MATRIXSYNTH: Rare Jen DT 73 Analog Electric Piano


Saturday, February 19, 2022

Rare Jen DT 73 Analog Electric Piano

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"This is a the rarest keyboard I ever found. I didn't find any information or picture of it (yes even on Matrixsynth :-). [Funny!]

I estimate it was produced in the early 80s along with the also quite rare Jen SYNX 508 synthetizer and thus is probably one of the very last instrument ever released by JEN. To those wondering it is not a rebadged or revised JEN PIANO 73. I owned one and the circuits are totally different. (pictures available if interested). Noticeably this one has a splitable velocity sensitive keyboard. You can chose between 3 pianos sound that you can assign and layer on the left and right part of the keyboard.

Piano 1 is a very squarish piano sound, kind of EP sound. Piano 2 is the one closest to an accoustic piano sound and Piano 3 is the mandatory harspichord kind of sound. You get a nice built in phaser with depth and speed controls, along with a left/right balance mix, master volume (that controls both the builtin speakers and headphone out but not the external amp out. Engaging a jack in the headphone socket mutes the speakers) and the touch sensitivity control.

This is the real nice feature of the keyboard. I thought the velocity response would be a joke but I was surprised how well it behaves. Not as good as a decent midi keyboard of course but better than most of the mini midi keyboard (like Korg Nano etc) and way way better than the Siel Opera 6 for instance if you know what I mean. Pre midi keyboard with velocity response are usually almost useless IMO. This is the first I found that is playable (far from perfect though).

Soundwise it's not the best electric (well electronic) piano in its genre. Sounds thinner than the ones from the 70s (crumar compac piano, multiman S, Farfisa Soundmaker etc). But with layering, splitting, velocity and phaser you can get some original sounds. I will try to make an audio demo, if not a video one. Condition is quite good considering its age and the overall build quality of italian keyboards from that area. There is a bump on the back of the case where the jack sits but it's barely noticeable. Underneath the keyboard the fake wood covering has started to pull off on both side but it doesn't seem to extend (it's where the original stand is normally screwed in)."

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