eric.B

Similar: https://saxdavid.com/therevengeofanalog Streaming has its purpose but older media formats as well (for some people). I love (the physical aspect of) my compact cassettes, vinyls, minidiscs, reel to reels, DAT and DCC. But I use Spotify, Tidal, Youtube, etc. when I want/need it. There is no shame in using either, whatever suits your needs.

That thought crossed my mind, the rooms are right next to each other, a couple of 10 mtr cables should be enough. Having very limited control over the DAW (basically just starting the recording and letting it run for hours) made me look for alternatives. But the remote control is an idea, I'll look into it. BTW: not the main consideration but one becoming more relevant with electricity cost rising fast, is to only switch on equipment when necessary. I'm more aware of that these days than in the past, some days I might record a lot, some days nothing.

It's a Yamaha MG166CX (no digital outputs)

Probably some pictures clarify my question: I would like to just hit a button and record the stereo output from the Yamaha mixer. Of course it would be most convenient if the mixer had a (USB) recording feature but over a decade ago mixers (in this price category) didn't have it.

Thanks for the feedback. A standalone recorder and then specifically a desktop one like the DP-006 does seem the best fit for my needs. I could leave it setup, press on and record and away you go. I'm over here in The Netherlands though and they cost EUR 175 / $169 new and I don't see them on the local used market. One negative thing I read was that the screen is not backlit, does it bother you? If so, that would mean having to step up to the DP-008 which costs half more - so deviating more from my initial 'cheap idea'. The audio interface / phone route is possible but a bit more fiddly to setup and record each time as my laptop (nor phone) are permanently setup there. And I would most likely need an adapter for my iPhone 13, I haven't checked that out yet.

I have a small home studio with a multitrack DAW recording setup. Recently I put 2 older 90s keyboards back into use but due to space issues had to set them up in an adjacent (storage) room (but with a mixer and PA at hand so audio is working fine). Now I want to do some simple stereo recordings - highest quality is not required and I would like to keep it simple, cheap and preferably a desktop setup. I tried setting up my older Akai EIE Pro audio interface but unfortunately it won't work with either my 2014 MacBook nor my new Chromebook. So I'm thinking about either buying a standalone audio recorder, like a handheld Tascam DR-05X but preferably a desktop version (the Tascam DP-006 would do but is expensive). Or go the laptop route with a simple audio interface - plenty out there, starting with something like a cheap M-Audio M-Track DUO. Any thoughts, suggestions?

Yes, prices are rising quickly, inflation over here in The Netherlands has gone up over 10%. The costs of gas for heating and electricity have tripled or quadrupled to an extent the government has taken measures to prevent a large part of the population not being able to pay for it anymore. Crazy times. About gear: I have noticed a lot of gear is out of stock and when the estimated 'in stock date' is reached, it gets postponed again. The prices of the gear still seem to remain the same but I expect they will go up considerably once they are available again. I have been keeping an eye on Fantom-07 boards and they have gone out of stock almost everywhere. Still doubting if I want it and should buy now or wait and accept to pay a couple of hundred more in the future.

So yesterday I received the adapter, it was packed extremely well: I still own another 3.5" disk drive and wanted to try if I could get it to work in the Korg X3: Unfortunately, the power connector on this drive is right above the data connector so the adapter doesn't fit: So that will be the end of using floppy disks with the X3. However, I already received the Gotek USB drive: I left the jumpers at the default settings (S1 on, others off): Connecting the adapter is a piece of cake: The Gotek fits perfectly in the bracket of the disk drive: And it looks nice from the outside as well: Powering up for the first time with a regular (non-prepared) USB stick: The USB drive needs to be formatted: And then works as an old floppy drive (also at the same speed): The 2 buttons on the Gotek can be used to select multiple slots / floppy disks. This version is advertised for supporting 100 but I had no problems going past that: I then put the USB stick in my Win 10 PC and it shows up as 1 primary partition. So transferring files from and to the X3 works fine. However, it only shows the files in the lowest slot (000), not the other ones. The seller of the adapter did send a link to software, containing Virtual Floppy Format and Virtual Floppy Explorer. I haven't installed it yet but that should make browsing all slots possible. So concluding: it is very straightforward to replace the broken Korg X3 floppy drive with a USB drive and matching adapter and getting it to work. That blows some new life into the X3 again.

I think there is only as much as you can do covering this song on piano while staying close to the original. Alternative versions can be hit but a lot of times miss, in my opinion. Postmodern Jukebox and Scary Pockets (both on Youtube) have done some good ones. What I like about Gamazda is that, besides being a great player, she plays with a lot of energy and passion and seems to be having a great time doing it.

Alas my remark was serious. Where I live you dont have to be surprised only 1 or 2 (maybe even none) of the boards you want to try are available. Dont even start about the 61/76/88 versions.

Excellent piano cover:

Fair points, and I realize I'm shifting from the topic title. Owning a MOX8 I was looking for something similar available today with 61/73/76 keys but probably another brand as for another flavor of sounds. And I'm seeing more options as I look further into today's offer of keyboards, especially as I will be focusing on playing and not on sequencing, deep editing, vocoding, etc. with it. Although, if the features are there, who knows if they may come in handy in the future. So I want to make a shortlist of several boards which seem appealing and try to find a store so I can try them out.

For people using a stagepiano or a board like a Roland VR730: I realize it isn't a workstation and aimed at playing live but do you find it lacking?

Thanks. I created my list thinking which sounds I use most so hence the pairing like synths and APs. Other sounds are all the ones not mentioned in the first 5 categories like accordions, harmonica, percussion, etc. I hardly play guitar sounds on keys. So it seems like I need both boards 😁

Here are the thoughts from Justin from 65 drums, a well-known Youtuber who focuses on e drums: Having played both a and e drums for over a decade, I have mixed feelings. A big company behind great acoustic drum brands like DW and Gretsch could benefit them. Better Hybrid kits wouldn't hurt anyone either. But if DW really developed new technology for e drums and Roland considered that a (possible) thread to their market share then aquiring them would take out an alternative. That's a shame because, considering DW's good reputation on a drums, some serious competition for Roland and Yamaha would not be a bad thing, IMO. Anyway, we'll see what the future brings.