New to Midi - Sound Canvas CS-155

[bouldy]

Hi,

I'm new to midi really, and accuired a (old, CTK 530 i think) casio keyboard which has midi in/out on the back. So thought I might as well attach it to my PC. Now I want to make it sound let something more expensive. I mentioned this to my friend who has been in the midi game for years and he told me about the Roland Sound Canvas CS-155 that he had an offered to sell me it for £100.

The question is, would I be right in thinking this would 'take over' the casio sound and give me more expensive roland sounds? Or would it be better to spend that £100 on a new, more modern keyboard with better sounds?

Thanks for reading.

Mike

[Waffleness]

Originally Posted by bouldy

Hi,

I'm new to midi really, and accuired a (old, CTK 530 i think) casio keyboard which has midi in/out on the back. So thought I might as well attach it to my PC. Now I want to make it sound let something more expensive. I mentioned this to my friend who has been in the midi game for years and he told me about the Roland Sound Canvas CS-155 that he had an offered to sell me it for £100.

The question is, would I be right in thinking this would 'take over' the casio sound and give me more expensive roland sounds? Or would it be better to spend that £100 on a new, more modern keyboard with better sounds?

Thanks for reading.

Mike

If you connect your MIDI keyboard to your PC, and then allow it to control the roland sound device, your are correct that it will "take control" of the roland. I have never used that roland device before so cannot comment on whether it will sound good compared to other things on the market.

Baiscally you have the hardware (assuming you have a MIDI interface for the PC) that will let you control any MIDI samples/synths on the PC. If I were you I would go round to your friends and listen to the roland. If you like it and it satisfys your needs, then yeah I guess it would be suitable. If your not sure whether it will provide what you want, do some more research into software samplers/synths and see if you can find any packs that you like the sound of.

[gecko zzed]

I'm thinking along the same lines as Waffleness. Keep your keyboard, grab the Sound Canvas. Go midi out of the keyboard to midi in of the PC, then midi out of the PC to midi in of the SC.

Roland enjoys a reasonable reputation for the quality of its sounds, and you will usually find some there that suit you.

If you have a working midi keybaord, you can hang on to it, and focus your attention on alternaitve sound sources. The Roland is not a bad investment, and you can, over time, acquire other hardware sound modules, or use the keyboard to drive PC-based virtual instruments.