Best keyboard $300 or under?

I

Ibrow

New member
As you can see, I'm not a real serious keyboardist. :D I just need a keyboard that I can throw in my studio and maybe play some MIDI notes into Sonar. I have no idea how to play keyboards, so, I'm not really looking for that.

I mainly need a synth that has some pretty good sounds, is easy to use, and has MIDI availability. It's just easier to pound out a riff on a keyboard, one key at a time, while recording in Sonar, then just going in an fixing it instead of drawing the entire riff one note at a time. Also, I'd need the keyboard for some MIDI drums, so the more sets/sounds the better. Cheaper is better also. I WOULD prefer the best keyboard synth for my purposes under $200, but I know nothing about this and don't know "how bad" the low end sounds would be. :D

Or, if I could get a PK-6 for $370, should I just plan on spending the extra cash? Is it THAT much better?

Thanks in advance!
 
Ibrow said:
As you can see, I'm not a real serious keyboardist. :D I just need a keyboard that I can throw in my studio and maybe play some MIDI notes into Sonar. I have no idea how to play keyboards, so, I'm not really looking for that.

I mainly need a synth that has some pretty good sounds, is easy to use, and has MIDI availability. It's just easier to pound out a riff on a keyboard, one key at a time, while recording in Sonar, then just going in an fixing it instead of drawing the entire riff one note at a time. Also, I'd need the keyboard for some MIDI drums, so the more sets/sounds the better. Cheaper is better also. I WOULD prefer the best keyboard synth for my purposes under $200, but I know nothing about this and don't know "how bad" the low end sounds would be. :D

Or, if I could get a PK-6 for $370, should I just plan on spending the extra cash? Is it THAT much better?

Thanks in advance!
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there is a keyboard they sell at rs dont buy it there,go to Zzounds its about 250 used and it has pretty good sounds um im writing and not telling you the name its the wk3000 buy casio it has more features than youd expect for the price check it out if you havent already i think you will like it if you havent got one already
 
Re: Re: Best keyboard $300 or under?

riles2626 said:
there is a keyboard they sell at rs dont buy it there,go to Zzounds its about 250 used and it has pretty good sounds um im writing and not telling you the name its the wk3000 buy casio it has more features than youd expect for the price check it out if you havent already i think you will like it if you havent got one already
Click to expand...

Ever heard of punctuation marks?
 
puncuation marks

Sorry about that i have to get what i'm gonna say down before i forget it.Is this better,did'nt know spelling was a reqiurement for posting on this site,but i will remember next time. SORRY
 
Without a doubt, the best value at that price point is the Ensoniq SQ-80. I've played and owned a lot of boards, and for stability, reliability, sounds, etc. it is far and away the best at that price point IMO. It's from the late 80's but because of the way they were built, it shouldn't be hard to find one in very good condition.
 
Yamaha makes the DGX-202 which has an XG-Lite Tone Generator (605 Sounds), and 76 keys for about 300, But I would definately go for the PK-6. You will love the sounds, and you can fit several Proteus expansion ROMS into it later, when more funds become available to you.
 
Thanks for the advice Atterion! I have read nothing but good things about the PK-6, but it's more than I want to spend.

I'll have a look at the Yamaha you suggested also.

Thanks!
 
You know ... I'm not a keyboard player either, but like you, I like to add synths to my music. The good part of not being a keyboardist is I don't care about weighted keys, aftertouch ... all I want is an interface. The rest I can do with software. The point I'm making is all of the above mentioned keyboards, and most anything in your price range, have cheesy sounds. I've been down this road. In my opinion, and from what you describe you want it for, you'd be better off spending $120 on a M-Audio Oxygen USB interface to input midi. If you want a full sized keyboard, spring for a PSR273 ($160). Then, buy a quality synth package and some samples of instruments you wish to incorporate into your music ... drums included.

For instance, I have a "cheesy" casio wk3500, which has some decent drawbar organ sounds and what-nots, but they are still cheesy. However, I turn the cheese to gold using BFD drums and Edirol HQ Orchestral ( Strings, woodwinds, brass, etc ) during mixdown process.

Of course, you need CPU power and plenty of hard drive space to handle the samples. Just my opinion.

Regards,
Mountaineer
 
Mountaineer- Do you have any tunes on the web using BFD or Edirol Orchestra? I'm interested in both products...

Thanks
Chris
 
No, I don't post tunes ... never saw any benefit to that, besides, I live in the sticks and have a modem connection. I do music because It's a hobby, but I write all my lyrics and music. Even if no one ever heard it but me, I'd still do it.

Here's what I can offer -

BFD ... Like every package of it's kind, it has its limitations, but it is very flexible. If you go to the Fxpansion site, you'll see user complaints galore ... mainly bkz folks are too ignorant with computers to figure it out. it ain't perfect and has bugs like every software, but it get's along with Sonar quite well as a synth, and the folks at Fxpansion are continuously releasing patches. I use a mix of BFD to play midi composed loops/grooves and add sliced percussion samples separately. I think that it's the closest thing to a real drummer you can get ... but you have to work at it.

Edirol Orchestral ... very good for background strings, horns, etc. Are they pristine ... hell no, but for the price, it's they best out there in my opinion. The next option is a good synth and loads of samples. The more you pay, the better they sound. For me, demo quality is all I'm after. Trust me ... my listener's wouldn't know midi from samples. I just want to please myself. I'm my own worst critic.

I would reiterate .... you need CPU power to run these softwares. I would recommend 3GHz and 2G ram. Any less and you'll be bouncing tracks at mixdown like me. I have 1.4GHz and 512MB ram and BFD drags it down. Orchestral is more forgiving but still a resource hog. I keep everything in midi or use sliced drum samples until my tune is ready to mix. Then I archive uneeded tracks and mix synth tracks to Audio. I then reverse archive for the final mix. Works well, but it's a lot of work.

Making decisions to buy these products is tough because most software is NON-RETURNABLE. I have tried, bought and resold several of these products in the last 2 years. Most, I resold after a few weeks or when one project was disappointing. So far, these softwares are keepers and I'm pleased with the results .... until something better for a reasonable price comes along.

Over the last six months I really cleaned up my recording chain. I got rid of every piece of hardware I had in the way of synth modules, tube pres, mixer, compressors, ect. I got a Focusrite Twin Track, new monitors, and software with all the proceeds. My focus is getting clean input signals from vocals, guits, and bass, then doing the rest with midi and DAW.

All tracking and mixing is Sonar. I'm still considering a Mastering package. Now I just use waves plugins and master in Sonar.

Regards,
Mountaineer
 
Mountaineer, thanks for the advice!

I looked into the Edirol Package, and it's a bit rich for my blood. :o Any other software sound synth suggestions in the sub $200 range? You said you tried a bunch. Any less expesive ones "close" to the Edirol HQ?

Also, any particular reason you suggested the PSR-273? Just wondering. MIDI is midi, so I should be able to input with even a $60 keyboard if I'm NOT going to use the sounds. As long as it has MIDI. Right? Just wondering why the 273, as opposed to the keyboards a little above and a little below in price.

You hit it right on the head. That is exactly what I need it for, adding strings and synth sounds to my music. And, as you said, I just need a way to get the MIDI notes in there. I will look into those keyboards you suggested.


Thanks!
 
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If your looking for something used, I'd go for a Korg M1.....may be alittle more than 200 on ebay but well worth it...I've had one for about 16 years and still use it...Great sounds.
 
I personally use a PK-6 along with an XV-3080 and use Sonar 3. It works great...once I found a nice little PK-6 ins. definition file. :) Very solid sounds on it, and a good set that will sound good with other modules too...
 
Ibrow:

No reason for suggesting the PSR-273, other than it's economical and full-sized. You are right ....any midi compatible keyboard would do unless you prefer usb and even then I believe they make adapters.

I found no full synth packages with features such as Edirol for the price, but I tried VSampler, VSC, and some other freebie samplers used with downloaded and some free samples I had ... cheese. No better than my casio can do, IMO. Perhaps you could use a sampler and purchase or download a more extensive sample package. I couldn't .... modem bottleneck. One package that interested me was Garritan Strings. But I was a bit reluctant by misleading advertising. The elite package goes for around $700 while the economy version is aroung $250 street. I was just never clear on which package was being reviewed and opted for Edirol's HQ bkz it's one-size-fits-all and got great reviews.

Here's some links on :
Garritan Strings - Garritan Personal Orchestra


Description

Reviews

Happy hunting and good luck. Also, please take my advice with a grain of salt. I'd hate to be the reason you ended up with something you're not happy with. Do plenty of research before making a decision. Personally, I'm a lazy researcher ... But here at HR you can find a lot of answers if you search and ask.

Regards,
Mountaineer
 
No one has suggested this!! Why not get a cheap keyboard with midi out and touch sensitivity, 100 bucks or so, and then spend $175 on Ebay for a Roland JV-1010 module? This would be your best situation. $285 or so for everything. When you are just recording midi to sonar, you wouldn't even need to use the JV, or record the JV sounds right to Sonar. Later, you spend another hundred on the drums &bass expansion card for the 1010, and you will have around 1300 great sounds, some of the best bass and drums, and lots of options for recording. I bought a Midi Master usb midi controller keyboard by Teratec. It also has a normal midi out as well to control my JV-1010, or to use USB straight to the computer. It is a killer little midi controller, and I got it for a hundred bucks on Ebay. brand new. I see the 1010 on Ebay for $175 all the trime, and I got mine for $175 on Ebay. I just ordered the drum and bass card yesterday. For $175, this would be your best bet.

Jeff
 
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