Kurzweil KMP-1 Micropiano

This version appears to be about 4 years old. So..a piano module that claims to cover and imitate an acoustic piano, Rhodes and FM type electric pianos, smathering of strings, organs and a strange ( but surprisingly useful ) fx patch.
Well, since this unit is a basic plug and play creature and not a sound designing maiden....the preset sounds are pretty darn good.
Manual...with this unit...nobody needs a "stinkin' manual"...

With 32 voice polyphony, although not the defacto by todays standards, the module seems to cover its keyboard sound duties without a hitch. The effects are a bit of a dissappointment. They're pretty much bread and butter reverbs and such...but the quality of the actual sounds deserved a more extensive pallet and a higher end effects processor ( although that would probably bump up the price, if your even a bit aware of whats going on with computer audio software effects plug-ins; then be aware that higher end effects are being developed for relatively cheap ).
You can connect and use 2 units together, however; I've never had the pleasure.....MIDI, you ask?.....Works great. Pick your channel and play.

Dispite my bit of wineing about the effects...we all have outboard and software effects processors. So..forget it! This thing sounds great. No, its not the perfect sounding "acoustic" piano. Its a damn good acoustic piano simulator for recording and live stage work. The Rhodes and FM type electric pianos work wonderfully...as long as you avoid the very upper octaves. The organs...never used them...I have other synths that eat them up and digest their their digital tone wheels for breakfast. The string sounds are a bit thin for my taste, however; layered with other tones they can be useful. Theres a nice piano effect on patch #32. But, the gist of this module is to be an acoustic or electric piano sound alike.
I like playing the sounds and they record and work well in a mix. For solo classical recitals,I suggest you use a Steinway or Bosendorfer.

Never had a problem.

If it were lost or stolen? The real feeling is of course...get something new...yea!!! Something different! Better!!!...In this case...I'd get another. I haven't heard a unit ( with the exception of the K2600 or Gigapiano software ( and alike ) )that has acoustic piano replications this good. Even your high end synthisizer beasts. And for the price..well you can't even buy some cheesy synth unit for the cost of this unit. And the sound quality has made it useable for me for use on records, soundtrack post scoring, and live concerts.
If you desire or need a piano sound module as an extention to your set-up...you cannot go wrong with this module!!

Necesitaba rapidamente un modulo de piano pra trascribir material midi de piano y se dio la casualidad que
alguien tenia este modulo disponible. Un breve regateo y voila.
Lo compre usado sin manual y ya lo usaba de pe a pa cuando finalmente baje el manual de la pagina web de Kurzweil, solo para chequear.
En realidad trae lo que se necesita saber, aunque eche de menos algo mas de informacion tecnica, en fin.
Respecto del uso en si, creo que le falta un boton mas en lugar de la combinacion de teclas para ajustar la curva de sensibilidad.
No tengo mucha experiencia en pianos digitales y me resulto muy facil de usar.

Al llegar al estudio, pude escucharlo profesionalmente hablando.

La polifonia de 32 notas funciona bien, no creo necesaria la
situacion de poner dos micropianos en paralelo para llegar a 64 notas,
aunque para cierto estilo de musica deberia hacer una diferencia.

Los efectos, facilidades midi y demas, son lo esperado y cumplen con su
objetivo. En general apoyan bien, pero no reemplazan los modulos de estudio.

Quizas deberian lanzar un micropiano plus, creo que todos lo agradeceriamos.

El piano es excelente, y tengo que reconocer que conozco de los otros registros
por el demo. No podria entregar un analisis serio de los otros instrumentos.

Lo principal que uno busca esta ahi, el piano.

Al principio me senti decepcionado por el rango medio, un tanto debil,
con un molesto campanilleo que delata sus origenes, al cabo uno se acostumbra, sobre todo con una mezcla astuta,
me falta oir el martillo golpeando las cuerdas, son detalles aparentemente simples, pero que mas se puede pedir
de un modulo tan economico. El oido se malcria finalmente si no se tiene a mano un piano real.
Gracias a dios, siempre tengo uno a mano. Y si no, ahi esta el Micropiano.
Sus poderosos registros bajos, con mucho cuerpo asi como sus registros mas altos son una joya, que hace mas inexplicable
lo que sucede al centro del teclado. En fin, sino no venderian otros pianos, verdad?

No hay posibilidad de problemas con el Micropiano, puedo depender plenamente
de el, sin backup.

Vale cada dolar pagado, y se hace querer. Su punto de comparacion es con samplers
mucho mas costosos y los pianos reales. Probe un nanopiano meses atras y no duro
un dia de prueba, rechazado por unanimidad. El vendedor me dijo, que esperabas de un
modulo de US$ 300. Bueno, el Micropiano es lo que uno deberia esperar.
Y ese es precisamente el argumento que me hace quedar tranquilo con la compra,
a pesar de sus peque?os defectos.

Simple, straightforward, barely need the manual.

32 voices, built in FX are reverb & chorus that are just OK. Preset FX are way overboard. Senses aftertouch to bring in Leslie speed change for Hammond sounds, though not a big deal as these sounds suck - and that's a compliment. Only expansion capabilities is to buy another one and link the two for 64 voice capability.

Excellent grand pianos. Dark, rich and full - top to bottom. Bright electric grand sounds are good for cutting through guitar walls. Preset #14 is a very playable authentic Rhodes sound with a bit of Dyno brightness to it. Several DX-ish EPs are bright but not tinny. Very nice for layering with, for example, an MKS-20. Hammond sounds are bad, only good for an occasional pad. If you try a B3 solo with one of these sounds, either the sound police or myself will come and pull you off stage. Strings are decent, kind of edgy on #28. #29 - 31 are nice and full. #32 is some digital pad that sounds nice with a hint of digital EP in the background. The definate high point of this box is the acoustic pianos. They are very playable, very expressive, and with proper amplification, will cover this aspect of your music quite nicely. The FX are just so-so, and you may want to bypass them and use outboard stuff. Many times I turn the reverb off and don't apply any, as too much 'verb many times just gets in the way. The chorusing works fine for the EPs, but is not a real great, rich, swirling effect. I think the bright pianos are a bit to brittle, and I turn to other sounds when I need a bright piano sound. My only complaint about the pianos is the midrange is a tad bit boxy. But overall across the keyboard, it's very even, clean, and distinct. You'll have to crank it's mixer channel louder than your other boxes though. For some reason, it's output level is nowhere near any of my other keyboards or modules. But the extra volume doesn't seem to add any hiss to the signal. Only certain Steinway B's could ever warrant a 10 for sound. I grew up playing nothing but piano, and any sample anywhere is just a reasonable alternative for live work and some recording, not a replacement for the real deal.

Very reliable. Built Ford-tough. Metal casing, heavy plastic knobs. You'd have to be a real klutz to kill this thing.

Kurzweil support is practically non-existant. I owned a PC88 for a while that kept dying, and they are frustrating at best to work with. They never did fix it, nor did they seem to care. I finally took it back and replaced it with a Korg SGproX. My other controller is a Fatar Studiologic SL-880, which is what I use with the Micro Piano.

I bought this used in 1995, and it has been my staple piano sound for live work since. I like the Korg SGproX a lot, but the high end has a faky, stick-your-head-under-the-piano-lid type of sound going, and the mid-range is weak. I'm pretty picky about piano sounds, as I already stated. Growing up playing some magnificent instruments spoiled me. I've used the Emu Proformance - dark, ugly, and short decay; the Roland P55 and RD600 - too 'Roland-y'. They have their own idea of how a piano should sound, and I don't agree with it; Yamaha P50m - had one for a year and just sold it. Ridiculously noisy piece. Good sounds, if a bit brittle; Roland MKS20 & P-330 - hey, not even close, but you HAVE to have one of these forEP1. It's a must; Korg SG1D - used it for years, it's too dated now; Korg TR Rack - with tweaking, the best sounding piano in a synth I've run across, but not good for solo piano stuff. Anyway, you get the point. I've played many a module and sample, and still use the Kurzweil the most for good old acoustic piano. In small studios that don't have pianos, I always use it because it is clean and the most realistic going to tape. For live work, it fits the bill just right. Plus having some really nice e. pianos and some extra strings is a good bonus. Just watch out for those Hammond sounds - they'll just embarrass you!

Easy to learn, but it should have at least been able to remember settings for effects and program change on/off, etc. It does what it needs to but you will have to make a few adjustments every time you power up. So few parameters I suppose this is tolerable.

32 note poly is plenty for my use. Built in effects are great if you turn them off. I did kind of miss having a headphone jack, but I am happy with what it does for the money. I knew all this going in and still bought it.

Acoustic pianos are OK to good. Depends on style you are playing. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I prefer the acoustic piano sound on my Yamaha SY-85. The electronic pianos were a big selling point for me. They are absolutely KILLER. The organs and strings are usable but far from fantastic. Exactly what I needed to bring my sound more up-to date for church Gospel choir.

OK so far.

Haven't needed it yet.

I can't afford the new Yamaha p-80 yet, so I bought this in the meantime. Even with the Yamaha this will be a great addition for the elec pianos. Yes I would buy it again, I liked the sounds better than any other module I listened to (Alesis, Generalmusic). They are so cheap now (I sent my wife to the store ready to pay $300 and she got $20 off without a fight) I couldn't pass it up.

This unit is very easy to use. The "TV" style controllers are pretty idiot proof. I use it with a variety of keyboards and have experienced no problems hooking it up whatsoever. It would be nearly impossible to make it easier to operate.

There are very few features to the unit, but it isn't billed as a fancy synth module, just a piano module, which it does beautifully.

This module has been the staple of my keyboard setup for quite a while now, and I assume that it will stay that way for a long time. The piano sounds are by far and away the best that I have heard. There are some "cleaner" digital sounds out there, but for live proformance, this is by far and away the best. I have used it from avart-garde jazz groups to rock and roll, and it is perfect in all situations. The organs are kind of lame, but they do pass if you don't have to play any solos with them. I wish that it would have just a couple of more sounds, like the Emu products have, but I am so satisfied with the sounds, I am willing to deal with it. I really like the piano/strings patch. The onboard effects aren't great, but they get the job done.

I have used this all in many many gigs. It is scraped and scratched up, been dropped with numerous cokes spilled on it. And it works just like when I bought it.

I have never had to deal with them, that is how reliable the unit is!!

I absolutely detest playing a gig without the piano sound. So I can only give this the highest rating!!

As far as a dedicated piano module goes, of all I've played; this is the best. The preset sounds cover acoustic pianos, electric pianos, organs,a dab of strings and 1 strange enevloped piano effect. The sounds range from excellent to fair. There isn't much technically to learn here. Plug it in, assign it to your MIDI set up and play your tail off.

It has only 32 voices, but I've never found that a hinderence when using this piece of gear. The built in effects are unimpressive and I prefer to use my outboard (Lexicon ) reverbs and such to add the ambience I desire.

The acoustic pianos are clean and respond well when played due to some very well programmed velocity curves. The highs are crisp, but have a warmth to it. The bass octave has a nice rounded lo tone. The mids are serviceable. Although they give you a number of acoustic piano patches, there is very little difference between the sampled tones.
The electric pianos were quite a nice surprise, as long as you don't play the patches in the extreem higher octaves. It has a nice suitcase rhodes patch (#14), as well as some crisp digital and mixed electric piano sounds.
The organ patches have that Kurzweil warm sound, however I found none of those patches usable because I own other synths that produce better and more realistic Hammond and organ sounds.
The strings are servicable. They have a somewhat transparent timbral quality, but I find that my main use for the MicroPiano is for the acoustic and electric piano sounds it emulates.

Never had a problem with this unit, and I've owned it for quite awhile. and use it quite abit ( both live and extensivley in the studio ).

If it were lost or stolen, I'd definately buy another. The sound of the MicroPiano is far superior to the Yamaha, the E-Mu ( bogus ), or the Alesis stereo sampled piano ( which I have in my QSR module, but I only use that sound if I'm dedicating the Micropiano to the Rhodes patches ). Thats only to name a few. Lets face it, just about every synth ( with the exception of those analog simulators ) has piano sounds, but I'd be hardpressed to find one as good as the Micropiano.
It is a crucial addition to my set-up and highly recommended!

Just plug it in, turn it on, turn off the annoyingly unprogamable default-ON efftects and you've got a great piano.
Recommend assigning effect level to a slider so you can easily turn effects on and off.

32 notes is enough generally, and the processor doesn't ever seem to get weighted down like in older synths, regardless of polyphony.
No headphone jack. Effects are limited and fairly poor. You can link two together for 64 note polyphony.

The BEST piano sample I've tried yet, and I'm a stickler for the real thing Still has some wonkiness in the middle octave, but very liveable, and after awhile it's almost enjoyable. Fat bass, clear highs. Ultimately sounds like a nicely miked grand piano.
I've tried Korg SG-pro-x (awful in the middle), Roland RD-600 (crap), Yamaha P-200 (realistic, but they sampled a yamaha grand: too thin and bright for me), Alesis SQ8 (crap crap crap), Technics p-something (very bland), Suzuki, Kawai, etc, etc.
I've heard tha gigasampler is excellent, and it better be with that much memory, and Oberheim's MiniGrand as well. Haven't tried either, but look forward to it.
I've also tried the Generalmusic PRO 2 and thought it was really bad too, but with all the good reviews about how nothing compares to it, I will give it another chance though a decent set of speakers, and not the headphone, and small amp I tried in the store.

Might be just my luck, or due to sketchy power situations, but I've had it die on me in live situations many times. Hasn't done it for awhile and now I give it and my other modules their own power strip. Seems to have cleared the problem up.

Haven't tried yet.

For a beautifully realistic piano sound this is perhaps the only box. Inexpensive quality. Very worth it.

The KMP-1 Micropiano is a very easy to use piano tone module. The piano samples are terrific. It also includes Rhodes and electric pianos, as well as organs, and strings (fast and slow). I really, REALLY liked the strings. In fact, I played live last week using the strings on the KMP-1 and the piano on my 01/W!! The sounds are very usable, though the differences in the pianos (stage, room, dark, etc) are somewhat minute, though the difference is discernible. Patch editing is not included, but different effects are. The effects are so-so. I prefer an external effects processor to Kurzweil's.

It is 32-note polyphony, and bridging two together with one responding to odd-number midi messages and the other to even, can bring it to 64. Additionally, that would give you the option of layering samples which you can't do with just one module, as it's mono-timbral. There are no expansion options, but it is responsive to aftertouch (on the organs).

It's a piece of cake to use, and the sounds are GREAT. Classical pianists will be pleased with the upper ranges of the notes. They are very clear. Likewise, where some modules get muddy at the lower end of the keyboard, the KMP is very clean. Granted, it's not, say, real grand piano clear, but it does a reasonably good job. The effects are good enough, until I heard what an Ultrafex can do with the samples!

In a word, bulletproof. I've used it NUMEROUS times live with no problems whatsoever. I've had it four years now.

None yet.

This is a super unit for the discerning pianist. The piano samples are clear and accurate, and the effects are usable. 64-note polyphony would be nice, but 32 gets 90% of the jobs done. It would be nice to have some layers with pads in them. As it stands, the only layer is with strings. Still, to get that PIANO sound, this is the one.