Welcome to the world of the StudioLogic Numa X GT Piano, a top-of-the-line digital piano from StudioLogic. This instrument was designed with performance in mind, combining classic piano playing techniques with cutting-edge technology for a truly unique experience.
Its 88 weighted keys, built-in sound modules, and intuitive control panel give it the feel of a real grand piano with all the versatility of digital technology. You can even connect your laptop or iPad to add additional effects and sounds for added creativity.
For those new to digital pianos, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the features and sounds available. You get an impressive digital piano beyond piano sounds with the Numa X GT. Its intuitive design lets you quickly and easily find the perfect sound for your playing style. Its 88-weighted keys provide a natural feel that will please even the most discerning player.
This review looks at the StudioLogic Numa X GT Piano to help you understand its features and specifications.
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Table of Contents
- Keyboard Actions
- Piano Sound
- Electric Piano Sounds
- Samples
- Interface
- Inputs and Outputs
- Specifications
- In Performance
- Alternatives to the Numa X
- Pros and Cons
Keyboard Actions
The Numa X Piano GT features the Studiologic “GrandTouch” TP/400 Wood key action, which offers a superior piano-playing experience. The key movement feels comfortable overall, allowing for easy playing with sufficient resistance. The keys have a soft, ivory-like texture, realistic escapement, velocity, and aftertouch sensitivity. The GT key action combines wooden sides on the white keys for strength and durability with plastic black keys.
The GrandTouch or GT keyboard action provides a better playing experience than some of Studiologic’s other models, such as the Numa X Piano 88. It’s a premium action for players seeking a quality playing experience—the keyboard also sports triple sensor response, which is helpful when playing repetitive notes and fast passages.
Some people may find the action a bit noisy, creating a thump audible to others in the room, mainly if you are playing through headphones.
Overall, the Numax GT provides a high-quality, fully-weighted keyboard action for those seeking the best piano-playing experience in a portable stage digital piano.
Piano Sound
The StudioLogic Numa X GT Piano offers four main piano models: American Steinway, German Steinway, Yamaha Grand, and an Italian Fazioli. The German Steinway sound is rich and full, while the Italian Fazioli has a striking presence in the lower mids. The Japanese Yamaha has a vibrant and sharp upper timbre. Overall, the piano reproductions in the XGT library are highly realistic and impressive, on par with or surpassing digital pianos in the under $2000 range.
The internal grand piano sounds can be customized to suit different preferences. While most piano sounds lean towards the bright and percussive side, adjustments can be made to achieve a mellow and warmer tone. The EQ section allows for fine-tuning and reducing unwanted metallic characteristics while retaining some metallic character if desired. With the ability to edit various parameters using the color display screen, users can create their personalized piano sound, ranging from bright and percussive to mellow and resonant, while maintaining an excellent dynamic tonal range.
Bass Tones for Numax Pianos
Unlike most digital pianos, where lower bass notes immediately cease resonating upon key release, the Numax GT provides a slightly delayed cutoff for the bass strings when playing quick notes without using the sustain pedal. This results in a more authentic and “grand” piano sound, replicating the behavior of real grand pianos. Fatar/Studiologic has paid careful attention to these small yet crucial details, contributing to a remarkably realistic and satisfying grand piano playing experience for musicians familiar with the genuine instrument.
Sampling and Physical Modeling for Numax Piano Sounds
The Studiologic XGT combines high-end sampling techniques using specialized microphones positioned in specific ways at a grand piano in a professional recording piano studio. These recorded sounds are merged with the manufacturer’s proprietary physical modeling technology. The resulting piano tones do not exhibit the noticeable sound looping commonly associated with traditional sampling technology. While sustaining the notes, there may be occasional anomalies in the piano sound, particularly during the downward decay time—these artifacts, although minor, can occur in digital pianos due to their electronic nature.
Overall, the combined sampling and physical modeling approach in the Numax GT offers a rich and dynamic piano experience characterized by realistic string modulation and movement.
Piano Decay
One aspect of digital pianos that needs to be revised compared to acoustic instruments is the decay time. On the XGT, the piano decay approximates an acoustic instrument but falls short of a traditional one.
Electric Piano Sounds
You’ll find the old familiar EP sounds on the Numax GT – Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Yamaha CP-80, plus Clavinet. This keyboard has you covered for all the basic electric piano sounds.
Samples
The Numax GT offers high-quality samples that are easily accessible and intuitively controlled. Samples load quickly, and a favorites section keeps your go-to patches readily available during live performances.
Its patch selection and audition process, accompanied by category buttons, allow for efficient navigation. With a central OLED display providing real-time information, four infinite pots and buttons on the left side enable quick editing access. The instrument’s polyphony capabilities ensure ample note availability depending on the number of samples in use. Overall, the Numax GT delivers a seamless, user-friendly experience for manipulating sample quality and sound parameters.
Interface
The Numax GT features a built-in audio interface and a four-channel mixer that eliminates the need for an external mixer for most live setups. The mixer can be configured as two stereo, one stereo, two mono, or four mono inputs. It offers independent master effects, including delays and reverbs, which can be applied to the incoming signals.
The class-compliant audio interface allows seamless connection with an iPad for MIDI arpeggiation, sequencing, looping, and signal processing using a USB cable.
It also boasts four independent parts or zones with 300 notes of polyphony, allowing glissandos to be sustained across the keyboard while other parts continue to play. The parts can be split, stacked, or played independently via separate MIDI channels. Additionally, a zone can be set up as a MIDI controller, allowing it to send MIDI data instead of playing a patch. Each zone includes two insert effects with various algorithms, and the acoustic and electric piano models provide significant variations by adjusting the four available parameters.
Inputs and Outputs
The Numa X Piano GT boasts a generous array of inputs and outputs. The back panel features three quarter-inch pedal inputs, four quarter-inch audio inputs, a quarter-inch stereo output, a headphone port, full-size MIDI I/O sockets, and a USB port. Additionally, it offers a four-channel onboard mixer, which can function as a USB MIDI and audio interface.
The inputs can be easily adjusted while playing and even support the connection of a dynamic microphone. With its versatile and convenient features, the Numa X Piano GT is a powerful instrument and an excellent audio interface for live performances and home studio setups.
Specifications
- Keyboard Type: Stage Piano
- Sound Engines: TrS (True Stereo), Physical Modeling
- Number of Keys: 88
- Type of Keys: Fatar TP/400, Weighted Hammer Action
- Escapement: Yes
- Aftertouch: Channel Aftertouch
- Touch Sensitivity: Soft, Medium, Hard, Adjustable Fixed
- Polyphony: 300 voices
- Presets: 200 Factory, 250 User
- Controllers: 2 x Joystick
- Effects: Compressor, Delay, Distortion, EQ, Modulation, Overdrive, Reverb, Distortion, Overdrive, Wah (Auto and Pedal)
- Audio Inputs: 4 x 1/4″
- Audio Outputs: 2 x 1/4″ (L/mono, R)
- Headphones: 1 x 1/4″ TRS
- USB: 1 x Type B
- MIDI I/O: In/Out/USB
- Pedal Inputs: 1 x 1/4″ (sustain), 1 x 1/4″ (footswitch), 1 x 1/4″ (triple pedal)
- Pedal Included: SLP3-D Triple Pedal
- Features: 4 Key Zones, Built-in Digital Mixer
- Display: 2.8″ Color Display
- Software: Numa Manager App
- Power Supply: 12V DC power supply (included)
- Height: 4.8″
- Width: 50.4″
- Depth:1 2.2″
- Weight: 48.5 lbs.
In Performance
The StudioLogic Numa X GT Piano offers a natural and effortless playing experience despite being a fully weighted keyboard. It provides an impressive range of sample content, including beautiful acoustic and electric pianos and a vast collection of usable sounds. With substantial capacity for sample manipulation and various effects, this keyboard allows live players to create customized patches and even incorporate external signals.
The only aspect that may require some adjustment is the use of joysticks for pitch, modulation, and MIDI CC control, which is different from traditional pitch and mod wheels. However, with practice, players can adapt and fully explore the capabilities of this instrument. With more samples to come in the future, the Numax X Piano GT is well-equipped for both current and future performance needs.
Alternatives to the Numa X
Studiologic offers multiple alternatives to the flagship Numa X Piano GT.
These include the 88-note Numa X 88 and the 73-note Numa X 73. Both lighter models feature Fatar’s TP 110 action, which improves the older TP 100 action found in many high-end keyboards. Despite being lighter, they maintain the same functionality as the GT model.
The only aesthetic difference is the absence of wooden end cheeks. These alternatives offer all the benefits of the GT model but in lighter keyboards, making transportation and gigging easier. And these other models come in at a lower price point.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Top quality Grand Touch keyboard action
- Covers a variety of acoustic and electric piano models
- Supplemental sounds via sample content
- Useful audio I/O capability
Cons
- Heavy – can be cumbersome to transport
- Noisy keyboard physical noise
Learning curve required
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