A Premier Hand-Built Italian Digital Piano: The Viscount Legend '70's
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- This is an instrument I have wanted for a long time. A very long time. So when Viscount reached out to me and offered to send me one, with the understanding that I'd make my usual honest video about it, I absolutely said yes! It arrived straight from Italy, and it did not disappoint in any way, shape, or form. The built quality is impeccable, the tones are excellent, and the level of control, functionality, and power it has is incredible. I hope you like the video, it's long but there is a heck of a lot to say, and enjoy the extra information about Viscount and their family-owned operation!
/ thepianoforever
OMG. My Viscount 70`s Artist W arrived four days ago. Since I switched it on, you can only get my grin off my face with a jackhammer. I`m far away to call me a pianist, but now I am a very happy amateur. It is, as you said: This piano is not a "like a". It has its own character. A legend born now. Thank you for the nice vid.
So glad you liked the video and of course Viscount Legend as well.
How do you like to action you my friend
I wish I had you to do comparison reviews on every product I’m considering buying. Cars, pets, toothbrushes, water filters, surfboards... you name it. You’re the best reviewer I’ve ever heard
Wow, what great build quality, plenty of sounds too choose, amazing sound quality and fantastic playing. (Best reviewer on UA-cam right here) 😎👍
Wow, thanks!
Thank you for introducing me to this instrument. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Stunning, organic, versatile. Thanks for showcasing this!
You are so welcome!
Makes me very happy that companies want your honest opinions about their instruments. 👌🤙
Well, two anyways.
ThePianoforever it’s a start 👍
I think the companies that have the most confidence in their products might step up, but I really will question if some of the others will.
@@ThePianoforever Who's is the other company? Can you say?
Outstanding review James and a beautiful instrument. Thank you!
Thank you kindly!
Greatest instrument review by far James. Very clear, focused, honest. Thank you for the hard work! Cheers from Brazil! Stay safe!
Wow, thanks!
I have been waiting for this review fr months! Thanks to you and Viscount!
Glad you liked the review, it's a great instrument.
Great videos James, your so knowledgeable and articulate the way you describe the pianos. Can see the passion you have for the beautiful instrument keep up the good work.
I own a Viscount Legends 70s Artist w EX and without a shadow of a doubt it is the best instrument I have ever owned. Like you said almost every sound is quality and useable from the get go but when you start creating your own sounds you realise how deep and wide this beautiful thing is ☺️ Great review btw.
Another excellent review!!! You are doing a great job! Thanks again! P.S. It was great hearing the Schubert Eb Impromptus with EP sounds. Very groovy!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
So that was a really long video about a marvelous instrument. I am blown away by all the possibilities it has. That’s the reason I never tried it, but the sounds are really good. Finally a instrument that shows a good organ and a decent piano. Oh,, too much. Anyway I listened to the whole video and I am really glad the send this legend to you. Maybe if you go to Italy you can go there as well. Would be nice. Thank you for sharing, playing and showing so much of the possibilities.
Glad you liked the video. It was very long for sure, but it had so much to offer that I just didn't want to leave too much out.
@@ThePianoforever oh I am sure you could easily play another hour or two. So much possibilities and combinations.. And it is very clear you love it. Nice!
Brilliant Video.... Thank you, you are certainly the most indepth musical genius I have ever listened to.... Brilliant videos and thank you for all you put in to your videos...
From john UK 🇬🇧
Congrats! You have truly arrived. Thanks for the video.
Just having a great time.
Awesome review - thanks for going into so much depth. This is a piano that's really piqued my curiosity lately, as I love the modular approach - so it was great to hear it played so extensively. One tid-bit I have discovered (after a bit of detective work), is that the Acoustic Piano module appears to have 8gb of flash sample storage; that's a LOT, considering that even a Nord Grand only has 2.5gb of sample memory in total. Obviously we don't know how much of this is currently used, and there's a lot more to patch quality than raw sample size but, shared between just 8 pianos, that's room for some *serious* piano sample sets. I hope it gets used to its potential!
Great episode James. Really nice to see the history of Galanti. So important to keep and support original instrument production in the EU and US. I am determined at some point to visit the factory, in Italy. And purchase one of these exceptional instuments...
Maybe someday I will go as well!
I very much like the idea of the modular design. Something that always bothered me about digital pianos is, unless you use them as MIDI controllers, you are stuck with whatever sounds they come with. I have always thought a digital piano/keyboard instrument that you can directly load with whatever sounds you want would be a great idea. I hope Viscount rolls out even more modules, because the idea is fantastic.
I totally agree!
An amazing keyboard and excellent review!
It really is!
Love your thorough reviews. Absolute best!
Glad you like them!
Viscount is also about to release a Virtual Analogue Synth module. That should be interesting.
Would absolutely LOVE if they made a String Machine, a Combo Organ and a Melotron modules
The synth module is supposed to be released today, I can't wait to get it, in my opinion, by making a new module Viscount will become far more interesting, even if it was already a lot :) . And I 100% agree with you about the other ideas of modules, it would be a dream keyboard
I love that keyboard. What a big sound!
Very high quality for sure.
What a great story behind the company as well
It really is!
Great video so far... love the look of this instrument, the interface especially. Sounds are excellent. I've always been a big fan of Italian instrument manufactures, a very different way of modern production. Maybe someday if I ever feel worthy of such an expensive product I will commit. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
I do not deserve it. But the piano forgives me. That must be Italian serenity.
It's backordered on KraftMusic but they have 36-month/0% financing going on at the moment if you're willing to accept the wait. I'm sitting around waiting for my P515 to clear an order through Guitar Center and I managed to get 24 month/0% for it cause some cheeky manufacturer had some... broad terms that let them group their items with others and stick that financing across the whole order. Great stuff, though, definitely softens the impact and you get the keyboard the entire time. Also 100% I definitely thought the Legend 70s costed at least $5k but I am happily surprised by what it's selling for.
@@Lonech Don't you dare tempt me! :D
Thepianoforever you are a great inspiration , Mad respect . And i am your no.1 fan
Thank you!
The Legend organ series are also beautiful
Aww man I asked for this review. So glad you got one.
Glad I could help!
@@ThePianoforever you more than did that. Have to get one from Thomann. Wonder if you'll do the Viscount organs as well. I hope you had fun.
If they want me too I will as it would be great to take the sound of a B3 on location.
Even in video you can note the quality, the sounds, the modules interface bringing real-time cotrol; it seems like a very inspiring tool. Great review as always
Couldn't agree more!
From the factory photos it seems they made modern electronic Church Organs with hardwood oak cabinetry and beautiful materials.
This instrument looks like a real joy for a keyboard player performing live band gig shows or part of a live theatre pit band.
If I ever was in town and they let me in I might never leave.
@@ThePianoforever I know eh? The confluence of beautiful woodworking and beautiful instrument making. I am a guitar and a piano and a synth nerd, and I love musical instruments so much, and it makes me happy when someone puts Craftsmanship into their products.
Outstanding Video, thx
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for this video, I can’t wait for the comparison with the SV2 and Crumar Seven! You are an excellent demonstrator. I’m really curious about the action on the Artist W...
Coming soon!
Most companies approach products by price: “We can sell a lot of this product for X dollars. Where do we cut corners to maximize our profit?”
Dude you were already an amazing keys player but I feel that around 28:22 you hit a new level. You must be having fun because your hands were FLYING.
Grab a pair of inexpensive M-Audio expression pedals. You will enjoy them with almost every workstation, synth, and keyboard instrument.
The "no menu dive" design of this board is totally opposite of the "menu dive hell" experience of using my Korg TR 88 workstation. Even the modern Korg Kronos is still "not very good at live sound tweakage".
This Viscount seems a worthy competitor to Nord and Yamaha.
Thanks for the kind words about my playing (massive practicing as of late).
It's a great keyboard for sure.
@@ThePianoforever I need to go practice more. Back to Hanon, for me.
If you practice scales you will see the difference before you know it.
Great review! very insightful and comprehensive. May you demo all the voices in the "sound Collection" category?. Thank you
Thank you.
haha MAN, that's a GREAT video about a GREAT instrument - and damn, I wish I could play just a quarter as good :-D - the Yamaha CP80ies have a horrible tuning-problem, so do the Fender Rhodes (I used to have one 30 y ago and also disliked the heavy feeling of it's action) - and yes. thanks to Viscount for sponsoring this wonderful piece of craftmanship - so in the end : thumbs UP for this video as well, and keep on ;-) - greetings from the Lake of Constance, Swiss German border :)
Thank you for the visit.
Epic video.
Glad you think so!
I was eagerly waiting for your review of Viscount Legend, thanks. Do you plan on reviewing Vintage Vibe piano too?
If I run across one I will.
@@ThePianoforever Yes, a review of a Vintage Vibe piano would be awesome. I asked the company if there is one in TN that I can audition and they said no.
Absolutely incredible.
It would be really interesting if you checked out the Vintage Vibe electric piano.
The Viscount Legend along with SV2, Crumar all use modelled/sampled sounds, it seems the Vintage Vibe works differently so would be an interesting comparison.
This piece is a technical challenge for both player and instrument. Both seem very capable. As a pianist, how do you feel about the action?
It can play about anything you would want to play on a high end piano, but might feel just a little different.
Is there a transpose button ?
Nice video indeed. I am Italian. We love to say "Italians do it better..."
Anyway, I bought 2 years ago a Viscount Legend, the tonewheels clone and it's really amazing.
I am trying to find a Legend 70 with 88 keys to test it.
If it is like the instrument I already have, I will have the Legend twins at home!
Italian instruments are always amazing.
My first electronic organ was a Galanti portable (1970). Then I upgrade to a Intercontinental two-keyboards portable (70 lbs!). Actually I own a Viscount Db3 (2003), a rugged and very good sounding Hammond clone.
This was on my radar for a while but I picked SV-2 in the end. This one looks and sounds lovely though!
I am thinking of reviewing the SV2, Crumar 7 and the Viscount Legend 70's in the same video.
@@ThePianoforever yes please do it!
I’d really like to see you review another Italian-made instrument, the Dexibell.
I'd really like to try one out, especially the S9!
@@ThePianoforever Consider the Viscount Physis Piano K4
I think I may have found one a couple of years back at a store in southern California.
@Viscount Organs North America. I just looked back and it was a much different model. Is the Physis K4 a new model?
Is this a new model from Viscount? Nice board!
I think it's been out for about a year now.
I'm trying to decide between this, the Korg SV2, and Crumar Seven, and you might be the only person on Earth who has spent serious time with all three! Any thoughts on preferences, especially with the feel and action? I've only been able to try the Korg and really liked how it felt.
I will be doing a comparison video between the Viscount 70's, Crumar 7 and also the Korg SV2 and maybe the SV1 as well as I have them all in the studio. I would love to include the Dexibell S9, but I do not have one.
@@ThePianoforever That would be great!
I love it, the style, the look, but want the synt module, I wonder when it will be released, I would prefer that to the clavinet I guess.
Compare to curmar which one you like better legend 70s which one sounds more real
I will be reviewing a full comparison of the Crumar 7 vs the Viscount 70's vs SV2 in the next couple of weeks.
@@ThePianoforever u r the best thank u
I love your videos so much. You inspired me to get a Crumar Seven and today I put in a pre order on a Legend Live. What can you recommend in terms of amplification instead of a Leslie/tornado/hurricane? Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions!
For location performances we use the Roland KC-350 or now replaced with the KC-400 and they work well and we would use two for left and right channel. We find the smaller KC line to have a lot of background noise and we do not recommend them.
If you like quality sound, you will fall in love with DEXIBELL S9 Pro, another amazing Italian company,
I hope I get to play one soon.
Can anyone tell me how the quality of the clavinet in the sound collection modul is? For a few songs I need a good clavinet. I am thinking of buying the compact version with two empty slots where I would like to put the synth modul and the acoustic piano modul, so there won't be any space for the clavinet modul...
The clavinet sound module is amazing, and the clavinet in the sound collection module is the same but you have less control over the sound.
How heavy of a 2nd board would you be comfortable putting on top? Also, how much have you explored the deeper functions that require a smart phone tablet or other computer to access?
There is a 70 W version which is apparently more acoustic action with wooden keys
I noticed they have different actions on their website. I assume you are not using the Weighted action? If not, how do you think it compares to the one in the video? Any thoughts?
All models of the Legend '70s have a weighted action, they do make a version of it with wooden keys which I assume you are referring to. This model does not have that, and I have never played one of their wooden actions, but based on how good the "base level" one is, I'd imagine it is very nice.
@@ThePianoforever Thank you. I imagine it is very nice too
Since you did an extensive review of Kawai MP11se, how does Legend '70's compare to it? Specifically in terms of the playing feel and sound quality, not as much in terms of the options. As a pianist (not a keyboard player), which one would you prefer?
They are really aimed at two different segments of the market. The MP11se for the classical pianist and of course the Legend 70's for someone who would like the sounds of a Wurlitzer or Rhodes or a Hammond B3. It is also true that the MP11se would have more of a feel of a acoustic piano and the Legend would feel more like a Rhodes.
Have you played on the Polymoog 203a?
Is yamaha P 125 still worth it in 2021? And is Yamaha P 125 good for advance or professional players? ADVANCE THANK YOU❤️🇵🇭
The P125 is a very good keyboard and can be used by professional players on a budget.
Does it have sympathetic string resonance in the piano module sounds?
Wow
It's one great keyboard for sure.
Is there an 88 key version of this?🎹🎶
Yes.
@@ThePianoforever thanks🎹🎶
The versions are:
Viscount Legend '70s Compact (73 keys)
Viscount Legend ´70s Artist (88 keys)
Viscount Legend ´70s Artist W (88 keys with wooden core)
High Five, thank you for that information that I should have included.
Cheers
@@ThePianoforever My friend, you've been talking about the piano for almost one hour and a half and I think you've said the important things. The decisive thing is the impressions you gave. Everything else can be googled :)
The Artist W has the wooden keys that’s the one I want to 88
I think everyone would love that one!
In your opinion do think is sound better than Nord stage 3 or the feel better
The Nord has more control over the organ sound with its drawbars, and some of its acoustic piano sounds are nice, but other than that it's no competition for the Viscount. The Nord has semi-weighted keys, and while I understand the sentiment from organ and synth players, this type of action leads to velocity and dynamics problems when playing piano-type sounds. The action on the Legend '70s is satisfyingly substantial and is reminiscent of playing an actual Rhodes piano. Although it has some weight to it (that's the point, after all!) it's easy to play quick, fast music. It's very responsive.
I kind of figured that the viscount was a little bit better ,I value your opinion because you’re a concert pianist In concert pianist they demand a lot from the instrument thank you you’ve been very helpful
I can’t wait till you do the next video showcasing viscount 70s
nice
Do the donner dep 20 vs the inovus 88
So far only a few have asked for that comparison so I will wait to see if more people really want to see it.
@@ThePianoforever i have a question, wich is better the donner or the yamaha p45, oh and I love your reviews
They are really in two different groups of keyboards and would depend on your needs. The Donner has a few more features and might be a bit easier to use for recording.
@55:24 rad harpsichord solo
So glad you liked it!
Would you say the Nord Grand is a competitor? It seems similar and might make a good comparison.
I think that these two instruments are aimed at two different segments of the market. The name Grand, the upgraded piano sounds, and the Kawai action would indicate that the Nord is geared towards pianists, while the Legend '70s is aimed towards those looking to replicate the keyboard instrument sounds of the 1970's and beyond. The shape of both of them is very similar, however, so I can see why you'd make a connection.
Based on the high price of the Nord Grand, and the fact that my past experience with a Nord wasn't exactly optimal, I don't plan on buying a Nord Grand any time soon. I do think they look nice aesthetically and sound good from what I've heard online, but of course that doesn't say everything about an instrument.
@@ThePianoforever Thank you. That makes a lot of sense and is helpful.
Looks great. I like the modular aspect of it. However, for sound and action I think the Nord Grand is a beter choice (I have one)
It's a year or two since I have played a Nord, but the ones I played at that time had problems and I returned one I had purchased for the studio. It's been a year or two and they might be better, but too expensive to purchase for the studio without knowing when there are others that work well.
@@ThePianoforever Did you play the Grand? I don't disagree on Nords having QC issues. Mine has had two.
I have played a few Nords. I might check one out if the situation comes up in the future.
@@ThePianoforever They hold their value well. For example if you purchased a Grand for $3800, you'd like to be able to turn around and sell it for $3300 if you didn't like it. It would particularly be interesting to see a comparison between the Grand and the MP7SE.
The last Nord I played had so many problems I would not sell it to anyone in all honesty. When I have sold as new keyboards in the past I generally discount them one third off list if they are in perfect condition.
Impressive instrument. Quite a bit of clicking from the action, though.
Or maybe it's the samples?
It's in a couple of the samples to replicate the sounds of some of the 70's keyboards.
Firsy comment
Yes you were!