Fatar StudioLogic SL-880 Controller

Oh, it's easy to hook up, sure. Connect the cheezy power cable, connect the midi out, and the sustain pedal.

Oh, the features are good, sure. Yea, great features.

It's a midi controller, yep.

I ordered one of these from zzounds. 90% of the time I would turn it on, it wouldn't work. All of the lights would light up and the keyboard wouldn't do anything. So, I'd turn it off, and on again; same thing. Off, and on, off and on, off and on, off and on, off and on, then maybe I'd get lucky and it would work. I sent it back, and zzounds sent me another one. It acted the same way. 90% of the time it wouldn't turn on in any meaningful way. I'd just turn it on, and all of the lights would light up (THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO, BY THE WAY).

So, I did a little searching on the internet and found many other people who had the EXACT same problem. Including two on this very site - scroll down some - and also some on the newsgroups.

Do - not - buy - this - keyboard. It is extremely unreliable. If you want a true piano feel AND A KEYBOARD THAT ACTUALLY WORKS, get a Yamaha from the P series (P80, P90, P120, etc.)

Again, a warning in all caps:

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. IT IS VERY UNRELIABLE AND YOU **WILL** BE DISSAPOINTED. DO NOT BUY IT. STUDIOLOGIC IS NOT A RESPECTED COMPANY AND THIS IS WHY. BUY A YAHAMA OR A ROLAND. ***DO*** ***NOT*** ***BUY*** ***THIS*** ***KEYBOARD*** I know it sounds cool from the description, but, please, you will only be dissapointed. Check out the P80, really.

Well, my Yamaha P80 lasted for four years. Both Fatar 880's that I've owned have lasted for a couple of days.

Fatar has come up with a terrible user interface. No master (MIDI) volume slider. A lot has to be done with the keyboard, not with special dedicated buttons. Thumbs down.

I can't complain for a keyboard at this price range. I think it lacks a volume slider - you have to adjust the volume with a foot pedal. Aren't the sustain & expression pedals enough? My floor is cluttered enough as it is.

No "piano-feel", for two reasons.
First, the action is not so good. Sorry, but that's my opinion. Before buying, try out some alternatives such as the Yamaha & Roland digital pianos, and, of course, try out real pianos. I've never owned a grand but I do own a fine upright and there's little connection between them.
Now, for the second reason. If you're buying this and plan on hooking it up to a realistic piano module (or gigasampler, or The Grand, or whatever), forget about it. Why? Because when you buy a digital piano, you don't only get a piano sound and weighted keys - you're also sure that they're *matched*. That means the velocity curves of the keyboard have been specifically matched to the onboard sounds. When you get the SL-880, even if it had the best action in the world (which it doesn't), you wouldn't get a real piano feel, EVER. So please bear this in mind. If you're thinking, "hmmm, I'll just use my Gigapiano and get a real grand!", forget about it, it won't happen.

HORRIBLE! Allow me to share my stories ...
I've owned 3 units and a friend of mine owns a unit as well (2 SL-880 PRO units and 2 non-PRO). They've ALL had problems with their electronics - the board simply went wacko when turned on! You could only calm it down by pressing the power button in a certain angle. Nope, I'm not joking. The internal electronics is a piece of crap.
If that isn't enough, the keys on both SL880-PRO units I've owned have, after a short while, begun to develop highly annoying metal-like "clicking" sounds. A few white keys simply made a slight, but quite audiable, "click" sound when they were released. Now, it didn't affect the operation of the device, nor was it noticeable when playing loudly, but try playing a quiet Debussy, only to be assaulted by virtual crickets going "click, click, clickclick, clickclickclick ... " at the most emotional points of the piece.
I finally gave up on replacing the keyboard & will be selling it.

Haven't dealt with Fatar myself, only with my local dealer.

As is evident from my reviews, I am disappointed with my choice. I've had this keyboard for almost 6 months and am planning on selling it. I was aiming at a budget digital piano which I could also use in my humble home studio. I got exactly that. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. I will never buy another Fatar product for as long as I live, and hopefully you won't either.

The Sl-880 is very easy to set up and use. The wieghted, velocity sensitive keys feel better than some acoustic and any electric piano I have played. I play keys in a rock band and it works great for me. The manual is logical and staightforward.

The sustain pedal is a little cheesy but I don't use it much in rock pieces. I play some classical piano, Debussy, for relaxation and then I wish I had a sturdier sustain. One of the features that I tried to use, carefully following the manual was the transposition feature. I could get the controller to shift up or down. But when I repeated the operation to shift back to concert pitch, or any other pitch the transposition would not work and the controller stayed shifted to the first shift I had made. I tried this several times in several sessions. The only way to get back to concert is to use the process for returning the Sl-880 to factory presets. (This deletes any other feature changes one has made.) Consequently, I never use this feature, which probably makes me a better keyboardist since I have to learn songs in F# and Bb. The pitch bend and mod wheel work well with my NanoPiano. There are dual midi outs and I split the zones into two midi channels and control two NanoPianos.

I have used the piano in rock, country, jazz, and classical. Except for the sustain it works well in all. Very good touch and sensitivity for the price.

I have drug this thing without a case for a couple years. Got a case a couple of years ago. Gig average three times a month and rehearse out of the house almost as much. Never had a problem. Would not purchase a backup because the unit is so reliable.

Fatar is impossible to reach. Tried to contact them about the transposition problem. They are an Italian firm but they might as well be Martians. No web site or address. Represented by Music Industries in US. http://www.musicindustries.com/ Music Industries made it easy to get copy of manual. But I got no reply when I contacted them about transposition problem

Dollar for dollar it is the best 88 key weighted, velocity sensitive, controller I have ever found. Thats why I bought it. If it were stolen I would buy another. I wish it had a way (as my Hammond xb-2 does) of changing pitch in between concert diatonics. Sometimes I am trying to learn a song that is a quarter or an eight of a tone off concert pitch and the Fatar won't let me adjust. When I bought the Fatar there was nothing that could touch it. Now, probably because of Studiologic, there is the Korg SP200 at $800 and the Yamaha $900 which are comparable but still, at least $200 more.

It is pretty simple to operate, when it cooperates. Skim through the manual and you should be good.

It has all I need, which isn't really alot. I just need to hook it up to my Alesis QSR to play keyboards/organs/other. I wish it had the knoby-knobs for all the realtime synth type stuff. And for that it is fantastic.

I think it sounds great with my QSR. Again the knobs, but oh well. At first I was pissed because every note I hit, even really lightly, sounded like it was slammed, but I found you can change that.

This is why I wrote this review. I have found this controller to be very unreliable. Everytime I turn it on, I wonder what will go wrong. Sometimes it transposes itself down for no reason, sometimes it resets boundaries and the like, and sometimes it just doesn't want to work at all. I've tried reseting it numerous times, still no luck. I dunno man. If anyone has found a magical cure for this please email me. I don't abuse it, it hasn't left the house. Can't save the zone's boundaries (or at least there's no point becuase they reset themselves frequently). So I wouldn't gig with it.

I haven't tried.

I'm not a very good pianist, but I have a damn good ear. I play guitar and bass very well. I don't get into alot of sequencing and crap. I can't really help you much other than warning you that if you decide to buy this controller you may suffer many problems. If it were lost or stolen I wouldn't buy it again, too unreliable. If it were reliable, hell yes i'd buy it again. If its reliable: 8.5. If not I'd say 0.

The controller has no indication of the current status (no LCD-screen), which can be annoying. Furthermore it keeps resending all its MIDI-settings when you change one i.e. it will retransmit the bank/program number when you set a new transpose interval. It has only four presets.

The keyboard action is OK for a keyboard in this price-category, although definitely a bit on the light side in comparison to a real piano. Doesn't weigh up to stagepianos of less modest size. MIDI-capabilities are limited, certainly when considering that this is a
MIDI-controller and not a stage-piano.

The bend/aftertouch wheels are too 'chatty', i.e. they transmit too much information (sometimes they keep sending very little changes, when I hit case of the piano!). Annoying

It is rock-solid. I've been using it for three years on gigs, repetition-rooms and studios. No problems whatsoever.

Never had to call customer support

It is certainly worth the money, but definitely not the best controller around. Buy it for the solid and affordable key-weighted action. You will run out of MIDI-programming options soon, when trying to control more than, say 2 MIDI-modules

Very easy and obvious. My one complaint is that the manual only explains 4 velocity curves out of 10. The other 6 you have to kind of hear for yourself. I wish the manual were more thorough for this feature.

Ideally, it would have a soft pedal like a real piano. But it does give a lot of desireable features like pitch bend, modulation, split zones, velocity curves, etc.

Until I changed the settings from the preset to Shape #2, I thought that the keyboard was too sensitive. I was disappointed that I couldn't get a real piano feel. With Shape #2, it does feel like a real piano. Could it be better? Perhaps slightly next to an expensive grand piano. I'm running this thing with Gigastudio, and the piano samples sound really exquisite. This keyboard and gigapiano (and some other Nemesys compatible piano samples) are a marriage made in heaven.

I just use this in the studio. No problems so far.

I think you'd practically have to call Italy to get support for this thing, but I haven't tried.

Would definitely buy it again.

Very straight forward controller. They don't get any easier than that :)

For me it's ideal. This is a controller ONLY. So are the features.

well, since it does not actually produce any sounds . . . a lot depends on your synth.
But expresiveness of the keyboard make my synth sound real.

never had a single problem with it so far (used for about 5 months now)

never had to call for support, so this is basically N/A.

It is worth every penny. I played a real pianos for 12 years so for me it was really important to get something with a good touch. I never thought it is possible for just $600. But it is.
You have to get a good sunth too, but that's another story.

Very simple software. No presets. Editing is really easy and intuitive. The manual is short but complete.

It depends on your point of view. If you don't mind the lack of controllers other than wheels and aftertouch; if you don't mind the lack of user memories to recall settings; if you're looking for one of the best keyboard action (88 hammer notes); if you're looking for a really cost-effective solution;...
Then this is the controller for you. Otherwise, for sure, you'll spend much more.
The action is quite heavy, heavier in lower section and lighter in the upper one (very good). Perfect for everything except, maybe, since I'm not really an expert, for organ parts (i.e. glissandos...)

You can set eight velocity curves and four aftertouch shapes. It's not easy to find the right one, but then,...there you go flying like one my Yamaha grand.
I use it to control a Realpiano Expander, so I can get the expressivebness of an upright piano (the keyboard action of a grand is still unmatched), with the sound of an amplified grand.

Well, Fatar are life guaranteed, they should be dependable. The sustain pedals included are a joke; get something firmer. I had several problems with stuck notes and so on.
Some problems turning it on, but once it's on you can be quiet.
I've already gigged with it and I will in the near future. Get a better pedal and a sturdy case for this 20 kg. beast.

This aspect is influenced by the fact I'm italian, as the manufacturer. You know the pedal having problems? They sent me a new one without having the broken one back. Still a cheap pedal but at least now it is working. Note that the pedal should have been substituted by the dealer who didn't help at all: Fatar imposed to the dealer to be helpful...

If it were lost or stolen I would buy it again for sure. The price is unbeatable. I've been playing piano for 8 years, classical and little jazz. It's only ten months I play classic rock in a cover band. I own also one Studiologic 161, the uptold Realpiano and a Yamaha Mu-90 R.
I compared the SL-880 to the Oberheim new series of 88 notes controllers, don't remember the name. Oberheim was an overall better instrument, both for look, and features (Midi, controllers, user memories,...), but its action was too light compared to the Fatar, and being used to true piano action, you know...
In a way if you do not control many tone generators but it must be a "substitute" of a piano, you can't go wrong.

You can't imagine something easier to use.
The rear panel is almost empty, 7 buttons and a few LEDs.
There is no numerical keypad: value entry is made via the keyboard,
this is a bit strange but, using it, i find it funny.
User manual is sufficient.

This only a master keyboard. There is no sounds. You can divide
you performance into 4 parts, setting a few parameters (transpose,
velocity, midi channel) for each part.
No onboard sequencer. This is _only_ a keyboard.
No sound, no effect, no sequencer...
There is some wheels to control pitch bend and modulation.
Those wheels are not handy.

This thing feature a excellent keyboard. I've tried many
masterkeyboard and digital pianos (even very expensive ones) and
, in myu opinion, this keyboard is a dream ! It feels like a real piano.
You can even feel the hammers under the keys !
Hmmm... I think the keyboard is too sensitive, it's VERY difficult
to play softly, even with the recommended shape (see a review below).
I'm angry with my fatar because some keys are more sensitive (to
velocity) than another. This is a shame. I hope the technician will
fix the problem.
A better keyboard would be the Yamaha P-80 (but more expensive and
technically limited)

Have it for 1 month. Time will tell.
Seems reliable.

Never had to contact them.

If it were stolen i think i would buy another one.
For the price, this is a VERY good keyboard. Maybe the best.

How easy is this thing to set up? MIDI up, plug in the power supply, and play. Several hours after playing with this controller, I cracked open the manual and learned how to set the MIDI channel, expressive curves, and zones and splits. I cannot imagine a controller getting simpler than this one.

There are four programmable zones to set splits and layers; 8 zone-specific velocity curves and 8 global velocity curves (which come in very handy once you get the feel for them); 2 MIDI outs; sustain pedal; and the best feature: real weighted hammer action keys. This thing feels like my piano. Other than that, there's a cheesey LED display (dots, not letters) but it gets the job done, and the case is metal -- this thing is built like a tank.

Since this is a controller only, you'll get out of it what you connect it up to. I first plugged it directly into my NanoPiano. Between the feel of the keys and the sounds from the module, I can't imagine anything coming any closer to a real piano. Then I ran it through my MIDI set-up and tried it out on my XP-30, NanoSynth, NanoBass and PM-Pro drum modules. What a *world* of difference having real velocity control; like Andreas wrote below, I had no idea the XP-30 was capable of the sounds I got out of it with this controller. And using this controller was the first time I laid down a drum track that had the feel of a live player. Very, very cool.

It's built like a tank. There aren't a whole bunch of electronic gadgets to crap out. I bought this controller based on comments from other users, and I have a feeling a year from now I'll feel the same about it as I do now. This is strictly a studio controller for me, but if I gigged live, I don't think I'd hesitate to haul it out on the road.

Since I have had no reason to contact Fatar, I can't comment.

I got a steal on this controller since this model is being replaced. All things considered, I'd buy this model again, no question about it. I looked at the SL-2001, which is the SL-880 stuffed with electronics and features some people wish it had. The 2001 is $1000 more than I paid for this one. Since I only need it to control my rack of gear, I'll save my $1000 and be happy for the SL-880's sparseness. I am completely happy with this keyboard.