Keyboards

[Lucanio]

Hello, my band currently has quite a bit of money and i really wawnt us to but a keyboard. ive done a little bit of reasearch and anyways my favorite low priced one is this one : http://www.music123.com/Yamaha-PSR-E203-i157355.music
i jhust wanted to make sure that i wast picking one that was really crappy or somthig. also i need to make sure its able to plug into our PA system. Thanks.

[KeysOfKarn]

eww.

i dont know how serious your band is, but going w/ 32 unweighted notes is probably going to get you NOWHERE.

id be glad to help you out but id like to know the style of your band. if you are blues or jazz id recommend the casio PX-100, it has a great piano sound, although i dont think there is any organ.

if you are serious (and progressive) id say go w/ the yamaha s-08. the piano feel isnt as good but its got some great organ sounds and you can adjust and layer things the way you want em. however, the thing costs like $1,000 dollars, so i dont know if you are that rich.

[Lucanio]

well thanks. the casio px would suit us better i guess.

[Lucanio]

what about this one is it crap or not?
http://www.dynadirect.com/ek-ctk700.html

[pohl_56]

What exactly is your price range? With the music you play, what kind of sounds would you need? What is the skill level of the keyboard player?

[Little Android Man]

man... ur really going cheap here... anything under 150 is just gunna hurt you in the lng run... even higher than that might.

[Lucanio]

k. i know we have at least 180$ not much moer than that. plus we need to buy alota more stuff. thats why i was looking for cheap things. maybe i could buy a keyboard with my own money. i dunno.

[pohl_56]

I agree with Zep1307 and anything that cheap is certain to do more harm than good. Maybe you should just save up and get a good one eventually. Better to buy good and have last long than buy cheap and have it crap out.

[gregjazz]

If you want even a decent keyboard, plan on spending over $600. Also avoid things that look "plastic-y" or have built-in speakers. Also avoid the synths that have that plastic futuristic look like Casios do. :P

Do you already have a keyboardist in the band? If not, most keyboardists have their own keyboards, which would save you an expensive purchase.

[pohl_56]

Originally Posted by gregjazz

If you want even a decent keyboard, plan on spending over $600. Also avoid things that look "plastic-y" or have built-in speakers. Also avoid the synths that have that plastic futuristic look like Casios do. :P

Do you already have a keyboardist in the band? If not, most keyboardists have their own keyboards, which would save you an expensive purchase.

As much as I resent that comment, you do make a point. 600 bucks is what you'll need if ya want a good one. If your purposes are touring etc... you will definately want something better than a built in speaker one.

For my purposes (writing and mixing by myself) a good Casio works quite well.

[mckartney]

dude, check out some price here [url=http://www.zzounds.com/a--855008/cat--Keyboards-and-MIDI--2666]http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Keyboards-and-MIDI--2666[/url] if you're looking for a cheaper one. then just upgrade when you can shell out some more for a new one.

[gregjazz]

Originally Posted by pohl_56

As much as I resent that comment, you do make a point. 600 bucks is what you'll need if ya want a good one. If your purposes are touring etc... you will definately want something better than a built in speaker one.

For my purposes (writing and mixing by myself) a good Casio works quite well.

If a Casio does the job, that's cool.

Actually I'm being a little hypocritical when I made that remark about the built-in speakers, since the Roland FP5 (around $1,500) has built-in speakers and it's an great keyboard with great sounds.

I think the main reason I dislike the lower-end keyboards is because of their action. It's really like a whole other instrument and it takes a long time to get used to it. I spent a long time searching for keyboards and a couple years back ended up with the FP3 (this was before the FP5) for the simple fact that the action is so realistic. Granted it's not perfect, but it was obviously the best of any other keyboard around in terms of action. Sound-wise it was decent, but you have to realise that the sounds you can get using VSTis on computers are so much more realistic than the ones on keyboards. I mean, try fitting VSL (550 GB orchestral sample library) on a synthesizer.

But what I think is most important is that whatever keyboard you pick, you truly like the best. If you're comfortable with a certain keyboard, that's the ultimate thing.