Feature:
Not a ton of features, but then I wasn't looking for a ton of features. What the 88SX does, it does very very well.
Quality:
It tends to feel so light that you mistrust its quality, however, my first one (lasted 2 months before it was stolen) seemed rugged enough. I hammer pretty hard on it and it never complained.
Value:
Value is where this thing shines. You will simply not find another keyboard with the features and sounds that this model has at this price (believe me, as of the date of this review, I've studied all other brands (Yamaha, Kurzweil, Roland, Casio, etc.) and nothing even comes close.
Desirability:
As long as it is anchored well to your keyboard stand, this thing is very sexy and comfortable under your hands. The Wurly sample is so danged spot on that I have been working up several Supertramp songs (Poor Boy, From Now On, Logical Song, Downstream) just to make use of the Wurly epiano sound. Coupled with a good external outboard Rotary simulator (Roland makes one, Line6 makes one) the B3 is simply KILLER. Listen to the gig recordings referenced above and decide yourself.
Sound:
This keyboard handles the bread and butter sounds of a standard genre gig (rock, jazz, blues, 70s) very very well. Its keyboard action is perfectly between a true weighted hammer action, and a lightly weighted synth type action. As gigging musicians get older, they (okay, me) actually don't necessarily want a true, heavy, weighted hammer action because they need to play this beast for 3-4 hours solid. On the other hand, the lighter action keyboards allow the keyboardist to get sloppy as the fingers spill over the keys a tad. The 88SX suffers from none of this, yet allows the keyboardist to fly over the keys with minimal strain.
Ease of Use:
See discussion under Sound. Very easy to use out of the box. You will need speakers or an amp, or a PA system to amplify the sound, however, if you just want to listen through headphones, then there are two 1/4" headphone jacks.
For live gig situations, I run the outputs of the 88SX through a Roland RT-20 Rotary speaker simulator (to simulate a Leslie rotary cabinet) and the results are absolutely fantastic! To hear what the 88SX sounds like at a real gig, go to: bajabluesband.com, click on the Gigs link, scroll down, click on the Listen link for Fri., July 13, 2007 - Bonefish Grill. The Prokeys 88SX was also used at the July 14, 2007 gig. You should be able to hear the acoustic piano, electric piano (both Rhodes and Wurly) and especially the B3 organ.
Support:
Never had to deal with M-Audio.
Overall:
Let's put it this way, after about 2 months, mine was stolen. Here it is 2 weeks later and I just bought another one. It's that good and it's perfect for the gigging musician. I recommend a good solid case (like a Gator case) not only to protect the keyboard, but to keep people from seeing what it is so they are tempted to steal it.
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