Review by C. Thornberry for M-Audio ProKeys Premium Stage Piano
Rating:
The Piano sound is truly the best sound you can find for even under $1000, and this is only $500.

Thats the good news.

The other sounds are ok, the organ sounds being the worst, and the electric piano being the best non-piano sounds. The worst part (and the reason i wouldnt buy it again) is the touch. If you plan on just pounding out chords, itll be fine, but if you play classical, jazz, or even most pop-styles that require a bit of touch, you will hate this piano. They say it is “Hammer-Action” but really they should be called “way-over-weighted”. These are the heaviest keys i have ever played, and I wish i would have played it before i bought it online.

Review by replay for M-Audio ProKeys Premium Stage Piano
Rating:
Initially pleased when I received it.

First one I received had problems with a lower “E” key not sounding.

Also keys in the middle register banging against the case when returning

up. I returned the first one and received a replacement.

Everything was good for a while, but then it would go into different voices or demo mode while playing. Also developed a problem with keys not

muting after being played, and would continue sounding until struck again.

The action on this piano also is very heavy, and aftery playing a few hours, you definitely will feel it. Also the octave above middle “C” is

somewhat tinny. But it does have a good sound for the money. The quality

control on this product could be improved.

Review by T. Shih for M-Audio ProKeys Premium Stage Piano
Rating:
I must admit that my experience with electric pianos is limited to this model, an ancient Casio ToneBank keyboard that isn’t velocity sensitive, and an expensive Yamaha Clavinova.

I initially recommended this piano for a friend just starting out on the piano, having gobs of faith in the M-Audio name and listening to the samples online. (I also own M-Audio’s SP-2 Pedal which is outstanding) M-Audio SP-2 US65010 Sustain Pedal Piano Style Sustain Pedal for Keyboards After reading about “graded hammer-action” being a must if you’re serious about digital pianos, I thought the Prokeys 88 would be a great fit.

For first-time buyers, please note that this piano DOES NOT have built-in speakers! It’s a stage piano with 1/4″ Left/Right outputs for external amplifiers. With that being said, it has a 1/4″ headphone jack on the front, a USB Port for computer connection, MIDI I/O, and 3x 1/4″ jacks for pedals (Sustain, Sostenuto, Expression). Note that it comes with the AC Adapter and one SP-2 Pedal. Also note that this thing feels very sturdy and is quite heavy. (Some sub-20 pound full-sized boards exist, compared to 50+ pounds)

I’ve played the piano on a hobby basis for many years on an acoustic upright (Kawai), and the feel of the M-Audio ProKeys 88 was nothing but disappointing. While I can appreciate the graded hammer-action (you get tactile feedback), this board simply feels mushy and the keys take their sweet time returning back to their original position. Another irritating thing is that the velocity curve doesn’t feel smooth, making it exceedingly difficult to play with expression. Despite having 4 settings, it’s still either too soft or too loud with no middle ground.

This piano’s saving grace comes from the great sounds it produces. With a little bit of tweaking, and some good headphones Sennheiser HD-595 Premier Headphone, this board actually can sound like a piano. Add to that some pretty good instruments like the acoustic bass and vibes, and the ability to layer sounds or split the keyboard into two instruments, I had a lot of fun playing with it.

I suspect that this piano wasn’t quite meant to be a stay-at-home acoustic piano alternative, lending to it’s many talents outside of the piano universe and stage piano designation. Also, with MIDI capabilities, I think this piano is more at home as a controller, giving you access its sounds for personal compositions.

While I’m pretty sure this was just a shipping anomaly, I received 2 defective ProKey 88′s in a row. For the first, the right-most key was stuck and the response was random up and down the keyboard. The second one had a broken hammer-action on the B and C above Middle C, and it came with a bum AC Adapter.

In the end, despite the great sounds and capabilities, the mushy feel of the keys makes it unsuitable for my purposes. I can’t recommend this as a stand-alone piano alternative for advanced pianists, but it has potential as a midi-controller and for non-demanding applications.