MidiPlus Easy Piano EK490S Review
A basic review of the MidiPlus Easy Piano EK490S. This is a 49-key electric piano and MIDI controller which is available in the UK for between £75-£100. Note this video was recorded on a mobile phone, so the audio sounds a bit tinny - the keyboard itself has a clear, rich tone.
My youngest daughter started piano lessons a few months ago, and has been practising on my old Victorian piano. She asked if she could use my ageing Yamaha SY35 synthesiser to practice with headphones, which of course I was happy for her to do, but I thought she could do with her own keyboard. It must have full size keys but small enough to sit on her desk in her bedroom - hence 49 keys. Ideally it must have velocity sensitive keys, have a few competent piano sounds, and be able to act as a MIDI controller so she could use it with her PC as a synthesiser when she gets more experienced.
Out of the box, it comes with a USB2 A-B cable, a Euro mains power supply and a Euro to UK mains plug adapter. Note that it can be used as a MIDI controller without mains power, but if you want onboard sound you need batteries (6xC) or mains.
Later, off screen, I did hook up the modulation wheel as a MIDI controller in LMMS and that worked perfectly, for example changing the LFO frequencies of an virtual analogue synth on my PC.
Note that the EK490 model number refers to a different music keyboard; the EK490S (the trailing S is important) is this digital piano reviewed here.