Keyboards with sequencer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roel
  • Start date Start date

Which way to go?

  • Buy Kurzweil.

    Votes: 16 25.0%
  • Trinity.

    Votes: 6 9.4%
  • The triton, definitely.

    Votes: 20 31.3%
  • Roland XP series. Get rid of JV1010, it's editing sucks anyways.

    Votes: 4 6.3%
  • You're over 25, buy the M1 by way of nostalgia.

    Votes: 1 1.6%
  • Go for the saxomophone. Keys will never get you laid.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Buy other keyboard. (Specify)

    Votes: 11 17.2%
  • Save for house and children.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Give a free cookie-party with loads of milkshakes and disco music for that kinda money!!

    Votes: 6 9.4%

  • Total voters
    64
Roel

Roel

That SMART guy.
I'm looking for a new keyboard.

What I want in it:
-61 non-weighted or light-weighted keys or more (got A90 with hammeraction allready.)
-not too big, portable
-New sounds (got JV1010, I could sell this to get a better price on the Roland XP's)
-built in sequencer. Not necessary, but almost.
-built in synth, generate sounds in a non samplebased way. Less necessary than the sequencer. But is a big plus...

So, I'm heading straight for a K2x00, a Triton or Trinity, or XP50/60/80. Or less expensive, old korg M1... Are these the only ones with build in sequencer?

The only one in the price range is the M1, darn. :rolleyes: But I can save up. If I don't buy the 2000$ sax that my teacher wants me to buy. :rolleyes:

So, what keys should I get? Maybe XP30? more sounds, and I can get rid of the JV1010 and have better editing options. All these questions... Help me out.
 
It doesn't have a sequencer and it only has stereo outs - but I'm real happy with my XP30. It has a whole lotta good sounds and room for two expansion boards (some of the expansion boards are pretty decent).

Since it's designed more as a "performance board" it is very user friendly (easy to get around in) with some real time parameter controls. It has served me well as my primary MIDI controller and as one of my primary sound modules.
 
Before you go off buying a roland, Korg, Kurzweil or any other has been keyboard, you owe it to yourself to check out Yamaha's Motif... Great sounds, built in sequencer, fantastic action in three different flavors, 61, 76 and 88 keys.

Albert
 
Tried the Yamaha Motif for a few days, and took it back. Great sounds, brilliant sounds even, but shitty sequencer. I went right back to my Trinity.

Yamaha still has to work on their sequencers. It just doesn't feel right.
 
I was so hyped about the RM1x before it came out, then I finally got my hands on one and wondered "what is this crap???"

Maybe it's just me, but I feel that very few Yamaha products actually measure up. I love the Yamaha S80 though. I'll just stick to my MPC3000 and Trinity.
 
Roel, I used to have a K2000. Awesome, but the sequencer is a joke. They had a sequencer upgrade, only tried it once, but wasnt crazy about it. Great Keyboard though, and they are selling here refurbished for $750.
 
do any of these keyboards have a sampler? see my problem is i want spectrasonics "symphony of voices" but i need a sampler to play them through kurzweil ive got now. the symphony of voices sample cds are only in akai, roland ect sample formats... so this means ill have to dish out another $600 plus for a sampler on top of the $500 bucks for the sample cds! sry, i just had to rant.
 
If you're buying a keyboard, focus on the action of the keyboard, the sounds (patches) available and the quality of the available outputs. You can't compete with the functionality of a PC based sequencer so don't even bother to compare this spec.
 
Scriabin, the kurzweill K2x00 series, Korg triton and trinity, and some yamaha's all have a sampler option.
Then there's alot of sampler keyboards, Ensoniq ASR-something for example, Roland w20... But the latter are quite old. But there are keyboards with build in samplers...

I'm thinking not to buy the sequencer... Gonna save for something else. (Maybe SAE next year... :cool: ) But I will buy a keyboard. Probably exchange my jv1010 and buy a xp30. More sounds, and keyboard...

Well, we'll see.
 
ya, ive noticed that my jv1010 has been colllecting dust ever since i bought it about a year ago.... ive only used it for a couple of tunes and used maybe 3 patches:) in retrospect i wish i would have saved my money for perhaps a second hand baby grand piano. ah well c'est la vie
 
I've just been on the same "which keys to get " quest. tried them all.

At the moment there is one that simply beats the pants of all the others, including the triton, which is the new Yamaha Motif
 
... which is way above my budget. :( Saving money to maybe go to the new SAE in brussels next year... So, cheapo keyboard coming up. Don't know it all yet. Been thinking and working to much these days... Gotta give my had some rest first. :)
 
Ditto

sjoko2 said:
I've just been on the same "which keys to get " quest. tried them all.

At the moment there is one that simply beats the pants of all the others, including the triton, which is the new Yamaha Motif


Couldn't agree with you more... I have a Yamaha S80, and although I am not interested in the included sequencer, I love the MOTIF... It's a really amazing sounding board...

Roel, save up, everything else is not worth the money..., or wait until the prices drop (that may be a while though..)

Albert
 
The best thing about the Motif is that its has a built-in sequencer AND sampler (apart from killer sounds and expansion slots), so I'm finding that I can just load-up some of my samples, lock myself up with the Motif, and come out with virtually finished material. Invaluable song-writing and performance tool.

I'm also loading -up some stuff we did in recording, sounds I could not re-do live, now we can, without having to use (yet another) sampler.
 
Uh huh!!

Yeah.. I can see how the included sequencer/sampler might be valuable as a songwriting/performance tool. I do all of my sequencing in Digital Performer, so that the included sequencer is really an obsolete option for me... unless I use it for performances, which I do very little of...

The lovely thing about the motif for me is that it raises the bar on the quality of the sounds... If you take a listen to the Roland boards, the Korg triton or Karma and Kurzweil, the sounds are ok, they just don't have that clarity that Yamaha seems to have acheived in its sound palettes... I have a Roland, Kurzweil, Alesis, and a Korg and played many others, and to me, the Yamaha sounds are a cut above, especially with the S80 and Motif... Also, I really like the 76 key motif and the action on that board is really fantastic.... very smooth... (I never thought I'd praise a spring action keybed but it is truly a smooth playing board)

I played the 88 key Motif, but not long enough to get a good feel for its action... Given I have an 88 key board, I would most likely aim for the Motif 7...

Does anyone know whether Yamaha will put out a rack mount version of the Motif?

Would love to get any feedback from users who've purchased the Motif...

Albert
 
Forgot one other big plus for the Motif - digital output!!!!

Also - for the analogue outputs I'm now using Zaolla cables. $115 each, but the difference is unbelieveable.
 
Sojko2

Digital outs... How could I have forgotten that...!! :)

Albert
 
Sjoko, $115 per cable? Holy shit, I hope it only has two analog outputs.
 
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