give a more detailed review when I've spent some "quality" time with the board.

Quick update:
No sympathetic resonance or (as far as I can tell) damper resonance. So if you're looking for an acoustic-facsimile, this probably won't do it for you. However, it sounds pretty good even without these subtleties.

This would suggest to me that the AP sounds are straight samples, without modeling. Less easy to tell with the EPs. I have to say that the Rhodes is really rather good.

It's looking like a keeper for gigging purposes. I find the sounds very pleasing for the most part, and with the OS update, there are additional refinements to the effects section that make it more immediate. I would be less inclined to go for it as a home acoustic-substitute, simply because technology now allows for a more refined piano experience (as with the FP-7F etc.).

I don't think there are any key-up samples (although I could be wrong), or pedal noises. Certainly this is nowhere near as sophisticated as my old GEM PRP800 (another Italian DP), and yet I like it.

I'm sure this DP will make its presence felt in a band context. And, with that in mind, a middle cut/boost knob in addition to bass and treble eq would have been helpful, as the mids could do with taming a little.

Maybe the samples are longer than normal, I'm not sure. Unlike Tom, I think there is looping going on. But what they have put in there seems to work well.

Thanks for your words on the Numa P so far, Voxpops. Is the decay rate around the same as on your FP-7F?

Thomsurf, I think it's similar. Certainly it doesn't have the short attack/decay of the Privias.

I am pretty convinced that these are looped samples but they may be a little longer than usual. We're certainly not talking ultra-sophistication. The Nord is a much more polished instrument in many respects, but the Numa doesn't exhibit the traits that I found irritating in the Nord: lack of dynamic range, that slightly "harpsichordy" sound from the middle register, a sense that there should be more timbre variation available from the EPs. And of course it's only a little over half the price of the Nord. And when I compare the Numa to the Rolands, I am much more pleased with the EP sound and response.

However, I really don't want to paint an unrealistically glowing picture of the Numa. Having just swapped the Nord for the Numa, I really want to like it, so I may be a little more favorably disposed than someone without a vested interest! All I can say is that I think it will work fine for my needs in a band context (and will save my back from additional wear and tear), but for home use where the subtleties and nuances of sound engines are more apparent, the FP-7F will be my go-to instrument.