I bought a second hand BCF2000 with 100 mm faders to do that now, and a Native Instruments Maschine MK3 for the pads. So with the Arturia, twice the price of the SL88, I would have spend much less money, and also I'm still not sure where to park all this equipment. It may sport a fully weighted 88-note keyboard, but the Studiologic SL88 Studio is delightfully portable. Thanks to its lightweight Fatar TP/100LR action, it weighs in under 31 pounds - which is very much appreciated by gigging Sweetwater keyboardists. The SL88 Studio is also thoroughly professional caliber and built like a tank with a rugged all-metal casing and impact-resistant synthetic endcaps that protect the keybed and provide a sure grip when transporting.

The assignable controls start with eight rotary knobs and eight buttons. These controls take the Hammer 88 Pro from being just a great piano controller to delivering a hands-on workflow for synths, orchestral patches, etc. The Studiologic SL88 studio controller is a fantastic weighted 88 note keyboard for the money. It’s a great attempt at providing the feel of a hammer weighted keyboard for about half the overall weight of other controllers. The responsiveness flexibility is brilliant, and the software editor is simple, intuitive, and speeds the process exponentially. I was really impressed with this element of the keyboard. You can have different responsiveness settings for each zone you set up, so if you’re using a zone for triggering samples for example, and you want very limited responsiveness so the samples trigger at the same velocity, except for one quieter sample note – you can set that ONE NOTE to trigger higher velocity. Brilliant!! The overall height of the keyboard is very shallow/narrow?! It feels comfortable to get your knees under and have your hands at the correct playing position. This would also be great for DAW setups where you want your QWERTY keyboard on top. Unfortunately, the huge data knob gets in the way a bit. I tend to use the software instead, even though it's a bit fiddly. StudioLogic is the finished products division of Fatar, so when it comes time to show off the finest keyboards they can manufacture, it makes sense to feature them in their own family of products. The SL88 Grand shines in that regard.

Tech Specs

The MK-22 has dynamic resolution of over 32,000 values. Of course MIDI can’t reproduce that, but the idea is that every MIDI value that doesresult is uniformly close to the player’s intentions. (Analogy: Recording audio at a high sample rate has value even if most listeners will hear the song as an MP3.) For software pianos that can interpret it, the MK-22 employs CC 88 to transmit high-resolution velocity. The MK-22 Studio model senses Aftertouch. The SLStudio is a sleek and sexy keyboard controller for the professional musician. Rather than the Flashy lights and endless controllers, the SLStudiofocuses on quality and feel. The result is a high end keyboard controller with an exclusive "piano feel" keybed, an easy to use interfaceand a powerful operating system. ALight& ExpressiveTouch

An optional triple pedal unit supports una corda (soft), true sostenuto, and half-damper sustain behavior, and is hefty enough that your foot won’t be chasing it around the floor. We tested the laptop stand, and it provided a very handy platform on which to place our MacBook Pro. Having the laptop directly on top of our keyboard made for a better overall experience using virtual instruments, having the controls in close proximity to the playing surface, whereas our typical laptop placement in a live keyboard rig has the computer display somewhat disconnected from the control surface. We also appreciated that the vast open space atop the SL88 makes it easy to locate a tabletop synthesizer product directly on top of the keyboard. Documentation and Product Support The action really does feel great, and I felt it was non-fatiguing even after function gigs involving three or four hour-long sets. Another value proposition is the slim size and light weight, making this a good choice if you’ve wanted a “full 88” in your rig but were holding off for space reasons. I own a piano, and the SL doesn't play like a piano at all, but other keyboards that I tried felt the same or worse. I didn't try the most expensive ones though, such as a Doepfer or Kawai.

There are other great keyboards out there when it comes to the feel but what really impressed me was the accuracy of the touch to midi velocity, it really feels like I'm playing a good piano(after I adjusted the touch curve to my liking). One important note for people that buy this keyboard - in some DAWs, you might notice that when you record midi often times when a key is hit, two notes will be recorded, with the first one being the shortest midi note possible, followed by the actual intended note. This happens when you have multiple zones enabled in your controller. When you turn off all unnecessary zones the double note problem is resolved. The SL Studio features the Latest hammer action keybed technology from industry leaders FATAR.The result is a touch that's lighter than most which makes it really easy and fun to play. Studiologic is a brand that regularly flies under the radar of many potential buyers, and the SL88 Studio is a prime example of that. It’s one of the best weighted keyboard MIDI controllers but doesn’t seem to get the credit it deserves. Since we first reviewed the S88, NI introduced the NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) protocol, enabling third-party developers to take advantage of the same browsing and parameter-mapping integration. Companies that have signed on include Arturia, u-he, Heavyocity, Spitfire, and XILS, among others.

It may sport a fully weighted 88-note keyboard, but the Studiologic SL88 Studio is delightfully portable. Thanks to its lightweight Fatar TP/100LR action, it weighs in under 31 pounds – which is very much appreciated by Millionhead keyboardists. The SL88 Studio is also thoroughly professional caliber and built like a tank with a rugged all-metal casing and impact-resistant synthetic endcaps that protect the keybed and provide a sure grip when transporting.What happened was that I got this one instead so I tried it out and then of course I had to buy it instead of getting the Studio version. The SL88 Studio looks more like a stage piano than a typical MIDI controller, and that’s no coincidence. It has a sleek yet incredibly robust body, making it an ideal keyboard controller for gigging. Korg D1 4.5 I had to upgrade from the terrible Arturia Keylab88 since the action on it was horrendous. The SL88 Grand is quite heavy all around but I don’t mind since it sits at the center of my music production studio.