between YAMAHA PSR 213, PSR 313 and PSR 403

Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
hi I'm a beginner want to learn playing piano, but for now I just have smal amount of money that can only buy a cheap keyboard like YAMAHA PSR 213, PSR 313 and PSR 403 wishing that I could use the Grand Piano sound from the keyboard to play classical piano and may be learn play synthetizer. what do you think about that?
or should I save the money for couple month to buy a Digital piano? can you recommend me a cheap digital piano that good for playing classical piano? a Clavinova or Upright Piano is way too expensive for me....
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
246
Reaction score
1
hi I'm a beginner want to learn playing piano, but for now I just have smal amount of money that can only buy a cheap keyboard like YAMAHA PSR 213, PSR 313 and PSR 403 wishing that I could use the Grand Piano sound from the keyboard to play classical piano and may be learn play synthetizer. what do you think about that?

I'm kind of a beginner myself & went through the same thing you are. I wanted to teach myself piano, basic rock & roll stuff for accompanyment. I also wanted to be able to play trancey ambient synth stuff.

I was looking at the Yamaha's you mentioned, they sounded pretty nice at the store! I just couldn't choose the best one because my ambitions were so wide and my experience so narrow. Except unlike you I didn't expect to do serious classical piano, except maybe a few simple Beethoven pieces.

I think the keyboards you mention vary from $99 to $199. I wouldn't advise the cheapest unless you can't afford anything else. I think they sound "cheap" and you would soon outgrow them.

I was going to buy a slightly higher grade Yamaha, I think it was a 403 or maybe a YPG which had 76 keys. If you're into classical, you probably want 76 or even more keys.

I also had aspirations of jamming with band friends, so I didn't think the PSR series of 'home keyboards" with onboard speakers would be adequate. They just wouldn't have the volume.

I ended up buying a mid-range board, the Yamaha MM6 for $599. A little expensive for a beginner, cheap for a pro. It seems that the more 'pro' folks don't like this board because it doesn't have the pro features such as 64-note polyphony, portamento, advanced editability and high-end synth functions, etc.

Yeah okay, it is a semi=pro board, but one thing I have to say, it has beautiful piano tones and lots of really great organ voices that are sweeeet to the ear!!! Plus a lot of the funky, trancey and synthy weird tones.

Again, it has 61 keys, so if you're serious about classical, 61 keys might not be enough.

If you want to price-shop, see if you can get a catalog from music123.com, I'm sure they'll send you a print catalog, I have lots of 'em. I like to read 'em over coffee. More fun than reading the news.

I wish you lots of luck!
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
817
Reaction score
16
Laura made a great post so there's nothing much to say here...

This is your problem... If you need a keyboard just for fooling around
and you just want to give a try on keyboards then go for the cheep
stuff. PSRe403 will do just fine...

BUT if you wanna make something out of your music then i really suggest
you wait and save your money for the real thing.

I had NO idea how much enjoyable is to play on semi-weighted keys
(not to mention the full-weighted). Now when i have this kind of keyboard
myself, i really can't (and won't) play anything with plasticky keys.

I've passed a lot of keyboards (PSR185, PSR340, PSR2000, KORG i3,
KORG TR, MOTIF ES, some of the Clavinova series) so I know what I'm talking about.

Don't rush into things and buy a cheep keyboard. That way you won't be
able to buy anything else for a while (cause you've spent your money on
some cheep thingy).

There are some good 88keys keyboards for a low price out there.
They're not as good as Clavinovas but they're waaaaaaaaay better
then any of the PSR series.

For example: M-Audio ProKeys 88, Yamaha P70, Yamaha P85 (around 600$)

I know this is out of your price range, but it will be worth waiting.

Don't eve bother looking at pro workstations cause they cost over 2000-3000$, and you would be using 10% of their capability.

And the reason why pro players don't like the MM6 is cause it "has" MOTIF sounds but stripped to the bone, and polyphony is THE most important
thing in keyboards. Just next to the sound quality and key type.
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Thanks Laura and Sysryn. to buy a digital piano I must wait around 10 month.. lol
for now I really have a passion to play piano so I once thought to buy the cheap keyboard to serr wether I really serious or not..
how about the DGX 620? which one is better Yamaha DGX 620 or Yamaha P70?
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
246
Reaction score
1
How serious are you

I really have a passion to play piano so I once thought to buy the cheap keyboard to serr wether I really serious or not..

I know exactly what you're going thru with the "i have a passion but I don't know if I'm serious or not" thing!

Only you can know how serious you are, but there are factors to consider, like what is your age, how much time do you have, do you have resources (such as friends who play & can help), do you have others to jam with who can keep you inspired, do you have money for lessons or instruction books, and do you have experience with other musical instruments?

I decided that I would invest in a keyboard because I have experience with stringed instruments (guitar etc) and many years ago I was passionate about bluegrass and taught myself the banjo and became a sort of semi-pro. I said "if I could do it then, I'm determined to do it now!!!"

I don't go out on dates on Sat. nites...I spend most of the weekend playing the keyboard.

So decide for yourself, how dedicated are you, and then figure how much you are willing to invest.
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I'm 23 years old, maybe internet is my main resourse fr lesson, other musical instruments only guitar..
If I buy the cheap keyboard like PSR 313, what problem will I got? does it has something like the quality/durability problem? like the cheaper the faster it will broken? or may be the sound is not good?
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
246
Reaction score
1
I'm 23 years old, maybe internet is my main resourse fr lesson, other musical instruments only guitar..
If I buy the cheap keyboard like PSR 313, what problem will I got? does it has something like the quality/durability problem? like the cheaper the faster it will broken? or may be the sound is not good?

I couldn't say for sure, but usually you get what you pay for and something cheaper won't last as long. I once had a $300 keyboard (don't recall what brand) and it lasted several years, then one of the keys didn't work. Of course, my cat used to jump on it, which probably didn't help....

Musical instruments are not for cats.:eek:

Still I'm sure those keyboards are great for someone with a low budget who is a beginner. In a few years if your skills and budget grow, you can upgrade. (I started out on a $75 banjo, and practiced obsessively for a year. I got so good that I figured I was ready for a 'pro' model.) Again there are some folks who lose interest in a musical instrument and for them it was better to buy the cheap one.

Who knows, maybe one of those folks is selling theirs...maybe check out craigslist.org for your city under for sale: musical instruments.

My music123.com catalog has a Casio CDP100 Digital Piano for $399. It seems to have 88 or whatever number of keys a 'real" piano has, and it has 'hammer action' keys. Which probably feels more like a real piano than my keyboard, which is "synth action". It doesn't have 600 voices like mine, it only has 5 sounds.

If I were you I would do a google search for this keyboard and see who's selling it and get some more specs on it.

Also go to a music store if possible & play the keyboards to see how they feel & sound.

good luck!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
13,996
Messages
86,240
Members
13,100
Latest member
Su_uh Innocent Nelson

Latest Threads

Top