Jeremy Lynch
November 19, 2008

Rating: 9/10

I decided that I wanted the best midi controller on the market that was as close to real pian as possible and, after some research I got the Numa 88. It looks superb and feels great, however I would not say that the notes are any heavier at the bottom end than the top end. I did not buy this keyboard for its midi functions but purely for its piano feel (I am a classical pianist)but would agree with the other reviewer that the midi controls are in the wrong place and are a bit fiddly. The instructions you get with it aren\'t up to much. One big problem I encountered was when I tried to save a \'patch\' (or preset). I thought I\'d broken something but it had actually crashed my computer. To avoid this happening I shut down my eastwest software program before I saved changes and then re-opened it and it all worked ok.

To sum up: if you are a pianist, this is the keyboard you want - it\'s absolutely superb and feels just like a grand piano. If you want useable midi functions that don\'t crash software, then buy something else.

John Rule
November 6, 2008

Rating: 6/10

I looked closely at the features of different controllers and workstations, and I decided that an 88 key graded hammer action with aftertouch was what I wanted. Since there are only a few keyboards like this, I went for what is supposed to be top of the line...the Studiologic Numa. I received mine a little over a week ago, so I did spend some serious time exploring the features before I wrote this.

It is probably the best action as far as GHA (graded hammer action) keybeds go, so it is an excellent piano controller. I am using it to specifically control Pianoteq from Receptor, and it is awesome! The velocity features are certainly impressive (and useful), and that was one of the main reasons I purchased this keyboard. Their \"You Play\" custom velocity interpolation is actually one of the better features I have seen in a keyboard lately (and it works!). I also tried the Alesis 8HD, but I ran into the \"black keys are louder than the white keys\" issue, and I am convinced this is an inherent problem with many controller keybeds. The Numa has a permanent solution in my opinion; my ears (and midi monitor) proved to me that they do indeed have this worked out. However, I ran into several problems when trying to use the Numa as a mid controller.

The built in UI (user interface) is fairly intuitive, but there are some quirks. Having to lean to the left every time I needed to select a patch, send a program change, etc. was a pain in the neck...literally. I don\'t see why it could not be in the center. Some players actually prefer this orientation, so I guess you can\'t please everyone. I imagine that I can live with this. The main interface is very \'iPod\' like in that you have a touch sensitive jog/shuttle wheel, and some NAV buttons...and that\'s it. The menu structure is pretty deep though, and you can do a lot of things like splits, layers, and all with different controllers for each zone (including different aftertouch controllers). The lack of physical control buttons is both good and bad, and I also think that I can get used to this.

Aesthetics aside, the UI operation itself was somewhat buggy. For example, each time I selected a patch, or entered the edit mode, a torrent of midi information was sent out. This was more than annoying because it repeatedly locked up the host I was running. It wasn\'t just sending the patch setup information (i.e. program change, volume, etc.), it was also sending reset information for all 16 channels! I did receive an email from Fatar (and from a Studiologic representative) stating that this issue was fixed in a new firmware update. That\'s nice, but there were several other issues I found that are convincing me this keyboard may be unsuitable as a midi controller.

Finding the control wheel mounted on the side of the controller was not too much of a surprise (it\'s in all of the pictures), but the usability was. The control wheel itself would skip values and entire ranges of values, rendering it unusable for anything (this may also be addressed in the next firmware update according to Fatar). It was especially unusable for pitch control since there was no center reference. This would not have been such a problem if it was designed to have an acceptable range for pitch control (either 64-128 or 64-0) but it simply sent 0-127 pitch control information. This means that you are left with the daunting task of finding the center pitch by ear after performing a pitch bend. This is unacceptable in a live performance situation (including recording) so I don\'t see the point in making this the only control with \'PITCH\' as an assignable value. Fatar could fix this by providing an offset (polarity is already assignable) so that you could simply bring the wheel all the way back or forward to find 64 (center) again.

The aftertouch on my unit was also an issue in that it would start sending information starting at 40 (on average), which provided very jumpy control that was obvious. In fact, I would say that the most usable range for aftertouch is 0 to 60, so I found this unusable as well. The store where I bought this from (www.midi-store.com) has since agreed to send me a new unit free of charge, so I am very pleased with them! Fatar on the other hand seemed to take the position that it is not their keybed. We\'ll see. I would appreciate any user feedback on what kind of response (and the manufacturer) they have for aftertouch. You can use MIDIOX (www.midiox.com) to monitor values. Can you get a nice smooth ramp between 0 and 40?

I give the Numa a 6 out of 10. If they fix the issues I discussed, I will give it a 9.5 (minus .5 points for the control wheel on the side, and the pitch issue I mentioned). It is by far one of the best actions I have played, and the looks are certainly different (elegant and unique). It is a little pricey, but it may ultimately be worth it since I seem to be playing more rather than trying to figure out what is wrong with the action.

I invite all Numa owners to take a closer look at the features that I mentioned, and send an email to Fatar if you find what I found.

JR