Starter keyboard

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Sotonfan

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I have only $200 to spend on a simple keyboard for my home recording setup. My music is guitar/bass-driven, and I'm looking mostly for organ and piano sounds to fill out the mix. The two keyboards I have seen that fit my price range are the Yamaha PSR-292 and the Casio CTK-671. Help me out here - are either of these boards worth the money, and will they do what I'm asking for - or is there another option out there I should consider? I recognize I could get a lot more power for a few hundred bucks more, but I've got to pay the rent, too...

Thanks for any advice.
Drew.
 
Just going to throw an idea at you, ya might wana consider geting a used professional keyboard from E-bay or a used equipment dealer. Maybe a Korg M-1. With luck you can get one for 250. Its a professional grade snyth, just a bit dated. Used to be a very popular workstation, actually it still is. Got a built in sequencer I think.

here's one on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2507659173&category=29552

The casio and yamaha wont be as sturdy or flexiable as the M1, which was designed for studio / performance use. The M1 is a synth too, so you can make your own sounds, or use the default and edit them to taste. It should have all the sounds your looking for (or you can download them) and if you want to do some really funky snyth sounds, the m1 is a good way to go, in your budget.

The patches on the yamaha and casio will probably sound better out of the box than the M1.. but if you want that piano to sustain a little longer, or you want to make the strings sound a little fatter, you cant, your stuck with what they give you. And remember, this is not studio gear... they might be noisy and what not. I dont know, but its something to look out for.
If you need a GM able synth however the yamaha or casio would be a better choice than the m1.

Anyway, if I had to pick one of boards your looking at, I would go with the Yamaha hands down. I have never bought a yamaha product that let me down, and their pro-grade boards are f**king awesome. Other than that, the casio seems to have the same features, but there are way more sounds on the yamaha. Which one sounds better? I bet the yamaha does. And yeah, the yamaha and even the casio will be worth your 200 bucks. So would the M-1.

Hope I helped more than confused.


Gunther
 
Thanks for the long and helpful reply, Gunther. I'll check out M1's on e-bay...

Drew
 
Our keyboardist swears by the M1's
He actually spent about 2 months looking for one locally.

I must say that it has great sounds.
 
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I have the Yamaha PSR-160 and it's OK. The piano and organ sounds are pretty good, and the other patches are OK: some crap, some usable.

The grain of salt is that I am a guitar player, and I got it for background flavor. Sounds like you are in the same boat. In that case, I would bet the 292 would work for you.

Sorry, no MP3's to share yet, I am just setting up my DAW now :-)
 
...It was a looong loooong years since I sold my M1. I love it on it's hype time. But then I must replace it with newer keyboard. The benefit of M1 is I can always edit the sound closer to what I like. Instead of similiar synth with canned sounds I'd pick M1. But for your own good, it's new millenium now. You need something better than just "Piano" and "Organ". You can get thousands kind of piano with decent synth. But to not make you confuse, get Yamaha as your first priority, then the M1. Stay away from Casio. They're crap. And make sure it's GM compatible. It's safe. You can keep your eyes also on an old Roland E-Series for under $250...

;)
Jaymz
 
For that small of amount of money (good synths are not cheap), you might consider using softsynths. If you only need it for home studio use there are a wide variety of softsynths available that would surely sound better than a casio *shudder*. In that case any keyboard or controller (cheaper) would work to control the "brains" of the synth on the computer.
 
The Casio will probably serve most of yorr needs but if you want a better piano sound you might consider a Kawai. I picked up a Kawai FS650 in a pawn shop for $100 and the piano effects are up to par with some of the more expensive models. Also you might want to check out Optimus..990 and 1100 are both pretty good keyboards and in the same price range as the Casio.
 
Casio

Don't bother with the casio, I have owned one and you will not be pleased with most of the sounds on it as you advance *SPECIALY THE TERRIBBLE ORGAN SOUNDS IT PRODUCES*
:)
 
keyboard for recording

I've been using a multitude of different keyboards for years and the korg m-1 is wayyyyyyyyyyy at the top of my list for recording.(I know they are getting hard to find but well worth searching for).A friend of mine just got one for $200.00 cdn. so they are out there and affordable if you try hard enough.One important piece of advice. Try and get one with the owners manual included, and READ IT !! The piano/organ sounds are really good.The organ even features the leslie speed up/ slow down effect.Another interesting feature is the drum setting.With a bit of practice you can lay down "live"drum tracks using just the keyboard,and no mics.needed.
hope this helps.
ROCK ON !!
 
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