Have you ever owned an Atelier AT last and new generation AT60SL & AT300/500

[ButterFingers]

Hello Organists,

I am looking to upgrade from my AT30R which is probably one of the best affordable organs on the market today. However, now I wish to move up in scale. To either a last generation AT60SL which is now equivalent in price to an AT300. I have been told to look at the 80SL which is now equivalent in price to an AT500. The 80SL though might be a little too heavy as I would have to have it lifted into my flat, but I have heard the top comes off the bottom. The AT30R was heavy enough, but worth it, the sound of it makes my floor vibrate much to the annoyance of all my neighbours.

What I am looking for is more specific than my original thread. For example how do the strings compare in later and earlier models, as well as piano Harpsichord solo instruments, The accompaniments, pedal instruments and qualities of the samples. Also ease of access. I am still unsure.

I have only been playing the organ for about a year as I am a professional pianist, but am starting to love both the Pop and Classical organs more. More fun, more variety, and far less snobbery.

Why am I asking this? Well, I own a top of the range digital piano for teaching, and I have played them for some 20 years. And I have found the sound improvements very minimal, except for the Harpsichord. Improvements have been in cabinets, speakers and action response in most cases. Most companies call their digital samples all sorts of high sounding names and change them sounding better with each new generation, but that is about all.

Thank you everyone

[andyg]

There were plenty of improvements and additions to voicing in the step from R to S models and yet more in the upgrade to SL. Strings were one area that got particular attention. Even where the voice names remained the same, there were often improvements in the sound.

Rhythms and automatics were improved, and got a second boost with the SL series.

As for ease of use, the R and later models are chalk and cheese. The S and SL have the touchscreen for access to voices, styles and functions.

Go for the 80SL. Yes, it's bigger and heavier but the benefits it offers in specification will outweigh that. The sound system could be deafening but there's a master level control that means that your neighbours wouldn't be inconvenienced any more than they would be with the 30R. What you would notice is a better quality amplification system.

We're all entitled to our own opinions, of course, but I can't agree with you on the digital pianos. I've been using them since they were invented and the change has been dramatic and is still ongoing. I've had my finger in the design pie of a few of them! I was chief reviewer for Keyboard Player magazine for almost 30 years and got to play almost all of them and was impressed by the development of the sampling techniques, sound systems, key actions and things like damper and sympathetic resonance effects as they came in. Now, as a teacher in a large music store, I still get to play them all and can often while away a lunch break at something like a Yamaha Avant Grand.

The same progress was made by home organs - well, at least by those makes that were left - and arranger keyboards.

And I have to agree about 'piano snobbery'. One very good reason why there are certain boards and forums that I'll never bother with! :) The home organ crowd, and this forum, are far more friendly!

[Kurzweil]

That 30r is similar to a plain AT-30, the generation I version. The biggest drawback of that model is the sound system. 30 watts twice to a couple of 8 inch speakers and MAYBE a couple of tweeters up top. You have all seven manual divisions, though, something that AT-100 won't even touch. Power also. I would look at the models with the larger multi-speaker sound systems and separate sub-woofer. Maybe the 500 does that. Of course all the 80 or 800 models do. I think the sound system may make a more noticable upgrade in quality than the improved samples will. I too found the AT-30 to be impressive but you can easily surpass it. An AT-60r is almost the same thing you now have but with a 180 watt sound system and double the sounds, for instance. But it is also generation II, an oldie. Gen III, the s-series, gets you to many more sounds, some of them supernatural, and a color touchscreen - a nice touch (pardon the pun). These are all really cheap. The SL models only improve the sounds but you may have the ear to appreciate the difference.

[ButterFingers]

Thank you for your advice, but Digital Pianos have a very long way before they can even touch an Acoustic, I have a top of the range Kawai CA111 which I found much better than Avant Grande and certainly the Roland. I have just upgraded from a basic Yamaha and personally I still find them clumsy and some what uncomfortable to play, maybe I am just used to acoustics, and have just bought a little Shimmel 108 and the Digital just cannot touch it, and that Piano is small but high quality. Pianos by their very natural nature are very hard to simulate, even on the touch and feel, whereas with Organs sometimes it is very hard to tell the difference. I went to Sheffield Cathedral to see the Organist there and I could swear it was a real Pipe Organ, which turned out to be digital. Just my own thoughts, and my pupils always prefer the Shimmel to the Kawai after playing both.

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Thank you, I have a lot to consider, I will be seeing an AT500 this weekend, and an 80SL next week before I finally decide, I will let you know what I think.