Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Is FATAR the best keybed makers

Is FATAR the best keybed makers?

I've seen kurzweil using there keybeds, Are they durable.

They may be the best OEM suppliers to other manufacturers? But the big brands of Roland, Kawai, Yamaha, Casio all make their own. Most folks on here say the Fatar actions are generally not as good as the best of the Kawai and Roland actions.

Usually you need to try for yourself and see how it suits your style.

Haha, an emphatic "no" to that one. Entry level products aside, all of the big brands make better actions than Fatar.

Well, that's subjective. I don't think any Korg weighted action is as good as the action in the Nord Piano, for example. Some might disagree, but it's not a slam dunk.

Well, when I said the big brands I was talking more about Kawai/Yamaha/Roland, and probably even Casio. But since you mention it, I do think the top Korg action is still better than the Fatar purely because it's a heavier touchweight and closer to most acoustic pianos than the light action of the Nord. I think the Nord sound and touch response flatters the Fatar action. In fact, for a company that specialises in so called "premium actions" I'd say Fatar is an absolute joke. They should be at least on par with the big 3.

I fully agree. It really is ok on the Nord but that is more a comment about the Nord than Fatar. I think their actions are mediocre at best.

I have owned two Nord Pianos now, and they are great for connecting to the sounds. The NP88 and NP2 allow for very expressive playing. That's an important part of a keyboard action. But, I would easily rank the PHA IIII, RM3, RH, NW-Stage actions handily above the Fatar action at east inside the Nords, but then again, the keyboards those actions go into are also much heavier than the Nord Pianos. Can't have it both ways. I do think the action in the Nords is better than the RH3 of the Korgs, and better than the action in the Casios. Fatar's wooden action in the Numa Nero is fantastic.

I think it's fair to say that Fatar generally has a lower reputation for authenticity and (especially) quality control than Roland, Yamaha, and Kawai. At least, that's my observation after reading this and other piano forums for a few years. And their software (firmware) seems to be buggy a lot. I'm thinking of flagship products like the numa nero.

Not speaking from first-hand experience here. Just recapping others' opinions.

Well, actually Fatar makes many different style keyboards, so as with anything else the true answer is "it depends". Personally, I like the TP-40H (graded hammer action), and I recently tested a TP-100H version that has 3 sensors per key, graded hammer action, wood-core keys and "Ivory-sense" key tops. This action was fantastic and IMHO as good as Roland and Yamaha's top line. I still think the Kawai MP-10 is tops in this area. Just my 2 pennies

That's not an enormous surprise that you would say that though, is it? Don't the Physis and the Kurzweil's with which you are affiliated both use Fatar actions? As somebody who has no brand preference at all, Fatar is miles behind IMO.

Actually, the TP-40 is a very good action. It is designed more like Yamaha's GH(X) actions where the weight swings under the lip of the key, rather than pivoting weights like the TP-10, etc. I don't own a TP-40 equipped keyboard so I'm not extremely biased, but I have tried it and was impressed. It's not your grandma's Fatar .

Well, I'd still have Kawai/Roland above Yamaha (aside from AG), so if Fatar made an action that was approaching Yamaha's GH actions, it would still put it in 3rd place at best for me.

I still think it's a null statement when somebody who works for Kurzweil and Physis comes on here and states that Fatar has an action that matches Roland/Yamaha. For the same reason I don't expect Kawai James to come on here and say Kawai has a great action. It's a conflict of interest.

Well, not to stir anything up, but he didn't say Fatar had the best action. He did say a certain model was fantastic and "IMHO just as good", but he also said the Kawai MP-10 was "tops" which I assume he meant 'better than the Fatar, Roland, Yamaha, etc'.

I haven't tried the TP-100H action, so I honestly have no idea.

I do agree though that if I wanted the most pianistic action, I'd go with a Roland, Kawai or Yamaha. I definitely agree on that.

As for durability, the Fatar TP-40 (ex: Kurzweil PC3X/K) is supposedly very durable. The weakness in some older Fatar actions (TP-10 versions in the Kurzweil K2500XS, K2600XS, some Studiologic, etc) were the lead-impregnated counterweights. The TP-40 does away with that design concept entirely.

I don't think you can say anything about an entire brand. For example I like Yamaha "GH" but their lower end key actions are not very good. Same for Roland's, the good ones are good the "Alpha" type are not. Kawai does not make a low-end action.

I think Fatar builds key actions to specification for other piano maters so the product might vary depending on who they are selling to.

I'd say none is "best" after you get above the $1,500 price point. depends what you like or are used to.

You're right, he didn't say best. I have adjusted my post accordingly.

LOL no ....one of the worst !

Some are. The one they supplied for the Kurzweil PC2X wasn't.

I agree with your revised statement. Middle tier big 3, at best. Not bad for their biggest market (synth) but not what I'd choose for piano.

I also think Korg's RH3 (SP250/Kronos) feels better than the Nord NP and the Kurzweil DP's i tried.
These things are so subjective, really. It's a bit silly to ask what's "best".

Spanishbuddha,

Back in 2005 I sold the Roland KR series which is their luxury line of products. Many of these contained a Fatar action in them. I have not heard of Yamaha or Kawaii using any other company actions for their products, but Roland definitely has used it. Why? Because certain graded hammer actions in the Fatar line have been weighted to the specs of a 9 foot Steinway grand. In this regard (if it is your opinion that Steinway has a better feel than Yamaha and Kawaii) then a Fatar action is superior, and also the KR series of Roland.

Best,
Ryan