If you’re looking to buy your first ever digital piano, chances are you might begin your shopping by inquiring about the most affordable ones. Chances are also that you might have come across the Alesis Recital keyboard with costs only $200.
After all, why shouldn’t you consider a full-sized 88-key piano that is so affordable? In a market full of keyboards costing way more than $500, $1000 or even $2000, a keyboard that is so cheap automatically gains attention.
Therefore, we have decided to provide you with an honest and thorough Alesis Recital review that will answer all your queries and allow you to decide between buying this keyboard or not.
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Features Of Alesis Recital:
Before we go any further with our Alesis Recital review, we would like you to keep in mind that this is an entry-level piano. Although it has full 88 keys which some of its contemporaries don’t, still after six months or one year of use and learning, you’ll outgrow this keyboard.
If you’re considering buying it for your child and you don’t have a big budget, you can start with the Alesis Recital. Since children are mostly inconsistent with their interests’ chances are that your child will give up on playing piano anyways. In that case, a $1000 or even $500 would all go to waste.
If this is your case, then the Alesis Recital can be a lifesaver for you. Go through the rest of the review and see if it’s the right keyboard for you.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is rarely the focus of keyboard manufacturers when making affordable keyboards because all they want is to minimize the cost. Some brands do it by sacrificing on quality while others sacrifice on features.
Alesis on the other end has made a very basic digital piano out of the Recital. It weighs only 15.7lbs and takes an area of 50″ x 11.5″. By an 88-key digital piano’s perspective, this is quite lightweight and compact. Therefore, you’ll find no trouble in carrying it and placing it on different surfaces.
However, the quality of the material is very low. The keys and the rest of the body of this keyboard produces a sound and feel that normally toys make. The semi-glossy surface exhibit a plasticky and fragile feeling that is at the risk of cracking with even a little bit of impact. Even if it doesn’t break, the body if the recital does not give the feeling of a premium keyboard but rather a cheap keyboard.
Therefore, we would suggest you use a padded bag to carry it. More so, the Recital is available in black color as well as in white finish.
Sound memory and Quality
When it comes to sound memory, the Alesis Recital has only 5 built-in instrument voices but the quality of these voices is not bad. Although the organ sound could have been much better, the rest of them are good enough. Other Keyboards of this price range will offer you 10+ voices but their quality will be subpar. The Alesis Recital scores satisfactory on this end. However, if you’re an expert you will not like it.
The good thing, however, is the 128-note polyphony that the Alesis Recital provides, which is much more than you’ll find in other digital pianos of this price range. This allows you to create great music by sampling and laying one note on top of another.
Key sensitivity
Now, when it comes to key sensitivity, Alesis Recital has semi-weighted key action. Generally, semi-weighted key action is considered somewhat better than unweighted key action. Such as in the case of Novation impulse and Nord stage 3 compact which is both appropriately resistant and slightly lightweight.
However, most semi-weighted keys feel unnatural and are more of a marketing gimmick. The key action of the Alesis Recital falls in this category.
The label of 88 key semi-weighted key actions will attract you into thinking it’s a better piano but it will cost you in the long run. Your fingers will develop a muscle memory that will make it harder for you to switch to a fully weighted digital piano or even to a real acoustic piano.
Although the keys have a certain bounce, it is either the quality of the key’s material or the resistance that’s exhibiting a bad feeling.
If you’re comparing the Recital to a 61 key digital piano or another 88 key digital piano that has the even worse touch sensitivity, then surely you should buy the Recital. However, you can find other 88 key digital pianos below $500 that have better touch sensitivity. In that case, you should choose them over the Recital.
Other features
Given the price of the Alesis Recital keyboard, it doesn’t pack on added fancy features. It’s a simple keyboard for beginners. It does feature a USB to host port that can be used for MIDI connectivity. However, the lack of auxiliary stereo minijack and Bluetooth is disappointing but it’s common for all keyboards of this price range
The Recital has dual 10W speakers that are normally enough for a mid-sized hall but when you switch to a full volume the quality of sound will deteriorate. We would suggest you switch in an amplifier which would further be connected to external speakers. You can also plus in headphones.
The Alesis Recital also does not come with a sustain pedal, but you can get it for around $30.
Pros and Cons Of Alesis Recital:
Now that we have educated you about all the features of the Alesis Recital, we would like to further boil It down to simple pros and cons. This will allow you to conclude more quickly.
Pros:
- One of the most affordable keyboards out there
- Full-sized 88-key semi-weighted keyboard
- Good sound quality
- 128-note polyphony
- MIDI connectivity
Cons:
- Plasticky body
- Key sensitivity not good enough
- Limited sound memory
- No auxiliary stereo minijack and Bluetooth
Conclusion
As you can see that there exists a sort of tiebreaker between the pros and cons of the Alesis Recital. Like we said at the start of this article that this is a keyboard that will work for beginners who are not sure if they’ll be playing this instrument for a long time.
If you’re buying it for your child and you’re not sure if their interest is going to last long, then save your money and get them this one. Otherwise, add a couple of hundred dollars more and buy a keyboard that will last longer while providing better quality.
Since our goal here is not to sell every product based on lies, we gave you an honest and sincere Alesis Recital review. We hope all your queries are answered but they are not, ask us in the comment box down below and we would love to answer them.