Thomann DP-25 or people who know Keyboards?

Question

I recently bought a Thomann DP-25 direct from Thomann.de

It is a lovely keyboard, affordable, really excellent weight in the keys. However it had this one bizarre problem, the black keys are way louder than the white ones. It has touch sensitivity which works really well on the white keys but when you apply the same pressure to the black ones they are so damn loud.

I emailed Thomann about this and they assured me this was normal. My friend, a classically trained pianist came over to my house excited to try my new keyboard. And after about 3 seconds he stopped, staring at the keyboard saying 'whoa'.

Thomann offered me some BS excuse that this was perfectly normal. However it makes the keyboard unplayable. I have looked through every forum, board and review that I can and not a single one mentions this. Which is surprising because I figure if they did all the reviews would not be positive but instead read 'what a piece of s***'

There is no function to change this, you can change the overall sensitivity but not individual keys. After writing an angry email to Thomann (my third email) they agreed to take it back. However they are still being A-Holes about it and not admitting there is something wrong with the key board.

I was going just exchange it for a Yamaha P-35 B, but because they are being such D***'s about the whole thing I would rather a refund, pay a bit more and buy it from my local music store.

I have up to now had excellent an excellent buying experience with Thomann and I dont know why they're being this way.

I just need someone to confirm for me that this completely different sensitivity is completely wrong and that there is something wrong with the keyboard and this just isn't the way it's made.

Oh also, when I try to plug a cable from the Left out (mono) into my recorder, nothing happens, the keyboard doesn't acknowledge it. Which means I have to record using the headphone jack. That is also something broken right?

Any help on this matter would be appreciated as Thomann ignored the Line Out question when I emailed them. I feel like I'm going crazy.

Answer 1

I know enough about keyboards to tell you that Thomann is a stencil of something made in China. They aren't sold in the US, but I expect it is similar to other house brands I've tried here. People buy them because of the low price without once trying to see if they are musical at all. The non-musical aspects are usually in the form of uneven keys (mechanical) and really poor sound quality from the speakers, amplifiers, and the samples used. Additionally lower quality parts are used, leading to plugs, jackets, and sockets failing prematurely. They'll probably hold up well enough if you never unplug and replug cables, but you may find corrosion problems down the line too. Your line out may be because of jack, but I'm guessing that 1. the signal at line out is much lower than at the headphone jack or 2. the cable you're using is a TRS or balanced cable and it isn't completing the signal path properly.



I think it highly is unusual for the black keys to have a different velocity curve than the other keys. I'd say it's a manufacturing defect, but the whole sensor strip is one key to the next all the way up the keyboard. I can't think of any reason for the keyboard to react the way you describe, unless the location of the sensors is weird because of the shape or size of the keys.



I'd say make the exchange for the P35 with them, but inform them that it will be your last transaction with the company.

Answer 2

This problem is actually very common among affordable hammer action keyboards.

They are rarelly reported by users for two reasons: the type of people who buys this keyboards don´t care to write about it, and if they do, they mainly play on the white keys!

Answer 3

You don't have to help skip dessert. Order one and split it together with your dinner partner.

Answer 4

Modern Talking??! Yuk... Talk about perversities in this section... lol :)