so i need a keyboard now...

[gb9]

i have my lil studio setup
got an mpc, mixboard, amp, monitors, effects, compression etc
NOW even though i didnt want one originally, ive accepted that yes i do want and need one, the old one i used to borrow from a friend is broken now so i figure its time to get my own

im gonna try and do some of my own research but the advice i get from here usually serves me very well (you guys are cool)
so what do you recommend?

what i would like it for is to basically play melodies, now regular piano is not THAT important but i would prefer that the piano sound NOT resemble a robot know what i mean?, i like rhodes sounds wurlitzers and all that ill stuff, i need MIDI capabilities, id like to use a lot of crazy "moody" and wierd effects and stuff like that
so whatsup?

now i dont want like an entire workstation type of thing that samples and can travel through time and make me breakfast and stuff like that, just a keyboard that sounds good, has lots of sounds and can get down with the MIDI world

[Toad Rush]

I have a Roland XP-30 that I simply love it has amazing sounds for it's price ($950-1000 on where you buy it). Then i hear alot of good about Yamaha S-90 which has similiar sounds to the Motif i believe. Do some searches and read some info there's so much info on this forum =)

[mikeh]

I agree with the XP30 - for the money it has more sounds and effects options than just about anything on the market. It plays well and given the number of options it provides, it is reasonably user friendly.

[Logo]

How about a price range? It's a big world out there... that'd help narrow it a lot.

-Lorenzo

[gb9]

i guess i can get up to around a G ($1,000) if necessary, but the lower the price the better (obviously), ill pay what i have to in order to get the good sound selection and effects, im just not interested in going TOP TOP TOP of the line and spending unnecessary money for features i wont be using knowhatimean

[Gunther]

Best keyboard for the money IMO is the Yamaha S90 for 1600.

[Gunther]

If 1600 is too much for you then a motif rack and a cheapie controler can possibly squeeze into an under 1000$ budget, if you know how to get salsemen to give you a deal. this is the best high quality bang for the buck today IMO.

[Logo]

Okay. So here's another vote for the Roland. Best (overall/flexibility) synth under a grand.

-Zo

[3VID3NC3]

Go with the XP-30

[moley]

Originally posted by -=[XGML]=-
Yes, this subject sounds interesting, indeed.

[geekgurl]

Hi gb9:

Are you going to play live or just in studio situations, where a simple MIDI-capable keyboard (even a controller) and computer-generated soft synths will work? If it's the latter, you have more options and can build what you need gradually.

If it's the former, I've heard the XP30 and it does have nice choices. Another synth you might look into, although it's dubbed a "budget synth," is the Roland RS-5. I will tell you, the sounds are not as good, at least I thought, when I was shopping. But I'm looking for something different. The reason I mention the RS is, it's like $700, it has MIDI, and it has some performance knobs that allow you to tweak the sounds in realtime, for performance, if that's what you want to do.

I notice you live in NYC ... you no doubt have lots of music stores around to try gear at. Ask a keyboard-dept person for a set of headphones (for consistent output medium to judge by) and go to town!

Also, since you live in a major metro area, try www.craigslist.org. if you're not already familiar, it's a community BBS that started in San Francisco but now they have satellite BBSes for lots of major cities, including NYC. Once you choose NY from right hand menu and get into the NY page, go to upper left under "communities" and click on "artists/musicians". Then just search "sale" and "sell" and "keyboard" etc and see who's selling what ... because it's local, you can try stuff to see that it works and you don't have to hassle with shipping.

I buy and sell 90% of my gear this way (SF market). You may find XP-30 or S-90s on the market (I've got some barely-used, almost-new stuff lately). If there's something being sold that you don't know about, you can always go to www.harmony-central.com for reviews and www.keyboardmuseum.org for more historical info, and of course to manufacturer's sites. It sounds like more work than it is.

This may all be really obvious to you, but, well I hope it helps.

Cheers,

gg

[brzilian]

Originally posted by geekgurl


If it's the former, I've heard the XP30 and it does have nice choices. Another synth you might look into, although it's dubbed a "budget synth," is the Roland RS-5. I will tell you, the sounds are not as good, at least I thought, when I was shopping. But I'm looking for something different. The reason I mention the RS is, it's like $700, it has MIDI, and it has some performance knobs that allow you to tweak the sounds in realtime, for performance, if that's what you want to do.

The extra $300 for the XP30 does not go to waste. The RS series lack any kind of SR-JV or SRX expansion capabilities as well as aftertouch response in their keyboards.

The XP30 has 4 assignable sliders which give you the same functionality as the RS's knobs.

[gb9]

thanks a lot guys, your the best, the help is appreciated
ill go hunting next week and you guys have given me a good amount of info and resources (geekgurl your the shit, thanks a lot its greatly appreciated)