Feb 17, 2005 10:50 pm Yamaha Motif's are nice units. Start around 1,100. You could probably hit the 500 mark used.
I need a keyboard recommendation
Posted on Feb 17, 2005 09:22 pm
pjk
Prince CZAR-ming
Member Since: Apr 08, 2004
I'm interested in getting a keyboard, but can't quite get a good idea of what I'm looking for.
1. I would like something that I can play live that would be flexible (piano, organ, strings, brass, other sounds, etc).
2. Playing live could be either using built in sounds, or soundfonts loaded into the unit (is this common?). I don't feel like bringing a laptop to a gig.
3. I wouldn't want it to be very large, as I probably wouldn't have much space for a full 88.
4. Something with weighted keys, or hammer keys, or whatever they're called would be a big plus.
5. Perform as a midi controller for recording. I probably would be using this more as an interface to midi and recording, but didn't want to pass up on being able to play live.
Is this an unorthodox combination, or am I asking for a ~2K$ unit. It's possible that I can spend around 500$ but probably not much more than that. Although, pricier ideas are welcome.
I've looked at the m-audio keystation 88, but am not sure if I can load soundfonts onto it, and it's pretty big, but m-audio's demo was pretty nice. I'm not sure if one of it's little brothers could do the task or not. I've also looked at the radiums but again, am not sure of the soundfonts thing. They are much more size friendly though.
Are there brands I should be looking at (yamaha, roland, etc) and brands to avoid ?
If anyone has any ideas or experience, I'd appreciate some ideas.
P.S. being in northern mich, i don't have much chance at shopping around and touching demo's, so I pretty much have to do everything via internet.
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Feb 17, 2005 10:50 pm Yamaha Motif's are nice units. Start around 1,100. You could probably hit the 500 mark used.
Feb 18, 2005 10:50 am well, weighted keys is going to push the price up. The m audio radiums don't come with, nor store any sounds on them, so not good for live if you don't want to bring a laptop. I have heard good things about the motif, but never tried one myself. Never heard of a keyboard storing soundfonts, but I'm not the most knowledgeable keyboard cat out there.
Feb 18, 2005 11:05 am I have the Yamaha s90 GREAT!
don't think you'll find weighted keys without taking 88 keys with it...
Feb 18, 2005 11:28 am I've been looking at the yamaha stuff. there's also the roland rs-50, but i didn't check on the wieghted keys. i looked at the s03 as well. I may take a trip down to a GC to try stuff out when I'm ready. That's why i figured some of you guys here would have some input, and maybe have already gone though this path.
Thanks for the input.
MF has a juno-d that's scratch&dent for 535. Any use looking into that, or is it mostly synth? Did Noize2u have one of those?
Feb 18, 2005 12:04 pm I think the Juno 106 was an old analog synthesizer from the 80s (I believe this is that Noize had). I'm not sure if the juno-d is related, but I would assume it is an old synth as well.
Feb 18, 2005 02:36 pm junos, as far as i know, are indeed old synths.
presley, you can get a korg triton with weighted keys and it doesnt have to be an 88-key model. they've got two other boards below the 88 and weighted keys are always an option if you want 'em.
pjk, be sure and check into the triton LE, too. dont know if that one has the weighted key option, but my band's old singer had this and it sounded ok, and its closer to your price range.
www.musiciansfriend.com/s...ase_pid/702236/
Feb 18, 2005 05:00 pm I believe the Juno-d is for Juno digital
and is a sort of reissue of the juno
or somthing like that I heard
Feb 18, 2005 05:40 pm The Juno D is of no relation to the old juno's I donno why they even called it a juno I found this out in my research for I was interested in this keyboard aswell everyone shyted on it cause it was a "imposter" regardless I think it's a great buy great sounds at a great price here's a link to a demo video www.rolandus.com/products...prodid=Juno%2DD
click on launch video demo
Apr 13, 2005 04:11 pm I've been looking at the Korg X5D now as well. I read some harmony central reviews, and it's well regarded. I know it's older and isn't expandable, but for the price, it may cut the mustard, both playing live and as a controller. I've seen people mention it doesn't have aftertouch. I'm baffled as to what that means. Anyone want to shed some light on this topic? and would I be interested in it.
Apr 13, 2005 04:26 pm oh man, i just looked at the juno-d you mentioned, that looks like it would fit into my requirements as well. decisions, decisions.
Apr 13, 2005 04:31 pm I love Alesis stuff myself. Very odd, I know, don't see many keyboardist with them but I like the feel of them. I'm going to put my Alesis QS 8.2 on ebay soon, but I can offer it to you if you like. Here's a link for info about it:
alesis.com/products/qs8.2/
They sell $1000 brand new. I've barely used it, maybe 10 times for about an hour each time in my room at the most. My main keyboard is the Alesis DG8, so I want to sell this one because I'm about done with the project I'm on and feel like I don't need it anymore. It's got MIDI and everything. I'll let it go :( for $700 plus shipping (think at the most shipping would be $60, I live in NC). The only thing is I don't have the actual manual, but you can print it out online. Hey, I'll print it in color and put it in a binder for ya! Drop me a line if you are interested. [email protected]
Ok, I'm done....
Apr 13, 2005 04:31 pm I have some samples of the Alesis if you want to hear also....
Apr 13, 2005 11:50 pm pjk, ya the Juno-D is an entry level synth. If you can call it that. IT is by todays standards entry level I guess. but that said, it is an equal to or better then the Korg X5D. They have 2 differant sound sets really. The Roland being a bit newere of course has more modern sounds. But the editing of the sounds may be on equal ground with them both. As well the Juno-D has some extra features that the Korg didnt have in its day.
Apr 14, 2005 11:31 am cool. Thanks Noize, I was hoping you'd chime in, I thought you are the resident synth expert.
If I can ask, what is aftertouch. I see neither the x5d nor the Juno-D has it, and people refer specifically to 'not' having it in the HC reviews. Is this something I shouldn't be worried about. I also read that it can be made to work through some tweaking, but i don't even know what it is. =)
Also, I borrowed my friends PSR500 to test out my midi capabilities. I'm using a Tascam US-122, plugged into my dell 600m laptop (almost new, pretty speedy). I set the latency down as far as it'll go in the us-122 control panel (256) but still get a little lag that would be a pain if I were playing live with my laptop. Would this improve with the juno or x5d? I may not need it when playing live, but just was curious if the better synths are faster through the midi.
VDale: thanks for the heads-up on the Alesis, but I think that's a little over my range, both price and capabilities, for now. I'm barely cutting my teeth on this.
Apr 15, 2005 02:11 am aftertouch is midi data generated by holding down a key. you can route it to control vibrato or volume, i think...any quality you want to.
www.google.com/search?hl=...fine:Aftertouch
Apr 15, 2005 11:54 pm pjk, no latency is going to be something you Pc/laptop and its audio interface are creating. The midi i/o doesnt really contribute anything audible to latency.
And yes, aftertouch is something that is not on every keyboard, I thought the Juno-D had aftertouch, but I guess the QBeam and other controls make up for lack of it. But it is something that is usually programed into synth patches so they respond a diferant way to the heavier or lighter pressure you put on the key after the initial hit. I will sometimes program it for say a violin patch to do vibrato when I push the key down a bit more, and it lets up as you let up slightly on the key. You can program a patch to do many things with aftertouch. As forty said, I use it alot in patches to create volume swells as well, more pressure, more volume. Sometimes I will use it to kick in a filter, or sweep the resonance of a filter as the pressure increases. It is a very expressive tool to have on the keyboard.
Apr 16, 2005 10:02 am cool beans noize, thanks for the input. with the latency, i may not use the triggering thing too much with the laptop if there's this much delay. I may be happy with just using the synth and all it's built in stuff for live work, and then midi-record for studio work.
I probably won't be too worried about the aftertouch with the cost involved, Thanks.
Apr 16, 2005 09:26 pm pjk, you might want to try these drivers from www.asio4all.com if the Tascam can do ASIO. So far they have been getting rave reviews, and very low latency that is stable as well. 2 news groups I am part of have several people who solved some pretty severe latency problems with them so they might be worth a try.
Apr 17, 2005 12:59 pm will do, this us-122 does use asio, i'll give it a whirl and see what happens. thanks.
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