Does this keyboard even exist?

[Viscount]

I see many here suggesting very expensive boards here to the man asking for 25-37 keys... i myself wouldnt have a chance of bying them, i have to try to get my gear together with a very restricted economy, maybe many of you are very rich, i am a pensionist and must turn every coin "around" - i have got the gear as i want, through a lot of "dealing","haggling" and exchanging boards, my most expensive board was Modx6, but had to sell it again due to my bad economy, my most expensive board now is the Roland EA7 arranger, which i got for 400euro, used, but in excellent condition, due to the careful seller, the other gear i have is a lot cheaper - so when you are suggesting boards to someone, keep in mind that there are many cheaper boards that can do the same thing, and not to forget the used/second hand market! - i am sitting in wheelchair now, and the music and my faith is what is keeping me going! - greetings and God bless you all, gramps Levi in Sweden

 

[happyrat1]

I am !00% in agreement about the used market.

Many of the boards I recommend have been around for years and can be had for a 40% discount in the used market.

Tomorrow's whiz bang doodle is yesterday's bargain bin.

Instead of next year's new model, shop around for the discontinued and unloved.

The JD-Xi I mentioned can be had for a couple of hundred Euros these days.

Gary

 

[Viscount]

I have not pointed out anyone particular, about suggesting,- but many of the boards suggested here cost a lot of money, and there is a huge used market which should be explored, before bying anything, one can get a very advanced keyboard cheap which is used, for a pretty small amount of money, gramps Levi

 

[Mayo Vox]

Hi, I'm looking for a portable keyboard (25 or 37 keys) that can do the following:

- Battery operation
- A lot of built-in sounds, or downloadable, quickly selectable via direct buttons or presets
- Transpose & octave shift on the fly
- Drum pads would be nice, perhaps doubling as sound selector buttons
- OK if programmable through a PC interface, but has to be able to play offline

For travel I currently have a Yamaha PSS-A50 which is not bad, but has limited sounds and is a little bulky. I thought the Akai MiniPlay Mk3 was the answer, and it's a neat little unit, but the sounds are not that great, and it cannot transpose except through a PC, which is a deal-killer. I've even contemplated getting a full-size keyboard with the features I want and physically modifying it in a smaller package, but I imagine that would be impractical. Can anyone help?

I use AKAI LPK25 & Garage band. To be honest I've just checked PSS-A50! It sounds and looks like a better solution!

 

[OldTimerBill]

I was/am in the market for a 49 key midi controller when I came across a used Yamaha MX49 that was going for about $300. It is very light weight and it has lots of good sounds. It is not battery powered but it does have a built-in audio interface. Might be something to consider.

 

[Viscount]

I was/am in the market for a 49 key midi controller when I came across a used Yamaha MX49 that was going for about $300. It is very light weight and it has lots of good sounds. It is not battery powered but it does have a built-in audio interface. Might be something to consider.

The only downside to be considered with the MX49 (which i have had) is the terrible small display, only two small lines, and A LOT of submenus, but the sounds are good

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

You may want to check Casio SA series or CME XKey line.
Also there's this discontinued MIDI keyboard called CME U-Key 49. A little more keys than you want but it has good semi-weighted keyboard, built-in GM sound module, 8 programmable velocity sensitive pads, 9 knobs, a joystick, and even 2 small speakers located on the downside so they aren't visible. It doesn't have a battery compartment but I was powering it by a small cheap powerbank via USB input.
I've bought mine for $60 or so.

 

[happyrat1]

I owned an Casio SA-76 I kept in the bedroom for when I needed a scratchpad for a musical idea.

I think people are forgetting that he's looking for something better sounding than the Yamaha Portasound he already owns.

My best suggestions include the Yamaha Reface if he wants to stick with Yamaha, or the Roland JD-Xi if he can use headphones or has monitors when he travels, but it truly is a pretty awesome mini workstation, with one true mono analog channel, multiple ROMpler channels with top quality samples and Drums with multitrack step sequencing. MIDI can be problematic as Channels are not assignable but if you want to pound out a multitrack audio masterpiece in any hotel room, all you need are headphones and one of these packed in its tiny bag.

Or option 3.

Arturia keystep and an Iphone.

I just picked up the pro version but it's like qudruple the size of the original keystep.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

 

[Viscount]

You may want to check Casio SA series or CME XKey line.
Also there's this discontinued MIDI keyboard called CME U-Key 49. A little more keys than you want but it has good semi-weighted keyboard, built-in GM sound module, 8 programmable velocity sensitive pads, 9 knobs, a joystick, and even 2 small speakers located on the downside so they aren't visible. It doesn't have a battery compartment but I was powering it by a small cheap powerbank via USB input.
I've bought mine for $60 or so.

A very good proposal! - everybody proposes expensive keyboards - but this can be found for good price! - i would have gone for this too!