Newcomer

[Wirehaired]

Been interested in Organs and keyboards for years, but after moving home over twenty years ago there was no room for the Organ i had,so let it go,even though i was and am a novice i had much enjoyment from playing for my own entertainment,have not touched a keyboard since,now i have retired and with the covid nightmare i have the time to get involved again,i hope to buy a keyboard something not too expensive but not a toy,i have a couple of models i am looking at,sure i will enjoy the forum and post from time to time.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

There are a few reasonably priced keyboards out there with good organ sounds inbuilt, there are even organ specific models.

What have you in mind?

 

[Wirehaired]

Welcome.

There are a few reasonably priced keyboards out there with good organ sounds inbuilt, there are even organ specific models.

What have you in mind?

Thanks for reply,yes i am more interested in the Organ sounds but don't mind the synths,i was looking at the Roland Go Keys online,looks good for the money,not sure how many organ voices it has or if there is a leslie option,the Organ i had years ago was a Elke draw bar organ with a seperate amp with Leslie,bought it from a mate who was in a band,but the set up was too big for the house after i moved,so its a keyboard from now on.

 

[Biggles]

My advice would be to avoid the Roland Go range of keyboards.

I did by one for my Grandchildren to use when they visited, it did not last long before it was returned, the sounds were just acceptable, they keybed was only as good as the cheapest Yamaha and the finish was and is cheap looking plastic.

Checkout a Studiologic Numa Compact 2X which is $500 US.

I have one and for the cash it takes some beating, and like you I was after a keyboard with drawbars and the Numa has them.

Another contender that I would suggest

 

[Wirehaired]

My advice would be to avoid the Roland Go range of keyboards.

I did by one for my Grandchildren to use when they visited, it did not last long before it was returned, the sounds were just acceptable, they keybed was only as good as the cheapest Yamaha and the finish was and is cheap looking plastic.

Checkout a Studiologic Numa Compact 2X which is $500 US.

I have one and for the cash it takes some beating, and like you I was after a keyboard with drawbars and the Numa has them.

Another contender that I would suggest

Thanks very much Biggles,i was also checking the Roland B k3 and the Korg ek 50,what i can't find is much information on the organ voices and effects,but i will continue serching and check those you recomend,like i said my old Elke had a seperate amp with leslie effect,but now i want a modern compact set up.

 

[Biggles]

Whilst Roland make excellent keyboards their BK models are quite old and they do not seem to be supporting them as Korg and Yamaha support their keyboards in this sector of the market.

The EK50 is Korg’s entry level keyboard in the Arranger market although they call it an Entertainer Keyboard. It is not one that I have played but it does have onboard sounds that I am familiar with have owned a couple of Korgs.

Quite a bit more expensive than the EK50 is their Pa700 which has more than plenty of organ sounds all of which are fully customisable. There is even a virtual Drawbar organ when the Drawbars are operated via the touch screen LCD. The 700 imo is the best in class for overall sound and build quality. Downside is learning the Korg OS takes some effort but once learned it is quick and easy to then call up what you want.

Throwing a curveball then there are Drawbar Organ Apps available for iPad/iPhones in particular Galileo 2 which I have and can recommend it, a drawbar organ App for a few $. Connect up to a cheapish MIDI keyboard and you are good to go for not a lot of cash but there is a rub, in that you need to spend a few hundred to get one with 61 keys and a reasonable feel to the keybed.

 

[Wirehaired]

Whilst Roland make excellent keyboards their BK models are quite old and they do not seem to be supporting them as Korg and Yamaha support their keyboards in this sector of the market.

The EK50 is Korg’s entry level keyboard in the Arranger market although they call it an Entertainer Keyboard. It is not one that I have played but it does have onboard sounds that I am familiar with have owned a couple of Korgs.

Quite a bit more expensive than the EK50 is their Pa700 which has more than plenty of organ sounds all of which are fully customisable. There is even a virtual Drawbar organ when the Drawbars are operated via the touch screen LCD. The 700 imo is the best in class for overall sound and build quality. Downside is learning the Korg OS takes some effort but once learned it is quick and easy to then call up what you want.

Throwing a curveball then there are Drawbar Organ Apps available for iPad/iPhones in particular Galileo 2 which I have and can recommend it, a drawbar organ App for a few $. Connect up to a cheapish MIDI keyboard and you are good to go for not a lot of cash but there is a rub, in that you need to spend a few hundred to get one with 61 keys and a reasonable feel to the keybed.

Thanks again Biggles for your knowledge,i want to try and keep it simple for a start, the more advanced Korgs could be a little beyond me at the moment,but thanks for the vid the organ sounds good on that one and it has what i would want the rotary speaker effect,on reflection i think you are right about the Roland Go keyboards,the Korg one looks a better option,i will keep doing my research but i have learned more about them already.

 

[Biggles]

He is another video

The guy demonstrating is Luke from Korg UK, his knowledge of every Korg keyboard
( synths as well, literally the whole range ) is amazing and his playing is top notch.

 

[anotherscott]

For drawbar organ, moderately prices options to consider would be Casio WK-7600 (~$500), Numa Compact 2X (~$700), and Roland VR-09B (~$1000). Or as biggles said, you can get drawbar organ from an app, or also a VST on your computer. iPhones and many Android phones can run VB3m which I'd say beats Galileo. iPad can also run B-3X. Macs/PCs have a whole bunch of organ VSTs available. A low cost controller with decent action and 9 sliders for drawbars would be the Samson Graphite 49, if you're okay with 49 keys.

 

[Wirehaired]

For drawbar organ, moderately prices options to consider would be Casio WK-7600 (~$500), Numa Compact 2X (~$700), and Roland VR-09B (~$1000). Or as biggles said, you can get drawbar organ from an app, or also a VST on your computer. iPhones and many Android phones can run VB3m which I'd say beats Galileo. iPad can also run B-3X. Macs/PCs have a whole bunch of organ VSTs available. A low cost controller with decent action and 9 sliders for drawbars would be the Samson Graphite 49, if you're okay with 49 keys.

Great,thanks for all the info,i will check some out,looks like there are several choices,think the Korg EK 50 is on the list,there are a couple of good deals out there,but will still check some more out.

 

[Biggles]

Cheers Scott I was not aware of that App.

There is another app, Hammond B3X which gets very good reviews but it is a costly app at £70 here in the UK whereas the app Scott quotes is £12.

 

[Wirehaired]

Hi Scott and biggles,forgive my lack of technical knowledge but how do those Apps work on a practical level? and could i load one onto my Android phone?

 

[anotherscott]

As I mentioned, VB3m works on many Android phones. Android in general is a weak platform for real-time MIDI applications, VB3m is one of the few good options, and even then, performance will depend on your particular phone, but at least it's a pretty inexpensive gamble. I have no personal experience with MIDI on Android, so you'll have to look elsewhere to see exactly how to set it up. But short version, you'll need a hard-wired MIDI connection from the keyboard into the phone, and you'll probably use the phone's headphone jack to get the audio out of it into your amp (or possibly back into your keyboard, if your keyboard has speakers in it and the appropriate connections available).

 

[Wirehaired]

As I mentioned, VB3m works on many Android phones. Android in general is a weak platform for real-time MIDI applications, VB3m is one of the few good options, and even then, performance will depend on your particular phone, but at least it's a pretty inexpensive gamble. I have no personal experience with MIDI on Android, so you'll have to look elsewhere to see exactly how to set it up. But short version, you'll need a hard-wired MIDI connection from the keyboard into the phone, and you'll probably use the phone's headphone jack to get the audio out of it into your amp (or possibly back into your keyboard, if your keyboard has speakers in it and the appropriate connections available).

Thanks for the information.