First keyboard dilemma

[Blackfire]

Hello,
I'm going to buy a keyboard as a new instrument for my home recording setup. Mostly, I'm interested in electric pianos, rock and jazz organs sounds. One style I want to play is jazz soul of 70's, other is ambient/chillout. I also want to have lot of drum kits for different styles, arpeggiator, and maybe split and layer keyboard but it's not a must.
I'm considering Yamaha MX, Korg Kross 1, Roland Go:Keys for now, so you know the price range. But cheaper is better, and I don't mean cheap toys but cheapest possible with sounds quality similar to those I mentioned. It is hard to find other models out of nowhere. There might be others but I don't know what to look for. It would be nice to have ability to customize sounds, not only play what they give as it is in Roland GO keys. I like to change intensity of i.e. tremolo or phaser in Rhodes sounds but also add some different effects of my choice. USB connection for use as midi keyboard with VSTs is also nice but not a must also.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[anotherscott]

VR-09 is one of the strongest low-cost boards for organ, and it has editable sounds (though deeper editing requires an iPad to run ROland's app, or a PC/Mac for third-party app). No arpeggiator, but it does have drums and a looper which might work for you, check out the video at

Best bang for buck for your uses might be Casio WK-7600, but I have no personal experience with it.

 

[PSRTechnicsPete]

Backfire,
Just to comment on anotherscott's reply: the Casio WK-7600 is a great bang for the buck choice, but just expect to delve deep into it's features on your own. It's grand piano tone is a bit bright, but there's a YT'er named funzzie:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrj7dkbby8UWW2HuIDclveKA-ycoKZo5

who has published a series of tutorials that introduce, familiarize, and help a WK 7600 owner become adept at using the board. The board has good organ, EP and synth sounds. It's deep but the owner's manual is cryptic at best. If you were to buy one, I'd suggest joined the Casio user's group at:

https://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php.

There's help, advice, reviews, tones, and some great styles available there. I have a WK 7600 and am only vaguely familiar with all of its features. There's a few helpful videos on YT provided by Casio, but most are uploaded by users. I'm not suggesting you get one, just providing a thumbnail comment from an owner. I hope you find what you're looking for.
Pete

 

[S90yam]

Hi, I think you would really like the Yamaha MX. It has the arpeggiator, nice selection of organs, EP’s and the acoustic piano sounds are as strong as anything, better than the Roland if you ask me. There are four knobs that allow you to tweak the sound on any patch as well, reverb, tremolo, effects and more. Pete’s recommendation of the Roland vr09 is very good too, but it’s a bit more money and lacks some of what you where looking for. My current rig for the 70’s - 80’s rock cover band I’m in is the vr-09 on bottom and a MX-49 on top, so I’m speaking from experience with both. I love both keyboards and would highly recommend either one, but if organ and ep’s aren’t your main focus, I think the Yamaha MX fits your needs a little better.

 

[Mixerkeys]

Hello,
I'm going to buy a keyboard as a new instrument for my home recording setup. Mostly, I'm interested in electric pianos, rock and jazz organs sounds. One style I want to play is jazz soul of 70's, other is ambient/chillout. I also want to have lot of drum kits for different styles, arpeggiator, and maybe split and layer keyboard but it's not a must.
I'm considering Yamaha MX, Korg Kross 1, Roland Go:Keys for now, so you know the price range. But cheaper is better, and I don't mean cheap toys but cheapest possible with sounds quality similar to those I mentioned. It is hard to find other models out of nowhere. There might be others but I don't know what to look for. It would be nice to have ability to customize sounds, not only play what they give as it is in Roland GO keys. I like to change intensity of i.e. tremolo or phaser in Rhodes sounds but also add some different effects of my choice. USB connection for use as midi keyboard with VSTs is also nice but not a must also.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

Hi
Depending on your price range you might like to have a look at the Yamaha Tyros range. Tyros 1 second hand goes for around £500 - £700 and later versions obviously move up the price range.
it has thousands of patches set in banks and is programmable. I use the Tyros 4 still as my top keyboard. It has a variable split over 5 octaves and a right side 3 layer function with a single patch left side. In the split mode you could even have 3 layers left and 3 on the right.

 

[Laserman]

Hello,
I'm going to buy a keyboard as a new instrument for my home recording setup. Mostly, I'm interested in electric pianos, rock and jazz organs sounds. One style I want to play is jazz soul of 70's, other is ambient/chillout. I also want to have lot of drum kits for different styles, arpeggiator, and maybe split and layer keyboard but it's not a must.
I'm considering Yamaha MX, Korg Kross 1, Roland Go:Keys for now, so you know the price range. But cheaper is better, and I don't mean cheap toys but cheapest possible with sounds quality similar to those I mentioned. It is hard to find other models out of nowhere. There might be others but I don't know what to look for. It would be nice to have ability to customize sounds, not only play what they give as it is in Roland GO keys. I like to change intensity of i.e. tremolo or phaser in Rhodes sounds but also add some different effects of my choice. USB connection for use as midi keyboard with VSTs is also nice but not a must also.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

i don't know what to recommend, but just wanted to warn you that the keybed action of the super light keyboards is something you may hate. The Yamaha MX and the Roland VR-09 are in that catagory for me. I'm old and I lug around a 31# Roland G6 and would love to have something lighter with a similar keybed. Haven't found it.

 

[b3keys]

Hello,
I'm going to buy a keyboard as a new instrument for my home recording setup. Mostly, I'm interested in electric pianos, rock and jazz organs sounds. One style I want to play is jazz soul of 70's, other is ambient/chillout. I also want to have lot of drum kits for different styles, arpeggiator, and maybe split and layer keyboard but it's not a must.
I'm considering Yamaha MX, Korg Kross 1, Roland Go:Keys for now, so you know the price range. But cheaper is better, and I don't mean cheap toys but cheapest possible with sounds quality similar to those I mentioned. It is hard to find other models out of nowhere. There might be others but I don't know what to look for. It would be nice to have ability to customize sounds, not only play what they give as it is in Roland GO keys. I like to change intensity of i.e. tremolo or phaser in Rhodes sounds but also add some different effects of my choice. USB connection for use as midi keyboard with VSTs is also nice but not a must also.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[b3keys]

Hello,
I'm going to buy a keyboard as a new instrument for my home recording setup. Mostly, I'm interested in electric pianos, rock and jazz organs sounds. One style I want to play is jazz soul of 70's, other is ambient/chillout. I also want to have lot of drum kits for different styles, arpeggiator, and maybe split and layer keyboard but it's not a must.
I'm considering Yamaha MX, Korg Kross 1, Roland Go:Keys for now, so you know the price range. But cheaper is better, and I don't mean cheap toys but cheapest possible with sounds quality similar to those I mentioned. It is hard to find other models out of nowhere. There might be others but I don't know what to look for. It would be nice to have ability to customize sounds, not only play what they give as it is in Roland GO keys. I like to change intensity of i.e. tremolo or phaser in Rhodes sounds but also add some different effects of my choice. USB connection for use as midi keyboard with VSTs is also nice but not a must also.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

I have the MX (both 61 and 49 key). They are good little "inexpensive" keyboards. I use them as "bar boards" when I do Jams and such..
(Home Studio board is a Triton Extreme, Gigging boards are Hammond SK and Nord Electro 6).
IF you dont mind spening the money (yeah, they are pricey).. The NORD will be the last keyboard you'll ever buy. For the KIND of music I play (mostly Country) it cannot be beat. Best "clone" B3, Rhodes, Whirlie I've found..

 

[anotherscott]

IF you dont mind spening the money (yeah, they are pricey).. The NORD will be the last keyboard you'll ever buy. For the KIND of music I play (mostly Country) it cannot be beat. Best "clone" B3, Rhodes, Whirlie I've found..

but even at that price, it still wouldn't meet his drums/arpeggiator needs. Some cheaper possibilities that probably would... Roland FA-06, Casio MZ-X300/MZ-X500, Kurzweil SP6, or for a different approach, maybe something like a Korg arranger, as shown here:

- none of these have organ sound as good as the Nord, though!

 

[b3keys]

but even at that price, it still wouldn't meet his drums/arpeggiator needs. Some cheaper possibilities that probably would... Roland FA-06, Casio MZ-X300/MZ-X500, Kurzweil SP6, or for a different approach, maybe something like a Korg arranger, as shown here:

- none of these have organ sound as good as the Nord, though!

Oops.... I just caught the first of it on my phone..... You are correct....