Serious Keyboard buyer

[ShadowZero26]

Hello everyone. I am Andrew and am a third year theory student at Madonna University. I play guitar and I sing, but I want to further my skills as a pianist.

I play several times a week on baby grands at my school, and a few times a week on my kimbell upright at home when family sleeping conditions permit.

I want to get a keyboard for my room so I can play at any time and also hook it to my computer and mix and lastly use it in my band (we are without a keyboard now that our keyboardist decided to go to egypt.

Key "velocity" sensitivity is a must, weighted keys is a need, and an extensive sound bank is negligable, or whatever word fits there. Also, the more keys the better. I would use minimal features on stage, just piano with pedal and probably a few synth organs and gunshots, and at home I would most likely only practice in my room with piano and pulse synth or something.

uhh... budget is minimal... 0-almost nothing is how much I have, but I am willing to spend under 500 if it is a must. (used keyboards are ok... right?)

What I gather is that I do NOT want a midi controller because it wouldn't have speakers or an easy way for me to just turn it on and start practicing, plus I would be limited on stage. Also, what's more useful, a midi out or a USB out?

Thank you for your help. I hope that we can decide on a good keyboard and you guys can start hearing my music

(Also, any program suggestions would be nice)

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Is there a specific style you're going for? Do you want something with good acoustic sounds or good electronic sounds?

I tend to favor the Yamaha keyboards. I use a Yamaha S03, and for the price ($500) it's magnificent. It does not have built-in speakers, though it does have its own soundbank. Keys are velocity-sensitive, but not weighted.

The PSR-series has built-in speakers, and from what I gather, is very solid (though I've only had limited experience playing them). I don't know if they have weighted keys.

I don't know of any keyboards (aside from a few midi controllers) under $500 with weighted keys -- it seems like only the higher-end keyboards have those, from what I've seen.

[-RK-]

The M-Audio Prokeys 88sx has a decent piano feel, and a fairly decent piano sound. No speakers built in, but, its fairly inexpensive, and you could probably afford a pair of headphones or small practice keyboard amp as it's 400.

I'd say a Yamaha PSR series, but, I dont think many of those have a full 88 keys, nor are the keys weighted in any way, so practicing on them can be frustrating imo.

As far as programs, I love FL Studio, and I always hear great things about both Sonar and Ableton Live.

[Hsia Nu]

i just picked up a M-Audio Axiom 61 key. its pretty decent and comes with neat drumpads. it has programmable aftertouch which is a great help when im tweaking some orchestra samples. the only downside i would have to say is the drumpads are not mappable, unless you use the Enigma editor and modifiy your own template and load it into the controller. just that way of doing it is a pain in the ass sometimes.

[Ukeke3000]

Fantom X8 made by Roland. midi, weighted keys, plus about 1000 different 'soundfonts' i guess? plus drum settings.

[SnappleMan]

Korg Oasys. Carvin K15 keyboard amp.

Unless you're not THAT serious.

[Teh Mick]

I own a Korg Karma 61 key and this is a great workstation. The downfact is it's still based on floppy and has no support for sampling like its bigger brother the Korg Triton.

Currently, I will choose either a Korg Triton Extreme 88 or wait for the Korg M3 that will be out in June. The Korg OASYS is too expensive for a first keyboard.

But this is for the workstation side, which I prefer. A cheap 88 key Yamaha PSR should too for you. Casio one are good one but their key aren't good as Korg, maybe they do some arranger keyboard with weighted keys

(I'm admit that I am Korg fan).

[Sionar]

I recommend the Casio Privia series. The sound quality is pretty decent, but there is still a bit of electric piano feel to the sound. The keys are weighted, with the lower keys being heavier than the top keys to imitate a real piano. These electric pianos are definitely within your budget, and I would consider them your best buy. They go for around 100-800 dollars depending on which model you get. However, they all have the same touch and sound, so there is no decrease in quality for getting a cheaper model, just decrease in functionality.

Right now, I'm using a Yamaha P140 and I have to say the sound is extremely beautiful. The sound quality is superior to the Casio Privias, and the touch is more similar to a real piano, but it may be outside of your budget.

[Justus]

From the sound of it, you actually want a digital piano, not a "keyboard". You'll also probably need to forget about getting something with built-in speakers. Almost all keyboards with built-in speakers are just the cheapies, which usually have a less serious synthesis engine and cheaper key action (and keys). I do have fond memories of my old Casio CTK that I had in the 90s though (if you do get a cheapie, Yamaha PSRs are better than Casio CTKs any day, but I've heard that some of Casio's new lines of cheapies are surprisingly decent). Playing live, you should be able to plug your keyboard into the PA at any venue you perform at, unless it's like a small coffee shop sort of thing without a PA (at which built-in speakers won't cut it anyways).

Most "digital pianos" don't have very many sounds. Most will have some piano sounds and some organ sounds, but usually not gunshots (or General MIDI, for that matter). The good news is that what few sounds it has will be GREAT. Don't forget though, if you want a greater variety of sounds down the road, you can always buy a new synth later and connect it to the piano with a MIDI cable, and don't forget that a "synthesizer" is simply any device that accepts MIDI input and turns it into audible sound, and is NOT necessarily a piano, but can be a small desktop module, a 19" rack piece, or even software for your computer (assuming you have the appropriate interface/USB cable). After all, you're not going to find something with 88 scaled hammer-action keys AND a workstation quality synthesis engine for less than a few thousand dollars.

If you're a third year music student, then you probably actually realize that "serious" is not the right word to describe the purchase of any kind of $500 musical instrument. If you were truly serious, you'd be looking at Yamaha Clavinovas. Since you're just starting out on piano though, take a look at Casio's digital pianos. The PX100 certainly fits your budget, and should give you years of quality use. Watch out for M-audio's keyboards. They tend to be cheaply built, and the cheaper one they sell is NOT fully-weighted, but semi-weighted, which you'll want to avoid if you want it to feel just like a real piano.

[Dr. Rod]

Ive done a little bit of research on this myself, and I would agree that the Casio Privias can probably give you the most bang for your buck. Ive seen some brand new ones for only $150, which should fit well into your budget. Me being a college student too, I dont have much money to spend on the finest equipment, but one of these should suit u fine for now : )