Need some advice on a keyboard please!

[sweetdiss]

Hello!

I'm looking for a keyboard with these requirements (in order of importance):

- Realistic piano, organ, string, and horn sounds
- $1,000 or less
- Full 88 keyboard
- Weighted or semi-weighted

I don't need any fancy midi, sampling, recording, or any other bells and whistles. It'll mostly be used live, and I'd like it to feel (and more important) SOUND as realistic as my budget allows.

I've heard good things on these boards about the MO6 and 8; however, the 6 doesn't have enough keys and the 8 is too expensive! Also, they have a bunch of extra features I don't need.

Please help!

Thanks,
-Nate

 

[kanthos]

No such keyboard exists. You'll have to change one or more of your targets (sound quality isn't as important, 88 keys and weighted/semi-weighted isn't essential, or the spending limit isn't $1,000) if you want to actually find something. The closest you'll probably come now is a Korg TR-88, if you can still find one, and even then, its brass isn't as good as it could be and its piano sounds need a bit of tweaking to be all that they can be.

Also, don't consider extra features you won't need when making your decision; assume they don't exist on any keyboard. Who cares if you buy the MO8 and never use the sequencer, for example? If it's the right sound and feel for you, nothing is preventing you from never using the sequencer. Figure out what features you need (sounds like action and sound quality is all), and evaluate any potential keyboards based on those alone. Besides, it's generally true that a keyboard with better sound quality will be better overall and will have more features. No one really makes a keyboard that has all kinds of top-quality sounds and great action but doesn't do anything else besides letting you play one or a few sounds at a time.