Some people say: "I am absolulte beginner, wanna buy my first DP. Tried X, Y and Z. Didn't like X and Z, bought Y". As I see with my LX 706, the sound with default settings and the sound with personal settings are 2 big differences. I do not like the first and like the second very much. But may be some newbies do not even know how much can settings change the sound? They just test pianos as they are in shops. And sometimes form wrong opinion, I guess...
Dear PS@33,
This is my test script in store:
1) Identify competing products.
2) Identify Grand Piano (acoustic)
3) Play Grand Piano or a few uprights for a minute or so.
4) Go to digitals with the power off and play the notes to test the weight and feel of the action against the acoustic.
5) Turn on the instruments, select default piano, push volume to 2/3rds and adorn headphones: test each different instrument's main piano one by one using variety of exercises (15 mins each):
a) Scales with and without damper
b) Block chords with and without damper (with half damper too).
c) A piece with lots of legato.
d) A piece containing lots of dynamic shifts.
e) Something classical with lots of sequences.
f) Something funky.
6) Quick run through of the other piano voices - note any I really like.
7) Test of following epianos: Rhodes mk 1 and2, Clavinet, DX7 clones etc (both with and without various effects)
8) Test drawbar organs and synth modules
9) Test orchestral patches
10) Study functions: test sound mixing, splits, multi-splits; test user presets; test rhythm &/or metronome;
11) Look at sound edit functionality and assign-ability of functions/effects to pedals.
**Yes, play with the main piano sound and change:
---Graphic EQ
---Reverb
---String resonance
---Damper resonance
---etc.
12) Check over midi functionality.
13) Assess User Interface and preset changing
14) Go back to piano and assess how it feels to play in terms of dynamics and expressive control.
15) Shortlist from the ones I liked most and retest to directly compare.
Ideally use your own headphones unless your own headphones are pretty bog standard. If you have Pianoteq on a laptop, it's a good idea to take it along with you and test the actions against a reference sound. I never decide there and then and will often go back for a second try after a few days or so.
Kind regards,
Doug.