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
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