Stefan Ioan

I've gone for the Numa Compact 2x as opposed to the other options. A shop had one in B-Stock for 3/4 of the regular price so I went for it. Have played with it for the last week and I can't find anything wrong with it so it is a keeper. So far I like it very much, both the keybed and the sounds are very nice. I do find I have some noise when I connect the keyboard to my computer using usb but I think it is the computers fault since connecting it to a usb power adapter works fine. Speakers are louder than I expected them to be but I'm either using headphones or my monitors since they provide better quality. Thanks to everyone for all of the information

I did like the Roland VR09 but you are right in saying that I'm looking for more than 61 keys. This is mainly to avoid "runing out of keys" even if I know that a 61 keys board will be fine 80% of the time (a very wise man once told me here on this forum that "while you can always add more sounds (using midi), you can't add more keys"). Losing a lot of money is something that I wish to avoid but since this is a hobby/passion, I only spend money when I feel like I need something more (and when I have them). I also like to think that I'll enjoy learning all I can about any keyboard and finding all I can do with it. The Casio S3000 looks interesting but weighted/hammer action is not what I'm looking for right now due to weight (it adds at least 3kg) and I want to keep things portable... I know it is a trade-off but I've seen a few 88-key hammer action midi controllers around that I could add in the future if I feel the need for that type of thing (the Studiologic SL88 Studio seems an interesting choice if I wish to explore this). A friend of mine also told me that he wants to give me his M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 - very heavy master keyboard but should be great to learn on. I'm very new to organs and drawbars. Drawbars are nice to have but I don't feel like I need them for now (what I really need is more practice )

Initial budget was 700 euro but I stretched that for the Roland Would you have any recommendations ? If there are other options that are a lot better I could try stretching the budget again but I need to keep in mind that this board should be a good starting point and doesn't need to be an end all do all thing (I was drooling over the nord electro 6d for a while but I would only get such a thing once I have done a few shows, have a few musicians I'm playing regularly and potentially be good enough to earn some money while I'm at it). I find the world of keyboard players to be a vast domain with many types of music, musicians and sounds in general. I'm eager to explore but I often get lost ... it is easier for me to find what I need to do to learn piano than what I need to do to learn to play a keyboard. My goal is to do shows, play music for people who aren't necessarily my friends, write some music, have a few beers and have fun in general. Thanks for all the great info, Stefan

Thanks for the quick reply stoken6. The drawbars are nice. The DS also has the volume sliders for upper/lower that seems very handy. I can occasionally borrow my wife's iPad but I think that DS has the USB Audio feature too. I don't really care about the internal speakers since I either play using headphones when I need to be quiet or my audio monitors when I can make some noise.

Hello, I've recently decided I wish to play keyboard and have been gifted a Yamaha Reface CP for my birthday a few months ago that has been great in both sound and portability. I have had one year of piano lessons about 14 years ago and since I've played guitar and drums in a few bands. I'd like to buy a new keyboard that will enable me to play with a few friends, learn music and practice playing the keyboard. I'm currently enjoying looking for older styles of music that use organ, electric piano, acoustic piano and similar type of sounds and am currently learning a few songs by Bill Withers. Will probably want to explore more moderns sounds at some point but I would probably get something for that purpose when the need arises. I'm currently looking at two boards: 1. Studiologic Numa Compact 2x 2. Roland Juno DS76 I'd like to have good organ, EP, AP sounds, enough keys for most types of music (I will try to learn a few classical songs but that is not the purpose for this keyboard and if I change my mind I'll get something with weighted/hammer action keys), fairly portable. From what I could find: 1. the Studiologic may (subjectively) have better sounds and semi-weighted action (I used to own a M-Audio Axiom MK2 61 and I found someone saying that the action is very similar) and actual drawbars. No favorites buttons even if the category buttons will recall the last used sound (I think) and no "workstation" abilities such as looper, drum sequencer. 2. the Juno DS76 should have a greater variety of sounds, ability to play samples and add more sounds later on (maybe your own sounds instead of depending on the manufacturer to add the sounds you want, not sure how this works yet), enough keys to not run out of. My question is: which one should I get and why ? I'm very much still a beginner and will probably benefit from either of them so I'm not sure how to choose between them. Thank you very much, Stefan

Roland VR09 is yet another one I had missed thank you for the suggestion.

Thank you very much for your reply AnotherScott. I have noticed the Roland Juno DS61 and but didn't know about the Yamaha MX61. As far as sounds are concerned, I'm mostly looking for Electric Piano and Organ for now and consider Acoustic Piano, Synth and others as added bonus (not to be neglected). A better feeling keybed is also very interesting since I'm really just starting out. So, to recap, I'm looking for a good keybed (while not hammer action since they are just too heavy to carry around for me), good sounds (Electric Piano and Organ mostly), relatively easy to carry around with me and under the 700 euro price mark. I appreciate the workstation features that the Korg has.. but I do have a multi-track recorder that could cover some of them. I appreciate pads, synths and other sounds but have no clear usecase for them right now. The ability to use samples is interesting but it is not a must have for me right now. This is to get me started, learn all the songs I wish to learn, write some songs, do a few live shows with a band. Once that happens, it would be okay for me to think about upgrading if I necessary (obviously great if I didn't have to but I'm just learning about these things now). Thank you again for the information you provided, I'm very happy to have found this forum that has a great community.

Hello, I'm new on this forum and to keyboards in general. I'm very interested in the numa compact 2x but I also like the Korg Kross 2. I understand they have a different featureset since one is more of a stage piano and the other is more of a workstation (hope I got these right). I would like to ask for your opinion on which one of these two sounds best since I'm having a hard time deciding. I like the workstation features from the Korg but the quality of the sounds is more important to me right now. Edit: I'm mainly referring to the korg kross 2 61 keys since the 88 is in a different price range. Thank you very much, Stefan