newbie

[NationalSandwic]

hello

i'm interested in opinions re: keyboards with 'built-in' sound modules, vs those ugly boxes with lots of knobs controlled by a simple keyboard. is there a difference? and, how do you go about selecting a module?

i live in south africa, and am yet to find a store that stocks "those ugly boxes", but on a recent trip to london, i was in a store with TONS of them, and every one seemed to do so many different things, but i couldn't make up my mind which was more interesting! (not that I can afford pound sterling equipment in any case )

i am a 'newbie' at keyboards. i play piano. i know that i DON'T want a silly midi keyboard (casio types), because i want to have FULL control over the sound. which brings up another question:
what type of sound do "those ugly boxes" put out? midi or analog or digital?

Thanks!
NS

 

[RKB]

Since no one else has responded...

Sound modules vs. keyboards generally use the same circuitry and will produce the same sound. Ie, a rack-mountable Roland JV-2080 will create the same sounds with the same quality as a keyboard-based JV-2080. It depends on your needs, really. Different companies produce different sounding samples, and each box is often designed for a specific type of sound in mind (ie, vintage synths). You just have to mix and match and buy the ones that give you the sounds that you want. Some modules, like the Roland JV- and XV- series are upgradable with additional cards that can add more sounds. These are the best buy, in my opinion, because you can get more sounds for only a few hundred bucks and not take up any more rack space.

In terms of what format sound they deliver, it varies. Some are now capable of delivering direct digital sound, but all will have analog outputs.

My suggestion for you would be simply this: Find the best sounds you want on a keyboard-based machine. It's best to use an external sequencer if you're going to be doing any composing, and a built-in sequencer is just going to add most cost. Make sure the keyboard you buy is midi, and has midi in, out, and thru jacks. Make sure the keyboard plays comfortably for you. If you want weighted keys, buy one with weighted keys that you are comfortable playing. This way, you have your keyboard controller as well as a built-in sound module to start with. After that, you can add external sound modules, connected via midi, and just use your keyboard to play them all.

Of course, if you're serious and have the money to spend, a dedicated keyboard controller would be best, one designed soley for that purpose. But you indicated that you didn't want to spend a lot of money. While I drool for a nice dedicated keyboard controller in my rig, I've been able to do pretty well with the scenario I described above. You can always buy a dedicated controller later and just use the sounds from the keyboard. (I have a Roland D-10 in my midi setup that I have never, ever played. I always use my Ensoniq ASR-10 as the controller for everything)

 

[Chriss]

You wan't full control over the sound you say, then what you should be looking at is either (listed after sound quality and how modular and cool they are)
1rst choise : A Novation Supernova II or Nova,
2nd choise : A Waldorf Q or a MicroQ
3rd choise : A Clavia Nord Lead 3
4th choise : A Virus B
5th choise : A Clavia Nord Modular

These babies are modular synths.. this means you build the sound up from scratch, starting with just simple tone generators, which you then modulate and fiddle with.
The Supernova II is the bloody shit, but the preset sounds aren't very good and it takes a while to learn all the aspects.. it's simply a huuuge machine...

Now... talking about ugly boxes.. these are what you call the Rack versions of the synths. They are usually cheaper, cause they don't have a keyboard, but they do the same thing... If you want a Supernova II you can save alot of money buying a Rack and a midi keyboard....

Welll... I need to know what music you wanna make and how much you think you can afford...