Just found this very helpful vid of presets on the mc-101, including piano sounds. Scroll to 11mins 45secs
Only a snippet but sounds pretty good to me.
Now I just need to track one down for sh-4d…
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Aside from raising the gain the EQ section, it’s worth playing with the enhancer and exciter FX on the 101. For some electric piano sounds I preferred the enhancer and for one particular sound I like the exciter better - generally looking for how the electric piano track sounds in relation to other tracks, particularly the drums.
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The mc707 (and mc101) sound really good for some piano/synth sound.
But I think the mpc live/one is better for this specific task, if you seek something which behave more like a real instrument.
But both are behind a good VST dedicated to EP sound like the arturia VST for EP.
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Scarbee Rhodes I hear is among the very best DAW plugins you can get, at least for Rhodes EP sounds.
But if the OP was interested in DAW plugins, he would not be asking for groovebox recommendations.
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grab one of these from gc and autosample all of it’s sounds, then hit up the demo of pigments, and keyscape
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I would just invest in a 61 key board now.
Why compromise. Make sure it’s full size keys. It’s better to just dive in head first. And you are already researching piano sounds. You’ve already committed. Taking the plunge will drive your inspiration.
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But … but … but … the sound and the physical implementation are two entirely separate things. Commitment to one doesn’t necessarily imply commitment to the other. You don’t need a keyboard (particularly a 61-key one) if you are going to sequence.
(Certainly speaking for myself here, perhaps for the OP too. Presently finding 25 keys perfectly adequate, and often do melodies without it).
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I know you said no to a Yamaha Reface CP but it’s worth pointing out that its very expressive. That would be my may concern with sampling - you lose a lot of dynamics that make that sound so special. Might not matter to you but worth highlighting IMO. The effects are also really good on it, and thats something else you miss out on with sampling unless you create multiple presets.
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How do you compose an EP on a monophonic digitakt? I can’t think of a worse sequencer for composing piano parts.
I literally don’t have the space. I live in a small flat and my music making draw is just the width of a keystep.
Note my gear includes an op-z, a lemondrop, a MicroMonsta 2. I’m not sure gear gets much smaller 
Maybe a bigger keyboard one day, if I get good, and move to a bigger place, but for the foreseeable future it is not happening.
But I appreciate the words of encouragement and just go for it attitude!
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I watched a video demoing the Reface CP before starting this thread. It sounded great and the effects also.
Alas, a keyboard unit is not the one on my use-case.
Good to point out to anyone who might read this thread in the future and is torn between groovebox, module, keyboard…
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About auto sampling, Logic can do it and i guess it’s implemented in other DAW now.
As for the OP, i think you’re after a compact box that can do multiple tasks, including good piano sounds.
I would consider the Digitone, it can play chords, is polyvalent, loads of good patches including piano, Wurlitzer, etc. available online. And it can groove staying compact!
Less tedious to have velocity natively controllable rather than having to deal with samples imho.
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I just want the best for you! I love the music you made, and know that it would not be a waste.
But take the time you need to feel comfortable! There is also NO rush and no pressure. Stay comfortable!
When its time to go hard… then just pop off.
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And just to drive it home. I’m a massive fan of EP sounds and old jazz-funk stuff. I’ve also been using samplers/groove boxes for maybe 20 years, starting with an MPC, and have in the past used EP samples for tracks on groove boxes, and loads of VST EPs. I haven’t owned a real Rhodes because of space issues, but the Yamaha CP nails the sound on old jazz albums. It’s one of the only pieces of gear I have bought, sold, and bought back because I realized how great it is.
I get that it’s not what you are hoping for, but definitely worth considering having alongside a groove box sampler like an MPC or something, as it’s just that satisfying of a sound IF electric piano is a core sound you want to use a lot in your tunes.
I was writing to recommend it before but then deleted my post since I saw you didn’t want one, but since others have recommended it, I figured I might as well chime in too.
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slightly OT but I have a friend who advised layering synthesized electric piano (FM or modeled or whatever) with sampled EP. That way you get the realism (to a degree) of the sample based EP combined with the livelier response to velocity of the synthesized EP.
In the groovebox context with a sequencer triggering EP chords at a fast BPM maybe it won’t make a difference but who knows…
I really love most of the sounds inside the E.Piano 2 category of my MC-101. Together with the Warm Hall algorithm. Instant ambient.
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All the gear I started off with were monophonic, so I guess I just got used to it.
Squeezing polyphony from the DT has been discussed on other threads, but it might help here, too. Mostly it involves using samples or sample chains of various chords, with lots of p-locking:
- I use Carillon Audio’s trick (as in this sample pack from a million years ago), where I make samples of major triads that transition to minor triads halfway through.
That gives you two possible chords in one sample/slot: FWD = major / REV = minor.
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I also have a folder of two-note intervals. The same FWD/REV technique fits two intervals in one sample (for instance changing one note so a major 3rd becomes a minor 3rd, or a 4th becomes a 5th, etc).
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Alternately, you can create longer sample chains of different chords and voicings and use start/end point to choose the appropriate chord for each note/step.
Or, these days, you can use one of the DT’s slicing machines I suppose.
That way I can get fairly complex (for me) polyphonic parts by only using 2-3 sample slots.
In fact, if you already know your song’s chord structure, you can create a long sample with just the chords you need for that song, and use slice or Start/End p-locks to build out your progression all on one slot.
You can also use the “Midi Loopback” trick to use one of the DT’s midi tracks to control several sample voices at once. People seem to have had success with this but I never got around to buying that fancy Retrokits cable. The above techniques worked well enough that I didn’t feel like I needed one.