I have bought an Osmose 61 refurbished directly from Expressive and it’s all very good. I really can’t see a difference with a new one. Also the keys have no problems and they have the same feeling, pressure, and so on. I’m liking the Osmose 61 a lot and I’m keeping it.
The only thing is that a couple of keys might make a short squeaky noise, like a click, sometimes and especially when bending them horizontally for pitch bending – a main reason to get this keyboard. Nothing bad, nothing affecting the actual sound, nothing really disturbing, but it’s an irregularity and it’s there.
On the other hand, I understand that this keyboard is really complex and it has many moving pieces, so maybe it is somewhat “regular” to have this irregularities? This problem doesn’t bother me enough as to return the keyboard to be “fixed”, especially when I’m about to start my holidays and I will have more time than usual to play with this new toy. But still, I’m interested to hear from other Osmose owners whether this is normal or not, whether it is expected to stay like this, go away with the use or get worse…?
Probably quite subjective, I know, but I welcome any feedback and advice.
On my (also refurbished) 61 key Osmose the black ones make a slight “knock knock” sound when pressing them (which, given that it is consistent over all black keys and the same for my 49 keys) is most certainly as it should be.
And when you bend the keys fully left and right then they knock on the adjacent key which you can hear (also the same for all keys).
You can hear key noises on pretty much all epianos when you deactivate the sound. But if one key sounds completely different than the others (and annoys you) it might be best to contact ExpressiveE (best with a short video so they cann immediately tell you whether this in normal).
I thought this would be the case as well, but actually don’t perform that gesture very often. As it turns out, I’m all about the pressure guided portamento. Or “pressure glide”, as I think they call it now.
(That shouldn’t affect your experience, or your need for keys that don’t stick, regardless.)
The clicking is normal — lots of new users have remarked on it.
I’m guessing a lot comes from users coming from other keyboards. The Osmose is at it’s best with a lighter touch than many keyboardists have developed. As you develop technique, you’re not hammering so hard, and developing a gentler wiggle.
@NothanUmber@pachde Thank you for your reply. Pressing keys is not a problem and in fact there the Osmose is quieter than most keybeds because of its squishy bottom. Bending keys is ok for many keys but some a louder than others, and I guess my question is at which point normal-loud becomes not-normal-loud. But yes, I will check with Expressive support.
I shot this short video that hopefully shows the problem better than any adjectives. Some keys are a bit quieter, some are louder, but notice the A.
The “klack” sound when moving keys horizontally left and right is also slightly different for me for different keys. Slightly less loud than your “A” but some are also more audible than others. There seems to be a fabrication tolerance indeed. It isn’t severe enough to be annoying for me. Perhaps try it with sound on and if it still disturbs then write to ExpressiveE. Perhaps there is a countermeasure other than replacing the entire keyboard.
Some keys are a bit quieter, some are louder, but notice the A.