shopping 4 a keyboard

[gbvgbv]

i decided that i wanted the feel of a real keyboard to go with my DAW - also started thinking about getting some new sounds to play with (synthesizer) and the ability to sample (even tho i could do this with software) (as a minimum i'd need the keyboard to be able to play samples i make myself).

as with most shopping, you see something that really knocks your socks off but is way more than you originally were looking for. in this case, it was the korg karma - i loved the sounds and the random appegiator, but the price of $1800 is beyond my budget - also i was disappointed that the karma did not include a sampler - to get this, you need to go up to the korg triton (which i understand is excellent, but the price only goes up - around $2200).

so, scaling back my ambitions, what i'm finding is that you can get a basic keyboard to control your software synth for about $100 to $200 - but these dont have any sounds and cant store any sounds.

the next price range (around $700) gets you things like roland xp30, yamaha cs2x, and alesis Qs6.1 - someone said there are no decent synths for under $1000, but these may be an exception. i kind of discount the roland because it seems like the xp30 could be somewhat older technology - from what i've deduced so far, the yamaha has an appegiator which the alesis does not, but the alesis has a sampler which the yamaha does not (please - anyone - correct me on this if i'm wrong).

i would have thought that any of these keyboards in this price range could play and manipulate your own samples, but i'm guessing if it doesnt say so explicitly then it might not.

from there, it seems you can go up to the $1200 price range and get slightly higher versions (like roland xp60 or yamaha cs6x).

basically, i'm looking for recommendations - my needs are:

good realistic sounds from the synthesiser
ability to play and manipulate my own samples
64 keys
good amount of polyphony and multitmbral
able to work with software sequencer and recorder

thanks

[Krakit]

I recommend buying a cheap used sampling keyboard or module and a quality controller.

If you want to pursue that direction, I might be able to suggest a few combinations for ya.

[LongWaveStudio]

you may find a used korg Trinity for about £500, dunno how much in dollars. thats an excellent keyboard. the rackmount is even cheaper, so you could buy a really cheap controller and the TR Rack .

[gbvgbv]

thanks for the suggestions - i'm a little confused because longwave sez to get a cheap controller and krakit sez to get a quality controller - are you both defining a controller in the same way? is it just a keyboard to control a module, or is it something more?

[LongWaveStudio]

its up to you. some people like weighted keys on a controller for if they want to play piano sounds, so consider that. but i know people in bands who've bought fairly cheap controllers and a nice module, and it's worked for them. if it's purely for recording, you dont really need to splash out on a really really nice controler. have a look in the shops, Fatar do some great controllers. the TR rack is definiltey a good buy if you can find it though. great percussion on it too!

[gbvgbv]

i got turned on to a roland rs5 in another forum and it looks pretty good - i think i'm narrowing my choice down between it and the alesis qs6.1, but probably favoring the roland because of appegiation (cant believe the qs6.1 doesnt have this) - and the roland looks cooler too. tomorrow, i'll do a hands on test with these (and maybe the yamaha cs2x as well) and that should tell.

one thing i'm wondering is if the roland can play samples that i create myself - someone mentioned that the roland wasn't "expandable" (?)

[gbvgbv]

oh, and by the way, i couldnt find the trinity (korg?) anywhere - i'm assuming it's been discontinued (in favor of the triton?) - it would be interesting if there was a triton-sounding option in the $600-$700 range.

[LongWaveStudio]

the yamaha CS range is more headed towards dance music.

i have a nano piano module by alesis which i dont want. that has piano, strings, organ, rhodes, synth, lots of stuff. i have no idea what to sell it for, cant remember what i paid for it. im more looking to exchange with it.

[giaschel]

Some Roland synths (XP series, for example) allow you to add (buy) expansion cards for more sounds. The XP-30 comes with "Session", "Orchestral" and "Techno" cards. You can then buy more cards such as "Vintage Synth" or "Piano", etc...

More info on the Roland site.

[gbvgbv]

ok, so i guess the roland rs5 does not accept expansion boards (why oh why couldnt roland have included this capability?), but i'm wondering if its that important.

can't you just hookup the rs5 to your computer and use the keyboard to play sounds from a soft synth or a sampler?

i was kind of hoping all keyboards could do that.

[gbvgbv]

well, i was told that with the MIDI connections, i could still use the roland rs5 to play samples and soft synths, so the lack of ability to add expansion boards is not such a limitation.

a local store has a sale going and i can get the rs5 for $600 (compared to $695 normal price) - i almost placed an order for it, BUT................then, i played with the korg karma again and it just seems to be more than 3 times better than the roland - better sounds, more of them and the karma random appegiator thing is really cool. i know a lot of purists knock the karma cuz they say a monkey could play it, but for me thats almost a selling feature - lol. so, i'm going to see how much they discount the karma on thursday (the store wouldnt say) and if its a deal at all, i'll spend the extra to get - i'll also check ebay.

[Krakit]

I love the Karma and am considering it for myself, but you said you wanted to spend $200. At that price range, I wouldn't even have considered the Karma for an instant. After all, it's almost ten times that amount.

Carl

[gbvgbv]

well i ended up getting the rs-5 ($580)

btw, where i mentioned $200 was where i said i didnt want to get a plain keyboard without any sounds.

the best price i found on karma was around $1600 - for someone like me just starting out (and forced to admit to a limited budget), the rs-5 seemed a good choice and i prefered it's sounds to the other boards in its price range.

i put together my first tune with it last nite - still a lot of learning to do (lol), but i'm on my way. today i'll give the board a try-out working with some software samplers - we'll see......