A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for Christmas, in the $500 price range. What is the best available for approximately that price? TIA.
Synth wrote: > A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for > Christmas, in the $500 price range. > > What is the best available for approximately that price? > > TIA. In that price range I like the Yamaha dgx-505 or the upper end of the Casio Privia series. Brian
New or Used? I'm not up much on the new market, but there are a lot of good options for the used side of things. "Synth" <> wrote in message news:... >A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for > Christmas, in the $500 price range. > > What is the best available for approximately that price? > > TIA.
RickMassey wrote: > New or Used? I'm not up much on the new market, but there are a lot of good > options for the used side of things. I second that. More serious synths START at a bit more than $500. If this is aimed at a semi-serious person, a used one would be acceptable via an outlet such as http://www.roguemusic.com, IF you know what you're looking for. Also patronize any local places and see what an eager salesman might give you as a bundle. Its very common for $100 to be knocked off the price and a sustain pedal or a couple of cables thrown in. It varies a lot, but its worth looking into; you may need that shop later, especially if it has a repair section. If you want to stay new, budget a couple hundred more. Two good starter entries with some surprisingly pro features and sound would be the Roland SH-201 @ $599 and the Korg X50 @ $699. The former is more of a "pure" synth featuring basic saw and square waves; the latter has a big wavetable that include a very good piano for an instrument of its type and a wealth of synth sounds as well, obviously. I think of Casio pianos and higher-end Yamaha starter keyboards as being in a grey area: fine for kids or Granny, but not more serious players. If you step up that crucial extra notch, you get an exponential gain. That Korg will blow the socks off of most any PSR keyboard for just another $200+/-. -- HellPope Huey Archie McPhee is where they sell rubber chickens, but Archie McPh**k is where they sell Robot Chicken rubbers. Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. ~ William Dement "For once in my life, I have inner peace!" "Pffst! That's for LOSERS!" ~"Futurama"
New. On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:26:08 -0600, "RickMassey" <> wrote: >New or Used? I'm not up much on the new market, but there are a lot of good >options for the used side of things. >"Synth" <> wrote in message >news:... >>A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for >> Christmas, in the $500 price range. >> >> What is the best available for approximately that price? >> >> TIA.
"Synth" <> wrote in message news... > New. > > On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:26:08 -0600, "RickMassey" > <> wrote: > >>New or Used? I'm not up much on the new market, but there are a lot of >>good >>options for the used side of things. >>"Synth" <> wrote in message >>news:... >>>A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for >>> Christmas, in the $500 price range. >>> >>> What is the best available for approximately that price? if the girlfriend wants to do dance music/electronica, isn't big on technique, and doesn't mind menu-diving, I'd recommend an Alesis Micron. Four hundred bucks gets you the same engine as the Ion, with an extra effects processor and filter models and a bunch of drum maps, step sequencers, etc. Its form factor is a joke, but the sound-making power you get for the money is incredible. If she's more of a knob-twiddler, pay the extra $300 to get an (Ion+Picoverb) or an SH-201. The Roland is easier for a beginner to learn and is surprisingly powerful, but the Ion has tons of pro-quality features and much more memory. HTH, -- Terrell Miller "Just...take...the...****ing...flower...darling" Terrell's dating style according to OKCupid.com
If she would be happy with only a 3 octave keyboard, I'd suggest an Alesis Micron (new - $400.00). If she's new to synths, she'll probably find the rhythm setups very fun and totally adictive. I get alot of people coming up and playing my Micron (with no musical experience) after they see the one key 'Baldwin Funmachine' features of the Micron. This suggestion also makes sense if she has a another larger 'piano sized' keyboard to play with it. Jack Deckard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Synth" <> Newsgroups: alt.music.makers.synth,alt.music.synth,rec.music.makers.synth,rec.music.synth Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 6:28 AM Subject: Best synth for $500? >A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for > Christmas, in the $500 price range. > > What is the best available for approximately that price? > > TIA.
"Synth" <> wrote in message news:... >A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for > Christmas, in the $500 price range. > > What is the best available for approximately that price? > > TIA. If she wants a pro level keyboard and not one of those toys, there are two good choices in this price range: the Yamaha SO3 and the Alesis QS6.2. The Yamaha sounds better, but the Alesis is much more flexible for patch creation.
Synth <> writes: > A musician friend wants to buy his girlfriend a synthesizer for > Christmas, in the $500 price range. > > What is the best available for approximately that price? Er, what kind of synthesizer? "General" sounds, non-synth keyboard sounds, piano sounds, real "synth" sounds? Would monophonic be OK? Is keyboard action important? Should it be a big keyboard (like for piano music), or would a small 2-3 octave keyboard be OK (for one handed playing)? Especially when you've got a limited budget, it's kind of important to narrow things down a bit... -Miles -- "I distrust a research person who is always obviously busy on a task." --Robert Frosch, VP, GM Research
