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Hello guys!

Has anyone checked out the new Hammer 88 by M-Audio? I've been looking for an affordable 88 keys master keyboard for a while, and the price of the Hammer 88 seems attractive. However the M-Audio website/ Thomann etc didn't say much about the technologies used with the key bed other than that the keys are fully weighted. How close do the keys feel comparing to a piano?

Longis

What do you expect at such a price tag?

I guess we can only try it out...

However where do you get to try out master keyboards? It's hard to even find regular digital pianos for playtesting.

Just looked it up and its substantially more expensive than Yamaha P-45 and Casio's entry-level offering. My experience with M-Audio products lets me recommend the safe bet instead.

My experience with an M-Audio ProKeys 88 would make me run from that as fast as I can. My ProKeys88 had terrible action, the action could make metallic clicking noises and was very sluggish. And within 6 months the G above middle C became dead. I put in a case and stored it in a closet, about 8 months later I pulled it out to see if I could fix the dead key and ALL the keys had turned yellow!!!

@JoeT The local music store where I live does have quite a few digital piano models available for testing, but they don't have any master keyboards. Yes it is more expensive than a P-45 on Thomann's listings... I will be playing with virtual instruments a lot so the on-board sound quality is not an issue for me.

@ Kbeaumont Seems like M-Audio has some really bad quality products out there... I'll wait for more reviews then.

Its a MIDI controller with weighted keys. Good review from Harmony Central. Sounds like a good idea, although its 38 pounds. On the other hand, many years ago I had a small M-Audio controller and it is the only piece of musical equipment that I had to throw out, it was such a piece of junk.

@gracegren Do you have a link to the review? I could only find links to the news page on Harmony Central, which is basically an advertisement. Thanks!

Good virtual instruments will expose garbage controllers without mercy. I wouldn't pair a VSTi like Pianoteq with anything below a Kawai VPC1.

If you're on a budget, get a Yamaha P-45 bundled with a FC-3 half-pedal and you're good to go. Avoid M-Audio products, these are not worth their money.

Fatar action?

I very much doubt it. More likely Chinese and (very) cheap. I think previous generation M-Audio controllers have had the lowest level Far Eastern keyboard assemblies.

@JoeT Thank you for the suggestion. Will try out the P45 next time I visit the music store. I already have a Roland DP-10 pedal, I think the half-pedaling also works with the Yamaha models?

The downside is that I won't be able to get the bundled software with Hammer 88, but I've been thinking and it's actually not that big a deal. For pianos currently I only have the Definitive Piano Collection from Native Instruments, will take a serious look at Pianoteq as there are so many who recommend it!

@Dave Horne I doubt it too... There's little detail about the action used in Hammer 88. I have a feeling that if they used a nameable technology, they should have at least written that out in their ads.

I agree that, based on history and reputation, M-Audio is unlikely to use Fatar, but companies don't always like to let you know when they're using other companies' stuff.