A new Synth?

[Johnny MD]

Hi I have got a Yamaha MM8, its good I mainly got it because I wanted to to practise piano but also get some different sound effects and I could play around with it a little. But now I am in a band and the MM8 is a little too big to carry around and I wanted a little synthesiser which would have good quality sounds with cool synth effects and is pretty small.

I've been looking around and at first thought I thougt to choose a KORG but is that really the best choice? the MM8 probably wasn't the best choice as I think there are better Keyboards out there at a similar price.

I don't really have a price limit but somthing around £500 would be good but if I need to go higher I might think about it

And I probably havent included all the information so just ask what you want and I'll answer.

Thanks,

Johnny

 

[Skipp]

What type of music will you be playing?

In your budget, you'll be able to find a new Korg X50 or a used Korg TR. (MAYBE a new one if you're lucky)

Both keyboards are exactly the same when it comes to sounds and possibilities
except the TR has a sampling option (meaning you can load new samples if you buy
the extra RAM), and has a sequencer.

Yamaha really doesn't have anything in that price range apart the MM which is basically a toy compared to the rest of the keyboards, and roland has some Junos but
i'd stay away from those too... The idea to hook up your keyboard to the PC every time
you want something edited when it comes to combis just makes it ridiculous.

So, if you're satisfied with the MM8 (pianos mostly) just get the X50/TR and you're done.

Both are VERY lightweight

 

[Johnny MD]

Thanks for the help but I was thinking of getting somthing even smaller such as something like the R3 or MicroX or something but are these worth it?

Sorry I wasn't very clear with what I wanted but I want somthing which has and very small keyboard probably (around 30-50 keys I guess) but that aren't weighted with different voices that can be changed and other effects.

Hopefully its clearer this time

Thanks

Johnny

 

[Skipp]

You really don't want that for live performing - trust me.

It can be an addition to your current rig (even though i'd suggest getting a full keyboard,
not just a few octaves), but mostly it's handy for studios and working with PC sequencing programs like cubase,nuendo and such.

 

[Tex Arcana]

Dunno if this is too late, but don't buy anything until you've had a look at a Novation X-Station. I love my little 25-note version - there are 49-note and 61-note versions, with the latter available for under £500 IIRC.

It's an excellent MIDI controller, combined with a way-better-than-decent synth (although sadly it can't be both at once); that has a fair quality keyboard, with velocity & aftertouch; a joystick, a touchpad, a bucketload of knobs, sliders and buttons plus 200 highly usable (and tweakable) preset sounds, that will immedately cover a wide variety of musical styles. Preset 105 "Rodywhirl" is a superbly expressive electric piano sound and almost worth the money by itself IMO.

It also has a basic effects section, with a separate input for a guitar or mic, which can be mixed with the output of the synth. It would have been even better if you could run external sounds through the synth, but hey - for the money...

That said, the construction is a tad on the plastic side and I'd definitely invest in at least a gig bag - if not an actual flight case - to protect it, if you're going to do any serious gigging with it.

Sound on Sound review for the 25-note version at: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep04/articles/xstation25.htm

Hope that helps

 

[Burn4Him]

check out yamaha mo6 i think that would be just what your looking for. you can definatly find a used one in your price range, maybe even a motif 6!