Which keyboard should i get?

[Dublez]

I have a computer with Reasons (don't know how to use it yet), Fruity Loops Studio (use frequently), ACID 3.0 (use sometimes)....

I'm thinking about buying a midi compatible, Keyboard/Controller and hooking it up.... not sure which one to buy. My price limit for right now is $250.... but the price range varies sooo much $200-$3000

How do you know what to get (what should I be looking for in a board)?

I want to use Syn sounds in my productions and use my keyboard to produce midi sounds in the software... not really sure how to set up channels in the software... I need a tutorial for real.

I also want to hook the keyboard up directly to the computer the midi to serial cord or do I need a midi interface in between?

Can anybody shed some lite on this situation?

 

[afriquedeluxe]

hmm for dat price limit u shudnt really b lookin to non of da high end korg products,lol. but 250 is not bad, u cud look at da yamaha psr series , they're pretty decent and da casio ctk691 like da one i got or da otha casio wk500 i think. with da casio ones u can download extra sounds from da internet and u can save files from da midi keyboard 2 ur pc. but since deyre connected with midi, it can takes ages to download a new sound set onto da keyboard. oh comin 2 da connections, with me ive got a joystick midi cable dat goes in da joystick port of ma sound card and den on2 da in and out on da back of ma casio. ive also got a phono 2 phone cable runnin between da pc 2 so i can record sounds from da keyboard in2 a wave editor like cool edit

 

[mod1]

What you're looking for at your price range is the Yamaha PSR-290.It does everything.

 

[Dublez]

Good looking out... I'm gonna look further into the Yamaha PSR-209... I just wonder why the Korgs and ASRs and other high-end keyboards cost sooo much.

 

[afriquedeluxe]

well dey cost 2much becuz of da quality!!! obviously profit has alot to do wit da price, but the features on these keyboards can never be matched to these home portable keyboards

 

[Tim D]

Yea, Korg's are very expensive keyboard, but you pay for what you get the quality is the best out there.

 

[Haterade]

Originally posted by Dublez
...I just wonder why the Korgs and ASRs and other high-end keyboards cost sooo much.

It has to do with a few things, mostly build quality. Yamaha lower-ends are all plastic, while a Korg is usually some type of high end fiberglass composite material, with some aluminum thrown in there...

Plus, smaller keyboards use PCM to make their sounds. Very unrealistic, and it doesn't take too much to program it as there aren't a whole lot of paramaters to make them sound realistic. The processors are small, etc, etc, etc...

The larger boards have some sort of complicated OS usually with DSP and ROM/RAM capabilites- meaning that you have to pay more people to program it! Most larger boards have some sort of analog modeling or ROM playback engine to produce sounds that are a lot more realistic; and yes, that profit margin needs to be there.

However, you can cut down your costs by learning about sound design and getting a sampler- like an older Akai or something- how do you think the guys at Korg/Roland/Emu make their sounds...?

 

[Shonsteez]

Budget Boards: M-Audio Ox 8
M-Audio Ozone - this guy comes with more ports and is actually tha old audiophile interface inside, so you get a soundcard also if you need one of those at tha moment too.