Studiologic Numa Nero

Classic case of over-engineering. You can tell they were trying to be high-tech, ultra-sleek, and KEWL!!! Even if it worked (and we'll get to that in a minute), it'd be a royal pain in the ass. The manual skimps on details.

First of all, it doesn't power up properly. Plug in the power adapter, turn it on, and you'll see the screen light up and you'll hear the electronics working. But it doesn't load anything and doesn't send any MIDI. Only after you plug in the USB cable does it do anything. So essentially, the power adapter is useless.

The main reason I got it is because it has the Fatar TP/40WOOD action. And it IS the best feeling action I've played on any keyboard. Even better than Roland's Ivory Feel. Beyond that, it has an arcane user interface, and only 2 pedal jacks. Why keyboard manufacturers continue to provide only 1 or 2 pedal jacks on ANY model, but especially ones costing over $1000, is beyond me. Do they not know that real pianos have 3 pedals, and that serious pianists actually USE them? And what would be the extra cost? The parts would literally be a few bucks. In fact, 3 pedal jacks may even be cheaper, since their lame alternative seems to be a single programmable AUX jack that offers sostenuto OR una corda. If they had 3 separate jacks, they wouldn't need to implement programing. But hey, I'm just a pianist. What do I know?

Another problem with the pedal jacks on the Numa is that neither jack is stereo. All sustain pedals that are capable of half-damper effect (aka, continuous sustain) come with stereo plugs. And while the manual is scant on details, the manual for their VMK-188 which also has only mono pedal jacks, makes it clear that they don't support half-damper effect.

So not only does the Nero not support 3 pedals, but it doesn't even provide full-functioning sustain.

It's a MIDI controller, so at first, you'd think it didn't matter, as long as the action felt good. And in this case, the action feels incredible. BUT... the MIDI sensors and execution are flawed. It's VERY difficult to play rapidly repeated notes. You almost have to press a key all the way down and let it return all the way up before hitting it again. NOT realistic. Even worse, it throws out aberrant MIDI velocities. So for example, I'll be playing fast repeats softly, and here and there it'll fire off velocity 127, so you'll get these maximally loud notes sounding off during soft playing.

And of course it suffers from a lack of full piano pedal capabilities as mentioned earlier.

Considering it doesn't even power up properly and features an arcane user interface, I wouldn't consider it road-worthy.

Try getting an answer from them. Heck, try getting in touch with them.

For an expensive MIDI controller that's billed as a be-all-end-all keyboard for serious pianists, it is an utter failure. Its ONLY redeeming quality is the Fatar wooden action, and even that's flawed thanks to improperly executed MIDI sensors and/or electronics. Needless to say, it's going straight back. I would urge anyone and everyone to avoid this thing.