Dexibell VIVO S2 Review: The 8.8kg Professional Stage Piano

Dexibell VIVO S2: The 8.8kg Professional Stage Piano Built for Gigging

If you’re a gigging keyboard player, you’ll know that the weight of your instrument matters. Carrying a full-size stage piano through a railway station, onto the Tube, up a flight of stairs or simply from the car park to a venue can quickly become tiresome.

That’s why the Dexibell VIVO S2 caught my attention.

At just 8.8kg, it’s one of the lightest professional stage pianos available, but what makes the S2 particularly interesting is that Dexibell hasn’t achieved that low weight by turning it into a basic portable keyboard.

This is a proper professional instrument, with rugged metal casework, a huge selection of high-quality sounds, battery or mains operation and access to the same downloadable Dexibell sound library used by its larger stage pianos.

Having spent some time playing the VIVO S2, I think Dexibell has come up with a very clever solution for musicians who want to travel light without giving up the sounds and features they need for professional gigs.

Dexibell Vivo S2 Video Review

A Professional Stage Piano Weighing Just 8.8kg

The headline feature of the Dexibell VIVO S2 has to be its weight.

At only 8.8kg, this is an instrument you can realistically take on public transport. If you regularly travel to rehearsals and gigs by bus, train or Tube, that makes a considerable difference.

Even if you drive everywhere, anyone who gigs regularly will appreciate not having to lift a heavy stage piano in and out of the car several times a week.

And the S2 doesn't feel like a lightweight plastic keyboard.

One of the things I particularly like is the rugged metal chassis. Pick it up and it still has the reassuring feel of a professional stage instrument. It's simply much smaller and lighter than we're used to seeing.

There's Even a Backpack-Style Carry Bag

Dexibell has clearly thought about the type of musician likely to buy the VIVO S2.

A dedicated padded carry bag is available with backpack-style straps, so rather than carrying the keyboard in one hand, you can put it on your back and head off to the gig.

For musicians travelling around London or other cities on public transport, this combination makes an enormous amount of sense.

Battery or Mains Powered

Portability isn't much use if you still need to find a mains socket every time you want to play.

The VIVO S2 can therefore be powered either from the mains or using rechargeable AA batteries.

That opens up all sorts of possibilities, from busking and outdoor performances to rehearsals and other situations where convenient access to mains power isn't guaranteed.

Of course, for a conventional gig you can simply connect the S2 to the mains as normal.

The Same Dexibell Sound Quality in a Much Smaller Instrument

You might reasonably assume that an instrument this compact would involve some compromise when it comes to sound quality.

This is where the VIVO S2 gets particularly interesting.

Although it's Dexibell's smallest stage piano, the S2 is compatible with the same downloadable sound library as the company's larger professional stage instruments.

And this isn't just about piano sounds.

The VIVO S2 is packed with acoustic pianos, electric pianos, vintage keyboards, organs, strings, brass, orchestral instruments, synths, pads and many of the other sounds a working keyboard player is likely to need for everyday gigs.

You can then expand the instrument further by downloading additional sounds from Dexibell, including the company's high-quality Platinum Piano samples.

In other words, you're getting an extremely compact instrument without being restricted to a small selection of basic sounds.

Edit Your Sounds with the VIVO Editor App

For players who want to customise their setup, the VIVO S2 also works with the VIVO Editor app for iPad.

This gives you a much more visual way of editing and managing sounds without having to do everything from the keyboard itself.

For live players, I think that's particularly useful. You can spend time preparing your sounds and settings before the gig, then concentrate on playing once you're on stage.

Built-In USB Audio Interface

Another feature that could easily be overlooked is the S2's built-in USB audio interface.

This allows you to send high-quality digital audio directly from the VIVO S2 to a compatible computer or tablet, which can make recording considerably easier.

In fact, the audio you hear from the VIVO S2 in my video demonstration was recorded using the instrument's USB audio connection.

It's another example of how Dexibell has managed to squeeze features we'd normally associate with a much larger professional stage piano into this compact instrument.

Who Is the Dexibell VIVO S2 For?

For me, this is the most important question.

There are plenty of stage pianos on the market, and if your instrument spends its entire life in a studio or permanently set up at home, the VIVO S2's incredibly low weight might not be particularly important to you.

But if you're regularly moving your keyboard around, it's a completely different story.

The VIVO S2 makes particular sense for:

Gigging keyboard players
Musicians travelling by bus, train or Tube
Players carrying their own equipment into venues
Rehearsing musicians who frequently move between locations
Buskers and outdoor performers
Musicians looking for a lightweight second keyboard
Players who want one compact keyboard to cover piano, organ, synth and orchestral duties

That combination of 8.8kg weight, professional sounds, rugged metal construction and battery operation is what separates the S2 from many other lightweight keyboards.

Tony's Verdict

What I like about the Dexibell VIVO S2 is that it solves a problem that gigging keyboard players have had for years. At just 8.8kg, you can put it in the backpack-style carry bag, jump on a bus or train and take it to a gig without breaking your back. But you're not sacrificing the things that matter. It's built like a proper stage piano and it has the same superb-quality sounds you'll find in Dexibell's larger instruments. I can't think of anything else quite like it.