Keyboard or Midi-Controller?

[neto07]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum, so I'll use the occasion to introduce myself quickly. I'm an Austrian student and I'm studying in France. When I was a boy, I took piano and keyboard classes, but I lost interest after a couple of years and stopped playing.
Now, I enjoy playing the piano when I'm in Austria and would like to be able to play here in France as well. I'm living in a small flat, so neither do I have the space nor the money to buy a real piano.
So I'm looking for a keyboard with a good piano sound, I don't really care about any other sound. It should be weighted and velocity sensitive and have about 70 keys.

And... my budget is about 500 Euros, so rather limited.

I read about the M-Audio Keystation Pro 88, which I could plug into my computer. I've got some O.K.-speakers and I should be able to get the right programs as well. It costs about 300 Pounds at amazon, shipping included.

What do you think of it? Do you have any other suggestions? Maybe a Keyboard that can do the same (about the same size, good piano sound, weighted) for the same price?

Well, thanks in advance, I'm eager to read your answers,

Ernst

 

[kanthos]

Welcome, Ernst!

For the price range, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a decent keyboard. I'd think that with a decent MIDI controller (and I've heard the KeyStation 88 is one; really, though, try it yourself before you buy it if you can).

For software, look here. You'll need, at least a DAW (if you're a Mac-user, you've already got GarageBand; if you use PC, Reaper is really cheap) to record and to host instruments, and a piano plugin (there's a good free one on that page by Tascam, I believe).

The other thing you might need, especially if you're a PC user, is a way to reduce latency - the delay between when you press a key and when you hear sound. If your computer is reasonably fast, the big cause of delay is not having a proper audio interface - a sound card designed for audio work. The first thing you should try is downloading the free ASIO4ALL drivers; they'll often be all you need. If they're not enough, getting a decent audio interface will be necessary. These aren't terribly expensive (you don't need one that can record 8 instruments at once, for example); depending on your computer, I'd imagine that $200 US would be more than enough for something that would suit your needs; I just looked for a lower-end one I used to own and it's in the neighbourhood of $150 US.

Good luck!

 

[neto07]

Hi Kanthos,

I really appreciate your quick reply!
Well, good to know that I'd need a fast computer for a midi controller. My Laptop maybe wouldn't do it, and I don't have an especially good soundcard either.
Ah, **** it! I'll close my savings-account and buy a decent keyboard.
What could you recommend me for 1000 euro? Or is there not so much of a difference between a keyboard for 500 and 1000 euro?
Sorry for changing my mind and annoying you again...

 

[PianoMan]

Roland FP4, Roland RD-300gx, Yamaha CP33 (there's lower-end PSR models perhaps, but I'm not familiar with them). Those come to mind if it's strictly piano you're after. They all go for about $1400 USD so I'm not sure how many euros that is. Casio Privia series is apparently decent for the price (about $600 USD)... good action, so-so sound. Haven't tried them myself, not with sound anyway, checked one out in the store that wasn't plugged in just for the action, and it seemed good, might be something worth considering.

 

[neto07]

Hi PianoMan,
Thank you for your reply. I'll go and have a look in some musicstores and try the keyboards you mentioned!
Best regards,
Ernst

 

[kanthos]

neto: hard to say how powerful a computer you'd need for a particular plugin. I was able to get decent performance out of a desktop I'd bought in 2003 that wasn't new at the time, so I wouldn't rule out the controller route. If your computer is a laptop, I'd put a piano sound on it and, if necessary, a DAW (the Tascam Continuous Velocity Piano and Reaper that I mentioned) and take your laptop to a music store. I'm sure if you tell them that you want to buy a weighted controller but are unsure of performance, they'd be willing to let you plug a controller into your computer to test.

 

[neto07]

neto: hard to say how powerful a computer you'd need for a particular plugin. I was able to get decent performance out of a desktop I'd bought in 2003 that wasn't new at the time, so I wouldn't rule out the controller route. If your computer is a laptop, I'd put a piano sound on it and, if necessary, a DAW (the Tascam Continuous Velocity Piano and Reaper that I mentioned) and take your laptop to a music store. I'm sure if you tell them that you want to buy a weighted controller but are unsure of performance, they'd be willing to let you plug a controller into your computer to test.

Allright, well that changes things. I'll download all the software, get the right adapters and ask in some shops around. And if my comptuer's performance isn't enough, I can still look for a normal Keyboard.
Thanks alot, and keep up your great work on this forum!

 

[kanthos]

I should also say, if you're going to be trying M-Audio keyboards, I *think* they all use the same MIDI driver, so you could do the driver installation and you'd then have a short, automatic hardware installation that would happen when you plug the keyboard in.

To test though, try downloading Reaper and the piano sound of your choice. Load a MIDI file (something representative of what you'd be normally playing; a classical piano piece, for example) in Reaper and play it back through the piano to see if your computer can handle the performance. If you're getting all kinds of audio "static", then performance probably means you should get an actual keyboard.

 

[neto07]

Kanthos: Thanks again for your detailed advice. I'll install Reaper this weekend and go to the shop next week, for as I'm in exam-period this week.
Well, I'll tell you about what I experienced next weekend!

 

[kanthos]

Good luck!